Members in the News: Hertel, Sumner, Wang, Saitone, Heady, Hilker, and Fan

Thomas Hertel, Purdue University Could This Tree Be An Eco-Friendly Way To Wean Indonesian Farmers Off Palm Oil? By: NPR - October 19, 2019 Last month Thomas Hertel, a professor of agricultural economics at Purdue University, co-authored a paper in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. He argued that even if the EU ban comes to pass, and even if it successfully reduces the trade of palm oil, local farmers aren't just going to automatically keep the forests in place. "Even if the import ban bites, it may not do the job," Hertel says. Hertel says that farmers might stop planting palm oil, but they might keep cutting down forests to plant other commodities, like soy or rice. "If you focus on certifying one crop, they switch to another crop. The incentive for deforestation will still be there," Hertel says. (Continued...) Read more on: NPR and WFUV Daniel Sumner, University of California, Davis Is expensive milk worth the cost? | The difference between cheap and expensive milk By: abc10 - October 22, 2019 He’s not alone in making that claim. Agricultural Economist Dan Sumner, with UC Davis, said milk can often go through the same plant side by side with only the label changing. The milk inside that package is pretty much the same, according to Sumner. (Continued...) Read more on: abc10 Holly Wang, Purdue University Holly Wang on how swine flu is affecting Chinese farmers and pork prices By: YouTube - October 23, 2019 Dr. Holly Wang (Purdue University) commented on the African Swine Fever influence on China’s hog production and pork prices on CGTN America TV program. (Continued...) Watch on: YouTube Tina Saitone, University of California, Davis Reducing regulations for small farmers a priority for Central Valley Regional Water Quality Control Board By: The Union - October 21, 2019 UC Davis agricultural economist Tina Saitone presented research suggesting the economic model of farms in Nevada County is dissimilar enough from those across the state to warrant a separate fee and regulation structure. According to Saitone’s research, a grower would need 12 acres of irrigated pasture to generate the same net returns as an acre of almonds or 13 acres to match the return of an acre of walnuts. (Continued...) Read more on: The Union Derek Heady, International Food Policy Research Institute Fewer food choices at high prices are impacting child health in Ethiopia By: Health Europa - October 25, 2019 Researchers at the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) demonstrate the first attempt to examine how rural markets vary in their diversity, competitiveness, frequency, and food affordability, and how these characteristics are associated with child health and diet. The study, ‘Rural Food Markets and Child Nutrition,’ co-authored by IFPRI’s Derek Headey and Kalle Hirvonen; Cornell University‘s John Hoddinott, and Lafayette College‘s David Stifel, was published in the American Journal of Agricultural Economics. It used an innovative longitudinal survey of both households and food markets in some of the poorest areas of rural Ethiopia. (Continued...) Read more on: Health Europa, Inter Press News Agency, The Medical News, Medical Express, Addis Standard, ScienceMag, EurekAlert, and Newstrotteur James Hilker, Michigan State University Michigan Agriculture Credit Conference held in East Lansing By: WLNS - October 23, 2019 Jim Hilker is a professor at Michigan State University and says the tariffs are hurting farmers. “When we move agriculture being exported from say Brazil or Argentina and they put in new infrastructure its extremely hard to ever make that infrastructure go away. On the other hand the world is hungry, so if we get things straightened out there will be a big demand for food for a long time.” said Jim Hilker, Professor at Michigan State University. (Continued...) Read more on: WLNS Shenggen Fan, International Food Policy Research Institute Foreign ag aid provides boost to domestic farmers By: FeedStuffs - October 17, 2019 “Research is at the core of innovations in agriculture that benefit both recipient countries and those in the U.S.,” said Shenggen Fan, director general of the International Food Policy Research Institute, which undertook the study. “Continued American investment in foreign agriculture will be vital to providing growing global populations healthy and sustainable diets.” (Continued...) Read more on: FeedStuffs, 21 Finance, Zaker, Latin America Herald-Tribune, Public Network, Deutsche Welle, Deutsche Welle, and China Science Daily’s

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 Sinais Alvarado at salvarado@aaea.org What research and topics are you working on? Want to be an expert source for journalists working on a story? Contact Allison Scheetz at ascheetz@aaea.org.

*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 2019 AAEA Annual Meeting in Atlanta.