Members in the News: Lade, Hayes, Schmitz, Tronstad, Hart, Cowley, Zhang, Lakkakula, Keiser, Schluz, and Hurt

Gabriel Lade, Iowa State University RINs market could use some long-term certainty, lawmakers told By: AgriPulse - July 25, 2018 “Most RIN price volatility since 2013 can be attributed to ever-changing blending targets and uncertainty regarding future mandate volumes,” Gabriel Lade, an economics professor at Iowa State University’s Center for Agricultural and Rural Development, told the House Energy and Commerce Committee’s environment subcommittee. “However, publicly available data is insufficient to determine whether the market is fully efficient or free of manipulation.” (Continued...) Read more on: AgriPulse Dermot Hayes, Iowa State University Tariffs kill China market for U.S.-produced pig feet, heads By: Ecns.cn - August 9, 2018 Feet, heads, hearts, tongues, kidneys, stomachs, entrails – parts of a pig that most Americans would shun are considered special in China. "Chinese consumers have different preferences than U.S. consumers. They value different parts of the animal," Dermot Hayes, an agricultural economist at Iowa State University, told China Daily. (Continued...) Read more on: Ecns.cn Troy Schmitz, Arizona State University Russell Tronstad, University of Arizona Arizona farmers jittery as aid replaces trade By: Chamber Business News - August 2018 The jury is still out on how damaging the first round will be, said Troy Schmitz, associate professor in the Morrison School of Agribusiness in the W. P. Carey School of Business at ASU. “If they impose the second round of tariffs, obviously it gets a whole lot worse.” he said. Job loss is a concern. Over 12 million jobs in the country are supported by U.S. exports that pay 13 to 16 percent higher than average wage jobs, he said. Agricultural-related businesses employ about 25 percent of Americans when you include restaurants and other service industries. The potential long term damage could be profound, said Russell Tronstad, a professor of agricultural-resource economics at the University of Arizona. “Countries like China are not going to stop feeding soybeans to their animals,” Tronstad said. “They’ll get them from Brazil and elsewhere. As those regions change their supply base, trying to regain the market becomes an uphill battle as we have to go back and compete with those regions where they’ve already worked on sourcing new supplies. (Continued...) Read more on: Chamber Business News Chad Hart, Iowa State University Farm aid package a 'small Band-Aid on a big wound,' farmers say By: UPI - September 4, 2018 Soybean prices were hit hardest, dropping about $1.80 per bushel, which is nearly 20 percent. The Market Facilitation Program will reimburse farmers for nearly half their expected losses, paying $1.65 per bushel on 50 percent of their total fall harvest, said Chad Hart, an economist at Iowa State University. "It helps as a short-term cash infusion, but it doesn't impact the long-term impact we will see if prices don't rebound," Hart said. "This is a Band-Aid, but now we're looking for what's the long-term cure?" (Continued...) Read more on: UPI Cortney Cowley, Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City Extension emphasizes importance of managing change and challenges at HHD By: The Grand Island Independent - September 12, 2018 Cortney Cowley, an economist at the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City, recently wrote that repayment rates for farm loans have declined every quarter since the second quarter of 2013. She said that suggested heightened stress in agricultural lending. “This stress could be amplified if the outlook for the agricultural sector remains downbeat,” Cowley said. “Farm income is expected to remain low in the coming years, and farm sector liquidity continues to deteriorate.” (Continued...) Read more on: The Grand Island Independent Wendong Zhang, Iowa State University Agriculture in the U.S. and China: The Present and the Future By: CropLife - September 10, 2018 In part because of current events involving a high-profile trade dispute, agriculture in the U.S. and China has been thrown into a spotlight. Furthermore, according to Dr. Wendong Zhang, Assistant Professor of Economics and Extension Economist for Iowa State University, this long-standing relationship between the two countries promises to get even more complicated in the years ahead – especially if the current tariff war between both remains in place for any length of time. (Continued...) Read more on: CropLife Prithviraj Lakkakula, North Dakota State University Tariffs in India, China hit pulse producers By: AgWeek - September 10, 2018 "Over the last four marketing years, India has imported approximately 170 million pounds of lentils and 13.5 million pounds of chickpeas from the United States," says Prithviraj Lakkakula, a Research Assistant Professor in Agribusiness and Applied Economics at North Dakota State University. (Continued...) Read more on: AgWeek David Keiser, Iowa State University Big-City Problems In The National Parks By: Jefferson Public Radio - August 6, 2018 Our national parks are supposed to be places left in something like their original state.  But the fact that so many people visit them, and in warm seasons of the year, means air pollution is on the rise. A recent study found that ozone levels in national parks are on par with ozone levels in big U.S. cities. Which raises some issues about whether visits to the parks should be capped, or if vehicle traffic, the main source of ozone, should be sharply curtailed. David Keiser at Iowa State University, the lead author of the study, is our guest. (Continued...) Listen to the interview on: Jefferson Public Radio Lee Schulz, Iowa State University Retail beef prices should ease Written by Lee Schulz: Wallace Farmer - August 22, 2018 Fed cattle prices started 2018 strong and remained above year-earlier levels into March, with Iowa-Minnesota prices averaging $126 per cwt and $5 per cwt higher than the same period in 2017. Since March, fed steer prices have consistently held below year-earlier levels, averaging $117 per cwt during April through June, $15 per cwt lower than during 2017’s second quarter. July fed cattle prices averaged $111 per cwt, down $8 per cwt from July 2017. Note that March through mid-June 2017 fed cattle prices were very strong, so measuring from a higher base exaggerates some of the year-to-year decline. (Continued...) Read more on: Wallace Farmer Chris Hurt, Purdue University Uncertain times for family milk producers By: AgriNews - September 12, 2018 Chris Hurt, a professor of agricultural economics at Purdue University, said that the dairy industry is seeing uncertain times as there continues to be a transition from small family dairies to larger scaled, more industrialized dairies which have advanced technology and more productivity. “It is a difficult time for traditional family dairies to compete with larger dairies,” he said. (Continued...) Read more on: AgriNews

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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.