Member in the News: Lubben, Bellemare, Swinton, Hurt, Lee, Sumner, Bond, & Weersink

Brad Lubben, University of Nebraska-Lincoln Poll: Despite Strong Ag Ties, Rural Nebraskans Take Downturn in Stride By: KTIC- June 22, 2017 “The concern about job and income security was much more widespread outside of agriculture in 2009, while the concern in 2017 seems to be largely coming from agriculture and sales, where agricultural spending on Main Street and on big-ticket items has been affected,” said Brad Lubben, assistant professor of agricultural economics with Nebraska Extension. (Continued...) Read the entire article on KTIC Marc Bellemare, University of Minnesota Food waste estimates miss the mark? By: The Packer - July 7, 2017 “The extent of food waste — in terms of quantity and value — appears overstated in many cases,” Marc Bellemare of the University of Minnesota, said in a news release. Bellemare and other researchers recently released “On the Measurement of Food Waste,” a paper published in the American Journal of Agricultural Economics. (Continued...) Read the entire article on The Packer Scott Swinton, Michigan State University Cellulosic biofuel contributions to a sustainable energy future: Choices and outcomes By: Science - June 22, 2017 Cellulosic crops are projected to provide a large fraction of transportation energy needs by mid-century. However, the anticipated land requirements are substantial, which creates a potential for environmental harm if trade-offs are not sufficiently well understood to create appropriately prescriptive policy. Recent empirical findings show that cellulosic bioenergy concerns related to climate mitigation, biodiversity, reactive nitrogen loss, and crop water use can be addressed with appropriate crop, placement, and management choices. In particular, growing native perennial species on marginal lands not currently farmed provides substantial potential for climate mitigation and other benefits. (Continued...) Read the entire article on Science Chris Hurt, Purdue University Reality hits the market By: AgriNews - July 11, 2017 “North and South Dakota is becoming increasingly dry and going through a drought. Markets have taken a considerable increase. Weather markets are always unpredictable,” said Chris Hurt, professor of agricultural economics at Purdue University. (Continued...) Read the entire article on AgriNews Hyunok Lee, University of California, Davis Daniel Sumner, University of California Agricultural Issues Center Jennifer Bond, USDA UC study describes ‘bee-economics’ of pollination By: Daily Democrat - July 12, 2017 Almonds and honeybees depend on each other, and pollination fees for almond orchards have stabilized after sharp increases a decade ago: Those are among conclusions of a report from the Giannini Foundation for Agricultural Economics at the University of California. “Almonds depend on honeybees and the size and economic health of the beekeeping industry depends crucially on the economic health of the almond industry,” the UC report said. Titled “Bee-conomics Revisited,” the report said prices charged for almond pollination have remained steady “because an efficient system has quickly evolved to deliver bees to the expanding almond acreage, even with fluctuations in disease pressure on the honeybee industry.” (Continued...) Read the entire article on Daily Democrat Alfons Weersink, Ontario Agriculture College Chatham-Kent not seeing a spike in new farmers despite long growing season By: Chatham Daily News - July 11, 2017 “The level of investment keeps going up and up in value and it’s difficult to acquire land or trying to find rental land,” said professor Alfons Weersink, from the Ontario Agriculture School whose research involves agricultural economics. (Continued...) Read the entire article on Chatham Daily News

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