Members in the News: Van Deynze, Swinton, Hennessy, Lubben, Walters, Rucker, Teegerstrom, and Pendell

Braeden Van Deynze, Michigan State University Scott M. Swinton, Michigan State University David Hennessy, Michigan State University Zombie weeds are coming for America’s fields Written by Breaden Van Deynze, Scott Swinton and David Hennessy: Michigan Farm News - October 25, 2019 This Halloween, zombies are not the only beings rising from the soil to haunt the living. In corn and soybean fields across the country, zombie-like weeds that once were easily killed by glyphosate (commonly marketed as Roundup) are bouncing back. These glyphosate-resistant weeds threaten the benefits that Roundup Ready and other glyphosate-based weed control systems have long provided farmers. For crops engineered to tolerate glyphosate, the herbicide offers broad-spectrum weed control. Glyphosate-based control systems often reduce grower costs, even after accounting for premiums that growers pay for herbicide-resistant seed. Growers find glyphosate simple and effective. It kills nearly all weed species with a single product that can be applied throughout the growing season. (Continued...) Read more on: Michigan Farm News Bradley Lubben, University of Nebraska-Lincoln Cory Walters, University of Nebraska-Lincoln More Questions than Answers on China, Biofuels Package By: AgWeb - October 28, 2019 “We typically think of policy as a way to respond to risk,” said Brad Lubben, associate professor of agricultural economics at University of Nebraska Extension, about recent biofuels announcements. “In this case, policy is the risk.” Cory Walters, associate professor of agricultural economics at the University of Nebraska, said farmers need answers. “I go back to the farmer right now trying to make ends meet,” Walters said. “You can only trade what you’re facing.” (Continued...) Read more on: AgWeb Bradley Lubben, University of Nebraska-Lincoln Some U.S. Farm Fields May Never Be Harvested Again By: AgWeb - October 25, 2019 “Some of those acres are lost, permanently,” said Brad Lubben, Extension Association Professor in Agricultural Economics for the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. “Quite a few of them, however, came back and got planted and actually produced a pretty good crop this year. So, it's a real mix out there of acres that were good acres, that were bad and, and acres that will never recover.” Lubben says there are a number of decisions to make to close out 2019, including the financial piece of the farm production puzzle. (Continued...) Read more on: AgWeb Randal Rucker, Montana State University Study: CCD effects on commercial bees are 'very small' By: Agweek - October 28, 2019 "When we started this project, we expected to find huge effects, but we found very small ones," said Randy Rucker, a professor in Montana State University's Department of Agricultural Economics and Economic."The only effects we found on consumers, for example, is that they probably pay about 10 cents more for a $7, 1-pound can of almonds at the grocery store." "Almond pollination fees did go up substantially, but they went up before CCD hit," Rucker said. "You can't attribute those increases to colony collapse disorder." (Continued...) Read more on: Agweek Trent Teegerstrom, University of Arizona Tribal summit highlights agriculture, food sovereignty By: ThisIsReno.com - October 25, 2019 Trent Teegerstrom, the Associate Director of Tribal Extension Programs at the University of Arizona, said, “The Tribal Summit is a chance to connect tribes in the western states. This is an opportunity to bring their expertise and experience in agriculture to help support each other going into the future. “Adding in the various university extensions to assist in that process as well as provide climate data adds to the goal of successful agricultural self-reliance.” (Continued...) Read more on: ThisIsReno.com Dustin Pendell, Kansas State University Profit Analysis By: DNT The Progressive Farmer - October 28, 2019 Dustin Pendell and Kevin Herbel, both with KSU's department of agricultural economics at the time of the study, used cow/calf enterprises enrolled in the Kansas Farm Management Association to pull data from. This program has 42 years of data, on an average number of 137 producers each year who participate in the enterprise analysis. Pendell and Herbel looked at 2012 through 2016 data for 61 beef cow/calf operations, and they found parallels between those farms that showed a net return and those that didn't. "One of the things that stood out for us was how little the revenue side really impacted profitability," said Pendell. "Profits are largely driven by the cost side, which is important to note." (Continued...) Read more on: DNT The Progressive Farmer

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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.