Members in the News: Reardon, Balagtas, Thilmany, Ortega, Paulson, Schnitkey, Kim et al.

 

Thomas Reardon, Michigan State University

“Snack Attack: How The West Exported Unhealthy Eating to Africa and Asia”

By: The Guardian – September 14, 2023

the distinction between a snack and a full meal has collapsed because of changing food systems, with small, portable foods becoming an important part of people’s lives. It is not a snack to them, it’s a cheap and fast meal. Snacks have displaced a traditional meal sitting down, because of convenience. According to the research, sub-Saharan African and south Asia are the regions where the double burden of malnutrition is most present, affecting 26 countries where efforts to bring down child stunting caused by undernutrition have not kept up with the rise in numbers of overweight and obese people, driven by UPFs.”

(Continued...)
Read More On: The Guardian

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David Ortega, Michigan State University

“Senators Stabenow, Boozman Announce Hearing on Foreign Ownership in U.S. Agriculture”

By: US Senate – September 20, 2023

“The US Senate Agriculture Committee will hold a hearing this Wednesday (9/27) on “Foreign Ownership in U.S. Agriculture.” The hearing will begin at 10 a.m. in Room 328A of the Russell Senate Office Building. The witnesses who will be testifying are: Mrs. Gloria Montaño Greene, USDA deputy undersecretary for farm production and conservation, Mr. Harrison Pittman, director, National Agricultural Law Center, University of Arkansas, Dr. David Ortega, associate professor, dept. of agricultural food and resource economics, Michigan State University.”

(Continued...)
Read More On: US Senate

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Joseph Balagtas, Purdue University

“Survey Reveals Impact Political Ideology Has on Consumer Food Perceptions”

By: Beef Magazine – September 14, 2023

“Food inflation expectations suggest consumers continue to believe that food price inflation is cooling. Consumers also estimated a larger increase in food prices over the past year than is indicated by official estimates. This suggests that inflationary pressures are still very much at the forefront of consumers’ minds.”

(Continued...)
Read More On: Beef Magazine

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Dawn Thilmany, Colorado State University

“Why Coloradans Are Cultivating Connections With Local Farmers”

By: KUNC – September 14, 2023

“Summer may be winding down, but many northern Colorado farmers' markets are still humming with people lining up to buy crates of Palisade peaches, Olathe sweet corn, Pueblo chiles and other locally grown produce. But growing in Colorado can be challenging – the growing season is short, the sun is scorching, and the rainy season can be unpredictable.”

(Continued...)
Read More On: KUNC

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David Ortega, Michigan State University
Joseph Balagtas, Purdue University

“Sizzle, fizzle. Donald Trump Off on Bacon Price Increase Under Joe Biden”

By: Politifacts – September 18, 2023

“In 2021 and 2022 we saw significant inflationary pressures in the economy and increased consumer spending on food. High grain prices during that time made it more costly to raise hogs. All of this contributed to increased prices for pork products, and other foods."

"The story of 2021 was a big bounce-back in food service activity, from more people eating in restaurants. This caught packers of pork, beef, and chicken off guard after the COVID-19-related restaurant closures of 2020. The story since Fall 2022 is consumers have spent their stimulus funds, so there's decreased demand for pork."

(Continued...)
Read More On: Politifacts

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Nick Paulson, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Gary Schnitkey, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Joana Colussi, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

“Ag Economists Issue Report Tracking Fertilizer Prices, Their Impact on Ag Producers”

By: Agri Marketing – September 18, 2023

“The prices of fertilizer products reached record highs in nominal terms in 2022. However, the price spikes in the mid-1970s exceeded those of 2022 in real terms and fertilizer expenditures relative to crop revenues were higher in central Illinois for the 2009 crop year than what is currently projected for 2023. Average Illinois fertilizer prices have declined consistently from the peaks reached in the second quarter of 2022. Current projections from 2024 Illinois crop budgets suggest a return to the historical average for fertilizer expenses as a share of expected corn revenue.”

(Continued...)
Read More On: Agri Marketing

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Kevin Kim, Mississippi State University

"2023 Agricultural Lending Condition Update"

By: Southern Ag Today - September 6, 2023

"The year 2023 marks another unique year in terms of prolonged high inflation and high interest rates. The series of interest rate hikes raised concerns, especially when Silicon Valley Bank went defunct earlier this year, and other regional banks experienced liquidity problems. With these inflation rates and interest rate hikes affecting the broad economy, how does the agricultural lending condition look?"

(Continued...)
Read More On: Southern Ag Today

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Richard Howitt, University of California, Davis

“California Agriculture Faces Greatest Water Loss Ever Seen”

By: Funds Society – September 22, 2023

“Failure to replenish groundwater in wet years continues to reduce groundwater availability to sustain agriculture during drought -particularly more profitable permanent crops, like almonds and grapes. A well-managed basin is used like a reserve bank account. We’re acting like the super rich who have so much money they don’t need to balance their checkbook.”

(Continued...)
Read More On: Funds Society

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Rebekka Dudensing, Texas A&M University
Steven Klose, Texas A&M University

“Inspect Grain Bins Following Storms”

By: Olney Enterprise – September 21, 2023

“With severe weather systems becoming more constant across the country, a team of multistate agricultural researchers found in a new study that grain bins need to be carefully scrutinized for structural safety, soundness and engineering integrity.”

(Continued...)
Read More On: Olney Enterprise

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Know another AAEA Member who has made statewide, national, or international news? Send a link of the article to Austin Sparbel at asparbel@aaea.org. What research and topics are you working on? Want to be an expert source for journalists working on a story? Contact Allison Ware at aware@aaea.org.

 

SAS Webinar: How to Fight Hunger & Food Insecurity (and How Not to) — Lessons from South Asia

South Asia’s success in rapidly transitioning from massive food deficits to food surpluses and significant improvements in food security provides important lessons on the pathways towards getting to the SDG goal of zero-hunger. The historic focus on smallholder productivity growth and the consequent rise in incomes has long been seen as a blueprint for agriculture as an engine of economic growth and rural transformation. However, the unilateral strategy of increasing the “pile of grain” has resulted in substantial environmental and societal costs and climate related consequences. Staple grain fundamentalist agricultural policy has hampered food system diversity and slowed the fight against malnutrition. A reboot of food and agricultural policies that promote healthy, equitable and sustainable food systems are an urgent priority. We welcome you to join the South Asia Section of AAEA webinar on this discussion with guest speaker Dr. Prabhu Pingali from Cornell University.

When: Wednesday, October 25, 9:00am—10:00am Eastern
Agenda: 40 minutes for presentation and 20 minutes for Q&A
Speaker: Dr. Prabhu Pingali, Professor & Director, Tata-Cornell Institute, Cornell University

 Register here!

After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting. Please note that space is limited. If at any time, you can no longer attend the webinar, please email us at info@aaea.org to cancel so we may better accommodate pending registrations. Any pending registrants will be reviewed during the time of the webinar in the event there is room.

USDA Data Training Webinar: Area and Road Ruggedness Scales

 Webinar Details

Date: Thursday, September 28, 2023

Time: 1:00 PM ET 

Duration: 1 hour

Presenters: Elizabeth Dobis and John Cromartie

Description:

USDA's Economic Research Service (ERS) recently developed and published the first-ever detailed measures of rugged terrain with full nationwide coverage for the United States, now available in the Area and Road Ruggedness Scales data product.

Rugged terrain, defined as any location with significant variation in elevation, provides numerous benefits to residents and visitors alike but may also impose barriers to travel and restrict economic development. ERS researchers developed two national representations of rugged terrain for census tracts. The Area Ruggedness Scale characterizes overall ruggedness in a given census tract area while the Road Ruggedness Scale characterizes ruggedness along roads to help study the impact of rugged terrain on travel by car.

In this webinar, ERS Regional Economist Elizabeth Dobis and Senior Geographer John Cromartie will provide an overview of the data available from the Area and Road Ruggedness Scales data product, highlight its uses, and demonstrate how to find the data on the ERS website.

Register now: USDA ERS - Data Training Webinar: Area and Road Ruggedness Scales

Member Blog: David Zilberman

 Learning about struggle, hope, and pride visiting Vilnius

My family came from Vilnius – migrating to Israel 200 years ago and settling in Jerusalem. I’ve been aware of Lithuania, a basketball powerhouse that beat the US at the recent World Championship. I have always been curious about the place and was very happy when invited to help organize and participate in a conference titled “700 Years to Vilnius: Creating a Better Future in a Turbulent World”. The conference took place on September 7 and 8, 2023.

Vilnius has had its moments of glory and pain. During its heyday in the 14th century, it was the capital of Great Lithuania, encompassing much of central and eastern Europe. Since then, the city has been under several occupying forces and suffered extensive destruction during the Second World War. With the demise of the Soviet Union, it became the capital of an independent Lithuania in 1991. I was aware of the progress of the Baltic states since independence but was amazed by the beauty of the city and its successful blending of historical estates, restored castles, and modern structures. The conference host was Mr. Rolandas Valiūenas, an entrepreneurial lawyer who has developed a wonderful private museum in his house. He and my close friend Professor Avishay Braverman headed the organizing committee. The conference included political statements by major policymakers and several sessions on major topics.

The Challenge of Establishing Democracy

The first part of this was new to me. I’ve never attended a conference with three prime ministers and a president. The lead-off speaker was the Ukrainian premier, who elected to speak through Zoom. In his talk, he emphasized his commitment to winning against the Russians and the need for continuous aid to accomplish this task. He reported that while the war is going on, his country is conducting administrative reforms needed to attain membership in the EU. He was followed by the current and two previous Lithuanian premiers and the current president. They suggested that Western Europe and the EU are beacons of hope for the Baltic states and Ukraine, who suffered for decades under Russia’s bootheel. They, and other Lithuanians I met, seemed to cherish the personal and economic freedom they are experiencing under capitalism, with a better economy and quality of life. The president and current premier were quite proud of Lithuania’s rapid growth since independence. The GDP in 1994 was 40% of the EU average; now it is 90% and still rising. Much of that growth was due to support from the EU, but help is declining as the country grows, challenging Lithuania to sustain its growth without external support.

In the next session on the future of democratic capitalism, Martin Wolf, building on his insightful article in the Financial Times, suggested that this system of governance is fragile. Financial capitalism brought freedom and prosperity to many, but the contradiction between capitalism, which is global, and democracy, which tends to encounter local challenges, may lead to a crisis. Recession and low growth, increasing inequality, and alienation among classes may lead societies to surrender to the temptations of demagoguery, leading democratic regimes to dissolve.

Wolf believes the global system is quite vulnerable, as charismatic strongmen and nationalistic fervor may seduce countries, while climate change causes havoc and threatens social upheaval. I share his concern about the vulnerability of democratic capitalism. In particular, I worry what may happen if Trump is reelected and if the coalition of orthodox and settlers continues to control Israel. In a related topic, I like Wolf’s pragmatism. He would have preferred the US carbon tax to address climate change. Yet, he appreciated Biden’s new climate strategy (using imperfect means [subsidies] only available to American firms) because it’s important to start large-scale efforts combating climate change rather than ignoring it. I believe eventually that the time of carbon tax will come after countries exhaust other options. Professor Colin Mayer from Oxford University suggested that the pursuit of profit by corporations without regard to social implications is a danger to society and cannot be sustained. Therefore, corporations and their executives must be liable for their misdeeds, and controlling externalities from economic activity is a major challenge and responsibility of effective governance. These talks highlighted the challenges of sustaining peaceful democratic capitalism. Countries must pursue growth while addressing environmental challenges, building a social safety net, and allowing freedom of opportunity. Nations must maintain free and fair trade and establish agreements to protect the common environment while maintaining social safety nets (mechanisms that protect citizens against severe economic hardship).

The Transition Towards Sustainability

In the session on natural resource management, we learned from Saulius Adomaitis, an energy expert, that Lithuania sought to reduce dependence on Russian natural gas by building a facility to import liquified natural gas from the US and elsewhere, thus overcoming the natural gas crunch suffered by other countries. He suggested that, despite the emergence of renewable energy, Europe will remain addicted to fossil fuels for a long time. One solution that can reduce this dependence is nuclear energy, despite its risks and other problems. Ivan Glasenberg, the former CEO of Glencore (a major extraction company), came to similar conclusions. Many minerals required for transport electrification, like cobalt, nickel, lithium, and rare earth elements, are scarce and controlled by developing countries with minimal rule of law. Western companies tend to avoid such countries, and the future of the supply of these materials remains uncertain. Thus, to address climate change, it is essential to develop new technologies that reduce dependency on these minerals and increase the use of nuclear power. Dan Kaufmann addressed one of the main challenges of the countries controlling resources – bad governance and corruption. He reported on a new methodology to measure the multiple dimensions of governance, including voice and accountability, political stability, rule of law, regulatory quality, and absence of violence. His quantification of governments of different countries identified some extremely well-governed countries like Denmark, demonstrated that even the US has its governance issues, and showed that many of the countries in control of minerals have bad governance, where predatory interest groups frequently capture policymaking. The session suggested that resource scarcity and bad governance are major challenges to transitioning from fossil fuel to electrification.

The Bioeconomy and Supply Chain

We also had sessions on the bioeconomy and supply chains. Justus Wesseler explained that the bioeconomy aimed to expand agriculture and renewable natural resource use from food and fiber production to chemicals like fuels and pharmaceuticals. The new developments in biotechnology are expanding the capacity of the bioeconomy. Europe has a bioeconomy policy, and Justus developed measures of this bioeconomy and documented its contributions to multiple social goals, including climate risk mitigation. However, he noted that European policies that envisioning expanded organic farming and, to a large extent, banning many biotechnology applications, are counterproductive and reduce our capacity to deal with climate risks. The previous discussion of energy suggests the important role of biofuel and other bioscience-based activities in mitigation and adaptation to climate change. While Europe puts itself at the front of effort against climate change, its ban on nuclear power and agricultural biotechnology have reduced its own capacity to address global warming risks. Professor Giedrė Matuzevičiūtė is a bioarcheologist who studied food systems over time. She suggested that crops like millet, which have been used extensively in the past in Europe, have good potential for a future with climate change and resource constraints. She also suggested that some of the genes of millet and other traditional crops can be used with modern biotechnology to improve the resilience of crops against pests and diseases.

Building a strong bioeconomy requires continuous innovation and introduction of new products. I spoke about the importance of supply chains with innovations and products that implement them. Economies need research institutions and a vibrant intellectual exchange that leads to innovations, new supply chains, and business circles. Establishing supply chains to implement innovations is a challenge that requires effective design, creative financing mechanisms, and the capacity to adjust to shock. Algimantas Markauskas spoke about his successful biotechnology company that Thermo Fisher took over and is a demonstration of Lithuania’s capacity to produce world-class biotechnology companies and knowledge products. He emphasized the importance of industrial leaders recognizing market demands, controlling expenditure, and continuously improving their products.

Looking for the future

The conference celebrated the major achievements of modern Lithuania. People are much better off, the economy boasts very successful companies, including IT and biotech, and it has built a lively and apparently robust democracy. Lithuania is now among the 30th-best countries in the world as measured by multiple indicators of quality of life, but it aspires to be in the top five with countries like Denmark and Sweden. Given the country’s lack of resources, it must invest in research and human capital. In the last session, we discussed how to build human capital. Professor Braverman told us how he led a process that uplifted Ben-Gurion University in Israel to achieve academic excellence and become a regional development center in the desert. It requires establishing standards of excellence and obtaining public and private resources to recruit and promote talent, build facilities, and support students. Lithuania has fine universities, but I believe there is a need for a world-class university that will be a magnet for people in the Baltic, Ukraine, and other nations between Moscow and Berlin. Vilnius may pursue this challenge. The constraints on public resources suggest that some affluent citizenry may contribute to building such a center (which may cost billions) and thus establish a legacy. As the baroness of Dulwich Alison Wolf emphasized, the key to excellence of human capital is building skills across the board – from kindergarten to college – and empowering individuals with varying capabilities. Because of the labor intensity of education, this requires both innovation and creativity to reduce cost and an across-the-board, nationwide commitment to finance educational excellence.

I left the conference appreciating the major achievements of Lithuania and further believing in the importance of freedom and democracy in Eastern Europe. I gained more appreciation for the challenges of establishing democratic capitalism and a prosperous civil society. It requires an enlightened government and a capable and generous citizenry – people who recognize the importance of public goods and contribute to establishing them.

2023 IATRC Annual Meeting

“The Future of (Ag-) Trade and Trade Governance in Times of Economic Sanctions and Declining Multilateralism”

December 10-12, 2023 | Clearwater Beach, FL

Organizers: Sylvanus Kwaku Afesorgbor (University of Guelph), Annelies Deuss (OECD), Fabio Santeramo (University of Foggia and EUI), Sandro Steinbach (North Dakota State University)

The 2023 IATRC Annual Meeting will be held at the Sheraton Sand Key Resort in Clearwater Beach, FL on December 10-12, 2023.  A virtual option will be available as well for those who can’t travel to Florida.

Plenary Speakers
The following Invited Speakers to present on the Theme are confirmed:

• Yoto Yotov (Drexel University) on December 10
• Julian Hinz (Bielefeld University and Kiel Institute for the World Economy) on December 11
• Peter van Bergeijk (Erasmus University Rotterdam) on December 12

Call for Presentations and Organized Sessions – Submissions due September 22, 2023
Jonathan Coleman (U.S. International Trade Commission) is organizing the program and non-theme sessions.  Please click on the link above to find details on submitting presentation and organized session proposals by the due date.

UPDATE!  We have received an award from USDA-NIFA to provide additional funding for those whose theme day papers are selected for presentation at the annual meeting.  These papers are also eligible for publication in a special issue of an academic journal.  Details are included in the Call for Presentations, linked above.

Members in the News: Deller, Hughes, Schmidt, Hutchins, Tonsor, Gammans, Zulauf, et al.

Steven Deller, University of Wisconsin-Madison

• “Wisconsin Tax Cut Proposal Not As Good As Advertised, Experts Say”
  By: Cap Times – August 31, 2023
• “State Medicine Exports See Major Increase in Recent Years”
  By: Wis Business – September 8, 2023

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David Hughes, University of Tennessee
Edward Yu, University of Tennessee

“How Special is “specialty”? Contrasting The Location Strategies of Specialty Grocery Chains and Traditional Supermarkets in The United States”

By: AGS – July 13, 2023

“These results tell us, crucially, that specialty grocers are targeting consumers living certain lifestyles, and that they are certainly not afraid to put the gloves on to compete in competitively saturated trade areas. These model results are informative for any grocery chain thinking critically about competitive defense and market strategy.”

(Continued...)
Read More On: AGS

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Claudia Schmidt, Pennsylvania State University

“Climate Change Threatens the Agritourism That Helps Small Farms Survive”

By: Civil Eats – September 6, 2023

“For many farms that offer outside entertainment, visitor numbers are down. Unpredictable weather patterns are a problem, making it harder to plan, and operators are worried.”

(Continued...)
Read More On: Civil Eats

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Jared Hutchins, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

“Farm Bill 2023: Is There Bad Medicine in Base Acres and Reference Prices?”

By: Ag Fax – September 1, 2023

“While not definitive, there is much in this discussion for concern about the impact on cash rents of base acres and statutory reference prices that are high relative to market prices. These concerns apply to policy decisions that continue high reference prices but could be magnified by policy decisions that increase reference prices.”

(Continued...)
Read More On: Ag Fax

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Glynn Tonsor, Kansas State University

“More Consumers Regularly Consuming Products Derived From Animals”

By: National Hog Farmer – September 1, 2023

“From a month-over-month perspective it appears folks ate out more in August than July leading to elevated demand; perhaps partial budget adjustment from at-home to away-from-home food expenditures.”

(Continued...)
Read More On: National Hog Farmer

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Matthew Gammans, Michigan State University

“Researchers To Evaluate Blueberry Pest Management Strategies”

By: Farm Progress – August 31, 2023

“We hope the data and analysis this project generates will help Michigan blueberry growers pick a pest management strategy that really works for their farms. There probably won't be a one-size-fits-all solution, so measuring the costs and benefits of different IPM approaches and understanding how these are affected by the type of farm someone is operating is going to be really important."

(Continued...)
Read More On: Farm Progress

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Carl Zulauf, The Ohio State University
Todd Kuethe, Purdue University

“We're Growing Food For Others. We're Close To Nature. We're Doing What We Love.' How To Retire Like a Farmer”

By: Morning Star – September 3, 2023

"They enjoy farming. Whatever kind of farming they are in, it brings them a tremendous amount of meaning just to farm."

"Folks close to retirement whittle it down to what they like to do."

(Continued...)
Read More On: Morning Star

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Aaron Smith, University of California, Davis
Zachariah Rutledge, Michigan State University

“How Technology Can Help Solve Agriculture's Labor Woes”

By: Agri Pulse – September 5, 2023

“We’ve never seen mass unemployment follow from advancements in technology, and so I don’t expect that happening in the future either. What does happen is that people change the kind of work that they do. As you look back at other major technology advancements in society such as the introduction of tractors and shift from horses or expansion of automation in factories.”

“My survey of 1,300 farmers found that two-thirds have already adopted a new labor-saving technology due to rising labor costs and shortages of workers.”

(Continued...)
Read More On: Agri Pulse

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Shuoli Zhao, University of Kentucky
Michelle Segovia, University of Missouri
Marco Palma, Texas A&M University
Rudy Nayga, Texas A&M University

“Do Consumers Support Farms With Beginning and Female Farmers?”

By: News Channel Nebraska – August 30, 2023

“There is an aging farming population and we do not have enough entrepreneurs replacing retiring farmers. Having strong consumer support for beginning farmers could be the catalyst for farming interest, profitability, and competitiveness, especially for new, female, and minority farmers. While our study confirms a willingness to support through effort provision, policy assistance is still vital, impacting areas like access to credit, land, equipment and continued education assistance."

(Continued...)
Read More On: News Channel Nebraska

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James Mintert, Purdue University

“Brazil Overtakes U.S. As Largest Exporter of Corn Globally”

By: Indiana Public Media – September 4, 2023

“Unlike last time, the U.S. will continue to see more competition in the long term as production shifts globally. It just harkens to the idea that at one time, on a worldwide basis, if you wanted to import corn, the U.S. was the supplier. And in recent years, that's been changing. Brazil has been a big part of that. And really over the last almost 20 years, the Black Sea region, Ukraine in particular, has become a big part of that.”

(Continued...)
Read More On: Indiana Public Media

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Kimberly Morgan, University of Florida

“DeSantis Immigration Law May Worsen Labor Shortages in Florida as Planting Season Begins”

By: Miami Herald – September 8, 2023

“U.S. consumers are now accustomed to, and expect, a wide variety of freshly picked, beautiful produce available year-round in their grocery stores. Blessed with warm winter weather, South Florida is one of the very few places in the United States where crops are planted, tended, harvested, and packed for shipping nationwide.”

(Continued...)
Read More On: Miami Herald

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Janelle Larson, Pennsylvania State University

“Penn State Researchers Explore How Gender Affects Agriculture in Ghana”

By: Farms.com – August 6, 2023

“Some of them had a lot of experience working with gender and understood and appreciated why it was important. Meanwhile, the subject was new for others, who may not have realized how technologies might have different implications for different people in the household.”

(Continued...)
Read More On: Farms.com

Members in the News: Paulson, Qaim, Wang, Hughes, DeLong, Clark, Rutledge, et al.

 

Nicholas Paulson, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

“Olive Oil Is in Trouble”

By: CNN – August 19, 2023

“In the US, crops in the South and West look to be particularly affected. Heat combined with the very dry conditions will impact primary crops in those regions which would include wheat, cotton, and corn and soybeans.”

(Continued...)
Read More On: CNN

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Matin Qaim, University of Bonn

“Is a Global Food Crisis The New Normal?”

By: Aljazeera – August 28, 2023

“Prices of food staples like wheat, maize, rice and oil seeds have risen since the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 disrupted global supply chains, after years of relatively stable costs. Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine made things worse, with global food prices at an all-time peak in March 2022. We had not seen such increases since 2007-08 and 2011.”

(Continued...)
Read More On: Aljazeera

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Holly Wang, Purdue University

“What Is Cultivated Meat?”

By: The A1 – August 28, 2023

“Cultivated meat is green-lit in the U.S. That’s meat grown in a lab. Instead of sending animals to the slaughterhouse, meats are grown from animal stem cells. However, meat production without factory farming has some wondering about the possibilities it could have for future food production. How exactly is the meat grown? What would it take to increase production? How would it impact the food industry?”

(Continued...)
Read More On: The A1

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David Hughes, University of Tennessee
Karen DeLong, University of Tennessee
Christopher Clark, University of Tennessee

“UTIA Researchers Evaluate Potential Land Use of Solar Panels on Tennessee Farmland”

By: Morning Ag Clips – August 27, 2023

“The nation’s use of solar energy has increased drastically over the last decade, growing from 0.6% to 4.8% of total U.S. electricity produced. Further, the U.S. Department of Energy projects solar generation could provide as much as 40% of the nation’s electricity supply by 2035. Rapid expansion and projections of continued growth were drivers in this latest research to determine the amount of land needed to accommodate the increase in solar installations in Tennessee.”

(Continued...)
Read More On: Morning Ag Clips, Also PV Magazine or Agri Pulse

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Zach Rutledge, Michigan State University

“The Ripple Effects Of Ag’s Immigrant Challenges”

By: Crypto News BTC – August 28, 2023

“Half the farmers within the fruit and vegetable sector are dealing with labor shortages. On common, they will solely discover 80% of the employees they usually want.”

(Continued...)
Read More On: Crypto News BTC or Agri Pulse

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Bruce Sherrick, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

“Inflation and Recession Pressures: Is Farmland a Good Investment Right Now?”

By: Dairy Heard Management – August 22, 2023

“you might not need to worry about what inflation is doing to your farmland values. Farmland returns are very highly correlated with inflation. Most importantly, it has a positive correlation with inflation. This correlation is derived from the size and debt of the industry.”

(Continued...)
Read More On: Dairy Heard Management

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Amit Batabyal, Rochester Institute of Technology

“Western vs. Chinese Communist Party views of universal values: Do both make sense?”

By: Rochester Business Journal – September 1, 2023

“President Biden likes to say that in contemporary times, one of the central battles being fought in the world is between autocracies and democracies. Clearly, this is one plausible way of looking at the world in which we live. In furtherance of this dichotomous view of the world, it is interesting to study how the chief present-day autocracy, namely, the People’s Republic of China governed by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), views the long cherished and seemingly Western concept of universal values.”

(Continued...)
Read More On: Rochester Business Journal

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Brady Brewer, Purdue University

“Climate Change May Force More Farmers And Ranchers To Consider Irrigation — At a Steep Cost”

By: St. Louis Post -  August 26, 2023

“If the system boosts yields and provides a return of $50 an acre or more, it can pay off well for a farmer. We haven’t seen much increased interest in irrigation from Midwest farmers yet. So far, a surplus of water has been the bigger issue in many places, but if yields start showing losses in the coming years due to worsening heat and flash droughts.”

(Continued...)
Read More On: St. Louis Post

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Wendy J. Umberger, University of Adelaide

“Food Trends Pose New Challenge to Agriculture”

By: ABC AU – August 28, 2023

“Growers reacting to the ebbs and flows of a forever-changing market, with short-lived trends, were demonstrating unsustainable to food security as a whole. They must be ready to deal with increasing input prices, regulations, and export markets, and meeting certain certifications.”

(Continued...)
Read More On: ABC AU

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William Masters,Tufts University

“Tracking Grocery Prices: What’s Up, What’s Down, And Where You Can Save Money”

By: Boston 25 News – August 30, 2023

“In the last six or seven months, we’ve seen a very nice reduction in the rate of inflation. Understanding “grocery store geography” can help shoppers find the best value. Prices for packaged, processed foods in the center of the store tend to be the most stubborn. Where prices have not come down so much is the middle of the store. That pricing power, that brand loyalty has allowed the middle-of-the-store prices to remain pretty sticky and high.”

(Continued...)
Read More On: Boston 25 News