Members in the News: Wesseler, Zilberman, Reardon, Messer, Costanigro, Kaiser, Briggemand, Barnaby, Tonsor, Taylor, Bestal, and Bozic

Justus Wesseler, Wageningen University & David Zilberman, University of California, Berkeley Golden rice – a miracle tarnished by irresponsible activism By: The Hill - September 26, 2017 In a 2012 screed, Greenpeace claimed, “If introduced on a large scale, golden rice can exacerbate malnutrition and ultimately undermine food security.” Psychiatrists call this projection: The real threat to the poor and vulnerable is not genetic engineering; it’s Greenpeace and its ilk. In 2014, economists Justus Wesseler and David Zilberman calculated the impact of the delays in the regulatory approval of Golden Rice.  (Continued...) Read the entire article on The Hill Updated information from the original email from October 2, 2017 at 9:35 am CST Tom Reardon, Michigan State University Tom Reardon interview BBC focus on quiet revolution in food systems in Africa and overestimates of waste By: BBC- September 25, 2017 Tom’s main point is that, contrary to the pessimistic image of the African agro-food economic performance, instead Tom notes there has been a Quiet Revolution in African food supply systems and vast growth in urban-rural food supply chains, showing an emerging success story that still has some challenges ahead. Tom also notes that the large waste estimates for that system that are common in international debates have been contradicted by a recent series of surveys that show a modest wastage rate in the system. (Continued...) Listen to the interview on BBC (12:15 - 17:15) Kent Messer, University of Delaware Marco Costanigro, Colorado State University Harry Kaiser, Cornell University How “free-from” and other food labels actually affect us By: The New Food Economy - September 26, 2017 If you’re not persuaded, you might want to check out “Labeling Food Processes: The Good, the Bad and the Ugly” by Kent Messer, Marco Costanigro, and Harry Kaiser, just published in Applied Economic Perspectives and Policy. The article provides an up-to-date review of the evidence on how food labels—and especially the “free-from” and production-oriented labels (fair-trade, dolphin-safe, and the like) actually affect consumers. (Continued...) Read the entire article on The New Food Economy Brian Briggeman, Art Barnaby, Glynn Tonsor and Mykel Taylor, Kansas State University Ag Lenders Conferences set for Garden City, Manhattan By: Today's Producer - September 27, 2017 The agenda includes grain and beef cattle marketing outlook for 2018, rainfall index and margin protection insurance, farm bill challenges and crop insurance, macroeconomic and interest rate outlook, and land values and rental rates. Scheduled speakers members of K-State’s Department of Agricultural Economics: Dan O’Brien, Monte Vandeveer, Brian Briggeman, Art Barnaby, Glynn Tonsor and Mykel Taylor. (Continued...) Read the entire article on Today's Producer Mallory K. Vestal, West Texas A&M University Report: Livestock Farms Good For Economy Despite Opposition By: Progressive Cattleman- June, 2017 Mallory K. Vestal, assistant professor of agricultural business and economics at West Texas A&M University, identifies labor as one of the key challenges facing the future of the cattle feeding industry. Vestal knows about ranching labor firsthand. Her father worked at the Tulia, Texas, feedlot before starting his own custom cattle-care business. (Continued...) Read the entire article on Progressive Cattleman Marin Bozic, University of Minnesota The Good, The Bad and The Ugly of Dairy Processing Constraints By: Farm Journal's MILK- September 21, 2017 “Year-on-year growth in U.S. milk production is moderating, and we seem to be in a narrowing channel between peaks and lows in production changes,” says Marin Bozic, a dairy economist with the University of Minnesota “The effect of a more stable milk supply means more stable milk prices.” (Continued...) Read the entire article on Farm Journal's MILK

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 info@aaea.org or ascheetz@aaea.org  What research and topics are you working on? Want to be an expert source for journalists working on a story? We want to hear from you. Contact Jay Saunders via email, jsaunders@aaea.org.