Members in the News: Batabyal, Gundersen, Liu, Fan, Whitacre, Irwin, Belasco, Saitone, Marshall, Fortenbery, Lusk, Thompson, Reeling, et al.

Amitrajeet Batabyal, Rochester Institute of Technology Why we need to focus more on place-based policies By: Rochester Business Journal - February 1, 2022 International trade theory teaches us that relative to no trade, free trade between nations makes them better off. Recent research tells us that the overall gains to the U.S. from trade with China are positive but small. (Continued...) Read more on: Rochester Business Journal Craig Gundersen, Baylor University Why Can’t You Buy Hot Meals With Food Stamps? By: Vice - February 2, 2022 One possible reason why: Beginning a discussion on what SNAP should or shouldn’t look like opens up the possibility of “nanny-state people” cracking down on SNAP recipients’ choices even harder, Gundersen said. For example, Michael Bloomberg wanted to block New York City food stamp recipients from purchasing sugary drinks and soda when he was mayor, and politicians on both sides of the aisle have attempted to stop the program from applying to “junk food.” (Continued...) Read more on: Vice Yangxuan Liu, University of Georgia 2021 Georgia Quality Cotton Award Winners Announced By: Southeast AgNet Radio Network - February 1, 2022 The awards are co-sponsored by the Georgia Cotton Commission and Bayer Crop Science/Deltapine and administered by the University of Georgia (UGA) Cotton Team. Yangxuan Liu from the UGA Cotton Team conducted the analysis and presented the 2021 Georgia Quality Cotton awards at the annual meeting. (Continued...) Read more on: Southeast AgNet Radio Network Linlin Fan, Pennsylvania State University Consumer support of food-waste solutions focus of agricultural economist's study By: Phys.org - February 3, 2022 The average U.S. household wastes an estimated 32 percent of purchased food, translating to $240 billion in economic losses, according to Linlin Fan, assistant professor of agricultural economics. (Continued...) Read more on: Phys.org Brian Whitacre, Oklahoma State University Digital Navigators Help Oklahoma Residents Break Through ‘Digital Divide’ By: The Daily Yonder - January 26, 2022 “We had the idea that we would go into rural places that were struggling with connectivity, and partner with their rural libraries, to give them hotspot devices to help them with the connectivity situation,” said Brian Whitacre, a professor of Agricultural Economics and Extension Specialist for Rural Economic Development Oklahoma State University Extension, in a zoom interview.  (Continued...) Read more on: The Daily Yonder Scott Irwin, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign 2022 Market Outlook For Corn And Soybeans, By Scott Irwin University of Illinois By: Crop Producer - January 25, 2022 Corn and soybean prices have shown remarkable resilience in 2021. During the 2020-21 marketing year, nearby futures prices peaked in May 2021 at over $7.50 per bushel for corn and $16 per bushel for soybeans. This rally was caused by a surge in US exports coupled with production shortfalls in major growing regions outside the US. Since that time, prices for both crops have remained at historically high levels. As the calendar year draws to a close, the nearby futures price for corn remains near $6 per bushel and for soybeans near $13. (Continued...) Read more on: Crop Producer Eric Belasco, Montana State University Tina Saitone, University of California, Davis The National Center for Appropriate Technology Joins Forces with MSU, UC-Davis, to Lower Risks of Climate Disruption By: Dairy Business - January 28, 2022 “This project will utilize a diverse team, including climate hub personnel, extension faculty, agricultural economists, graduate students, and two climate hub fellows to develop and implement improved extension materials for communicating these growing risks associated with extreme weather and climate change,” said Dr. Eric Belasco, Professor of Agricultural Economics at Montana State University and Co-project Director. “For example, the expanding use of a unique kind of insurance called the Pasture, Rangeland and Forage Rainfall Index (PRF) has been an increasingly important product for livestock producers,” said Dr. Tina Saitone, Associate Cooperative Extensions Specialist, with UC-Davis and rangeland systems expert. “This ‘index’ insurance insures against forage losses based on a complicated formula related to independent rainfall-index measurements, and it is not simple to understand how best to optimize its use in livestock-production risks.” (Continued...) Read more on: Dairy Business Maria Marshall, Purdue University Farmers markets help rev up local economy By: Indiana Prairie Farmer - January 28, 2022 Maria Marshall, a professor of agricultural economics at Purdue University, does research on small businesses and sees the economic and social benefits that farmers markets bring to local communities. “Bringing dollars in and having them circulate around the local economy is something that is good,” Marshall says. (Continued...) Read more on: Indiana Prairie Farmer T. Randall Fortenbery, Washington State University Conflict between Russia, Ukraine could have ripple effects on farm economy in Washington, U.S. By: The Spokesman Review - February 2, 2022 The two countries are major competitors with the United States as wheat exporters, said Randy Fortenbery, an agricultural economics professor at Washington State University. (Continued...) Watch video on: The Spokesman Review Jayson Lusk, Purdue University Broad Ripple urban farm feels impacts of inflation as food prices increase By: WRTV - January 31, 2022 “We are seeing levels of food prices that we haven’t seen in a couple of decades,” said Jayson Lusk, who leads the department of agricultural economics at Purdue University. “It means food is more expensive than it has been.” (Continued...) Read more on: WRTV Nathanael Thompson, Purdue University Carson Reeling, Purdue University Producers still wary of carbon markets By: High Plains Journal - January 28, 2022 As Nathan Thompson, associated professor of agricultural economics at Purdue, pointed out, different soils exhibit a wide range of sequestration. They could even lose carbon. Armstrong said heat maps could be developed for different soils and geographies. Carson Reeling, associate professor in the Department of Agricultural Economics at Purdue, laid out the mechanics of the different types of carbon markets. There are two basic types: regulatory and non-regulatory carbon offset markets. (Continued...) Read more on: High Plains Journal Hope Michelson, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Kathy Baylis, University of California, Santa Barbara How machine learning can improve food insecurity predictions By: Herald News - January 31, 2022 "Our goal is not to overhaul this existing system, which has made incredible contributions across countries, generating predictions about food crises in places where there's very little data and a lot of political complexity,” says Hope Michelson, associate professor in the Department of Agricultural and Consumer Economics at U of I and co-author on the paper. "First, we want to have a model that captures a wide variety of factors that can influence food insecurity. It’s not just shocks to food production but also shocks that affect people's income. Even if you have food production, you still have hunger if people can't buy it,” says Kathy Baylis, Department of Geography at University of California, Santa Barbara. Baylis is corresponding author on the study. (Continued...) Read more on: Herald News Todd Kuethe, Purdue University Senate passes bill to keep agricultural land under ownership of Americans By: WTWO - February 1, 2022 “A lot of similar states have similar legislation. And there is a concern among supporters that foreign interest in farm land may ultimately effect food security or ability to control agricultural production,” Dr. Todd Kuethe said. (Continued...) Read more on: WTWO Jeffrey Dorfman, University of Georgia Jared Grant, University of Georgia Julian Worley, University of Georgia Applied Economic Perspectives and Policy Using Truck-to-Trunk Programs to Increase Food Security and Help Support Farm Incomes By: Fox 28, RFD TV, Magazines Today, News Blaze, Next Wave Group, One News Page, & Seed Daily - February 2, 2022 In the new article "Using truck-to-trunk programs to increase food security and help support farm incomes" published in AEPP, Jeffrey Dorfman, Jared Grant, and Julian Worley from the University of Georgia look into the lessons learned from USDA's pandemic Food Box program and how to implement similar food giveaways in the future. (Continued...) Read more on: Fox 28, RFD TV, Magazines Today, News Blaze, Next Wave Group, One News Page, & Seed Daily

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