Agricultural Economics Commons^™

Nebraska Women In Agriculture “Take Charge Of Change”, Jessica J. Groskopf

Cornhusker Economics

A crowd of almost 300 gathered together Feb. 21 and 22 in Kearney, Nebraska for the 34th Annual Nebraska Women in Agriculture Conference, with the theme “Take Charge of Change.”

The conference is one of the longest-running women's conferences of its kind in the country. The goal of the Nebraska Women in Agriculture Conference is for women to build relationships with each other while gaining valuable knowledge about managing risk on their farms and ranches. The event featured 4 general session speakers and over 30 workshop sessions.

The keynote speaker this year was Marji Guyler- Alaniz, President and Founder of …

Impact Of Selected Financial Measures On The Term Debt Repayment Ability Of Illinois Grain Farms, Samuel Awortwe Johnson

Theses and Dissertations

A clear and accurate assessment of the financial performance of a farm business is an important component of financial management at any time but becomes even more crucial in periods of economic downturn in the farm sector. Farmers continue to increase their debt even though the prices of commodities are low, and the prices of inputs are high (Krapf, Raab, & Zwilling, 2017). In addition, high family living expenses can also place financial pressure on farms (Scott, 2016). This study focused on identifying and estimating the impact of key factors which included financial measures and family living expenses on the …

Market Impacts Of A Meat Tax, Regan Gilmore, Azzeddine Azzam

Cornhusker Economics

Over time, animal activists and environmentalists have made calls to put a tax on meat. What effect would that have? To find out, we estimated the impacts that a retail-level greenhouse gas (GHG) tax on meat would have on livestock and grain markets.

The research used a multi-market economic model that integrates the beef, pork, and poultry markets with the corn, distillers' grain, soybean, soymeal, and ethanol markets. For GHG taxes, we used those provided by Springman et al. based on a emission price (social cost) of $52 per metric ton of carbon dioxide equivalent estimated by EPA. Emissions by …

Nebraska Farm Real Estate Values Continue Gradual Declines In 2019, Jim Jansen, Jeffrey Stokes

Cornhusker Economics

The market value of agricultural land in Nebraska declined by three percent over the prior year to an average of $2,650 per acre according to the 2019 Nebraska Farm Real Estate Market Survey (Figure 1 and Table 1). This marks the fifth consecutive year of downward pressure as market values have dropped approximately 20 percent since reaching a high of $3,315 in 2014.

The University of Nebraska-Lincoln Department of Agricultural Economics annually surveys Nebraska land professionals including appraisers, farm and ranch managers, and agricultural bankers. Results from the survey are divided by land class and summarized by the eight Agricultural …

Things To Consider Before Co-Signing A Loan, J. David Aiken

Cornhusker Economics

Parents co-signing loans for their children is common in agriculture. This usually happens when the child needs a loan to purchase land, livestock, or farm equipment. Lenders are more willing to make the loan to a beginning producer if the parents co-sign. This means the parents promise to repay the loan if the younger producer cannot. Parents have been doing this as a way to help their kids get started in agriculture for decades. If the child turns out to be an effective producer, the risk of the parents being on the hook for the unpaid loan balance is pretty …

Improving Access To Clean Water Through Service Learning, Rachel E. Gehr, Tolu Odimayomi, Carolina Tornesi Mackinnon

Engagement & Service-Learning Summit

No abstract provided.

A Theoretical Model Of Underground Dipole Antennas For Communications In Internet Of Underground Things, Abdul Salam, Mehmet C. Vuran, Xin Dong, Christos Argyropoulos, Suat Irmak

Faculty Publications

The realization of Internet of Underground Things (IOUT) relies on the establishment of reliable communication links, where the antenna becomes a major design component due to the significant impacts of soil. In this paper, a theoretical model is developed to capture the impacts of change of soil moisture on the return loss, resonant frequency, and bandwidth of a buried dipole antenna. Experiments are conducted in silty clay loam, sandy, and silt loam soil, to characterize the effects of soil, in an indoor testbed and field testbeds. It is shown that at subsurface burial depths (0.1-0.4m), change in soil moisture impacts …

2019 Nebraska Property Tax School Funding Issues, J. David Aiken

Cornhusker Economics

Nebraska agricultural property taxes are among the highest in the United States. Over the last three years, Nebraska farmers and ranchers have paid nearly 31 percent of their net farm income as property taxes (47 percent in 2017). When state and federal taxes are factored in, this represents an effective tax rate of more than 50 percent (over 60 percent in 2017). While no one particularly enjoys paying property taxes (or any other tax), property taxes are especially burdensome for Nebraska farmers and ranchers.

The proposed 2020 constitutional amendment to provide property tax relief would require dramatic state spending cuts, …

Three Key Factors To Balance When Choosing A Calving Season Based On Profitability, Matthew Stockton, Devin Broadhead

Cornhusker Economics

Cow producers base major decisions such as calving season on expected economic outcomes which include productivity, input costs, personal capability, individual preferences, markets, and so on. Calving systems are generally categorized into three seasons, spring, summer and fall. Many producers select the spring calving season to maximize the weaned calf weight at the end of the summer grass season. Unfortunately this increases feeding costs since extra nutrition is needed in the spring, prior to pastures being opened. Also due to the widespread adoption of this early spring calving, the mass marketing in late fall often results in depressed calf prices …

Negotiating Cash Rent: What It Takes To Negotiate Like A Pro, Austin Duerfeldt

Cornhusker Economics

The number one question I receive is about cash rent prices. Many landlords and tenants are working to find an equitable arrangement before February 28, 2019. Given the constraints on both sides, real estate taxes and the farm economy finding that arrangement is difficult. Becoming creative in how you analyze and value different cash rent options is necessary. Before sitting down face to face, here are some suggestions and preparations I recommend that can help maximize success.

Per-Ingredient Calorie Information Reduces Calories Ordered More In A Food-Away-From-Home Setting Than Information Provided Per, Christopher Gustafson, Eliana Zeballos

Cornhusker Economics

Obesity rates in the United States have risen dramatically over the past five decades, reaching what many public health officials have referred to as epidemic proportions. A common policy response to this obesity epidemic—which is often attributed to overconsumption of highly caloric, unhealthy foods—has been to increase consumers’ access to nutrition information to help them to make healthier choices. Recently, the increasing frequency of food consumption at restaurants led to the development of nutrition labeling requirements for restaurants with 20 or more locations. The rule, requiring food retailers to post calorie amounts and to make available information about other nutrients …

An Economic Feasibility Assessment Of Autonomous Field Machinery In Grain Crop Production, Jordan Murphy Shockley, Carl R. Dillon, Scott A. Shearer

Agricultural Economics Faculty Publications

A multi-faceted whole farm planning model is developed to compare conventional and autonomous machinery for grain crop production under various benefit, farm size, suitable field day risk aversion, and grain price scenarios. Results suggest that autonomous machinery can be an economically viable alternative to conventional manned machinery if the establishment of intelligent controls is cost effective. An increase in net returns of 24% over operating with conventional machinery is found when including both input savings and a yield increase due to reduced compaction. This study also identifies the break-even investment price for intelligent controls for the safe and reliable commercialization …

Tax Strategies For Farmers And Cooperatives Under The New Section 199a, Greg Mckee

Cornhusker Economics

This tax season will be the first time cooperatives and their patrons will consider the income tax consequences of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 (TCJA). A key element of the TCJA, Section 199A, affects farm income tax liability. Not only is the Section 199A deduction a good tax break for farmers, it changes incentives for farmer patrons to market through cooperatives. It also changes incentives for how cooperatives distribute their income. Cooperative members, their boards of directors, and management teams will have many tax strategy options to consider in 2019.

The good news about Section 199A is …

Trends In Nebraska Agricultural Land Ownership And Rental Patterns, Jim Jansen, Jay Parsons, Kate Brooks

Cornhusker Economics

In Nebraska, different types of rental arrangements are used on agricultural land. These arrangements commonly include crop share, cash lease, and cash lease with flexible provisions.

Crop Share: landowner receives a percentage of actual crop yield as payment for leasing the agricultural land to the tenant. The landowner may share input and production costs of raising the crop.

Cash Leases: landowner receives an agreed upon cash payment amount for leasing the agricultural land to the tenant.

Cash lease with Flexible Provisions: land owner and tenant set a base cash rental rate which can flex upon actual crop yields, prices, or …

Grazing Myths That Reduce Profitability, Gregory S. Halich

Forage Symposium at the Kentucky Cattlemen’s Convention

Many cattle farms have moved to rotational grazing in the past decade, and there are significant benefits associated with this grazing technique. However, one thing that I have noticed is that costs are not always accounted for when it comes to recommended rotational grazing practices. If you ignore costs, partially or fully, you will invariably do too much of whatever you are considering. In this light, I will highlight four grazing recommendations (myths) that many folks are often taking to extremes related to rotational grazing, and one additional myth (generic to grazing style) that is reducing the overall profitability of …

Profitability At Eldon Farms: Guiding Principles, John Genho

Forage Symposium at the Kentucky Cattlemen’s Convention

Eldon Farms is a 7,000-acre farm in the Northern Piedmont of Virginia. Over the past 15 years, we have adopted a grazing program based on three principles. While the specifics of each operation are different, I believe these principles can be applied across a host of situations.

Forages At Kca Foreword [2019], Christopher D. Teutsch, Christi L. Forsythe, Rehanon Pampell

Forage Symposium at the Kentucky Cattlemen’s Convention

No abstract provided.

Residues Of Thiamethoxam And Mefenoxam In Vegetative And Floral Tissue Of Soybean At The Early Reproductive Stage Resulting From Seed Treatments, Carolina Camargo, Daniel D. Snow, Sathaporn Onanong, Thomas Hunt, Blair Siegfried

Department of Entomology: Faculty Publications

Thiamethoxam with mefenoxam is the most widely used neonicotinoid insecticide/fungicide mixture applied to soybean (Glycine max [L]) as seed treatments. Based on the systemic nature of thiamethoxam and mefenoxam, residues of this insecticide/fungicide mixture may be present in soybean vegetative and floral tissue and negatively impact beneficial insects. Although neonicotinoids are often applied in combination with systemic fungicides, the research on ecological risks of neonicotinoids has been focused on the analysis of these compounds without considering their interaction with other agrochemicals. The objective of this study was to identify the concentration of thiamethoxam and mefenoxam in soybean flowers and …

Avoid Family Trouble When Planning Farm/Ranch Succession, Allan Vyhnalek

Cornhusker Economics

The story goes like this: The family has one brother who stayed on the farm to work with Mom and Dad. Mom and Dad are now gone. The other brothers and sisters are now wanting to meet to determine an equitable way to split the assets. The on-farm brother has been there over 50 years. He has contributed sweat, management, and value to the operation for decades.

Then the reality sets in. There is a family conversation about the farm now that the parents are gone. It is fairly common to have a difference in perception about the on-farm brother’s …

Examining Preferences For Rural Living And How To Save The Rural Economy, Rebecca J. Vogt

Cornhusker Economics

Recent articles in the New York Times and the Washington Post discuss preferences for rural living and if rural economies can be saved. Data from the Nebraska Rural Poll and other state surveys are used to further explore these topics.