Members in the News: Glauber, Martin, Swinton, Offutt, Headey, Ellison, Tyner, Roberts, Hilker, Zhang, Ribera, and McCarl

Joseph Glauber, International Food Policy Research Institute Farmers cautiously optimistic about progress in NAFTA talks but not ready to celebrate By: CNBC - August 23, 2018 "I would be surprised if the Chapter 19 issues are resolved in any sort of 'handshake' agreement," said former USDA chief economist Joseph Glauber, a senior research fellow at the International Food Policy Research Institute, an agricultural think tank based in Washington. He said removing the Chapter 19 dispute resolution mechanism could even be a "deal-killer" for Canada and Mexico just like a sunset provision might be. (Continued...) Read more on: CNBC Philip Martin, University of California, Davis The longtime head of the UFW is stepping down. His replacement will be the first woman to lead the union By: LA Times - August 28, 2018 At its heart, the UFW remains torn between whether it can be both a grass-roots union and a broad social movement operating in the halls of power, said Philip Martin, a UC Davis agricultural economist and farm labor expert. After Chavez’s death, Martin said, Rodriguez shifted the union back toward winning elections and getting contracts and organizing strawberry workers — the latter of which ultimately fell short. “There was a big burst, a big effort at unionizing, but by 2000, then there was a switch toward the Legislature,” Martin said. Martin noted Romero’s lack of farmworker background — Rodriguez, likewise, did not come from the fields. (Continued...) Read more on: LA Times Scott Swinton, Michigan State University Knowing the value of America’s food Written by Scott Swinton: Des Moines Register - August 20, 2018 Pop quiz: What do you know about America’s food? How much of each dollar spent goes to farmers?  What role do food stamps (SNAP benefits) play when joblessness goes up? How much does the rise in U.S. farm productivity depend on using more inputs, like labor and chemicals? The answers, which appear at the bottom of this essay, all come from the same source: The USDA Economic Research Service (ERS).  After 27 years of teaching and researching the economics of U.S. food and agriculture, I remain amazed at how much of what we know about America’s food comes from ERS research.  Even private data services about U.S. agriculture rely on ERS data for its validity and objectivity.  And ERS staff regularly brief Congress and federal agencies. (Continued...) Read more on: Des Moines Register Concerns Rise Over Plan to Overhaul USDA Research By: Beyond Pesticides- August 30, 2018 According to The New York Times, Scott Swinton, PhD, 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. (Continued...) Read more on: Beyond Pesticides Susan Offutt, FAO The Department of Agriculture has a world class economics research institution … and is throwing it away Written by Susan Offutt: The Hill - August 27, 2018 The U.S. Department of Agriculture has a $140 billion budget to ensure our $1 trillion dollar food and agricultural sector feeds our citizens and people around the world. To help inform its policies and decision making, the department has the Economic Research Service, an $86 million dollar agency producing data and analyses relating to farming and the food supply, natural resources, rural economies, farm income and nutrition. Fitting for the central importance of food and agriculture in the United States, the Economic Research Service is ranked No. 3 in research quality among more than 2,500 academic and government agricultural economics institutions worldwide. (Continued...) Read more on: The Hill Derek Headey, International Food Policy Research Institute This is the key factor behind India’s poor stunting growth By: India’s Financial Express - August 18, 2018 Therefore, the actual return would probably be much higher. According to a district-level, country-wide study conducted by the International Food Policy Research Institute in May, nearly three-fourths of the difference in child stunting between highly sensitive districts and less sensitive ones are explained by inadequacies in women’s well-being and efforts to reduce poverty. The two most influential deciding factors were that of women’s BMI and women’s education, explaining 19% and 12% of the difference, respectively. (Continued...) Read more on: India’s Financial Express Brenna Ellison, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Your regular reminder that humans still waste way too much food By: Popular Science - August 27, 2018 According to a study published recently in Appetite, young adults tend to waste a lot of food—and the reason seems to be that they have no idea they should try not to waste food. "Many said these things are out of their control," study co-author Brenna Ellison, associate professor in the Department of Agricultural and Consumer Economics at the University of Illinois, said in a press release. "Some participants said they had not been told they need to care about this. You could tell it is not something that has been ingrained in them through school education the way that things like climate change or recycling have been." (Continued...) Read more on: Popular Science Wally Tyner, Purdue University Purdue Study: Rural Broadband Could Translate To Billions Of Dollars If Extended By: WFYI - August 28, 2018 Purdue University research published Monday says rural Indiana would benefit from broadband connectivity in a wide variety of ways. The report finds that for each dollar invested in rural broadband, $4 will go back into the economy through increased tax revenue and healthcare savings. The analysis found if investments in broadband were made statewide, Indiana would see about $12 billion over a 20 year period. And Purdue University agricultural economics professor Wally Tyner says that’s a conservative estimate. (Continued...) Read more on: WFYI Tanya Roberts, Center for Foodborne Illness Research & Prevention Economic studies support the withdrawal of antibiotics in animal feed to protect public health and agricultural environments Written by Tanya Roberts: Keep Antibiotics Working - August 2, 2018 Antibiotic resistance (AR) is a huge global health challenge. Both the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) have identified the use of antibiotics to promote growth in farm animals as contributing to the development and spread of AR bacteria that are transmitted from animals to humans.  If resistant bacteria contaminate the foods that come from those animals, people who consume these foods can develop serious and sometimes life-threatening AR infections. (Continued...) Read more on: Keep Antibiotics Working Jim Hilker, Michigan State University MSU Professor: Long-Term Tariff War Effects Unknown for Michigan Farmers By: WKAR - July 26, 2018 A Michigan State University professor said Michigan farmers are being affected by the tariff fight between the United States and China. But long-term, the impact is still unknown. WKAR’s Reginald Hardwick talked with Dr. Jim Hilker, professor at MSU's Dept. of Agricultural, Food and Resource Economics. (Continued...) Listen to the interview on: WKAR Wendong Zhang, Iowa State University Are farmland values on shaky ground? By: Farm Futures - August 30, 2018 It’s a loss “on paper,” but more than a few landowners will be content to ride out the storm, according to Wendong Zhang, economist and Extension farm management specialist with Iowa State University. For example, studies in Iowa indicate that 82% of the land in that state is fully paid for, Zhang says. And half of Iowa’s farmland has been owned for 20 years or longer, he adds. (Continued...) Read more on: Farm Futures Luis Ribera, Texas A&M University Environmental economist recognized for decades of research By: Delta Farm Press - August 29, 2018 “I had to update my slides this morning because there are new tariffs the U.S. has put in place on Chinese products,” said Dr. Luis Ribera, professor and Extension economist in the Department of Agricultural Economics at Texas A&M University. “And China retaliated with about $16 billion worth on top of what they had tariffs on.” (Continued...) Read more on: Delta Farm Press Bruce McCarl, Texas A&M University Texan climate change expert to speak at agri-economics seminar By: AgriLand - August 30, 2018 A distinguished Texan professor is set to speak about climate change and its impact on the future of farming at an agricultural economics seminar in Northern Ireland this Friday. The speech, entitled ‘Climate change, livestock and the inevitability of adaptation’, will be delivered by Prof. Bruce McCarl, distinguished professor of Agricultural Economics at Texas A&M University. (Continued...) Read more on: AgriLand

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*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.