Members in the News: Lusk, Boehm, Gundersen, Lopez, Steinbach, Wang, Thompson, Mintert, Ellison, Schnitkey, Zulauf, Barrett, Dall’Erba, et al.

Jayson Lusk, Purdue University Grocery items getting smaller? It's not your eyes, it's 'shrinkflation' By: Today - July 28, 2021 Ag Economist discusses pandemic changes to beef cattle industry By: The Cattle Site - August 2, 2021 Rebecca Boehm, Union of Concerned Scientists Tyson has a stranglehold over Arkansas’s poultry industry By: The Counter - August 23, 2021 All across our economy, the issue of competition or lack thereof across different sectors is becoming a more prominent issue among policymakers. We saw the Biden administration’s executive order to address competition not just in food and agriculture, but across the economy. There’s always been concern and issues around lack of competition in the food and agriculture system — as early as the 1920s in meat and poultry packing. (Continued...) Read more on: The Counter Craig Gundersen, Baylor University New Tool Sheds Light on Impact of Racism on Food Insecurity By: Food Bank News - August 18, 2021 Baylor professor speaks on largest food SNAP benefit increase in history By: Fox 44 News - August 24, 2021 Rigoberto Lopez, University of Connecticut Sandro Steinbach, University of Connecticut Changing Food Retail Landscape, Competitiveness, and Health Outcomes By: Mirage - August 24, 2021 Rigoberto Lopez, professor of agricultural and resource economics in the College of Agriculture, Health, and Natural Resources, has received a Research Excellence Program (REP) grant to develop new knowledge about the evolving food retail landscape. This project will provide necessary research to help make the food shopping options in the U.S. more competitive and healthier for people everywhere. Lopez will lead an interdisciplinary team that includes Sandro Steinbach, assistant professor of agricultural and resource economics; Kristen Cooksey Stowers, assistant professor of allied health sciences, and Debarchana Ghosh, assistant professor of geography. (Continued...) Read more on: Mirage Tong Wang, South Dakota State University Producers reap rewards of cover crops By: Phys.org & Dakota Farmer - July 30, 2021 Cover crops, which are planted after harvesting the cash crop, help prevent erosion and runoff and increase soil organic matter, thereby reducing the need for fertilizer and improving water quality. In addition, cover crops can help suppress weeds, thereby reducing herbicide and pesticide usage, according to assistant professor Tong Wang of South Dakota State University's Ness School of Management and Economics. (Continued...) Read more on: Phys.org & Dakota Farmer Nathanael Thompson, Purdue University James Mintert, Purdue University Economist shares marketing strategies By: AgriNews - July 26, 2021 Now is the time to brainstorm marketing strategies for new crop corn and soybeans, said Nathan Thompson, agricultural economics professor at Purdue University. The U.S. Department of Agriculture released the July Crop Production and World Agricultural Supply and Demand Estimate report. James Mintert, director of the Center for Commercial Agriculture at Purdue, discussed the results. (Continued...) Read more on: AgriNews Brenna Ellison, Purdue University How Will the Covid-19 Vaccine Change Food Acquisition Behaviors? By: Farms.com - August 23, 2021 In early 2020, as confusion and concern over the Covid-19 virus grew and spread, normal life changed dramatically for millions of Americans. While stay-at-home orders were issued across the country and workplaces, schools, and college campuses shut their doors, regular routines changed, and a major shift occurred in how millions of people acquire food for themselves and their households. (Continued...) Read more on: Farms.com Gary Schnitkey, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Carl Zulauf, The Ohio State University Timeline of a Rare Series of Disruptive Events for United States Agriculture By: Farms.com - July 21, 2021 A rare series of disruptive occurrences over the last three years has contributed to volatility in agricultural exports and markets. The roller-coaster patterns of United States agricultural exports and corn and soybean prices in that time is tracked with concurrent events ranging from the tariff war’s disruption of agricultural trade in 2018, to widespread weather caused planting delays and record prevent plant acres in 2019, to the COVID-19 pandemic and response in 2020. (Continued...) Read more on: Farms.com Christopher Barrett, Cornell University Reaping the benefits: Training in rice growing system raises yields and well-being By: Bioengineer.org, Scienmag, Agro Vista Profits, Science Daily, Phys.org, & Farms.com - July 21, 2021 Professor Abdul Malek of the University of Tsukuba (Japan), together with international colleagues including Asad Islam (Monash University), Christopher Barrett (Cornell University), Marcel Fafchamps (Stanford University), and Debayan Pakrashi (Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur), conducted these randomized introductions of SRI in Bangladesh and studied them from agricultural and social angles. (Continued...) Read more on: Bioengineer.org, Scienmag, Agro Vista Profits, Science Daily, Phys.org, & Farms.com Sandy Dall’Erba, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Study proposes new ways to estimate climate change impacts on agriculture By: Phys.org, Herald News, & Latestly - August 20, 2021 A Groundbreaking Self-Driving Test Track Could be Coming to Central Illinois By: WCIA & Illinois Newsroom - August 9, 2021 Gary Schnitkey, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Cash Rents Rise in 2021 with Implications for 2022, By Gary Schnitkey By: Crop Producer - August 19, 2021 The U.S. Department of Agriculture released 2021 state-level cash rents. The average cash rent in Illinois was $227 per acre, a $5 increase over 2020 levels. Over time, cash rents typically follow agricultural returns in a lagged manner. Higher returns in 2020, along with projected higher returns in 2021 and 2022, likely lead to upward pressures on 2022 cash rents. (Continued...) Read more on: Crop Producer Diane Charlton, Montana State University Montana State University ag economist featured on CBS Sunday Morning By: Farm Forum - July 27, 2021 Diane Charlton, an assistant professor in the Department of Agricultural Economics and Economics in MSU’s College of Agriculture and College of Letters and Science, studies the economics of agricultural production with a focus on labor and migration. Sunday Morning called on Charlton’s expertise for a segment titled “Invisible People” that aired June 27. (Continued...) Read more on: Farm Forum Justin Benavidez, Texas A&M University Bart Fischer, Texas A&M University Texas A&M course helps ranchers manage bottom line By: Morning Ag Clips - August 22, 2021 In a message during the general session, Justin Benavidez, Ph.D., AgriLife Extension economist, Amarillo, provided producers with some good news on cattle prices but some caution about feed prices and the need to manage their risk. Very few people are involved in the day-to-day production ag workforce – 1.3% – so there is a definite lack of knowledge amongst the general public of what beef producers do or need to, said Bart Fischer, Ph.D., co-director of the Agricultural and Food Policy Center in the Texas A&M University Department of Agricultural Economics, Bryan-College Station. (Continued...) Read more on: Morning Ag Clips Alvaro Durand-Morat, University of Arkansas Subir Bairagi, University of Arkansas Global rice prices spike during pandemic despite supply By: Arkansas Democrat Gazette, ABC 7, & Stuttgart Daily Leader - August 21, 2021 "Most commodity prices went down during the pandemic because of lower demand," said Alvaro Durand-Morat, assistant professor of agricultural economics and agribusiness for the Arkansas Agricultural Experiment Station, the Division of Agriculture's research arm. "But rice went the other way." Durand-Morat is co-author with research post-doctoral associate Subir Bairagi of International Rice Outlook: International Rice Baseline Projections 2020-2030. The full report from the Agricultural Experiment Station is available at https://bit.ly/AAES-RiceOutlook . (Continued...) Read more on: Arkansas Democrat Gazette, ABC 7, & Stuttgart Daily Leader Trey Malone, Michigan State University K. Aleks Schaefer, Michigan State University Agricultural economy rebounding By: Grand Rapids Business Journal - August 20, 2021 It was authored by Steven R. Miller, director for the College of Economic Analysis of Agriculture and Natural Resources at Michigan State University; Trey Malone, assistant professor for the Department of Agricultural, Food, and Resource Economics College of Agriculture and Natural Resources at Michigan State University; and K. Aleks Schaefer, assistant professor for the Department of Agricultural, Food, and Resource Economics College of Agriculture and Natural Resources at Michigan State University. “The one thing that the pandemic taught me about agriculture is how resilient the system can actually be,” Malone said. “This has been a crazy shock to everyone, yet you can still find most of the products you want on the grocery shelves. A year later, a lot of prices have come back to a place where we would have expected them to be prior to the pandemic.” (Continued...) Read more on: Grand Rapids Business Journal Wendong Zhang, Iowa State University Iowa Farmland Owners could see Large Tax Increase from American Families Plan By: KIWA Radio - August 22, 2021 Iowa Leads Corn Belt States With Highest Cash Rent Average By: WNAX - August 23, 2021

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 Jessica Weister at jweister@aaea.org. What research and topics are you working on? Want to be an expert source for journalists working on a story? Contact Allison Ware at aware@aaea.org. *Disclaimer - This email is to acknowledge citations of current AAEA members and/or their research in any public media channel. AAEA does not agree nor disagree with the views or attitudes of cited outside publications.

Webinar: Farm Income and Financial Forecasts, September 2021 Update

Date: Thursday, September 2, 2021
Time: 1:00 PM ET
Duration: 1 hour
Presenter: Carrie Litkowski

USDA's Economic Research Service (ERS) releases farm income statement and balance sheet estimates and forecasts three times a year. These core statistical indicators provide guidance to policymakers, lenders, commodity organizations, farmers, and others interested in the financial status of the farm economy. ERS' farm income statistics also inform the computation of agriculture's contribution to the U.S. economy's gross domestic product.

During this webinar, ERS Economist Carrie Litkowski presents the farm sector income and wealth forecasts for calendar year 2021.

Join / Register here

See the latest Farm Income Forecast

Member Blog: David Zilberman

On the Road Again - The AAEA Meeting in Austin

David Zilberman, professor, agriculture and resource economics | August 23, 2021 

Futuristic Austin

Between August 1st and 4th, I attended the annual meeting of the Agricultural and Applied Economics Association (AAEA) in Austin, Texas. This was the first time in two years that I attended a live conference, and it was much more enjoyable than I expected. Four hundred and fifty members of the association were present, a third of the usual participants, although many more were still Zooming in to join us. It took some time to get used to the hybrid format, but we overcame all the technical glitches and the sessions were quite good. Meeting friends, sharing drinks and meals, and seeing live human faces again (rather than on Zoom) was amazing. What I had especially missed were the reunion events sponsored by university departments, where we reconnected with our students and colleagues, gossiped/ argued about economics, and introduced new job candidates to potential employers.

Conferencing in the Shadow of Delta

The pandemic, and especially the Delta variant, was on our minds. To attend the conference, one needed to be fully vaccinated, but regardless I was concerned and tried to wear a mask despite the inconvenience. We were seated at least six feet apart and people were more reserved than in past times – still, it was a great improvement over the remote meetings. Of course, I had disagreements with other attendees about the vaccination policy. While I have no problem with the association as well as the government mandating vaccinations and masks, others expressed outrage on this violation of the rights of individuals, even people that voluntarily were first to get vaccinated. I argued that there is a strong economic case for government policy to control the pandemic. If people decide to put themselves at risk of infection and there is no external effect, that is a personal choice that the government has no say in. Unfortunately, an infected person may transfer the disease throughout their community, which creates an “externality”, which is a compelling reason for government intervention. The government may target externality-causing behavior through direct control (i.e. mandates) or through incentives (i.e. taxes or subsidies). Taxes have a lot of advantages, and one possible policy would be to tax those people who elect not to get vaccinated when it is available. I presume the tax amount would be in the hundreds of dollars or more, and the proceeds go to the government coffers for the purpose of developing improved vaccines or spending on public goods.

Being in Texas

My argument wouldn’t fly very well with many people in Texas, even in Austin, a blue island in the red ocean. I found this city fascinating, part Silicon Valley, with sleek high-rise buildings inhabited by tech startups, part Nashville, with many great music venues covering many genres (this is still Willie Nelson country), and part Old West. I loved Nashville when I visited it long ago, but the last time I was there I found that it was more corporate and touristy. Austin looks more genuine, at least to a superficial observer such as myself. Austin is also the capital of Texas, and the capitol building is an impressive “Texas-sized” structure. Unfortunately, it is being used only once every two years in this most laissez-faire of the American states.

Near the building, there is a beautiful park with monuments to Texas’s past. I was repelled by one monument, the Confederate Soldier’s Monument, a paean to “the lost cause of the Confederacy”. It offended me for several reasons. First, the monument implied that the fight was for liberty and personal choice (the obsession with “personal choice” led numerous people to their deaths just recently). As an economist, I believe in the notion of revealed preference, which suggests that what you do matters much more than what you say. With my limited knowledge of history, it seems that the plantation owners sent poor common Southerners to fight to maintain their right to profit off humans as property, not human freedom. Secondly, as a Jew, I would be very offended if I had to see a statue honoring Hitler’s struggle to establish the Thousand Year Reich or defend the Holocaust. I’m sure an African American person would feel the same way about this statue and about a community that has never repented for its atrocities. Finally, on the plane to Texas, I read Caste, an excellent book arguing that African Americans are the American “untouchables” suffering from slavery, Jim Crow, and this discrimination persists. In my mind, this statue, erected in 1903, does not belong in a capitol park that is supposed to represent all citizens. There were several statues that honored underrepresented minorities and their contributions to Texas in the park, but to me the glorification of the Confederacy overshadowed all other attempts to be balanced. I admire many aspects of Texas and its contributions to the nation and the world. It is a center of entrepreneurship and creativity, has excellent universities, and leads us in the development of wind power and batteries. The state has a lot to be proud of, but certainly not its Confederate past.

Applied Economics as part of a Multidisciplinary Coalition

The overarching theme of the conference was multidisciplinary research. The Rausser keynote speaker was Ricardo Salvador from the Union of Concerned Scientists, and his comments were discussed by Jim Jones, a leading agricultural engineer from the University of Florida as well as John Antle and Cathy Kling, two distinguished agricultural economists. Salvador emphasized that the biggest challenges of our time require multiple vantage points. He suggested that the transition towards sustainable food systems emphasizing the notion of a circular economy, where waste and pollution are minimized and human benefits are maximized. Jim Jones suggested that economists are crucial in defining and pursuing such objectives and must work with other disciplines on sharing knowledge and exchanging ideas that would result in significant multidisciplinary research and most importantly effective policies. One plausible idea is to have more joint sessions with other disciplines in our annual meetings as well as joint educational research programs. John and Kathy emphasized that economists have the tools to address circularity. This may not be an aim by itself, but can be part of a policy that strives to maximize social welfare subject to economic and environmental constraints.

Madhu Khanna, a Berkeley alumna and a distinguished professor at the University of Illinois, gave a fantastic presidential address on the important and growing role of multidisciplinary research in our association. By definition, agricultural and applied economics integrates knowledge and methods from economics and other disciplines. The world is not ruled by economists, and frequently scientific and policy agendas are defined by natural scientists. Scientists may identify and model a phenomenon like a climate change. Engineers and scientists may develop applicable solutions. Economists then need to help design policies that will modify behavior and lead to the adoption of these greener solutions. Madhu’s career is an example of doing this well; her research has helped inform the design of precision agricultural practices, voluntary environmental arrangements, and alternative energy. Government agencies tend to increase their support of multidisciplinary efforts and economists, especially applied economists, should be able to benefit from this support. Furthermore, multidisciplinary research provides new avenues for publication by applied economists and should be more recognized in promotion and tenure. I strongly endorse Madhu’s position and believe that we short ourselves by worshipping the “top five” (the top leading economic journals) as the main measures of excellence and capability. I have been fortunate enough to publish in the “top five” in the past, but those were not my best papers. My work has had a greater policy impact when published in agricultural and environmental economic journals or general interest science journals.

Texas Capitol Building

Mixing Economics and Politics

In the past, AAEA meetings emphasized the problems of the farm. However, we are transitioning to emphasizing the problems of the food system and consumers. The prestigious fellow address was given by another Berkeley alumna, Jill McCluskey, the director of Washington State’s School of Economic Sciences. Jill investigated the inequality of access to nutritional food, distinguishing between food deserts (locations where mostly low-income people have minimal access to grocery stores that provide fresh produce and other nutritional foods) and food swamps (areas where most food outlets provide fast and convenient food which may lack in nutritional value). The health of individuals living in these regions with limited transportation options and significant time constraints suffers from a lack of access to healthy food, which in turn may contribute to chronic diseases and obesity. A fundamental insight of this approach is that the main cause of consuming unhealthy diets is lack of income and time pressure. This “nutrition trap” undermines productivity and overburdens health services, at a substantial cost to the rest of society. Conversely, the social gain from improved nutritional health strongly supports a case for government incentives to enhance healthy food access in these regions, along with information resources that can educate consumers and improve nutrition choices.

Prescriptions based on economics are not necessarily implemented. In the end, politics are key in establishing policies. In a symposium on environmental policy in agriculture, Cathy Kling noted that there are few enforced policies in the US that prevent water contamination from fertilizers and other residues used in agricultural production. Nitrates find their way from the Midwest through the Mississippi to the Gulf of Mexico where they have created a massive dead zone, wiping out many of the fisheries and other biodiversities. This problem persists despite the fact that sound technical solutions exist to control contamination at reasonably low costs. Research in the political economy suggests that one reason for this sad state of affairs is that politicians representing farm states supported the Clean Water Act, which regulated water quality in the rest of the economy while exempting agriculture from the scrutiny of the law. Instead, the government established policies to promote ecosystem services, which are subsidies aimed to improve water quality. But these policies are coming short. My collaborator Gal Hochman suggested that one reason that government may not select the policies suggested by economists is that they are concerned that their choice may be overruled with a change in government. Governments with a stronger environmental emphasis may be able to establish regulations that require irreversible investment, rather than environmental taxations that can be easily reversed.

The conference had many other sessions that illustrated how the relative emphasis on farm economics is declining and there is increasing emphasis on other parts of the food supply chain, the environment, development, and interactions between economics and other disciplines.

Awards, Leadership, and Conclusion
Any association like the AAEA is a collection of people, and its challenge is to build loyalty and a sense of family. When people perceive that they receive from the organization, they will tend to give, and it will result in a stronger group. The biggest honor that AAEA bestows on its members is recognized as a Fellow. I really appreciate and respect this year’s Fellows who illustrated the richness of the association. Two of the five new Fellows (Jutta Roosen and Will Martin) are international. Jutta contributes to consumer behavior research and Will on international trade and policy. Will was the president of the International Economics Association and Ralph Christy was the president of the AAEA when I became a fellow. Ralph, a professor at Cornell, was among the first scholars of agro-business and international rural development and recently has been working on agri-food problems in Africa. Tim Richards is a leading scholar of agri-business and supply chains and I believe that this is the main area of growth of agri-food research since much of the action is outside the farm gates. Al Parks has been a leading scholar and educator of A&M Prairie View University of Texas. His research has contributed to the understanding of the potential and management of agricultural biotechnology, crop systems, and livestock, both in economics and general agricultural literature, and he has educated and mentored numerous students, including Ralph Christy. Al Park is the first fellow from a historically black college, and his recognition is long overdue.

The AAEA meeting in Austin reminded me how much I missed this type of gathering and I look forward to future live meetings. I really appreciate the guts of the AAEA board, in particular, it’s President Dawn Thilmany, and its staff headed by Kristen McGuire in deciding about this hybrid form. I hope that next year it will be mostly a live event, and wish that pandemic will be behind us.

https://blogs.berkeley.edu/2021/08/20/on-the-road-again/

Members in the News: Gundersen, Wilde, Ellison, Kolodinsky, Taraz, Schmit, Jablonski, Rejesus, Landry, Turner, Schnitkey, Jensen, DeLong, et al.

Craig Gundersen, Baylor University The US is taking a bite out of its food insecurity – here’s one way to scrap the problem altogether By: The Conversation - August 19, 2021 Pandemic plunges families into food poverty in world’s rich economies By: Financial Times - August 8, 2021 COVID-19 afflicts families of rich economies with food insecurity: FT By: China Daily - August 10, 2021 Bigger SNAP payments will reduce hunger in McLennan County By: Waco Tribune-Herald - August 16, 2021 Parke Wilde, Tufts University Biden Administration Prompts Largest Permanent Increase in Food Stamps By: The New York Times - August 15, 2021 The last revision, in 2006, assumed an adult woman would spend $18.58 a month on low-fat milk and fewer than 50 cents on cheese, according to an analysis by Parke Wilde of Tufts University. (Continued...) Read more on: The New York Times Brenna Ellison, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Longer lunch breaks can encourage kids to eat more fruits, vegetables By: ANI - July 22, 2021 Prescott and study co-authors Xanna Burg, Jessica Metcalfe, and Brenna Ellison compared fruits and vegetable consumption during 10 and 20 minutes of seated lunchtime, and the results were clear. (Continued...) Read more on: ANI Jane Kolodinsky, University of Vermont Latest census data finds population growth in metro areas By: Marketplace - August 13, 2021 “We’re seeing a huge infrastructure package right now in our federal government for building roads and having influxes of resources for community economic development, not the least of which is broadband,” said Jane Kolodinsky, who runs the Center for Rural Studies at the University of Vermont. “And so when you have declining rural populations by which the influx of resources depend on the populations levels, we will see a change in the amount of resource that reaches rural areas.” (Continued...) Read more on: Marketplace Vis Taraz, Smith College The unequal effects of climate change By: Marketplace - August 16, 2021 People are grappling with rising utility bills, and some are hit harder than others because they lack the resources to withstand extreme weather. “We could see that in a heat wave, where people without air conditioning could be the most hit,” Taraz said. (Continued...) Read more on: Marketplace Todd Schmit, Cornell University Becca Jablonski, Colorado State University Farm marketing success linked to natural, cultural assets By: Phys.org & Mirage - July 13, 2021 To explore differences between communities, Todd Schmit, associate professor in the Charles H. Dyson School of Applied Economics and Management, and colleagues at Colorado State University and the University of Missouri created a database of assets for every county in the United States, breaking down these community resources in six areas: Built, cultural, financial, human, natural and social. Co-author Becca Jablonski, a Cornell alum and an associate professor of agricultural and resource economics at Colorado State University, hopes the database will enable researchers and planners to craft economic development policies that are more successful because they are community-specific. (Continued...) Read more on: Phys.org & Mirage Roderock Rejesus, North Carolina State University Crop insurance and unintended consequences By: Phys.org - August 14, 2021 "This could be an unintended consequence of providing subsidies for crop insurance," said Rod M. Rejesus, professor of agricultural and resource economics at NC State and the corresponding author of the research study. "The concept of moral hazard could be present here. If insurance will cover crop losses due to various effects like drought or severe weather, a farmer may not want to pay the extra expense for climate change adaptation efforts such as using cover crops to improve soil health, for example." (Continued...) Read more on: Phys.org Craig Landry, University of Georgia Dylan Turner, USDA-Economics Research Service At-risk homeowners may forgo flood insurance By: Phys.org - July 16, 2021 Known as charity hazard, the question of whether expectations of disaster assistance might reduce flood insurance demand was a focus of the study by Craig Landry, professor in the Department of Agricultural and Applied Economics, and recent doctoral graduate Dylan Turner. Using household level survey data from 548 households in 72 counties in Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Florida, Landry and Turner examined the possibility of households foregoing flood insurance based on the local history of disaster aid distribution and the political and social environment of the area. (Continued...) Read more on: Phys.org Gary Schnitkey, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign U.S. Soybean Farmers: Take This Short Survey on Digital Technologies By: Ag Web - July 19, 2021 Gary Schnitkey, professor in agricultural and consumer economics and soybean industry chair in agricultural strategy, and Joana Colussi, a doctoral candidate in the Department of Agricultural and Consumer Economics, are working with colleagues in Brazil to measure the influence of various communication channels on farmers’ decisions in both countries. (Continued...) Read more on: Ag Web Kimberly Jensen, University of Tennessee Karen DeLong, University of Tennessee Jackie Yenerall, University of Tennessee Researchers Target Food Loss and Waste Reduction By: Food Manufacturing - July 14, 2021 "This study will provide a results-driven set of recommendations for future voluntary food loss and waste reduction programs," UTIA professor of agricultural and resource economics and lead researcher Kimberly Jensen said. "Findings will provide estimates of how food loss and waste information shapes consumers' choices in products, stores and at-home practices." The UTIA multidisciplinary research team includes Kimberly Jensen, Karen DeLong, T. Edward Yu and Jackie Yenerall from the Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics and C. Rita Chen and Curtis Luckett from the Department of Food Science. (Continued...) Read more on: Food Manufacturing American Journal of Agricultural Economics Soda tax does not control obesity, studies claim By: Emnetra - August 9, 2021 Taxation on sodas and other sweets Beverage Does not help reduce obesity Consumers switch to other high-calorie foods drink New studies that are not taxed claim. Researchers came to a conclusion after analyzing data on Americans’ purchases of household foods in 2006. American Journal of Agricultural Economics. (Continued...) Read more on: Emnetra Amitrajeet Batabyal, Rochester Institute of Technology Make No Misteak: Our Food Choices Are Not Ours Alone By: The Globe Post - August 12, 2021 There are clear connections between food systems, human diets, human health, and the climate crisis. Agriculture uses 37 percent of the earth’s land and 70 percent of its freshwater supply. Furthermore, agriculture, including forestry, is responsible for 24 percent of greenhouse gas emissions. (Continued...) Read more on: The Globe Post Kashi Kafle, Texas A&M University Tinsorn Songsermsawas, IFAD Link farmers with traders: To increase farm revenue By: The Himalayan Times - July 30, 2021 In his 20-year career as a social worker, Krishna Thapa had never seen farmers as happy as the small group of farmers in Dailekh. All of them were on their way back home from a nearby vegetable collection centre, where they had just sold different types of vegetables produced on their own farm. (Continued...) Read more on: The Himalayan Times Awudu Abdulai, University of Kiel American Journal of Agricultural Economics Agricultural & Applied Economics Association Prof Awudu Abdulai Receives Another Major Global Honour By: Ghana Web & Peace FM Online - August 15, 2021 Distinguished academic and global scholar, Prof Awudu Abdulai has been honoured by the International Association of Agricultural Economists (IAAE). He served as Associate Editor (2000-2006) and has been Co-Editor-in-Chief of Agricultural Economics since 2012. He has also served as Associate Editor and board member of many reputable journals including the American Journal of Agricultural Economics and Food Policy. He is a Distinguished Fellow of the African Association of Agricultural Economists in 2010 and Fellow of the Agricultural & Applied Economics Association (AAEA). Awudu has consulted for the World Bank, FAO, WFP, IFPRI, and the Bank of Ghana (Continued...) Read more on: Ghana Web & Peace FM Online Tessa Conroy, University of Wisconsin Pandemic Inflation Trends Put Wisconsin Businesses, Consumers Under Pressure By: Wisconsin Public Radio & Urban Milwaukee - August 12, 2021 "I think that there was some concern that inflation would continue to accelerate," said Tessa Conroy, an assistant professor of agricultural and applied economics with the University of Wisconsin-Madison. "Producers haven't been able to respond with supply as enthusiastically as consumers have responded with demand as the economy has sort of opened back up." (Continued...) Read more on: Wisconsin Public Radio & Urban Milwaukee Thomas Reardon, Michigan State University Scott Swinton, Michigan State University Reardon New Honorary Member of International Ag Econ Group By: Michigan Ag Connection - August 11, 2021 Tom Reardon, a University Distinguished Professor in the Department of Agricultural, Food, and Resource Economics (AFRE) at Michigan State University (MSU), has been named an Honorary Life Member of the International Association of Agricultural Economists (IAAE). AFRE Chairperson and University Distinguished Professor Scott Swinton says, "Tom Reardon has an extraordinary track record of sustained, direct collaboration with development research institutions on every major continent. His direct field research has put him at the cutting edge of recognizing transformations in world food systems. He is truly deserving of this honor." (Continued...) Read more on: Michigan Ag Connection Hope Michelson, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Careers That Change the World! By: Wity Radio - August 12, 2021 "I love that I get to think about questions that I care about all the time and to try to find answers for them. Really trying to understand why people in rural areas, in low-income countries in particular, have issues related to food insecurity and persistent poverty" said Hope Michelson. (Continued...) Read more on: Wity Radio Alvaro Durand-Morat, University of Arkansas Despite Ample Supply, Rice Prices Remain Higher Than Expected By: KUAR - August 16, 2021 "Most commodity prices went down during the pandemic because of lower demand," said Alvaro Durand-Morat, assistant professor of agricultural economics and agribusiness for the Arkansas Agricultural Experiment Station, the Division of Agriculture's research arm. "But rice went the other way." (Continued...) Read more on: KUAR Jayson Lusk, Purdue University Food prices and COVID: Agricultural economics professor breaks down rising food prices By: Carroll County Comet - August 11, 2021 Jayson Lusk, agricultural economics professor and department head, breaks down why and how COVID has led to an increase in domestic food prices. In the Q&A below, he answers some commonly posed questions. Domestically average food prices are on the rise. (Continued...) Read more on: Carroll County Comet Gertrude Nakakeeto, Texas Tech University Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College welcomes 12 new faculty members as fall semester starts By: Albany Herald - August 14, 2021 In the School of Agriculture and Natural Resources, the new faculty members include Gertrude Nakakeeto, assistant professor of Agribusiness; Austin Moore, assistant professor of Agricultural Communication; Jane Anne Veazey, lecturer of Agricultural Communication; and Andrew F. Egan, professor of Forestry. (Continued...) Read more on: Albany Herald Gary Schnitkey, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Conservation Policy and Cash Rented Farms By: KMA Land - August 15, 2021 Bigger farms, even average-sized grain farms, have a tougher time transitioning to different cropping methods and or policy requirements. University of Illinois Extension Agricultural Economist Gary Schnitkey points to cover crops as an example. (Continued...) Read more on: KMA Land James MacDonald, University of Maryland Agricultural & Applied Economics Association Family farms find ways to meet challenges and protect agricultural heritage By: Polk County Itemizer-Observer - August 4, 2021 There’s been a “steady shift” of production to much larger operations, said economist James MacDonald, visiting research professor at the University of Maryland in College Park, who has written extensively on family farm operations. The indication that outside income-earning is on the upswing comes mostly from work-related studies, not farm surveys. By 2016, about half of all farm families were shown to be insured through outside employment, according to the Agricultural & Applied Economics Association, an organization that tracks agrarian statistics nationwide. (Continued...) Read more on: Polk County Itemizer-Observer Parr Rosson, Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service Good Texas-Cuba relations could be great for business By: KXXV - July 16, 2021 "Our history and our connections go back literally over 100 years," said C. Parr Rosson, Associate Head for Extension at Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service. "There was a time when Cuba imported rice from Texas and some meat products. This goes back to pre-embargo days." (Continued...) Read more on: KXXV

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 Jessica Weister at jweister@aaea.org. What research and topics are you working on? Want to be an expert source for journalists working on a story? Contact Allison Ware at aware@aaea.org. *Disclaimer - This email is to acknowledge citations of current AAEA members and/or their research in any public media channel. AAEA does not agree nor disagree with the views or attitudes of cited outside publications.

Members in the News: Ortega, Irwin, Gutierrez-Li, Elbakidze, Neill, Lusk, Jacobs, Schnitkey, Yu, Khanna, Miao, Gundersen, et al.

David Ortega, Michigan State University China's Putting Pigs in 13-Story 'Hog Hotels' to Keep Germs Out By: Bloomberg, et al. - August 1, 2021 "China is the world’s largest pork-consuming nation, and I don’t see that changing very easily or any time soon,” said David Ortega, associate professor of Food and Agricultural Economics at Michigan State University in East Lansing. “Rebuilding the pork sector is a national priority for the government.” (Continued...) Read more on: Bloomberg, Aljazeera, South China Morning Post, Yahoo Finance, The Independent, Sierra Club, Taipei Times, New Delhi Television, The Straits Times, Business Times, The Portland Press Herald, Times of India, Business Day, Live Mint, NDTV, Tiky Web & UK Time News Scott Irwin, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign U.S. Hog Prices Sink as China Rebuilds Herd By: The Wall Street Journal - June 29, 2021 Through last week, the most-active hog futures contract trading on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange has fallen nearly 17%, bringing the price down to 99 cents a pound—the first time it has fallen under a dollar since March. Futures have posted a slight rebound to start this week, rising 0.8% Tuesday to nearly $1.04 a pound. (Continued...) Read more on: The Wall Street Journal Alejandro Gutierrez-Li, North Carolina State University U.S. Unemployment Benefit Rolls Shrink as States Exit Pandemic Programs By: The Wall Street Journal, et al. - July 22, 2021 “I would expect more jobs to be created in the months coming forward," said Alejandro Gutierrez-Li, an economist at North Carolina State University. He said that some employers, such as resorts and hotels, may lose workers to other growing industries as job openings trend at record highs. (Continued...) Read more on: The Wall Street Journal, The Ohio Star, The Virginia Star, Daily Caller, & Live Mint Levan Elbakidze, West Virginia University The drought-stricken Western U.S. braces for ‘water wars’ By: CNBC - July 23, 2021 (Continued...) Read more on: CNBC Clinton Neill, Cornell University Why is veterinary care so expensive? By: Marketplace - August 5, 2021 Clinton Neill, an assistant professor at Cornell University’s College of Veterinary Medicine, said that vet care in a metropolitan area in Europe tends to be cheaper than in a U.S. metropolitan area. But the difference may have to do with insurance ownership rates. (Continued...) Read more on: Marketplace Jayson Lusk, Purdue University Keri Jacobs, University of Missouri Economists offer caution as Congress studies the beef industry By: Agri-Pulse, et al. - July 28, 2021 “Even if 100% of cattle were being sold on the cash market, it doesn’t mean prices would have been any higher than what we recently observed,” he said. There are steps that could be taken through the upcoming reauthorization of price reporting legislation that might add more transparency to the marketplace, but Lusk noted “there’s not necessarily any guarantee that’s going to improve the price level, which is, I think, a separate issue.” Meat processing — and the beef sector in particular — has been under special scrutiny in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, when shutdowns at a handful of large facilities removed sizable amounts of the nation’s production capacity. Some have suggested a smattering of smaller, more independent facilities could lessen the industry’s reliance on larger packing plants, but as Keri Jacobs, an ag economist at the University of Missouri, noted, those smaller facilities still need to be in a position to make money. (Continued...) Read more on: Agri-Pulse, Farm Progress, Ag Web, All Ag News, & Meat Poultry Gary Schnitkey, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign National corn leader, anhydrous training and more By: Prairie Farmer - July 22, 2021 Schnitkey says survey results will provide information about the communication channels soybean farmers use for adopting technology. The study will also provide more research for agricultural communication in both countries. (Continued...) Read more on: Prairie Farmer Chengzheng Yu, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Madhu Khanna, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Ruiqing Miao, Auburn University US Corn and Soybean Maladapted to Climate Variations, Study Shows By: Phys.org, et al. - July 16, 2021 “Since the 1950s, advances in breeding and management practices have made corn and soybean more resilient to extreme heat and drought. However, there is a cost for it. Crop productivity with respect to the normal temperature and precipitation is getting lower,” says Chengzheng Yu, doctoral student in the Department of Agricultural and Consumer Economics (ACE) at the University of Illinois and lead author on the new paper, published in Scientific Reports. Yu, Khanna, and co-author Ruiqing Miao, Auburn University, studied corn and soybean yield from 1951 to 2017 in the eastern part of the U.S., an area where crops can grow without irrigation. Crop yield increased significantly during this period due to a wide range of technological and breeding improvements. (Continued...) Read more on: Phys.org, Eurasia Review, Seed World, Azo Clean Tech, Wisconsin State Farmer, Morning Ag Clips, Science Daily, Environmental News Network, & Soybean South Craig Gundersen, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign The Pandemic Recession Has Pushed a Further 9.8 Million Americans Into Food Insecurity By: The Good Men Project - July 19, 2021 What Is Shrinkflation? The Sneaky Way Manufacturers Are Raising Prices By: WebMD - July 28, 2021 Soumya Balasubramanya, International Water Management Institute Into Dust: What Happens When Our Taps Run Dry? By: XSXW via YouTube - June 4, 2021 Grain Media and Bogobrush: Brands in Action Series By: XSXW - June 30, 2021 Water Security: Key Pathways for Climate Resilience By: Interactive - June 29, 2021 Madhu Khanna, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Lax Pesticide Policies Are Putting Wildlife Health at Risk, Experts Warn By: Audubon - Summer 2021 Last year University of Illinois agricultural economist Madhu Khanna published a study that correlated rising usage to annual declines of grassland and insectivorous birds in the United States, by 4 and 3 percent a year, respectively. (Continued...) Read more on: Audubon Ariel Ortiz-Bobea, Cornell University A world of hurt: 2021 climate disasters raise alarm over food security By: Mongabay - August 4, 2021 The U.S. Wheat Crop Is in Trouble By: Gizmodo - July 13, 2021 Madhu Khanna, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Xiang Bi, Government Accountability Office How toxic facility relocation depends on community pressure By: Phys.org & Science Magazine - July 21, 2021 “Current studies usually focus on the question of where new plants choose to locate. Our research looks at whether facilities make relocation decisions based on the socioeconomic characteristics of the community,” explains Xiao Wang, graduate student alum from the Department of Agricultural and Consumer Economics (ACE) at U of I and lead author on the paper. Co-authors include Madhu Khanna, ACES distinguished professor in ACE; George Deltas, Department of Economics at U of I; and Xiang Bi, University of Florida. (Continued...) Read more on: Phys.org & Science Magazine Brenna Ellison, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Do meal kits reduce food waste? USDA explores potential amid rise in plant-based convenience foods By: Food Ingredients First - July 29, 2021 Longer lunch breaks can encourage kids to eat more fruits, vegetables: Study By: DT Next - July 25, 2021 Amitrajeet Batabyal, Rochester Institute of Technology War between America, China over Taiwan's future: Economic impacts, deterrents By: Rochester Business Journal - July 26, 2021 The Economist recently opined that Taiwan is the most dangerous in the world. When viewed through the lens of superpower politics, this description is apt because of four interrelated reasons. (Continued...) Read more on: Rochester Business Journal Courtney Bir, Oklahoma State University Lixia Lambert, Oklahoma State University River, stream not potable; city water is By: Tahlequah Daily Press - August 6, 2021 A recent report by OSU Extension, compiled by Courtney Bir, farm management specialist, and Lixia H. Lambert, assistant professor, Cherokee and Pottawatomie counties had the highest violation count during a recent study on water quality in the state. (Continued...) Read more on: Tahlequah Daily Press Wendong Zhang, Iowa State University The Garsts, with deep roots in Iowa agriculture, want the buyers of 2,000 acres to continue family’s legacy By: Des Moines Register - August 11, 2021 Wendong Zhang discusses that the recent farmland value surge made it possible for this year’s value to beat the record set in 2013. (Continued...) Read more on: Des Moines Register

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 Jessica Weister at jweister@aaea.org. What research and topics are you working on? Want to be an expert source for journalists working on a story? Contact Allison Ware at aware@aaea.org. *Disclaimer - This email is to acknowledge citations of current AAEA members and/or their research in any public media channel. AAEA does not agree nor disagree with the views or attitudes of cited outside publications.