Members in the News: Malone, McFadden, Chen, Ibendahl, Griffin, Zhang, Masters, and Kolodinsky

Trey Malone, Michigan State University Brandon McFadden, University of Delaware Government restrictions on labeling products as ‘meat’ aren’t likely to help anyone Written by Trey Malone and Brandon MaFadden: The Conversation - October 8, 2019 Substitutes for traditional meat products have captured the attention of investors, the media and consumers. Plant-based meat options are showing up in grocery stores and on the menus at fast food chains like Burger King and restaurants like TGI Fridays. These products are not necessarily targeted at vegans or vegetarians, who comprise around 2% of the U.S. population over age 17. Meat, on the other hand, is a well-established market. In 2018 Americans consumed 57.2 pounds of beef, 92.4 pounds of chicken and 50.9 pounds of pork per capita. (Continued...) Read more on: The Conversation, Popular Science, Salon and Civil Eats Joyce Chen, The Ohio State University Changes in worker program has benefits for finding farm labor By: Ohio’s County Journal - October 14, 2019 “That should help keep costs down for farmers,” said Joyce Chen, an associate professor in Ohio State’s College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences (CFAES). “The new rules will allow farmers to hire temporary migrant field workers for less than they do now,” Chen said. “But they’ll still be required to pay a wage in line with what domestic workers doing the same job get.” (Continued...) Read more on: Ohio’s County Journal Gregory Ibendahl, Kansas State University Terry Griffin, Kansas State University Study: Farm size not always a true gauge of profitability By: Salina Post - October 12, 2019 A pair of Kansas State University agricultural economists have taken a look at the characteristics that make farms successful in Kansas, and have found that bigger doesn’t always mean better. Greg Ibendahl and Terry Griffin reviewed 10 years of data from the Kansas Farm Management Association to develop a ranking of several hundred farms based on their economic performance. (Continued...) Read more on: Salina Post and KTCI Wendong Zhang, Iowa State University Alibaba Stock Should Stay Profitable Regardless of Trade-War Outcome By: Investor Place - October 11, 2019 Now, it cannot be denied that the tariff war must be taken into account in today’s investing landscape. Indeed, research conducted by Iowa State University’s Minghao Li, Edward J. Balistreri and Wendong Zhang found that as of September, U.S. exports to major trade partners in China, Canada, Mexico and the European Union have declined; the steepest decline has been in American exports to China, which fell “by 6.4% under the tariffs accumulated as of September 2019.” (Continued...) Read more on: Investor Place and Iowa Public Radio William Masters, Tufts University Ocean Spray wades into new waters with a line of tea tonics and oat milk elixirs By: Boston Globe - October 10, 2019 The fact that Atoka’s new cranberry drinks are infused with the likes of elderberry, guayusa, ginseng, and linden flower all taps into the rise of the wellness industry, where people increasingly seek their caloric intake from beverages, said William Masters, an economics professor at the Tufts Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy. “Drinks are the new energy bars,” he said, and a simple way to engage in our cultural obsession with “food as entertainment.” And companies, eager to satisfy adventurous consumers, are obsessed with “coming up with foods that are charismatic and talkable and fashionable,” he said. (Continued...) Read more on: Boston Globe Jane Kolodinsky, University of Vermont College of St. Joseph envisions future as innovation hub By: VTDigger - October 16, 2019 Jane Kolodinsky, an economics professor who focuses on community development at the University of Vermont, notes that most of what’s proposed aren’t new ideas. So-called innovation centers are popping up in cities across the country, including Burlington. And certificate programs are a booming industry. “Every single institution of higher education and others, in our state and around the country, are thinking that certificates are going to be the next thing that people line up to pay for,” she said. “The jury is still out on that.” (Continued...) Read more on: VTDigger

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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 2019 AAEA Annual Meeting in Atlanta.