Agricultural and Resource Economics Commons^™

A Model Of Farm Transition Planning For The U.S. Plains, Garret Reed, Shannon Ferrell, Eric A. Devuyst, Rodney Jones

Journal of Applied Farm Economics

Farm transition planning continues to be a significant challenge for U.S. agricultural owner/producers. Past and ongoing research points to an aging farm population with little or no planning to transition farms to succeeding farming family members, despite documented goals of continued family ownership and operation. This study developed and analyzed alternative farm asset transition strategies using a representative farm for Oklahoma. The simulations considered equity issues, family living requirements, and cash flow pre- and post-transition. Strategies analyzed considered off-farm investments and life insurance tools to even bequests between an on-farm and an off-farm heir, and also modeled splitting inheritance into …

The Cover Crop Seed Industry: An Indiana Case Study, John C. Tyndall, Adriana Valcu-Lisman, Melanie Bogert, Abigail Zobrodsky

Journal of Applied Farm Economics

Winter cover crops are plants used to protect soils during the period between the harvest and establishment of cash crops such as corn and soybeans, effectively providing farm fields with perennial cover. The total cost of cover crops varies considerably from site to site and year to year, yet the single costliest aspect of using cover crops is the cost of seed. Seed cost also tends to be the most volatile component of the cost of cover crop use, subject to complex supply dynamics associated with producing viable seed, storage capacity, and unpredictable regional demand. We conducted a survey of …

Farm Efficiency And Productivity Growth: The Effect Of Commodity Prices, Elizabeth Canales, Jason S. Bergtold, Allen Featherstone

Journal of Applied Farm Economics

Crop prices can affect farm productivity through input- output decisions. This study assesses the relationship between crop prices and productivity changes among a sample of Kansas farms. The changes in total factor productivity are evaluated using a nonparametric approach with a Malmquist productivity index and potential drivers of technical efficiency and productivity change are analyzed. Farms with higher leverage and greater diversification are likely to be more efficient and experience productivity change. Lower productivity occurred during years with higher crop prices, suggesting that innovation is more likely to occur when margins are tight.

Financing Beef Cow Herd Building For Beginning Ranchers, Abby Shalekbriski, Eric A. Devuyst, Cheryl S. Devuyst, Roger Sahs, Matt Stockton, Katlin Ramy

Journal of Applied Farm Economics

Intensive capital requirements relative to cash flows available inhibit the entry of beginning producers into the cattle industry. Here, we propose and analyze a strategy for beginning ranchers to build a herd. Over a three-year cycle, new producers borrow cash needed to purchase 450- pound heifers in the first year, breed heifers, sell open heifers and bull calves, retain heifer replacements, rebreed the two- year-old cows, and eventually sell bred two-turning-three cows 27 months after the initial heifer purchase. The goal is to retain a group of debt-free heifers. Analyses conducted over 14 cycles of 27 months each across three …

The Role Of Farmer Heterogeneity In Nutrient Management: A Farm-Level Analysis, Hua Wang, Naveen Adusumilli, Daniel Fromme, Keith Shannon

Journal of Applied Farm Economics

Understanding farmer heterogeneity regarding nutrient management decisions is crucial for the success of any nonpoint source pollution prevention programs. Data from a farm- level experiment of cover crops in corn production were used in the Stochastic Efficiency with Respect to a Function framework to examine preference for nitrogen strategies over a range of risk aversion levels. We show the highest net return and certainty equivalent to the consideration of N supplied by cover crops. The results provide insights into policy discussions about the level of conservation incentives and plans that offer solutions to mitigate nonpoint source pollution.

The Custom Service Industry's Role In Precision Agriculture Adoption: A Literature Review, Scott W. Fausti, Bruce Erickson, David Clay, Sharon Clay

Agronomy, Horticulture and Plant Science Faculty Publications

This literature review focuses on the role of the precision agriculture (PA) custom services industry in facilitating farmer adoption of PA technology. Based on the review, a series of stylized facts are developed that characterize the custom services industry's role in the PA adoption process in the United States. The literature suggests that increasing the availability of custom services in local agricultural production markets will positively influence the rate of PA adoption. Recent PA custom services industry field surveys, however, indicate that skilled labor, proficient in PA technology, is critical to develop and provide custom services needed to increase the …

Is The Custom Service Industry's Role In Precision Agriculture Linked To Workforce Development?, Scott W. Fausti, Bruce Erickson, David Clay, Sharon Clay

Agronomy, Horticulture and Plant Science Faculty Publications

Retail dealership survey data suggests that the lack of a qualified precision agriculture (PA) workforce limits the ability of the PA service industry to provide technological knowledge and services to producers who have adopted PA technology. The key empirical findings suggest that retail dealerships have the greatest difficulty finding workers who have, a) the capability to operate and collect data using specialized PA technology, b) the capability to interpret and develop management strategies using PA generated data, and c) a basic generalized competency in PA technology and its applications. The perceived shortage of skilled workers suggests that there is a …

Novel Pilot Development Of A Closed-Loop Sustainable System Between Biogas Renewable Energy, Distilling, And Aquaculture By Vermiculture Of Stillage Wastes, Samuel C. Kessler

The Cardinal Edge

This study provides a mixed-methods approach in analyzing a potential closed-loop system between renewable biogas production from anaerobic digestion, vermiculture production, aquaculture production, and organic wastes with a particular focus on stillage wastes. Such system may hold significant promise for significantly reducing organic carbon and methane emissions from its components, and should be assessed for such. The 2021 IPCC report essentially identified methane reduction as the single fastest way to slow global warming (IPCC, 2021), making the study and implementation of methane-reducing systems and supportive policy for them critical. Knowledge gaps to implementing this system were qualitatively identified as disconnect …

Farmers’ Adoption And Perceived Benefits Of Diversified Crop Rotations In The Margins Of U.S. Corn Belt, Tong Wang, Jin Hailong, Yubing Fan, Oladipo Obembe, Dapeng Li

Economics Faculty Publications

Monoculture and simplified two-crop rotation systems compromise the ecosystem services essential to crop production, diminish agricultural productivity, and cause detrimental effects on the environment. In contrast to the simplified two-crop rotation, diversified crop rotation (DCR) refers to rotation systems that contain three or more crops. Despite multiple benefits generated by DCR, its usage has dwindled over the past several decades. This paper examined determinants of farmers' adoption decisions and perceived benefits of DCR in the west margins of the U.S. Corn Belt where crop diversity has declined. We analyzed 708 farmer responses from a farmer survey conducted in the eastern …

Biosecurity Council Of Western Australia Annual Report 2020/2021, Biosecurity Council Of Western Australia

Biosecurity published reports

Understanding the needs and challenges of industry, community and government is key to ensuring relevant and constructive advice to government. During 2020/21, the Council continued to monitor biosecurity-related developments at national and State levels and proactively engaged with industry, community and government on biosecurity matters. The key areas of advice that were progressed during the year were:

• mechanisms for funding biosecurity in WA
• the effectiveness of WA’s border biosecurity system
• how Western Australians perceive ‘biosecurity’ and their role in pest, weed and disease prevention, surveillance and response; and
• the quadruple bottom line of biosecurity.

Non-Tax Incentives And Agricultural Output In Nigeria, Elias A. Udeaja, Elijah O. Akanni, Emomotimi M. Question, Peter F. Offum, Titoluwa P. Eyinla

Economic and Financial Review

This study investigates the impact of non-tax incentives on agricultural sector output in Nigeria from 1981 to 2019, using Autoregressive Distributed Lag (ARDL) Model/Bounds test technique. The findings of this study show that non-tax incentives have a significant positive impact on agricultural sector output growth in the long-run; however, the effect was negative and statistically insignificant in the short run. On the other hand, government expenditure on agriculture was negative and significant on agricultural sector output growth in the short-run, while its long-run impact was also negative but not significant. Therefore, the study recommends targeted expansion of non-tax incentives to …

Agricultural Carbon Markets: How Might They Work?, Drew Havens

Department of Agricultural Economics: Presentations, Working Papers, and Gray Literature

1) Introduction: a) Climate Change • b) Soil Sequestration and the Carbon Cycle • c) Increasing Soil Carbon Sequestration with Economics • d) Guiding Research Questions • e) Goals of this Report

2) What are agricultural carbon offset payment programs?

3) Are agricultural carbon markets effective?: • a) Voluntary vs Regulatory • b) Regional vs Global • c) Effectiveness of Agricultural Carbon Markets

4) Other Methods of Reducing Emissions: a) Carbon Tax • b) Cap and Trade • c) Summary

5) History of Programs That Provide Carbon Offset Payments to Farmers: a) The Chicago Climate Exchange • b) The Kyoto …

An Examination Of Retail-Level Purchasing Behavior For Healthful Food In Louisiana, Marcus Coleman

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Consumer access and choice for quality and affordable healthful foods at the retail-level is at the forefront of discussions related to the nutritional status of consumers in many communities across the United States. In Louisiana, many consumers live in food environments where retail options for quality and affordable healthful foods are limited, not affordable, or not available. Addressing these issues is complicated by the fact that literature focused on consumer access and choice for healthful foods at the retail-level in Louisiana is inadequate to play a significant role in addressing issues related to purchasing behavior for healthful foods faced by …

Apiculture Adaptations In A Shifting World: The Beekeeper’S Experience Across The Globe, Katherine Lloyd

Capstone Collection

Existing research suggests that changes in climate, such as rainfall and temperature shifts, will threaten bees’ main food sources and cause detrimental impacts on apiculture globally. Despite this, to the best of the author’s knowledge, there is little available by way of research relating to how beekeepers themselves experience these increased pressures to their practices. This research project investigated the experiences of beekeepers in the United States, Malawi, and Cameroon. Surveys of US beekeepers, and interviews with Malawian and Cameroonian beekeepers were coded for emergent themes and surveys were analyzed via descriptive statistics. Major differences in challenges reported by beekeepers …

Measuring Palatability As A Linear Combination Of Nutrient Levels In Food Items, Jeffrey S. Young

Faculty & Staff Research and Creative Activity

It well known that palatability and nutritional quality of foods and/or diets are viewed as being in tension with one another. While there exist multiple measures of healthiness, there are no such measures for tastiness. This gap limits the degree to which researchers can investigate this tension and its implications for dietary behavior and hence public health and nutrition policy. The scope of future work concerning the dietary behavior of Americans would expand greatly if researchers better understood consumers’ willingness to eat certain foods, which matters as much as recommending those foods for them to eat in the first place. …

Comparing Heavy Metal Content Found In Spinach (Spinacia Oleracea) Grown On The Roof And Ground Sites At Portland State University, Tyler Robin, Gwynn R. Johnson, Olyssa Starry

McNair Symposium

As a result of urbanization, fresh, healthy food can be expensive and easily contaminated but space for local farming is limited. Roofs can be underutilized in densely populated cities and can offer a space for local fresh farming. The purpose of this study is to find if growing leafy vegetables on the roof can limit heavy metal exposure from air pollutants. By growing Spinach on five roofs and five ground locations around the Portland State University campus, at varying heights, we can extract the heavy metals found in these greens and compare them to each other. The expected results show …

Public Perception Of Uas And Vertiports In The Wastach Front Survey Results, Brent C. Chamberlain, Katelynn Hall, Keunhyun Park

Browse all Datasets

This project aims to further understand the current public perception of UAS and their integration into residential areas for package delivery through the development of vertiports The survey also aims to identify evidence of NIMBY (not in my backyard) in these perceptions. The survey specifically asked participants about demographics, familiarity with UAV, perceptions of UAV, and perceptions of vertiports through 6 different potential vertiport placements in residential of community center focused areas.

Testing The Effects Of Two Field-To-Fork Programs On The Nutritional Outcomes Of Elementary School Students From Diverse And Lower-Income Communities, Kimberly R. Hartson, Kristi M. King, Carol O'Neal, Aishia Brown, Toluwanimi Olajuyigbe, Shakeyrah Elmore, Angelique Perez

Faculty and Staff Scholarship

The purpose of this quasi-experimental study was to evaluate the effects of two farm-to-school programs, specifically the Field-to-Fork Multi-visit Program (N  =  264) and the Field-to-Fork After-school Club (N  =  56), on nutritional outcomes of elementary school students (third to fifth grade) from urban, diverse, and lower-income communities. Data were collected via self-report surveys measuring: (a) knowledge of recommendations for daily fruit and vegetable intake; (b) fruit and vegetable consumption; (c) knowledge of cooking a healthy recipe using vegetables; and (d) desire for farm fresh foods at school. Statistical analyses included McNemar’s and Wilcoxon signed rank tests. The …

Embodied Engineering : Gendered Labor, Food Security, And Taste In Twentieth-Century Mali, Laura Ann Twagira

Ohio University Press Open Access Books

Foregrounding African women’s ingenuity and labor, this pioneering case study shows how women in rural Mali have used technology to ensure food security through the colonial period, environmental crises, and postcolonial rule.

By advocating for an understanding of rural Malian women as engineers, Laura Ann Twagira rejects the persistent image of African women as subjects without technological knowledge or access and instead reveals a hidden history about gender, development, and improvisation. In so doing, she also significantly expands the scope of African science and technology studies.

Using the Office du Niger agricultural project as a case study, Twagira argues that …

Yield And Economic Performance Of Crop Rotation Systems In South Dakota, Hanxiao Feng, Tong Wang, Shannon L. Osborne, Sandeep Kumar

Economics Faculty Publications

Crop yield and economic profitability, both highly dependent on local crop management, soil characteristics, and weather conditions, are among the most influential factors to consider when considering a cropping system. The objective of this study was to compare the economic returns of three different 4-yr diverse crop rotations with that of a 2-yr traditional crop rotation in eastern South Dakota. The rotations included were (a) corn (Zea mays L.)–soybean [Glycine max (L.) Merr.]–spring wheat (Triticum aestivum L.)–pea (Pisum sativum L.) (CSSwP), (b) corn–pea–winter wheat–soybean (CPWwS), (c) corn–oat (Avena sativa L.)–winter wheat–soybean (COWwS), and (d) corn–soybean …