Members in the News: Glauber, Gundersen, Li, Zhang, Martin, Laborde, Kling, Featherstone, Hueth, Katchova, Mold, Sumner, and Weber

Joseph Glauber, International Food Policy Research Institute Commodities By: The Daily Shot - September 27, 2018 5. Finally, here is a comment on US wheat exports from Joseph Glauber, Senior Research Fellow at the International Food Policy Research Institute. In today's Daily Shot you show US wheat exports relative to Russia exports and show the relative decline of wheat production in the US. I think what people often miss is that it isn't that the US has become uncompetitive in world wheat markets but rather that wheat has become less competitive in the United States relative to corn and soybeans. The attached chart shows US planted area for major field crops since 1990. Note that while wheat has declined by 30 million acres, corn and soybean area has increased by roughly 47 million acres over the same period. I think part of the story is the classic case of comparative advantage - the US is one of the world's low-cost producers of wheat, but it has an even better advantage by specializing in corn and soybeans. Note that acreage of minor feed grains - barley, oats and sorghum has also gone down. Much of the decline started in the early 1990s when the farm programs were deregulated to give farmers more flexibility in their planting decisions. (Continued...) Read more on: The Daily Shot by The Wall Street Journal Commodity program dispute stalls farm bill By: AgriPulse - September 26, 2018 Joe Glauber, a former chief economist for USDA who is now with the International Food Policy Research Institute, said he doubted that ending payments for unplanted base acres would make it any harder to defend U.S. commodity programs at the WTO. ARC and PLC are classified as “non-product specific” support because payments aren’t tied to a particular commodity. A producer with corn base doesn't have to plant corn to get a payment, and that wouldn’t change under the House provision, he said. But in the future, farmers may be less likely to “put land in conserving uses for a year (say, in reaction to low prices) because they would fear losing those base acres,” Glauber said in an email. (Continued...) Read more on: AgriPulse Craig Gundersen, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program Fraud By: Oversight and Government Reform - September 26, 2018 Purpose: To discuss how to combat Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) fraud from both a federal and state perspective. To explore how Food and Nutrition Services (FNS) can more effectively assist states in the program’s administration. Craig's testimony begins at 1:11:19. He begins by saying, "Thank you very much for this kind invitation to testify this morning, it is an honor. I'm Craig Gundersen, the Soybean Industry Endowed Professor in Agricultural Strategy in the department of Agricultural and Consumer Economics at the University of Illinois." (Continued...) Watch on: Oversight and Government Reform Man Li, International Food Policy Research Institute Rice Supply in Southeast Asia By: The Saigon Times - September 24, 2018 The impact of climate change on rice productivity is stronger than previously thought. The International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) said that yield reductions could be as high as 10-15% in 2025, leading to a 30-37% increase in rice prices. This is evident in Thailand where it suffered a drought that lasted between mid-2016 and reduced to 16% of its total rice production. (Continued...) Read more on: The Saigon Times Wendong Zhang, Iowa State University Farmland Ownership Trends Written by Wendong Zhang: Agri Marketing Digital - September 2018 "Farmland Ownership and Tenure in Iowa 1982 - 2017: A 35-Year Perspective" carries out a mandate of the Iowa Legislature. This study focuses on forms of ownership, tenancy, and transfers of farmland in Iowa in 2017, as well as characteristics of landowners. (Continued...) Read more on: Agri Marketing Digital Will Martin, International Food Policy Research Institute David Laborde, International Food Policy Research Institute Finance | Internationally renowned investment bank: a new round of super economic crisis will occur in 2020 By: Sohu - September 26, 2018 In 2020, the world will encounter economic turmoil. This economic turmoil is called "super crisis" by JP Morgan Chase Investment Bank. Analysts predict large-scale riots and food supply disruptions. What is such a bleak prediction based on, and how likely is it to be fulfilled? The answer should be found in the article of the Russian Satellite News Agency. (Continued...) Read more on: Sohu Catherine L. Kling, Iowa State University Allen M. Featherstone, Kansas State University Joseph Glauber, International Food Policy Research Institute Brent Hueth, University of Wisconsin, Madison Ani L. Katchova, The Ohio State University Doris Mold, Sunrise Agricultural  Associates LLC Daniel A. Sumner, University of California, Davis Jeremy G. Weber, University of Pittsburgh NAS: USDA needs to update date to reflect complex farm business By: The Hagstrom Report - October 3, 2018 The Agriculture Department’s National Agricultural Statistics Service should create a Farm Register to provide an ongoing enumeration of all farm businesses, the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine said in a report released Tuesday. “This register would include information such as size indicators, geolocation indicators, and North American Industry Classification System codes for the farm establishment, and would be regularly updated as new information becomes available,” NAS recommended to NASS and the Economic Research Service. (Continued...) Read more on: The Hagstrom Report and The National Academies

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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.