Agriculture Commons^™

International Comparison Of Cost Efficiency Of Corn And Soybean Production, Elizabeth Anne Lunik

Open Access Theses

Comparing detailed production costs and input use across countries allows producers to see if they are competitive with similar operations in other countries. This thesis looks at the cost efficiency of a sample of corn and soybean farms representing 16 countries to understand efficiency and cost trends at the farm-level, compare these farms, and identify factors that might explain farm-level performance. This analysis delves into detailed production data to calculate an important international benchmark, which is currently not available. ^ The data consist of a six-year (2008-2013) unbalanced panel of 35 corn-producing farms and 16 soybean-producing farms, which come from …

The Effect Of Biochar On The Growth Of Agricultural Weed Species, Karen Anne Mitchell

Open Access Theses

Biochar, a carbon-rich residue similar to charcoal, has been proposed as a soil amendment to improve soil quality and increase crop yields while simultaneously mitigating climate change by the sequestration of carbon. The beneficial effect of biochar on crops may extend to weed species and, although it is well known that weeds reduce crop yields, there is little published research on the effect of biochar on agricultural weed species. In a series of greenhouse and growth chamber experiments, three questions were addressed. First, how does nitrogen interact with biochar produced from a single feedstock to affect weeds? Second, how do …

Assessing The Spatial Variability Of Soils In Uganda, Joshua Okach Minai

Open Access Theses

Uganda's soils were once considered the most fertile in Africa, but soil erosion and soil nutrient mining have led to soil degradation and declining agricultural productivity. Lack of environmental awareness among farmers, traditional agricultural practices, minimal inorganic fertilizer use, and little to no use of improved crop varieties all contribute to continued soil degradation. The objectives of this study were: (1) to characterize the spatial distribution of selected physical and chemical soil properties in Uganda on a national scale utilizing the data collected by Nkonya et al. (2008), and (2) to identify the major factors and processes that are dominant …

Stages Of Succession Planning And Factors Of Transferring Management And Ownership For The Family Agribusiness, Ryan D. Musselman

Open Access Theses

Although many family business owners want to maintain family control of the business for future generations, few businesses survive across generations. Neglecting to plan an entry and exit strategy for family members are just two factors that explains why more businesses don't succeed in transferring the business to the next generation in the family. Ordered Probit models and Probit models were used to discover factors that influence the process of family business transfer of management and ownership. Data came from a survey of 736 businesses in four Midwest states. ^ Four factors were found to be correlated with the transition …

Are Cover Crops Worth It? It Depends, Joshua S. Leirer

Open Access Theses

Society is becoming increasingly more aware of the environmental consequences of agricultural production. Farmers today are under increasing pressure to adopt more sustainable farm management practices. One method to improve the sustainability of crop production is the use of cover crops. Cover crops are planted "off-season" to provide agronomic and environmental benefits. The objective of this research is to quantify the impacts of cover crops and determine where and under which management practices cover crops provide the greatest benefit. Management practices include different crop rotations, tillage practices and residue removal rates. This paper will focus on soil erosion, nitrate leaching …

Tracking Sales Activities In Agribusiness, Jiayu Li

Open Access Theses

Decisions in the sales area, including customer and product selection and margin discipline, shape profits for companies in agribusiness. Management of the sales function takes place at the organizational, managerial, and practitioner level, each of which requires data about the process. Individual salespeople benefit from better knowledge of customers (Dixon & Adamson, 2011), and sales managers benefit from understanding the activities of salespeople. Organizationally, data on sales activities may be used to determine progress toward organizational goals or to compensate salespeople. ^ This research utilized surveys to investigate how agribusiness companies differ in the ways they keep track of sales …

Male And Female Interaction In Apple: Pollen Tube Growth, Fruit Set, Fruit Quality, And Return Bloom, Khalil Rahman Jahed

Open Access Theses

In apple, adequate and appropriate pollination and fertilization is required for fruit set, fruit quality and subsequent fruit growth. Pollen source, pollen-style interaction and compatibility, and ample pollen tube growth are potentially highly influential factors on the fertilization and fruit setting process. Pollinizer is considered to be one of the influential factors and has a remarkable impact on fertilization. However, basic information on the level of pollinizer compatibility and its contribution to yield is lacking for many commercial apple cultivars. Hence, we conducted these experiments to compare pollinizers in terms of pollen tube growth, fruit set, fruit quality and return …

Does A Family-First Philosophy Affect Family Business Profitability? An Analysis Of Family Businesses In The Midwest, Maria Victoria Iglesias

Open Access Theses

Previous family business literature has analyzed how various management strategies or family tension has impacted profit. However, profit can vary due to the different family values and goals placed on the firm. The purpose of this study was to investigate how the business philosophy of a family business influenced profit. The present study sought to examine how the family business' philosophy, as in if they have a family-first or business-first orientation, influences profit. This study also investigates how the distribution of the business to the next generation, as well as how hiring family members who may not have the qualifications …

Communication, Home Bias And Social Capital, Sharon Raszap Skorbiansky

Open Access Dissertations

This dissertation consists of three essays on the effects of communication, home bias and social capital. The first study analyzes three different laboratory treatments that determine if policies that introduce and improve communication are beneficial to a market. The control treatment has no communication. Then, two different types of communication mechanisms are introduced: cheap communication, where subjects are able to lie, and truthful communication, where only honest messages may be sent. The results demonstrate that truthful communication dramatically improves subjects' ability to trade efficiently, ultimately leading to higher social surplus and lower income inequalities. Cheap communication does not produce the …

Propionate Induces Gluconeogenesis In Dairy Cattle Through Direct Activation Of The Bovine Cytosolic Phosphoenolpyruvate Carboxykinase Gene Promoter, Qian Zhang

Open Access Dissertations

Phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase (PCK, GTP; EC4.1.1.32) catalyzes the conversion of oxaloacetate (OAA) to phosphoenolpyruvate (PEP), a critical reaction for gluconeogenesis. The two isoforms of PCK, namely cytosolic PCK (PCK1), and the mitochondrial PCK (PCK2) are abundantly expressed in liver and kidney. Increased PCK1 activity and mRNA expression in liver is observed as feed intake recovers during early lactation in dairy cows, a condition linked to increased ruminal propionate production. The central hypothesis of this dissertation is that propionate regulates its own metabolism in liver of dairy cattle through regulation of the PCK1 gene. The objectives of this dissertation were to determine: …

Modeling, Empirics And Policy Implications Of Firm Heterogeneity In International Trade, Zeynep Akgul

Open Access Dissertations

Computable General Equilibrium (CGE) models are essential computational tools for trade policy analysis. While traditional CGE models based on the Armington assumption of national product differentiation have been successfully applied to various policy scenarios, they also have significant limitations in explaining the firm-level information prevalent in the recent international trade literature. The pioneering work of Melitz (2003) has provided a firm heterogeneity theory that can help address the shortcomings of Armington-based CGE models by introducing additional productivity mechanisms and extensive margin effects. Incorporation of firm heterogeneity in mainstream CGE models offers great potential to improve computational policy analysis. Even though …

Evaluating Animal Agriculture Impacts On Water Quality: Data Gaps In West Central Minnesota Case Study, Ed Brands

Environmental Studies Publications

Balancing the economic and food system contributions of animal agriculture with negative impacts such as water quality degradation has been a recurring question in Minnesota and other agricultural states (e.g., Iowa and North Carolina). Over the past 15 years significant federal- and state-level changes in the regulation of animal feeding operations (AFOs) and associated practices have attempted to improve water quality. The impacts of these changes are unclear; therefore, the main purpose of this project was to evaluate policies designed to protect water quality from manure runoff and spills within the context of a manageable geographic area. Project work was …

Commodity Of The Quarter: Quinoa: Catalyst Or Catastrophe?, Necia Parker-Gibson

University Libraries Faculty Publications and Presentations

Quinoa is a grain-like crop that is rich in protein and minerals; its ability to grow on marginal soils improves its attractiveness as a potential solution to hunger in many areas. Primarily adapted to the high Andes, it is drawing increasing amounts of research scrutiny, as researchers and farmers try to create reasonable agronomic solutions to growing populations and continuing loss of arable land. Since it has become fashionable with vegetarians and vegans in the developed world, it may be argued that the crop is less available to its original growers. Issues of economic and political sovereignty complicate the use …

Growing South Dakota (Spring 2015), College Of Agriculture &. Biological Sciences

Growing South Dakota (Publication of the College of Agriculture, Food and Environmental Sciences)

This issue includes the 2014 SDSU Extension Annual Report.

[Page] 2 Committed To South Dakotans: Programs Focus On “Healthy Food, Healthy Families, Healthy Communities”
[Page] 4 Serving South Dakota’s Multi-Cultural Communities: Programs Take Root In Sioux Falls And On Standing Rock Indian Reservation
[Page] 4 Relevant Resource: New Manual Provides Guidance For Farmers Markets
[Page] 6 Food Growers Unite: Formation Of “Food Hub” Being Explored
[Page] 8 Envisioning The Future: Extension Assists Community Leaders With Forward Thinking
[Page] 10 Innovative New Tools: Online Resources Provide Useful Climate Data, Drainage Calculators
[Page] 12 Meeting Producer Needs: Production Knowledge Enhanced With Extension …

Rural China In Transition: Changes And Transformations In China’S Agriculture And Rural Sector, John A. Donaldson, Forrest Q. Zhang

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

Agribusiness companies operating in China are transacting in various forms with small agricultural producers, and in doing so, transforming the household-based agriculture in rural China. We argue that the presence of these distinct forms and the diverging relations between agribusiness and producers show the central importance of China’s collective land rights. China’s unique system of land rights – featuring collective ownership but individualized usage rights – has acted as a powerful force in shaping interactions between agribusiness and direct producers. It provides farmers a source of economic income as well as political bargaining power – albeit to various degrees – …

Taming The Teesta: Exploring The Holistic Effects Of Hydroelectric Dam Development On The Teesta River Through Documentary Film, Taylor Graham

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Since time immemorial, the Lepcha people have called the Himalayan region that makes up the modern state of Sikkim their home and have held sacred the rivers, mountains, and forests that make up the biologically diverse region. Over the past two decades, India’s rapid development has generated a powerful thirst for electricity, and the country has increasingly looked to the cold, powerful rivers thundering from the Himalayas to supply that desired power. Hydroelectric projects have been proposed and implemented throughout the Himalayan region. Nowhere, however, are the dams as numerous or their effects as acutely felt as in India’s northwestern …

Raspberry Management For Utah, Tiffany Maughan, Brent Black

All Current Publications

This fact sheet provides a general guide to raspberry production that can be adapted for both home use and for small-scale commercial production.

Preventing Back Injury While Working In Agriculture, Rhonda Miller, Anne Brown-Reither

All Current Publications

This fact sheet describes sources of back pain for those working in agriculture, and suggests devices and equipment that can replace the need to do repetitive manual lifting that often causes back injuries.,

Signs Of Kidding And Care During And After Kids Are Born, C. Kim Chapman, Justen Smith

All Current Publications

This fact sheet describes the various parts of the parturition (kidding) process and the basic signals which does usually exhibit for each three stages of the process.

U.S. Drought Monitor, March 31, 2015, Eric Luebehusen

United States Agricultural Commodities in Drought Archive

Drought map of U.S. for March 31, 2015 (3/31/15) plus: U.S. crop areas experiencing drought (map), Approximate percentage of crop located in drought, by state (bar graph), Percent of crop area located in drought, past 52 weeks (line graph) for: Corn, Soybeans, Hay, Cattle, Winter wheat.