Agricultural and Resource Economics Commons^™

Green Infrastructure Resource Directory, New England Environmental Finance Center

Sustainable Communities Capacity Building

Green infrastructure is an approach for managing stormwater that uses vegetation and soils to capture and treat rainwater where it falls. Unlike single-purpose gray infrastructure, green infrastructure realizes multiple benefits at once, including flood mitigation, improved water and air quality, community beautification, provision of recreational opportunities, and energy and cost savings. This resource directory is intended to help communities design, implement, fund, and monitor green infrastructure practices and programs. It was compiled by the Environmental Finance Center Network through the Capacity Building for Sustainable Communities program funded by U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. …

A Survey Of Seafood Traceability And Sustainability In The United States— Processes, Regulations, And Current Initiatives, Nancy A. Olsen

Working Papers

The global seafood industry currently lacks a standardized, widespread method to easily trace the chain of custody of products that they purchase. With global overfishing leading to declining fish stocks around the world, it is vital for seafood providers to have the ability to identify and buy products from sustainable fisheries that are well managed, target abundant species, and fish in environmentally responsible ways. This paper analyzes public and private initiatives that seek to provide product traceability. In summarizing the current status of seafood traceability, stakeholders agree that are a number of challenges with trying to piece together so many …

Nebraska Farm Real Estate Market Highlights 2011-2012, Bruce B. Johnson, Sara Van Newkirk

Nebraska Farm Real Estate Reports

Each year since 1978, the Department of Agricultural Economics, UNL, has conducted a state-wide survey and analysis of agricultural land markets. Considerable change has occurred during that time span, not only from decade to decade, but from year to year—reflecting a dynamic market pattern. The most recent year is certainly no exception. The February 2012 survey collected market information from a panel of some 130 reporters scattered across the state. Reporters are closely affiliated with the agricultural land markets in their areas, as agricultural real estate appraisers, professional farm managers, agricultural lenders, etc. In addition, the vast majority of panel …

2012 Nebraska Farm Custom Rates, Roger K. Wilson

Cornhusker Economics

The 2012 Nebraska Farm Custom Rates are now available. These publications are the result of surveys that have been repeated on even numbered years for some time. Those who are familiar with the past publications will find that the current ones are very similar. The following description is for those who may not be aware of these publications.

The surveys and publications are done in two parts. Part I contains the rates for the spring and summer custom operations. These include tillage, planting, haying, fertilizer application and spraying operations, as well as small grain harvest. Part II contains rates that …

National Agri-Marketing Association Membership Provides Professional Growth Opportunities For Nebraska Students, Alissa Doerr, Rosalee A. Swartz

Cornhusker Economics

The National Agri-Marketing Association (NAMA) is comprised of over 25 chapters in six regions nationwide, and has more than 3,500 professional and student members. Nebraska’s Midlands Chapter of about 70 professionals works closely with the University of Nebraska-Lincoln (UNL) student chapter to foster professional growth for student members.

A Primer On Federal Grazing Fees, Larry W. Van Tassell

Cornhusker Economics

The federal government owns nearly 30 percent of the land area in the United States. The vast majority of this land lies in the western U.S. For example, 81 percent of Nevada’s, 63 percent of Utah’s, 61 percent of Idaho’s and 48 percent of Wyoming’s land mass is owned by the federal government. In contrast, 1.10 percent of Nebraska’s land mass is under federal ownership.

Most of the public lands in the western U.S. are under the jurisdiction of the U.S. Forest Service (USFS) or Bureau of Land Management (BLM), and many are utilized for livestock grazing. Fees for grazing …

The Changing Composition Of United States Agricultural Trade, E. Wesley F. Peterson

Cornhusker Economics

International trade has been of great importance for United States agriculture since the founding of the nation. Today, about 20 percent of agricultural production in the United States is exported, and the revenue from these exports is an important source of farm income. According to the Economic Research Service over half of U.S. wheat production is exported, as is almost 80 percent of U.S. cotton production. While agricultural exports are always greater than agricultural imports, U.S. consumers depend on imports for many commodities, notably such tropical goods as coffee, cocoa, bananas and other tropical fruits. The real values of U.S. …

South Dakota Agricultural Land Values: 2012, Burton Pflueger, Larry Janssen

Economics Commentator (1972- 2016)

No abstract provided.

The Meeting School: An Alternative Mode Of Education, Hallel Parsons

Capstone Collection

What role do spirituality, community, and farming play in contemporary US education? As a farm and faculty intern at a small, private, Quaker boarding high school in rural NH I gained an interesting perspective on this subject. Using Robert G. Hanvey’s working thesis: An Attainable Global Perspective: Education for a Global Perspective as a standard by which to measure my experience at The Meeting School, I explore the implications of an education founded upon the Quaker values of simplicity, peace, integrity, community, and equality (SPICE), within the context of an intentional community committed to organic farming as a means to …

Agricultural Efficiency And The End Of The Oil Age; Building A Future Of Longevity, Keith Mchugh

Pomona Senior Theses

This thesis uses an efficiency analysis of agricultural systems to assert that, in lieu of rising prices of fossil fuel, people need to come into more direct contact with their food systems. With a switch to smaller, more efficient farms that rely less on fossil fuel and are connected with the communities they supply for, we can avoid an energy crisis turning into a famine. These smaller-scale systems can help create self-contained, carbon-neutral communities.

Seeds For Change: Examining The Association Between Race, Food Security, And Urban Agriculture, Komal Razvi

Honors College Theses

Access to healthy, nutritious food is one of the most basic human needs. Unfortunately, a large portion of the global population, including that of the United States, has limited access to such food, hence putting families in a state of food insecurity. Food insecurity occurs when households are unable to (or struggle to) provide adequate food to all household members due to lack of funds or food resources. This phenomenon is considered to be a major concern in many urban settings such as Detroit, as it is a characteristic of societal distress. Interestingly, research has shown that while food insecurity …

The Movement For Sustainable Agricultural In Japan: A Case Study Of Post 3/11/2011 Organic Farmers In Saga, Fukuoka, Kagawa, And Hyogo Prefectures, Seth A.Y. Davis

Theses

No abstract provided.

What Factors Influence Consumers’ Decisions To Purchase Energy Star Appliances?, Rosamond Mate

Economics Honors Projects

This paper examines how differences in operating costs and market availability affect ownership of Energy Star dishwashers and clothes washers. I use logistic regressions and data from the 2009 Residential Energy Consumption Survey and the EPA’s Energy Star program to quantify these effects. Results indicate that controlling for temporal changes is very important; after doing so I find that differences in availability of efficient appliances do not affect ownership patterns. Overall, the frequency of appliance use does not increase the household’s responsiveness to electricity prices, which suggests that consumers do not fully value efficiency when choosing among appliances.

Targeting Maps: An Asset-Based Approach To Geographic Targeting, Corey Lang, Christopher B. Barrett, Felix Naschold

Environmental and Natural Resource Economics Faculty Publications

Proper targeting of policy interventions requires reasonable estimates of the benefits of the alternative options. To inform such decisions, we develop an integrated approach stemming from the small-area estimation literature that estimates the marginal returns to a range of assets across geographically defined subpopulations. We create a series of maps that can be overlaid with traditional poverty maps to identify strong candidate areas for intervention, though an efficiency/equity tradeoff sometimes exists. We apply our method using recent Ugandan data. Results are consistent with independent empirical findings and suggest asset specific transfer schemes would improve with a spatially targeted strategy.

Integrating Ecology And Economics For Restoration: Using Ecological Indicators In Valuation Of Ecosystem Services, Eric T. Schultz, Robert Johnston, Kathleen Segerson, Elena Y. Besedin

EEB Articles

Because it can uniquely furnish insights into nonuse values for ecosystem services, survey-based Stated Preference (SP) valuation is widely used to estimate the benefits of ecological restoration. SP surveys ask respondents to select among restoration options yielding different ecological outcomes. This review examines the representation of ecological outcomes in SP studies seeking to quantify values for restoration of aquatic ecosystems. To promote the validity of ecological indicators used in SP valuation, we identified four standards: indicators should be measurable, interpretable, applicable, and comprehensive. We reviewed recent SP studies estimating the value of aquatic ecosystem services to assess whether ecological indicators …

Global Food Security: In Our National Interest, David P. Lambert

Journal of Food Law & Policy

All Americans have a direct stake in the problem of global hunger, which has many dimensions. For most of us it is a profound moral issue, and we are guided by our faith to respond.

Be A Part Of The Plan - Engaging People - Linking The World, Charlotte Narjes, Rebecca J. Vogt, Connie Hancock, Jan Jackson Cejka

Cornhusker Economics

Exploring efforts to increase broadband adoption and utilization in Nebraska will increase community vitality and economic growth. The Nebraska Broadband Initiative, which is in its third year, is designed to increase adoption and utilization of broadband in communities/regions with an empasis on unserved and underserved regions. Following are a few highlights on current activities.

Calving Date And Wintering System Effects On Cow And Calf Performance, Leslie Aaron Stalker, Matthew Stockton

Cornhusker Economics

Profitability of beef cattle production is highly dependent upon cost of production. The largest variable cost associated with cow/calf production is feed cost. One strategy to reduce cost is to extend the grazing season. Knowledge of the cows’ nutritional requirements, and factors such as calving and weaning date and utilization of crop residue can be used to extend grazing. A second factor affecting profitability of beef cattle production is revenue. Cattle markets tend to have seasonal variation throughout the year and vary with respect to calf size and class, creating opportunities to match a production system with the markets. Determining …

Analysis Of Potential Groundwater Trading Programs For Nebraska, Karina A. Schoengold

Cornhusker Economics

The goals of a recently funded project to measure the potential benefits of developing a groundwater trading market in Nebraska is discussed in this Cornhusker Economics article. Groundwater is a major component of agricultural water use. In extensive regions of the Western United States, rural agricultural economies rely entirely on groundwater. At the same time as providing water for human needs, groundwater is also an input to streams, wetlands and riparian areas that provide important ecosystem services. Ongoing groundwater pumping will deplete flows in adjacent streams, leading to potential conflict between human and environmental uses of water. In the last …

North Central Extension Risk Management Education Center, Christine Lockert

Cornhusker Economics

The Extension Risk Management Education program, funded by the United States Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) National Institute of Food and Agriculture provides training to help producers learn new strategies to manage complex and growing agricultural risks. The goal of the program is simple - help farmers and ranchers manage risk. ERME strives to achieve this goal by encouraging and funding innovative programs across the country and helping programs focus on tangible results (ERME, 2012). Four ERME Centers are located across the country; the University of Delaware (Northeast), the University of Arkansas (Southern), Washington State University (Western), and the University of …

Arsenic Contamination In Groundwater In Vietnam: An Overview And Analysis Of The Historical, Cultural, Economic, And Political Parameters In The Success Of Various Mitigation Options, Thuy M. Ly

Pomona Senior Theses

Although arsenic is naturally present in the environment, 99% of human exposure to arsenic is through ingestion. Throughout history, arsenic is known as “the king of poisons”; it is mutagenic, carcinogenic, and teratogenic. Even in smaller concentrations, it accumulates in the body and takes decades before any physical symptoms of arsenic poisoning shows. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), the safe concentration of arsenic in drinking water is 10 µg/L. However, this limit is often times ignored until it is decades too late and people begin showing symptoms of having been poisoned.

This is the current situation for Vietnam, …

With Prices Like This, Who Needs To Know Cost Of Production?, Tina N. Barrett

Cornhusker Economics

A few months ago I was talking with a producer and I mentioned that I worked with farmers on calculating cost of production, among other things. He posed the question of why do farmers really need to know their cost of production? Sure, five or six years ago when margins were tight cost of production was important in marketing their crop, but what’s the point with the increase in crop prices and wide margins?

A Global Spatially-Explicit, Open-Source Data Base For Analysis Of Agriculture, Forestry, And The Environment: Kickoff Workshop For A Two Year Pilot Project, Thomas Hertel, Nelson B. Villoria

Changing World Conference

No abstract provided.

Use Of Cti Grinders For Sorghum Flour Production And Utilization: Final Report, Vilma Ruth Calderón De Zacatares, Lily Marisol López, Kris Emillee Duville, Carla Elizabeth Bermúdez

INTSORMIL Scientific Publications

The use of sorghum for human consumption to add value to the crop and increase its profitability, especially for small and medium producers, has contributed to food security and nutrition in El Salvador. CENTA is promoting the cultivation of sorghum as an alternative to food production in rural and urban areas. Since 2010 when wheat prices lower again, sorghum was no more an alternative to replace wheat in certain types of food, but is being used in more stable markets, as people allergic to gluten, people with diabetes and to correct nutritional deficiencies such as iron deficiency anemia because of …

Sorghum Flour Production Manual For Compatible Technology International (Cti) Burr Grinders, Kris Emillee Duville

INTSORMIL Scientific Publications

The importance of sorghum in human nutrition and food security

The grinders of Compatible Technology International (CTI) were brought to El Salvador in 2009, for a project of CENTA-INTSORMIL/USAID to promote the grinding of sorghum for human nutrition. In 2011, ten of these grinders had been installed in small bakers associations, individual bakers, or persons producing ethnic drinks based on roasted and ground cereals. These people had been trained in sorghum use for human nutrition at the food technology laboratory of CENTA. The grinders are being used in areas were the access to other foods is limited and were sorghum …

How Does Climate Change Affect Agricultural Stability In Southeast Unguja? An Assessment Of The Threats To Agriculture And Food Security From Rising Temperature And Changes In Predictability And Intensity Of Rainy Seasons., Eloise Reid

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

The relationship between climate change, agriculture, and food security on the island of Unguja was studied. Informal interviews were carried out in the south-eastern coastal communities of Bwejuu, Paje, and Jambiani in order to gain perspective and awareness of local knowledge concerning changes in climate and it's affects on crop production. Formal interviews were conducted in Stone Town with the Ministry of Agriculture, the Department of Environment, the Sustainable Management of Land and the Environment office, private climate change experts and environmental consultants, and local NGO's to gain insight on what aspects of climate change are most detrimental in the …

New Approaches To The Green Revolution: Successes, Failures And New Rice For Africa, Maia S. Woluchem

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

The nature of worldwide food insecurity is staggering, with thirteen percent of the world’s population currently malnourished. The situation is particularly dire in Sub- Saharan Africa, where 265 million people face hunger daily, with 30 to 50 million dying yearly. Solutions to the problem are often unsustainable, save a select few. Once such attempt, coined the Green Revolution, garnered both praise and notoriety through its relatively successful transformation of Southeast Asia in the 1960’s. Aimed at increasing food production, the project focused on small-holder farmers and their acquisition of more productive inputs such as high-yield seeds, fertilizers and pesticides. African …

Régulations De L’Usage Et De La Possession De Terre: Exploration De L'Efficacité Des Règles Officielles Concernant La Gestion De Terre Et Perceptions Des Lois Par Les Habitants D’Andranomena Dans La Région Menabe, Ben Armstrong

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Autour d’Andranomena, un village qui se trouve près de Morondava dans la Région Menabe, il y a encore des terres non cultivées couvertes d’herbes sauvages ou de forets. Mais avec l’accroissement de la population dû au taux de natalité et de l’immigration, il y a de plus en plus de pressions pour trouver de la terre nouvelle.

Cette recherche de terrain se passe avec deux processus parallèles: le premier est la demande de titres domaniaux auprès de l’Etat effectuée par l’intéressé et le second est la validation de la possession de terre avec la connaissance locale de la personne qui …

Confronting Agrarian Crisis And Deconstructing Farmer Debt: The Story Of Sulthanpur Village, Andhra Pradesh, Erica Dejong

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

In a climate of globalized politics and neoliberal economics, it can be difficult to isolate the impacts of agricultural and economic policy on the lives of the rural poor in India. Hidden behind a veil of economic growth, pro urban, and pro industry governments, the stories of small and marginal farmers have been overlooked in the name of different development priorities. This study endeavors to put the agrarian poor back into the scholarship spotlight by deconstructing livelihood crises and farmer debt in Sulthanpur Village, Andhra Pradesh. This effort is important because although Andhra Pradesh has the highest rate of farmer …

The Effect Of Climate Change On Mongolian Herding Communities: Investigating The Current Prevalence Of Ecomigration And Community Perceptions Of And Responses To Migration In The Countryside, Rachael Diniega

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

The livelihoods of Mongolian herders depend on rangeland conditions, which are being threatened by land degradation and climate change. These changes may cause some Mongolian herders to move to a different land. Thus, the prevalence of ecomigration today and the perceptions and responses of herding communities to migrants were examined to understand ways government could form adaptation policy to climate change in the future. Interviews were conducted with both migrant and host herders as well as government officials in Mungunmorit, Tov and Delgerkhan, Khentii, including the state reserve Herlen Bayan-Olaang. A survey was used to evaluate the prevalence of ecomigration …