Members in the News: Swinton, Offutt, Marchant, Isengildina-Massa, Hurt, Glauber, Unnevehr, Bohman, Lusk, Laborde, Kumar, Spielman, Sumner, and Smith

*Scott Swinton, Michigan State University Susan Offutt, FAO Scientists are raising the alarm that upcoming USDA overhaul will slash research funding By: The Washington Post - August 16, 2018 Scott Swinton, an agricultural economist at Michigan State and the former president of the Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, said the reorganization may be a pretext for gutting federal agricultural research. Many top economists and scientists will resign, he predicts, rather than leave the D.C. area. Ramaswamy, the former NIFA administrator, said many longtime staffers in that office will not make the move, either. The Union of Concerned Scientists has warned that placing ERS in the Secretary’s Office could intensify political scrutiny of its research, an issue the office’s current placement was designed to prevent. It is not unusual for ERS reports to contradict or complicate administration policy, said Susan Offutt, a former ERS administrator who served in the Clinton and George W. Bush administrations. (Continued...) Read more on: The Washington Post Mary Marchant, Virginia Tech Olga Isengildina-Massa, Virginia Tech Christ Hurt, Purdue University Both sides of the aisle stretch the truth in the soybean debate By: The Washington Post - August 13, 2018 U.S. agriculture experienced a “golden period” from 2011 to 2014, according to Mary Marchant, a professor at Virginia Tech’s Department of Agricultural and Applied Economics. She pointed out that supply and demand lined up in favor of U.S. agriculture during those years, producing big profits. Farm income began to decline in 2013 (not 2003 as Trump suggests), and the decline continued through 2016 as “increased plantings, combined with good weather, led to record U.S. farm production.” In other words, there was more supply than demand. Christopher Hurt, an agricultural economist at Purdue University, is quoted as saying that “the total value of this year’s U.S. corn, soybean and wheat crops dropped about $13 billion, or 10 percent, in June.” Moreover, Hurt made these estimates using the commodities futures markets. Olga Isengildina Massa, a commodity markets expert at Virginia Tech, said these markets represent what soybeans, corn and wheat would sell for after harvest, which in some cases is months away. She added that these futures do not immediately affect all farmers. Many farmers set a fixed price for their crops before the growing season and so avoid the market’s whims. All of that means these projections shouldn’t be considered a value that has been “already lost,” as Heitkamp says. (Continued...) Read more on: The Washington Post Joseph Glauber, International Food Policy Research Institute Fish Caught in America, Processed in China Get Trapped by Trade Dispute By: The Wall Street Journal - August 9, 2018 The next round of U.S. tariffs aimed at Chinese imports could wind up hurting a major trade product that initially comes from America: fish. A 10% duty proposed by the Trump administration last month on $200 billion worth of imports from China included dozens of varieties of fish, from tilapia to tuna. The proposed tariffs, which could increase to 25%, are set to be decided in September by trade representatives (Continued...) Read more on: The Wall Street Journal and AgriNews Nicklaus: Soybean farmers prefer free market to government handout By: St. Louis Today - August 4, 2018 Joseph Glauber, senior fellow at the International Food Policy Research Institute, says Hurst’s concern is justified. “Brazil will plant more,” he said. “Once those acres are developed, planted and brought into production, that is market share the U.S. will either not gain as China continues to grow, or will lose.” (Continued...) Read more on: St. Louis Today Laurian Unnevehr, University of Illinois Mary Bohman, USDA-Economic Research Service Jayson Lusk, Purdue University 'A complete shock': Economists stunned by USDA's decision to move economic research arm By: Politico - August 15, 2018 “That was a complete shock to staff when that email came out last Thursday,” said Laurian Unnevehr, a former director of ERS' Food Economics Division. A shakeup at the top of ERS was set in motion just before Thursday's announcement: Mary Bohman, formerly the agency administrator, was reassigned to the department’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, where she will fill a vacancy for the post of associate administrator for economics, USDA confirmed to POLITICO on Monday. Jayson Lusk, who heads Purdue University's agricultural economics department and who attended the event, said that while the relocation was “a real kick in the pants” for ERS employees, the reorganization could have both pros and cons in the long term. (Continued...) Read more on: Politico David Laborde, International Food Policy Research Institute Retaliatory tariffs take heavy toll on U.S. farmers By: Politifact - August 9, 2018 However, the agricultural industry is on average much more dependent on world markets than other industries, according to David Laborde, a senior research fellow at the International Food Policy Research Institute. Exports comprise 10 percent of total GDP in the United States, whereas they comprise about 20 percent of GDP in the American agricultural sector. That fraction is even higher for crops like cotton (76 percent is exported), soybeans (50 percent) and wheat (46 percent), according to USDA. (Continued...) Read more on: Politifact Anjani Kumar, International Food Policy Research Institute Life and death in Delhi’s underbelly By: Live Mint - August 9, 2018 “The opportunities in cities are shrinking but there is an influx of people coming from rural areas,” says International Food Policy Research Institute’s research fellow Anjani Kumar. “When there is distress migration, and the migrants don’t find gainful employment, they suffer even more than they would back in their villages. Getting employment is difficult, and we don’t have a system in place that can provide support in the initial phases, so that these people can sustain for at least some time. When they come, they directly enter the labor market, with no support whatsoever,” Kumar says. (Continued...) Read more on: Live Mint David Spielman, International Food Policy Research Institute Bayer-Monsanto: Are they coming for our seeds? By: The Ken - July 8, 2018 Big Ag just became humongous. On July 4, Bayer AG, the German multinational pharma company, bought the world's most controversial agriculture company, Mosanto, on a $66-billion deal that gave Bayer control over a whopping 30% of the global seed market and a quarter of the pesticide market. (Continued...) Read more on: The Ken Daniel Sumner, University of California, Davis UC: Tariffs could cost fruit, nut industries over $3 billion By: Western Farm Press - August 15, 2018 “One way to mitigate the impact of the tariff impacts would be to offer assistance to shift the products to completely new markets where these displaced commodities could be delivered without causing price declines,” said co-author Daniel A. Sumner, director of the UC ANR Agricultural Issues Center and UC Davis professor in the Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics. When nuts and fruits are diverted back into the remaining markets for their crops, Sumner and co-author Tristan M. Hanon, a UC Davis graduate student researcher, expect farmers to lose revenue from lower prices. (Continued...) Read more on: Western Farm Press Vincent Smith, Montana State University Congress Approves Agricultural Subsidy Bill, Though Differences Remain By: The Heartland Institute - August 13, 2018 Vincent Smith, a professor of agricultural economics at Montana State University and a policy advisor for The Heartland Institute, which publishes Budget & Tax News, says the reforms in the Senate farm bill would help limit the ability of big businesses to game the system. “The average farm, under these programs, gets less than $10,000 from the programs,” Smith said. “That tells you that most farms are not going to be affected by going from two eligible people to one eligible person. Who would be affected are likely the large farms, which one way or another have several ways of getting around certain eligibility restraints. If we go to one eligible person per farm, farms that are getting $300,000 to $400,000 a year from subsidies will no longer receive so much.” (Continued...) Read more on: The Heartland Institute

See other Member in the News items Know another AAEA Member who has made statewide, national, or international news? Send a link of the article to salvarado@aaea.org What research and topics are you working on? Want to be an expert source for journalists working on a story? Contact Allison Scheetz at ascheetz@aaea.org.

*Articles in response to the AAEA Communicating Out Strategy Press Releases highlighting: Government Relations, American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Applied Economic Perspectives & Policy, Choices Magazine, General Media, and/or 2018 AAEA Annual Meeting in Washington D.C.

Members in the News: Countryman, Coble, Sumner, Miranowski, Glauber, Hurt, Laborde, and Schmit

Amanda M. Countryman, Colorado State University American farmers want trade partners not handouts – an agricultural economist explains Written by Amanda M. Countryman: The Conversation - July 31, 2018 The Trump administration plans to give American farmers and ranchers hurt by the current trade war US$12 billion in emergency relief to mitigate the impact of tariffs on their exports. While this may lessen the blow of an already struggling agricultural economy in the short run, it is only a Band-Aid. As an agricultural economist, I know that no one really wins in a trade war. As someone who grew up on a cotton and alfalfa farm in rural Arizona, I know firsthand that producers want access to markets – not government handouts. If the trade conflict with China continues much longer, it will likely leave lasting scars on the entire agricultural sector as well as the overall U.S. economy. (Continued...) Read more on: The Conversation, Chicago Tribune, Business Insider, and United Press International Keith Coble, Mississippi State University Dan Sumner, University of California, Davis John Miranowski, Iowa State University Agri-Pulse Daybreak for August 7, 2018 By: Agri-Pulse - August 7, 2018 (4:54 - 5:25) Dan Sumner, an agricultural economist at the University of California-Davis, says farm workers in some areas of his state already make more than $15 an hour. In the Napa Valley, farms are paying $20 or more an hour. In the Central Valley, farmworkers are earning $13 an hour, he said yesterday at the annual meeting of the Agricultural and Applied Economics Association in the nation’s capital. “Nobody thinks that’s going to be binding,” he said of the $15 minimum wage. (5:25 - 5:55) The labor squeeze also is hitting home in the rural Midwest, said James Miranowski, an Iowa State University economist. He described how processing plants are adding to demand for labor in rural Iowa communities even as dairy operations already are struggling to find workers. A new Prestage pork processing plant in rural north central Iowa will employ 900 workers alone. “Communities are going to have to get their acts together,” Miranowski said. (6:45 - 7:08) “We are moving back to an era of ad hoc” farm assistance, said Keith Coble of Mississippi State University, AAEA’s president-elect. (Continued...) Read more on: Agri-Pulse Joseph Glauber, International Food Policy Research Institute Trump’s $12 Billion Bailout Is No Remedy for Farmers Caught in Trade War By: Foreign Policy - July 31, 2018 “This is a lot of money, and it’s difficult to try to make it fit into these WTO boxes; there’s some potential to go over,” said Joe Glauber, a former chief economist at the USDA. Plus, other countries could file a challenge if they believe U.S. farm support distorts global markets in any way, a case that might be easier to make. “One way or another, this will get a lot of attention in Geneva other the next six months,” he said. (Continued...) Read more on: Foreign Policy Joseph Glauber, International Food Policy Research Institute Chris Hurt, Purdue University Trump's emergency aid to farmers could have negative side effects By: UK’s Daily Mail - July 28, 2018 The size of the aid program is "unprecedented," said Joseph Glauber, a former USDA economist now at the International Food Policy Research Institute. But its effectiveness will be limited, he said, and it creates a "moral hazard." And ironically, depending on the criteria used, some of the benefits could go to Chinese-owned companies. "The pork industry is dominated by very large corporations," said Chris Hurt, agricultural economist at Purdue University, in Indiana. "The largest hog producer in the US, Smithfield, is owned by a Chinese company." (Continued...) Read more on: UK’s Daily Mail, Breitbart, Straits Times, Times Now News and Japan Times David Laborde, International Food Policy Research Institute The effects of Donald Trump's trade war By: Politifact - July 28, 2018 Those price drops have ripple effects, too. Andrea Durkin, editor of the Center for Strategic and International Studies’ TradeVistas website, said farmers worried this season’s losses would impact their ability to secure future loans. David Laborde, senior researcher at International Food Policy Research Institute, said price drops would also drive down the price of farmers’ lands. (Continued...) Read more on: Politifact Todd Schmit, Cornell University Dairy crisis taking a toll on North Country economy By: WRVO - August 6, 2018 Cornell professor Todd Schmit, who teaches about food and agricultural economics, says that for every dollar of output generated at a farm in New York, it supports another 45 cents in related industries. The volume of milk produced in the North Country in 2017 was higher than the amount in 2012, but that's because farmers leaving the industry are selling their cows to larger, corporate farms in the area. Schmit says that does not make up for the loss of small farms. "Some evidence on related research that I’ve been doing has shown that small-scale farmers tend to purchase more of their inputs from local sources that in and of itself per dollar of output has a higher level of impact," Schmit said. (Continued...) Read more on: WRVO

See other Member in the News items Know another AAEA Member who has made statewide, national, or international news? Send a link of the article to salvarado@aaea.org What research and topics are you working on? Want to be an expert source for journalists working on a story? Contact Allison Scheetz at ascheetz@aaea.org.

*Articles in response to the AAEA Communicating Out Strategy Press Releases highlighting: Government Relations, American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Applied Economic Perspectives & Policy, Choices Magazine, General Media, and/or 2018 AAEA Annual Meeting in Washington D.C.

Members in the News: Glauber, Funk, Hart, Tyner, Doherty, Sheldon, Countryman, Barnaby, Woodard, and McFadden

Joseph Glauber, International Food Policy Research Institute How Farm Aid Became a Fixture By: The Washington Post - July 26, 2018 The U.S. government has been spending directly on agricultural-support programs ever since the Great Depression. This week the Trump administration said it would extend up to $12 billion in emergency aid to farmers hurt by trade tariffs. That comes on top of about $21.5 billion the government is already expected to spend this year on existing farm-support programs, according to the Congressional Budget Office. Those existing programs are meant to shield farmers from crop-price downdrafts, help young farmers get started . . . (Continued...) Read more on: The Washington Post Trump Blasts Fed, China and Europe for Putting U.S. Economy at a Disadvantage By: The New York Times - July 20, 2018 “Trade has been the one bright spot for farmers,” said Joseph W. Glauber, a senior research fellow at the International Food Policy Research Institute. “Until the tariffs were put on, farm exports have been near record highs in value.” (Continued...) Read more on: The New York Times, CNBC, Fox, Politico and MSN Sam Funk, RaboResearch Food & Agribusiness Chad Hart, Iowa State University China could bring more pain to US soybean farmers if Trump escalates the trade war By:  CNBC - July 24, 2018 "You've already seen China express ways that they will probably get around soy," said Sam Funk, senior grain and oilseed analyst at Rabobank in St. Louis. The Chinese tariffs have already hit most lucrative sectors of agriculture, from grains and oilseeds to livestock and fresh produce. There have also been duties slapped on items such as dairy, nuts and wine. "Another tariff would mean another step down in price for soybeans, which will definitely put harvest prices below production costs for many producers across the country," said Chad Hart, an agricultural economist at Iowa State University in Ames. (Continued...) Read more on: CNBC Wallace Tyner, Purdue University US is a closed economy so trade isn't that important: economist By: Yahoo Finance - July 31, 2018 Industries like auto have also been at the center of the tit-for-tat trade war. China, for example, levied 25% tariffs on U.S. soybeans starting in July. “The government who is doing the retaliation tries to retaliate on things that are gonna hurt the other country the most, not economically, but politically,” said Wallace Tyner, professor of Agricultural Economics at Purdue University. “What [can] hurt the president mostly is rural areas, where his base is.” (Continued...) Read more on the topic on: Yahoo Finance Mike Doherty, Illinois Farm Bureau Illinois farmers welcome $12 billion in aid, but prefer trade: 'There’s no magic crop out there' By: Chicago Tribune - July 25, 2018 Since Memorial Day, soybean futures prices have plummeted about 20 percent, reaching the lowest point in almost a decade. Though prices have since rebounded some, they remain lower than usual, said Mike Doherty, senior economist with the Illinois Farm Bureau. Prices jumped Tuesday after news broke of Trump’s aid package for farmers. Illinois is more dependent on global trade than surrounding Midwestern states, Doherty said. Pork and corn exports also are at risk, given the looming uncertainty over a renegotiated North American Free Trade Agreement, he said. (Continued...) Read more on: Chicago Tribune Ian Sheldon, The Ohio State University The Impact the Trade Disputes are Having on Farmers and the $12 Billion Emergency Aid Package By: Originally aired on Sirius XM - July 27, 2018 Professor Ian Sheldon’s latest radio interview on trade tariffs with Knowledge @ Wharton. Originally aired on Sirius XM Channel 111, Business Radio Powered by The Wharton School. (Continued...) Read more on: Originally aired on Sirius XM Amanda M. Countryman, Colorado State University Trump Attempts To Blunt Tariff Impact On U.S. Farmers By: National Public Radio - July 25, 2018 AMANDA COUNTRYMAN: It's a big mess. I did say that. You can use that as a quote. HONIG: That's Amanda Countryman, an agricultural economist at Colorado State University who specializes in international trade and policy. COUNTRYMAN: So, yes, it is ironic. We're implementing policy to correct for a response to a policy we implemented in the first place that is protectionist. (Continued...) Read more on: National Public Radio Chad Hart, Iowa State University Art Barnaby, Kansas State University Farmers fear $12 billion aid package a sign of extended trade war By: United Press International - July 27, 2018 "You don't create an aid package like this if you don't think the damage is already done and not easily reversed," said Chad Hart, an economist with Iowa State University. "This is definitely an indication that the administration sees the tariffs playing out through 2018." "The Chinese are very smart," said Art Barnaby, a professor of agricultural economics at Kansas State University. "They returned with tariffs that impact the very people who voted for Trump, people in the rural Midwest." (Continued...) Read more on: United Press International Joshua D. Woodard, Cornell University New Study: Farmers Will Buy Less Crop Insurance If It Costs More By: Crop Insurance - July 25, 2018 Crop insurance “would likely respond fairly abruptly to large cuts,” explained Dr. Josh Woodard, an associate professor at Cornell University, whose work was recently published in the Journal of Risk and Insurance. Woodard observed that crop insurance demand is clearly responsive to price, as proven by the uptick in participation following Congressional actions over the years to provide premium support instead of ad hoc disaster payments.  A similar decrease in participation would naturally occur if coverage costs more, he explained. (Continued...) Read more on: Crop Insurance Brandon McFadden, University of Delaware USDA slams EU’s decision on regulating gene-edited products By: The Packer - July 30, 2018 “This ruling is short-sighted and will affect investment in breeding innovation,” said Brandon McFadden, former University of Florida professor who was working on the project. “The ruling seeks to apply the precautionary principle to breeding techniques, which if applied to all production inputs would result in producers still using walking plows. “Moreover, this ruling will impact both conventional and organic producers because it is not limited to gene-edited crops. Mutagenesis is also now considered a GMO,” said McFadden, who joins the University of Delaware as a professor Aug. 1. (Continued...) Read more on: The Packer Art Barnaby, Kansas State University Questions far outnumber answers in USDA’s tariff relief plans By: KTIC - July 30, 2018 “The (USDA) said in their announcement that they are going to ask for producer input into these decisions, which means it’s going to come through the commodity groups,” Barnaby said. “So if you’re a member of the wheat growers (association), you will want to talk to your representatives about how some of these decisions are going to be made.” Questions about one decision lead to numerous follow-up questions, he added, showing just how tricky designing these relief programs will be. (Continued...) Read more on: KTIC and Hays Post

See other Member in the News items If you would like to improve your scientific communications and media skills, attend the Post-conference Workshop on Science Communications and Media Engagement. It is Wednesday, August 8 morning, and costs just $25. Make this important event a part of your meeting schedule this year. Know another AAEA Member who has made statewide, national, or international news? Send a link of the article to salvarado@aaea.org What research and topics are you working on? Want to be an expert source for journalists working on a story? Contact Allison Scheetz at ascheetz@aaea.org.

*Articles in response to the AAEA Communicating Out Strategy Press Releases highlighting: Government Relations, American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Applied Economic Perspectives & Policy, Choices Magazine, General Media, and/or 2018 AAEA Annual Meeting in Washington D.C.

Members in the News: Deller, Low, Keiser, Lade, Rudik, Boyle, Loomis, Hart, Martin, Tyner, Marchant, Sumner, Irwin, Taheripou, Hurt, Laborde, Glauber, Alwang, Schnepf, Goetz, Anderson, Hertel, Zhang, and Plastina

Steve Deller, University of Wisconsin-Madison Sarah Low, USDA Economic Research Service For Manufacturers, a Complex Mix Can Determine Location By: The New York Times - July 17, 2018 Rural manufacturers often stay in their original location because of historic roots, according to Steven Deller, a professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison who specializes in economic growth and development patterns. Food companies often choose to be near their suppliers because of concerns about perishability and the expense of shipping, said Sarah Low of the Economic Research Service of the Agriculture Department. (Continued...) Read more on: The New York Times David Keiser, Iowa State University Gabriel E. Lade, Iowa State University Ivan Rudik, Cornell University Kevin Boyle, Virginia Tech John Loomis, Colorado State University Study: National parks get fewer visits when pollution rises By:  AP News - July 18, 2018 Researchers at Iowa State and Cornell universities looked at more than two decades of data on ozone pollution at 33 parks — from Shenandoah to Yellowstone, the Grand Canyon and Yosemite. They say visitor numbers dropped almost 2 percent when ozone levels went up even slightly and by at least 8 percent in months with three or more days of high ozone levels compared with months with fewer days of high ozone. Virginia Tech economist Kevin Boyle, who has researched ozone in parks and was a peer reviewer for the study, said it provides “strong, suggestive evidence” that air pollution is changing people’s behavior when planning a park visit. Boyle said follow-up research is needed to confirm the findings. Park visitors who live nearby are more likely to change their plans than out-of-town visitors who have sunk money into airplane tickets, lodging and rental cars, said John Loomis, an economics professor at Colorado State University who was not involved in the study. (Continued...) Read more on: AP News Chad Hart, Iowa State University Federal aid for farmers is nothing new, but Trump's bailout is By: CNN Politics - July 25, 2018 These protections were originally implemented to guarantee the nation had adequate food and feed supply, which was crucial to growing the economy, said Chad Hart, an agriculture economist with Iowa State University. (Continued...) Read more on the topic on: CNN Politics William Martin, International Food Policy Research Institute From apples to almonds, looming tariffs from India could hurt West Coast growers By: CNBC - July 19, 2018 "What tends to happen when these discriminatory tariffs go into effect is that you rearrange trade flows," said Will Martin, a senior research fellow at the International Food Policy Research Institute, a Washington-based think tank and research group. (Continued...) Read more on: CNBC and Yahoo Finance Wallace Tyner, Purdue University Mary Marchant, Virginia Tech Daniel Sumner, University of California, Davis Despite Trump's contention, trade deals aren't killing farmers By: CBS News - July 23, 2018 "We've had good harvests, we've had good weather, we've had ample production -- demand hasn't changed that much," said Wally Tyner, a professor of agricultural economics at Purdue University. "And when supply is greater than demand what happens? Price falls." The years 2012 to 2014 was "kind of a golden age of agriculture, the best period of time for agriculture, and it wasn't just soybeans. Other prices have fallen since that time," said Mary Marchant, a professor at Virginia Tech's department of agriculture and applied economics. "And it really wasn't because of a change in trade in tariffs." More broadly, Canadian trade policies have had only a "tiny impact" on America's struggling dairy farmers, Daniel Sumner, an agricultural economist at the University of California, told The Associated Press. (Continued...) Read more on: CBS News Scott Irwin, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Chad Hart, Iowa State University  Factbox: USDA's $12 billion farmer relief package By: Yahoo - July 25, 2018 The United States has never before offered aid of this scale for the impact of a trade dispute, said Scott Irwin, agricultural economist with the University of Illinois. Large, short-term assistance programs are typically offered during times of recession or low prices for agriculture commodities. The government last offered farmers a comparable amount of emergency assistance starting in 1998 to address low hog, corn and soybean prices, according to Chad Hart, a professor of economics and crop markets specialist at Iowa State University. (Continued...) Read more on: Yahoo Wallace Tyner, Purdue University Farzad Taheripou, Purdue University Chris Hurt, Purdue University Farmers starting to feel effects of trade war By: The Herald - July 19, 2018 According to a study for the U.S. Soybean Export Council by Purdue University agricultural economists Wally Tyner and Farzad Taheripou, a 30 percent tariff would likely result in a 40 percent drop in U.S. soybean exports, resulting in a 5 percent price drop over a few years. The 25 percent tariff enacted July 6 likely places the loss near that estimate. As for pork, a study by Purdue University professor of agricultural economics Chris Hurt found that the shift in the global market caused by the tariffs could drop U.S. pork prices up to 4.4 percent. While the price drop would help pork farmers sell more domestically and in other countries, Hurt’s study didn’t expect the increased sales to fill the gap left by China. (Continued...) Read more on: The Herald David Laborde, International Food Policy Research Institute  Hogwash: Farmers Fear Trump Trade Disputes Are Damaging Ag Markets By: WFPL News - July 16, 2018 The President’s attempt to bring down the U.S. trade deficit has instead increased tension with trading partners, according to David Laborde with International Food Policy Research Institute. “This is why policy makers are very careful not to play short-term games because there is long-term cost,” Laborde said. (Continued...) Read more on: WFPL News Joseph Glauber, International Food Policy Research Institute  Trade Complicates Farm Economy By: The Progressive Farmer - July 18, 2018 "You hear all the time that there are no winners in trade wars, only casualties, and I think it's also the case that trade wars aren't easy to win because of that," said Joe Glauber, a senior research fellow at the International Food Policy Research Institute and former chief economist for the USDA. "Every time you say, 'I'll punish them, I'll show them. I'm going to raise tariffs,' someone on your side is also being hurt by that. And I think that's particularly difficult when you launch a trade war on multiple fronts." (Continued...) Read more on: The Progressive Farmer Jeff Alwang, Virginia Tech Virginia Tech professor aids Zimbabwe in poverty analysis amid decades of political strife By: Bulawayo 24 News - July 19, 2018 Jeff Alwang's relationship with Zimbabwe began in 1997 during a yearlong sabbatical in the nation's capital Harare. Since then, the country has seen periods of social and political unrest, hyperinflation, challenges to public service funding, and most recently, the removal of long-standing President Robert Mugabe. Yet, it remains one of Alwang's favorite countries. (Continued...) Read more on: Bulawayo 24 News Wallace Tyner, Purdue University Randy Schnepf, Congressional Research Service Trump’s Specious Trade Tweets By: Fact Check - July 20, 2018 As Wallace E. Tyner, an agricultural economics professor at Purdue University, told us for a previous story: “The ag sector is seeing some hard times, but it is because of lower prices and not trade. Weather has been pretty good, production high, and prices therefore lower.” (See “Trump Distorts Facts on Agricultural Trade” for more information.) An Aug. 30, 2013, report by the Congressional Research Service on U.S. farm income said the unexpected drought caused a “dramatic reversal of fortunes” for U.S. farmers. (Continued...) Read more on: Fact Check and Infosurhoy Stephen Goetz, Penn State University Poor mental health days may cost the economy billions of dollars By: Phys.org - July 20, 2018 In an analysis of economic and demographic data from 2008 to 2014, the researchers found that a single extra poor mental health day in a month was associated with a 1.84 percent drop in the per capita real income growth rate, resulting in $53 billion less total income each year, said Stephan Goetz, professor of agricultural and regional economics, Penn State, and director of the Northeast Regional Center for Rural Development. (Continued...) Read more on: Phys.org David Anderson, Texan A&M University ‘Dang, that's a lot of meat,’ A&M professor says as U.S. surplus grows By: KWTX-TV News 10 - July 24, 2018 "Dang, that's a lot of meat," says Dr. David Anderson, professor of agricultural economics in Department of Agricultural Economics at Texas A&M University said Tuesday. At least, it sounds like a lot of meat, but not so fast, there, cowboy, Anderson says. "We store hundreds of tons of meat in the U.S. all the time because once it's butchered, meat has to be kept cold. That's nothing new," he said. Perhaps current stores of beef don't show an alarming trend, but U.S. freezers show significant upticks in stores of pork and poultry, he said. (Continued...) Read more on: KWTX-TV News 10 Thomas Hertel, Purdue University American farmers enjoy a trade surplus. Trump could wipe it out By: WTVA News - July 26, 2018 "We've run a trade surplus in agriculture," said Thomas Hertel, a professor of agricultural economics at Purdue University. "Any tariffs levied against us in agriculture will imperil that. It's making the US less competitive." (Continued...) Read more on: WTVA News Wendong Zhang, Iowa State University Alejandro Plastina, Iowa State University Survey: A third of Iowa farmland owners over 75 By: Iowa Farmer Today - July 24, 2018 Sixty percent were over the age of 65, which is 5 percentage points higher than 2007 and twice the level recorded in 1982, say Wendong Zhang and Alejandro Plastina, assistant professors and Extension economists at Iowa State, who released results of the 2017 Farmland Ownership and Tenure survey at a press conference June 28 in Ames. Conducted by Iowa State University since the 1940s, the Farmland Ownership and Tenure Survey — completed every five years — focuses on forms of ownership, tenancy and transfer of farmland in Iowa, and characteristics of landowners. The latest survey was conducted in July 2017. (Continued...) Read more on: Iowa Farmer Today, Wallaces Farmer, and ASFMRA AgNews

See other Member in the News items If you would like to improve your scientific communications and media skills, attend the Post-conference Workshop on Science Communications and Media Engagement. It is Wednesday, August 8 morning, and costs just $25. Make this important event a part of your meeting schedule this year. Know another AAEA Member who has made statewide, national, or international news? Send a link of the article to salvarado@aaea.org What research and topics are you working on? Want to be an expert source for journalists working on a story? Contact Allison Scheetz at ascheetz@aaea.org.

*Articles in response to the AAEA Communicating Out Strategy Press Releases highlighting: Government Relations, American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Applied Economic Perspectives & Policy, Choices Magazine, General Media, and/or 2018 AAEA Annual Meeting in Washington D.C.

Members in the News: Keiser, Lade, Rudik, Glauber, Ehmke, Reed, and Hart

David Keiser, Iowa State University Gabriel E. Lade, Iowa State University Ivan Rudik, Cornell University Ozone pollution in US national parks is nearly the same as in large cities Written by David Keiser, Gabriel E. Lade, and Ivan Rudik: The Conversation - July 18, 2018 “Another glorious day, the air as delicious to the lungs as nectar to the tongue” – John Muir, My First Summer in the Sierra (1911) Most Americans associate U.S. national parks with pristine environments that represent the very best of nature. In the 1916 law that established the National Park Service, Congress directed the new agency to “conserve the scenery and the natural and historic objects and the wild life therein and to provide for the enjoyment of the same in such manner and by such means as will leave them unimpaired for the enjoyment of future generations.” (Continued...) Read more on: The Conversation, USA Today, Scientific American, WN.com, Southern California Public Radio, The Atlantic's City Lab, and Sierra Magazine Joseph Glauber, International Food Policy Research Institute As Trade War Begins, Feds Eye $30 Billion Bailout Fund For Farmers Facing Losses By:  HuffPost - July 6, 2018 Former USDA chief economist Joseph Glauber told The Financial Times earlier this month that many farmers already have some safeguards from government-backed price and income supports and insurance. As for using CCC money, Glauber added: “I just don’t like the idea of the government coming up with some balm to spread over wounds that are self-inflicted. It seems to be a huge moral hazard problem.” (Continued...) Read more on: HuffPost, Tri-States Public Radio, and Agri-Pulse Mariah D. Ehmke, University of Wyoming Wyoming Blockchain Branding with BeefChain By: YouTube - May 26, 2018 Wyoming politicians help out with the first blockchain, RFID, and internet of things (iOT) cattle branding. Listen to Mariah D. Ehmke on minute 5:48. (Continued...) Listen and read more on the topic on: YouTube, YouTube, Forbes, and Financial Times Michael Reed, University of Kentucky These Are All the Foods Being Affected by Trump’s Trade War By: Eater - July 18, 2018 China is targeting the U.S. pork industry especially hard, introducing a 25 percent tariff in April and an additional 25 percent in July. “Pork is very important for the Chinese, but they don’t import that much and the U.S. share is only about 15 percent most years,” explains Michael Reed, professor of agricultural economics at the University of Kentucky. Though China has plenty of options to continue fueling its appetite for pork, American pig farmers are seeing their profits erode: China is a major market for pork offal, and since the tariffs were introduced, U.S. pork producers are now being forced to sell parts like hearts, stomachs, and feet to pet food suppliers for much less. (Continued...) Read more on: Eater Chad Hart, Iowa State University U.S. Chamber: $977M in Iowa exports threatened by new tariffs By: Sioux City Journal - July 2, 2018 "Over the course of the week, we will see a lot of action on either the imposition of tariffs or the delay of that," Agriculture Economist Chad Hart, with Iowa State University, said. "We've already seen Canada move over the weekend and put in their tariffs. The EU could move later this week. And we could see moves by Mexico, by ourselves and by China. So you're seeing a lot of trade barriers being erected this week and the damage being done will depend on the product." (Continued...) Read more on: Sioux City Journal, Akron Hometowner Online Edition, Tri-States Public Radio, and Times-Citizen

See other Member in the News items If you would like to improve your scientific communications and media skills, attend the Post-conference Workshop on Science Communications and Media Engagement. It is Wednesday, August 8 morning, and costs just $25. Make this important event a part of your meeting schedule this year. Know another AAEA Member who has made statewide, national, or international news? Send a link of the article to salvarado@aaea.org What research and topics are you working on? Want to be an expert source for journalists working on a story? Contact Allison Scheetz at ascheetz@aaea.org.

*Articles in response to the AAEA Communicating Out Strategy Press Releases highlighting: Government Relations, American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Applied Economic Perspectives & Policy, Choices Magazine, General Media, and/or 2018 AAEA Annual Meeting in Washington D.C.

2018 AAEA Annual Meeting: Board for International Food and Agricultural Development Public Meeting

US Benefits and Capabilities Leveraged from Strategic USAID Investments in Developing Country Agriculture and Food Security

Location:
Madison A&B on the Mezzanine Level in Marriott Wardman Park
or via Livestream
August 8, 2018, 9:00 am to Noon EDT

The Board for International Food and Agricultural Development (BIFAD) and USAID are pleased to invite Agricultural & Applied Economics Association members and other interested individuals to engage in a dialogue and provide feedback on a new study that is being commissioned by BIFAD and USAID. This study will analyze US benefits and capabilities leveraged from strategic USAID investments in developing country agriculture and food security. Participants will:
● Review and provide feedback on a conceptual framework characterizing the channels by which food and agricultural development investments in developing countries affect the American economy
● Identify the types and assess the quality of evidence available to estimate the importance of the channels
● Suggest other data sources for consideration in the study

Dr. Joseph Glauber, Senior Research Fellow at the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), will lead the study for BIFAD and will present at the meeting. Dr. Glauber served over 30 years at the U.S. Department of Agriculture, including as Chief Economist from 2008 to 2014. He was elected Fellow of AAEA in 2012.

Dr. Mark Keenum, BIFAD Chair and President of Mississippi State University, will chair the meeting.

Please register for either in-person or Livestream participation at the upcoming meeting here. We look forward to receiving your input.

If you have questions about the event, please contact Clara Cohen at 202-712-0119 or ccohen@usaid.gov.