bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Economic and Environmental Effects Associated with Reducing the Use of Atrazine: An Example of Cross-Disciplinary Research
Authors: Ribaudo Marc O. , Hurley Terrance M. 
Published: July 2016

AbstractRestricting or eliminating the use of atrazine in the Midwest would have important economic consequences for farmers, consumers, and the environment. These consequences can only be evaluated with cooperation between economists and weed scientists. The weed control choice set available to farmers cannot be observed through deductive research. Economists and weed scientists worked together to identify all possible weed control strategies for corn and sorghum in the Midwest and to incorporate them into an economic model. An atrazine ban was found to be the costliest strategy, and a targeted, water-quality based strategy the most cost effective.
Competitive Strategies of Biotechnology Firms: Implications for U.S. Agriculture
Authors: Begemann Brett D. 
Published: July 2016

AbstractThe agricultural biotechnology industry has evolved from a focus on outstanding science to a more mature phase where firms focus on near-term products and building businesses. Understanding complex relationships and distribution channels and a global perspective are crucial to commercialization. Yet, leading-edge technology and early identification of key traits will be critical to developing superior products that ensure competitiveness in the marketplace. Monsanto is organizing around a life sciences model where seed, crop chemicals, pharmaceuticals, and food ingredient businesses will exploit mutual synergies driven by basic science and discovery.
Explaining Rural Household Participation in Recycling
Authors: Jakus Paul M. , Tiller Kelly H. , Park William M. 
Published: July 2016

AbstractRising landfill costs have forced solid waste managers to consider waste stream reduction alternatives such as household recycling. Explaining the factors which motivate households to recycle is important to regions where households must bear a large portion of the recycling cost because unit-based garbage disposal fees and curbside recycling are not feasible options. Empirical results indicate that residents are responsive to constraints introduced by the household production technology, such as time costs and storage space, but are not responsive to variables measuring a recycling promotional program. Promotion efforts should switch focus from broader “public good” benefits of recycling to reducing household-level household production constraints.
Estimating Insecticide Application Frequencies: A Comparison of Geometric and Other Count Data Models
Authors: Hubbell Bryan J. 
Published: July 2016

AbstractThe number of insecticide applications made by an apple grower to control an insect infestation is modeled as a geometric random variable. Insecticide efficacy, rate per application, month of treatment, and method of application all have significant impacts on the expected number of applications. The number of applications to control a given insect population is dependent on the probability of achieving successful control with a given application. Results suggest that northeastern growers have the highest and mid-Atlantic growers the lowest probability of controlling an infestation with a given application. Results also indicate that scales require the least and moths the most number of applications. Growers are not responsive to per unit insecticide prices, but respond negatively to insecticide toxicity, supporting findings from previous pesticide demand analyses.
Economic Criteria for Evaluating Commodity Price Forecasts
Authors: Dorfman Jeffrey H. , Mcintosh Christopher S. 
Published: July 2016

AbstractForecasts of economic time series are often evaluated according to their accuracy as measured by either quantitative precision or qualitative reliability. We argue that consumers purchase forecasts for the potential utility gains from utilizing them, not for their accuracy. Using Monte Carlo techniques to incorporate the temporal heteroskedasticity inherent in asset returns, the expected utility of a set of qualitative forecasts is simulated for corn and soybean futures prices. Monetary values for forecasts of various reliability levels are derived. The method goes beyond statistical forecast evaluation, allowing individuals to incorporate their own utility function and trading system into valuing a set of asset price forecasts.
Multivariate Procedures for Identifying Rural Land Submarkets
Authors: Kennedy Gary A. , Henning Steven A. , Vandeveer Lonnie R. , Dai Ming 
Published: July 2016

AbstractResearch has developed empirical models and procedures for analyzing factors which influence rural land markets; however, there have been limited efforts in developing procedures for identifying rural land submarkets. Principal component analysis is used here to detect the presence of multiple rural land submarkets. Cluster analysis is then used as a basis for identifying eight contiguous rural land submarkets in Louisiana. As opposed to single-attribute procedures that have been based largely on subjective judgment, multivariate procedures illustrated in this analysis provide a means for capturing the combined effects of physical and socioeconomic influences in delineating rural land submarkets.
Measuring Consumer Benefits of Food Safety Risk Reductions
Authors: Buzby Jean C. , Fox John A. , Ready Richard C. , Crutchfleld Stephen R. 
Published: July 2016

AbstractMicrobial pathogens and pesticide residues in food pose a financial burden to society which can be reduced by incurring costs to reduce these food safety risks. We explore three valuation techniques that place a monetary value on food safety risk reductions, and we present a case study for each: a contingent valuation survey on pesticide residues, an experimental auction market for a chicken sandwich with reduced risk of Salmonella, and a cost-of-illness analysis for seven foodborne pathogens. Estimates from these techniques can be used in cost/benefit analyses for policies that reduce food safety risks.
U.S.-China Agricultural Trade: Constraints and Potential
Authors: Wailes Eric J. , Fang Cheng , Tuan Francis C. 
Published: July 2016

AbstractChina's agricultural trade expanded rapidly following economic reforms and the open-door policy adopted in the late 1970s. The composition of agricultural trade with China follows its labor-abundant and land-scarce resource endowment with imports of bulk and processed intermediates and exports of consumer-ready and processed goods. Constraints on U.S.China agricultural trade include tariffs, state trading, food security policies, and other nontariff barriers. Growth potential is based on China's fundamental demand forces including the world's largest population, a high real-income growth rate, an emerging urban middle class, and further trade reforms to be implemented through accession to the World Trade Organization.
Chinese Consumer Demand for Animal Products and Implications for U.S. Pork and Poultry Exports
Authors: Wang Qingbin , Fuller Frank , Hayes Dermot , Halbrendt Catherine 
Published: July 2016

AbstractThis paper examines Chinese consumer preference for major animal products and assesses the potential impacts of a reduction in China's import tariff on its pork and poultry demand and net import. Our analysis suggests that China's demand for animal products will continue to grow as income increases. Using a trade model, results of our scenario analysis indicate that a reduction in China's import tariffs will significantly increase its net pork and poultry imports and the U.S. will capture most of the increases. Nevertheless, the impact on the market price in China and the U.S. is likely to be very small.
The Effect of Risk and Autonomy on Independent Hog Producers' Contracting Decisions
Authors: Gillespie Jeffrey M. , Eidman Vernon R. 
Published: July 2016

AbstractThe introduction of vertical coordination in the hog industry has provided producers with new business arrangements for raising hogs. While some researchers have elicited utility functions for hog producers on the basis of income risk, none have addressed autonomy, a factor which appears to be important in business arrangement selection for independent family hog operations. In this study, a method is developed for eliciting a multi-attribute function with attributes of income and autonomy. Utility functions are elicited for a group of Minnesota farrow-to-finish hog producers. For these producers, autonomy dominated risk as the most important attribute in business arrangement selection.
Analysis of Changing Methods of Vertical Coordination in the Pork Industry
Authors: Martinez Steve W. , Smith Kevin E. , Zering Kelly D. 
Published: July 2016

AbstractThis study examines the motivation behind contracts and vertical integration in the pork industry, and simulates the effects of potential improvements in coordination. Incentives related to lowering costs of measuring and sorting hogs, and protecting against opportunistic behavior associated with specific assets, can result in hog quality improvements. A framework for simulating the effects of increased coordination through contracts and vertical integration was developed and used to evaluate potential improvements in leanness. Although simulations suggest only modest changes in pork prices and supplies, gains in consumers' surplus could be substantial for larger demand shifts due to quality improvements.
Impacts of Financial Characteristics and the Boom-Bust Cycle on the Farm Inventory-Cash Flow Relationship
Authors: Bierlen Ralph , Ahrendsen Bruce L. , Dixon Bruce L. 
Published: July 2016

AbstractThe sensitivity of farm inventory investment to movements in cash flow is tested. Inventories should be sensitive to shifts in cash flow because inventory investment is readily reversible and inventories are a significant portion of assets. Investment models estimated with Kansas farm panel data indicate that: (a) farms absorb internal finance shocks by adjusting inventories, (b) the inventory investment of livestock and high-debt farms are more sensitive to movements in cash flow than crop and low-debt farms, and (c) inventory investment is more sensitive to cash flow during the 1981-86 bust and the 1987-92 recovery than during the 1975-80 boom.
Impact of Production Changes on Income and Environmental Risk in the Southern High Plains
Authors: Mapp Harry P. 
Published: July 2016

AbstractRegional and farm-level analyses are conducted to evaluate the economic and environmental impacts of water quality protection policies. The regional analysis evaluates reducing nitrate losses by reducing per-acre nitrogen use, taxing nitrogen use, taxing irrigation water use, and reducing furrow irrigation. Incentives to convert furrow systems to sprinkler and LEPA systems outperform the other policies. The firm-level analysis derives farm plans that limit the expected values of environmental indices for nitrates and pesticides, and reduce the probability that specified targets will be exceeded. The analysis demonstrates the importance of evaluating environmental risk as a stochastic process.
The Changing Political Environment for Tobacco—Implications for Southern Tobacco Farmers, Rural Economies, Taxpayers, and Consumers
Authors: Brown A. Blake , Snell William M. , Tiller Kelly H. 
Published: July 2016

AbstractThe farm level economic implications of the political turmoil surrounding tobacco are examined. Tobacco ranks first in crop receipts in the Southeastern United States. Free market advocates typically want to eliminate the tobacco program because of its cartellike nature. Health advocates want to maintain the program because it limits tobacco production. Cigarette manufacturers tolerate the program because of the political support they receive from program stakeholders. The effects of cigarette price increases with and without a program are examined. Whether or not the program is maintained in the face of declining tobacco demand has significant implications for Southern agriculture.
Dairy Farm Size, Entry, and Exit in a Declining Production Region
Authors: Rahelizatovo Noro C. , Gillespie Jeffrey M. 
Published: July 2016

AbstractAs with most agricultural industries, the U.S. dairy industry has evolved into a structure including fewer yet larger firms. In Louisiana, total milk production has declined along with dairy farm numbers since 1972. This study addresses the impact of alternative policies, macroeconomic factors, and technology on the structure of the Louisiana dairy industry using a micro-data non-stationary Markov chain analysis. Results indicate that a number of factors have affected the structure of the industry in Louisiana, including but not limited to prices, milk supply reduction programs, technology and interest rates.
The Cotton Acreage Effects of Boll Weevil Eradication: A County-Level Analysis
Authors: Dumas Christopher F. , Goodhue Rachael E. 
Published: July 2016

AbstractThe success of the Boll Weevil Eradication (BWE) Program is believed to be one factor underlying the recent increase in cotton acreage in the Southeast. We find weak evidence that the initial, eradication phase of the BWE program decreases cotton acreage, and strong evidence that the second, maintenance phase of the program increases acreage. The full benefits associated with a BWE program may not become apparent until acreage adjustments occur, four to five years after program initiation. Our results indicate that for a representative sample county neglecting acreage effects may lead to underestimation of BWE program net benefits by 9 percent-12 percent.
Georgia Cotton Acreage Response to the Boll Weevil Eradication Program
Authors: Tribble Camille M. , Mcintosh Christopher S. , Wetzstein Michael E. 
Published: July 2016

AbstractAn adaptive regression model is employed for estimating pre- and post-boll weevil eradication cotton-acreage response. Results indicate cotton acreage becoming more inelastic to own- and cross-price changes. As a result of this shift in acreage response and yield increases from eradication, net producer benefits on average are $88.73 per acre.
The Environmental Effects of Adopting IPM Techniques: The Case of Peach Producers
Authors: Fernandez-Cornejo Jorge , Ferraioli Jennifer 
Published: July 2016

AbstractThe impact of adopting integrated pest management (IPM) techniques is examined for peach producers in eight states accounting for most of the U.S. production. The method accounts for self-selectivity, simultaneity, and the pesticide demand equations are theoretically consistent with a restricted-profit function. Biological pest management techniques tend to reduce pesticide use and pesticide toxicity substantially, while pesticide-efficiency techniques (using scouting and economic thresholds) have an increasing effect on pesticide use and toxicity, and cultural techniques have an insignificant effect on pesticide use and toxicity.
Structural Changes in U.S. Agriculture: Implications for Small Farms
Authors: Gebremedhin Tesfa G. , Christy Ralph D. 
Published: July 2016

AbstractA descriptive analysis and a survey of literature were used in this assessment of the transformation of the structure of production agriculture. The changes in production agriculture have important implications for resource use, population distribution in rural communities, and the survival of small farms. The shifting structural change in production agriculture as a response to economic and technological adjustments is not a temporary phenomenon. The economic and natural base of agriculture will change toward greater capital intensity and concentration of ownership, and will raise public policy questions in relation to the survival of a large farm population.
A Decision Support Aid for Beef Cattle Investment Using Expert Systems
Authors: Falconer Lawrence L. , Long Charles R. , McGrann James M. 
Published: July 2016

AbstractThe beef cattle investment decision provides an excellent opportunity to increase the economic efficiency of beef cattle production. The investment questions that face beef cattle producers are of interest to beef cattle producers, educators, and financial institutions involved in lending to beef cattle producing firms. This study develops a decision support aid utilizing expert system technology to assist beef cattle producers in making well-founded investment decisions with respect to the firm's beef cattle herd.
Manure Value and Liveweight Swine Decisions
Authors: Roka Fritz M. , Hoag Dana L. 
Published: July 2016

AbstractProduced as a joint product, economic theory suggests that manure value could influence livestock management decisions such as herd size and optimal market weights. This study examines the concept of manure value and its connection with optimal replacement age or market weight. A model of a swine finishing operation representative of North Carolina conditions is developed. Over the range of conditions considered, manure value is negative and does not affect market weights. The marginal per head change in manure value is small relative to the marginal per head change in net returns from pork production. Further, economies of scale with respect to irrigation cause manure value to increase with herd size.
Grantsmanship and Consulting Policy
Authors: Knutson Ronald D. 
Published: July 2016

AbstractMarket forces, when viewed from the perspective of faculty salaries alone, clearly indicate that the highest and best use of a faculty member's time and expertise is no longer university employment. As a result, many productive faculty members are becoming increasingly dissatisfied, and many top domestic undergraduate students are eliminating academia as an employment alternative. This trend operates to the long-run detriment of the land grant university system. In part, these forces are a direct result of outdated and/or unimaginative administrative policies, inadequate reward systems, and the inability of the profession to demonstrate its productivity in terms that society understands and appreciates. Implications are drawn for land grant consulting and grantsmanship policy.
Melding Private and Public Interests in Water Rights Markets
Authors: Lynne Gary D. , Saarinen Phyllis 
Published: July 2016

AbstractThe debate over privatizing and water markets has moved back and forth for decades between the “I” and the “We” perspectives. Rather than either/or, a balanced “I&We” view of water institutions is needed. West is meeting east in water law. Public interest needs must be satisfied in appropriate decision forums, but marketing may prove a social improvement when used as a supplement. Balancing an “I&We” institution involves establishing an acceptable or tolerable level of interference through judicious mixing of state, common and private property regimes. Third-party effects are eliminated as mutual gain arises in a variety of decision forums.
Rural Development, Privatization and Public Choice: Substance Depends upon Process
Authors: Hite James 
Published: July 2016

AbstractWhether or not privatization facilitates rural development depends upon what rural development means. In practice, rural development often is the result of a struggle between rent defenders and rent seekers. A positivist concept of rural development is proposed, and the institutions of public choice are examined to determine how they might influence privatization decisions. The conclusion is that whether or not privatization improves efficiency of adjustment in rural economies depends upon the specifics of political deals required to achieve a particular act of privatization.
Macroeconomic Factors and the Thoroughbred Industry
Authors: Karungu Peter , Reed Michael , Tvedt Douglas 
Published: July 2016

AbstractA capitalization approach is used to estimate econometrically the effects of exchange rate, interest rate and tax law changes on thoroughbred yearling prices. The analysis found that exchange rate and tax law changes have significantly influenced yearling prices since the early 1980s. Another serious price-reducing event was the 1986 tax law change. Both of these factors have counteracted the positive impact of increased purse rates on yearling prices.
The Political Economy of the U.S.-Mexico Free Trade Agreement: Analysis of the Congressional Fast Track Vote
Authors: Boadu Fred O. , Thompson Maria R. 
Published: July 2016

AbstractThis paper presents an empirical analysis of the strategic forces shaping U.S.-Mexico trade relationships and the possibilities of extending the trade agreement to the rest of the Americas. The paper concludes that constituency interests, party loyalty, the proportion of a state's population of Hispanic origin, and the influence of textile-related employment in the state were significant explanatory factors in the Congressional Fast Track vote that occurred in May of 1991.
A Structural Approach to Estimating Rate of Return Expectations of Farmers
Authors: Ahrendsen Bruce L. 
Published: July 2016

AbstractA dual cost function approach is developed as an alternative to time series and simplistic approaches for estimating farmers' expected operating rates of return on assets. A translog restricted cost function is estimated using data provided by 152 North Carolina dairy farmers over the period 1976 through 1986. The predicted costs from the fitted restricted cost function are used to construct estimates of farmers' expected operating rates of return on assets. The estimates from this structural approach explain more of the variation in observed rates than do time series estimates or sample mean observed rates.
Incorporating the 1990 Farm Bill into Farm-Level Decision Models: An Application to Cotton Farms
Authors: Duffy Patricia A. , Cain Danny L. , Young George J. 
Published: July 2016

AbstractA five-year, 0-1, mixed integer programming model was developed to analyze the effects of 1990 Farm Bill legislation on the crop-mix decisions made on cotton farms. Results showed that, when compared to the 1985 Farm Bill, the 1990 Farm Bill can result in higher whole-farm income despite new "triple base" provisions limiting payment acres. The increase in income results from elimination of limited cross-compliance provisions and the change to a three-year base calculation. The model was also used to assess the likely impact of possible changes in the current legislation.
Optimal Hog Slaughter Weights Under Alternative Pricing Systems
Authors: Boland M. A. , Preckel P. V. , Schinckel A. P. 
Published: July 2016

AbstractThree hog genotypes are simulated to determine how producer profits, economically optimal slaughter weights, and carcass component weights change under three pricing models. Live weight pricing pays more for the fatter barrows whereas a three component (separate payments for fat, lean, and byproducts) and six component (separate payments for major primal cuts, other lean, fat, and byproducts) pricing system pay more for the leaner gilts. Implications for selection of genetic stock and pricing system are presented.
Empiricism and the Art of Teaching
Authors: Broder Josef M. 
Published: July 2016

“Teaching is a messy, indeterminate, inscrutable, often intimidating, and highly uncertain task.”Richard ElmoreEffective teaching is a recurring topic of faculty discussion and disagreement. The title of my address suggests that effective teaching has two components. First and increasingly important, teaching has an empirical component. The empiricism of teaching asserts that there are identifiable traits of effective teaching that can be used to improve one's teaching experience. I want to share with you some insights we have gained from recent empirical studies on teaching and the teaching evaluation process. Second, there is the art of teaching or the intangible and creative component of teaching. I will speak on how the art of teaching can be refined. This I will do by way of offering some personal teaching tips that have at least made my teaching experience more enjoyable.