Members in the News: April 15, 2024

 

Maria Kalaitzandonakes, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

“What’s a Good Egg? Learn What Free Range, Cage Free Really Mean on Labels”

By: Chicago Sun Times – April 2, 2024

“Some labels don't mean anything. “Natural" don't have any requirements associated with it, and cartons touting no hormones "is not a useful label as hormones are not given to egg laying hens. The American Egg Board, a Chicago-based industry group, says "farm fresh" is another description that means very little, as all eggs are farm fresh with "eggs typically reaching the store shelf within 72 hours of being laid.”

(Continued...)
Read more on: Chicago Sun Times

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Amitrajeet Batabyal, Rochester Institute of Technology

“Silicon Valley and Shenzhen, China, Will Get All the Growth From AI if Other Regions Don’t Invest Now to Compete”

By: The Conversation – April 9, 2024

“The 21st century has witnessed an unprecedented surge in technological advancements, with artificial intelligence emerging as a worldwide transformative force across the economy. The integration of AI-based technologies into regional economies through the manufacturing and design of goods such as smartphones and smart speakers has sparked significant changes, leading to increased efficiency, innovation and economic growth.”

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Read more on: The Conversation

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Andrew Stevens, University of Wisconsin–Madison

“Too sweet? Why Rising Cocoa Prices Are Driving Up the Cost of Chocolate”

By: Chanel 3000 – April 8, 2024

“Dr. Andrew Stevens joins News 3 Now Live at Four to discuss the rising price of chocolate.”

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Read more on: Chanel 3000

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Lauren Chenarides, Colorado State University

“Are All 99 Cent Stores Closing? A look at the Family Dollar, 99 Cents Only Stores closures”

By: USA Today – April 6, 2024

“I think we’ll continue to see dollar stores expand. We're not necessarily going to see those expansion plans stop.”

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Read more on: USA Today

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James Mintert, Purdue University

“Farmer Sentiment Improves As Interest Rate Expectations Shift”

By: KPC News – April 6, 2024

“Producers’ expectations for interest rate changes have shifted, which could help explain why producers look for financial conditions to improve. Factors contributing to this optimism included non-farm investor demand, inflation expectations and strong cash flows. An improved interest rate outlook might have been a factor as well, although producers didn’t point to that explicitly in this month’s survey.”

(Continued...)
Read more on: KPC News

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Amy Hagerman, Oklahoma State University

“Chickens and Cattle Hit With Massive Bird Flu Outbreak”

By: KX News – April 7, 2024

“We would expect to see some increase in prices because you’re rapidly pulling a large number of potential eggs out of the market for the next 30 to 60 days. Under normal circumstances, egg prices would usually be dropping after the Easter holiday, when demand is high. She doesn’t expect that to be the case this year.”

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Read more on: KX News or The Hill, Fox 59

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Brittney Goodrich, University of California, Davis

“New UC Study Estimates Costs for Growing Strawberries on the Central Coast”

By: Morning Ag Clips – April 8, 2024

“This study provides growers with a baseline to estimate their own costs, which can help when applying for production loans, projecting labor costs, securing market arrangements, or understanding costs associated with water and nutrient management and regulatory programs.”

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Read more on: Morning Ag Clips

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Sandy Dall'Erba, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

“How Global Supply Chains Shape Air Quality”

By: AZO Cleantech - April 9, 2024

“Our study is unique in combining atmospheric transport of air pollution with supply chain analysis as it tells us where the pollution is coming from and who is ultimately responsible for it. There is a direct link between a country’s level of production and how much air pollution is emitted. But production may be driven by demand from consumers in other countries. We use supply chain analysis to quantify the links between production and consumption. This helps us to understand how production in one country is linked to domestic and foreign demand.”

(Continued...)
Read more on: AZO Cleantech or Bioengineer

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Stephen Devadoss, Texas Tech University

"Immigration Reform Can’t Pass Congress. Here’s How That’s Hurting Kansas, Missouri Farmers"

By: Union-Bulletin - April 10, 2024

"The program is mostly used by fruit and vegetable farmers for seasonal harvests, not the row crops like corn, wheat, soybeans and sorghum that are common in Kansas and Missouri."

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Read more on: Union-Bulletin

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David Ortega, Michigan State University

“Why Are Foreign Investors Buying Land in Illinois, And What Does It Mean For the State?”

By: The Chicago Council – April 11, 2024

“It’s hard to visualize how big Illinois’ 795,000 acres of foreign-held land really is. The state has more than 29 million acres of privately held agricultural land, so we are only talking of 2.7% of that land being foreign-held. Nationwide, about 3.1% of the country’s privately held agricultural land is fully or partly foreign-owned. I would say it does not represent a sizable portion of total agricultural land in the state,” he added, while also pointing out that there was also a decrease in foreign-held land in the state in 2022.”

(Continued...)
Read more on: The Chicago Council

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Joseph Balagtas, Purdue University

“Groceries And Gas Still Squeezing US Consumers As Inflation Lingers”
By: WDSU News – April 10, 2024

“Survey Tallies Consumer Attitudes on Lab-Grown Meat Alternatives”
By: Ag Daily or Phys.org – April 10, 2024

Members in the News: April 8, 2024

Amit Batabyal, Rochester Institute of Technology “The Education Level of Disabled Veterans Greatly Affects Their Children’s Schooling” By: Medium – April 2, 2024 “There is an elaborate bureaucracy in the United States to assist disabled veterans in a variety of ways. In Rochester and more generally in Monroe County, New York, there are several organizations that seek to assist disabled veterans with things like job training, health and wellness, and legal counseling.” (Continued...) Read more on: Medium Sungeun Yoon, University of Florida “Florida OJ Industry Weathers Compounding Pressures” By: South Central Florida Life – March 25, 2024 “It was reassuring to observe the relatively constant shares of consumers who purchased OJ in the past 30 days and who have a positive perception of OJ during the inflationary period. This signals the possibility of higher OJ demand once the OJ price level stabilizes.” (Continued...) Read more on: South Central Florida Life Martin Smith, Duke University “Despite Climate Change, Coastal Property Values Are on the Rise. Researchers Point to Two Reasons” By: WUNC 91.5 – March 29, 2024 "Wealthier and wealthier people continue to move into these [coastal] communities. And that continues to bid up housing prices in the coastal zone, despite the escalating risks that we see. Part of this process is also the tax incentives. And on top of all of that, we're subsidizing the management of beaches and the defense of our shorelines... [which] is propping up those real estate values as well." (Continued...) Read more on: WUNC 91.5 Brian Roe, The Ohio State University “783 Million People Face Chronic Hunger. Yet the World Wastes 19% of Its Food, UN Says” By: CBS 42 – March 27, 2024 “The key takeaway is that reducing the amount of food that is wasted is an avenue that can lead to many desirable outcomes — resource conservation, fewer environmental damages, greater food security, and more land for uses other than as landfills and food production,” said Roe, who wasn’t involved in the report.” (Continued...) Read more on: CBS 42 Joseph Balagtas, Purdue University “Despite Data Suggesting Otherwise, Consumers Believe Food Prices Still Rising Sharply” By: Yahoo! Finance – March 29, 2024 “As anyone who's done any shopping at all in the last few years, prices across the economy have risen. That makes things less affordable, makes it harder to stay within your budget, and just makes life more difficult. Food prices have been no exception." (Continued...) Read more on: Yahoo! Finance Maria Kalaitzandonakes, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign “What’s a Good Egg? Learn What Free Range, Cage Free Really Mean on Labels” By: Chicago Sun Times – April 2, 2024 “Some labels don't mean anything,. Eggs labeled "natural" don't have any requirements associated with it, and cartons touting no hormones is not a useful label as hormones are not given to egg laying hens.” (Continued...) Read more on: Chicago Sun Times Luyi Han, Pennsylvania State University Stephan Goetz, Pennsylvania State University Zheng Tian, Pennsylvania State University “Innovation Linked to International Exports for Both Rural and Urban Firms” By: Farms.com – April 2, 2024 “Our previous work identified key factors that appear to foster innovation within firms. In this study, we wanted to know whether innovation, in turn, might also foster export behavior after controlling for other factors that contribute to export decisions. Our study is the first to examine this question using firm-level data in the U.S., and it provides some much-needed context about the U.S. firms that are active in non-farm export markets.” “Being competitive in the global market is of national importance, but especially so for rural areas where manufacturing accounts for a much larger share of employment than in urban areas. We found that the influence of innovation was just as strong among rural firms as among their urban counterparts, which suggests that fostering innovation may be one way to enhance export activity among rural firms.” (Continued...) Read more on: Farms.com Brian Whitacre, Oklahoma State University “End of Internet Subsidies For Low-Income Households Threatens Access to Telehealth” By: Marketplace – April 2, 2024 “A big barrier for this program generally was people don’t know about it. Rural households should be signing up at even higher rates than urban ones because a higher percentage of them are eligible. Yet people found signing up for the program laborious.” (Continued...) Read more on: Marketplace Steven Deller, University of Wisconsin-Madison "Northland College Contributes Millions to AC’s Economy; Employers Worry About Potential Losses if College Closes" By: Ashland Daily Press - April 1, 2024 “Northland brings money into the local economy— you’re looking at 2.5% of the county’s economy. Is that a big hole or a little hole— that’s up to locals to decide. A student who lives on campus may have very modest off campus spending, but students who live off campus could spend substantially more. Still, students tend to have limited income, so the level of this spending would be modest." (Continued...) Read more on: Ashland Daily Press Glynn Tonsor, Kansas State University “Pork Chops Continue to Be Meat Demand Monitor Wild Card” By: National Hog Farmer – April 4, 2024 “Current consumer demand for pork chops is one of the least well-understood facets of domestic meat demand. While the product is well understood by nutritionists and other experts, exactly how U.S. consumers view and approach pork chops remains worthy of further assessment. While this needs to be cross confirmed, it is very possible that many U.S. residents feel unsure of their ability to comfortably prepare available pork chops at home in a way that confidently leads to a high-quality eating experience. They may alternatively believe chefs at restaurants are better equipped.” (Continued...) Read more on: National Hog Farmer James Mintert, Purdue University “Farmers Express Optimism In Purdue's Latest Ag Economy Barometer” By: Ag Economy – April 4, 2024 “All of the increase was attributable to people becoming more optimistic about the future. The future expectation index was up five points compared to last month, and that was seven points higher than a year ago. So, it really had to outweigh the fact that the current condition index was actually down a little bit compared to last month and down substantially compared to last year. That was interesting.” (Continued...) Read more on: Ag Economy Jean Claude Bizimana, Texas A&M University Samuel Zapata, Texas A&M University Anthony Baffoe-Bonnie, Texas A&M University “New Modeling App to Assist Farmers in Forecasting” By: Austin County News - April 4 “We’ll be recruiting farmers for feedback. We’re in the early stages of the project, but we all understand the value a tool like this represents for growers, especially smaller operations, to capitalize on opportunities and avoid major setbacks.” (Continued...) Read more on: Austin County News Amy Hagerman, Oklahoma State University “Bird Flu Outbreak May Affect Egg Prices” By: Specialty Food News – April 4, 2024 "Any time you have an outbreak of highly pathogenic avian influenza in a large poultry producer like this, it has the potential to impact the market, because you're taking a large number of egg-laying birds out of production all at once.” (Continued...) Read more on: Specialty Food News Charlotte Janssens, KU Leuven “Coping With Climate Extremes Through Storage and Trade: Evidence From Sub-Saharan Africa” By: Economics That Really Matter – April 4, 024 “I find that in the event of both extreme dry and wet conditions, the likelihood of food insecurity increases, but with heterogeneity across agro-ecological zones. Extreme dry conditions are particularly detrimental in arid zones, while extreme wet conditions are detrimental in humid zones. Next, I investigate whether the impact of climate extremes changes with regions’ market access. I use travel times to the closest city and to the closest port as measures of local and international market access, respectively.” (Continued...) Read more on: Economics That Really Matter

USDA News: The Farmers.gov Local Dashboard Is Now Available For All 50 States

Today, we’re excited to share that the farmers.gov local dashboard is now available for all 50 states! The latest update added Alaska, Indiana, Kansas, Maryland, Massachusetts, Nebraska, New Jersey, Ohio, and South Dakota to the 40 states announced last October and Iowa, which launched as the farmers.gov dashboard pilot in January 2023.

View your new farmers.gov local dashboard — a dashboard of farming data and USDA resources for your state and county.

The farmers.gov local dashboard.

Why We Created the Dashboard

We created the farmers.gov local dashboard to provide farmer-focused data sets and resources from USDA and other government agencies in a single place so you can easily access materials that you may need as you run your farm operation. We also transformed some of the complex data sets into easy-to-read charts and graphs to help you quickly find and analyze information that matters to you.

Dashboard Features

Like the other states, the additional state dashboards include:

• Commodity Prices. View daily or weekly commodity prices and trends in prices over time to make data-driven business decisions with data provided by the Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS). Corn and soybean data is available for Indiana, Maryland, Nebraska, Ohio, and South Dakota. Corn and wheat pricing is available for Kansas. Whole chicken and chicken parts data is available for Alaska, Massachusetts, and New Jersey. 
• Weather Forecast. View local current, upcoming, and severe weather information to plan and prepare for weather conditions that may impact your operation with data from the National Weather Service (NWS).
• Historical Climate Data. View historical temperature and precipitation data to analyze weather patterns over time with data from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI).
• Past Storm Events. View past storm events data from the NOAA NCEI storm events database to be aware of storm events that may occur in your area during certain time periods or use as a reference when applying for crop insurance from the Risk Management Agency (RMA) or USDA disaster assistance programs. 
• USDA Service Centers. View your local USDA service center contact information to connect with FSA, NRCS, or Rural Development (RD) staff for your business needs.
• Additional State Resources. View additional resources, like your county’s drought data from the U.S. drought monitor, contact information for your state’s beginning farmer and rancher coordinator or state agency offices, and state GovDelivery subscription.

The farmers.gov local dashboard displays current and historical weather information and past storm events.

Read more>>

Members in the News: April 1, 2024

Bruce Sherrick, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

“Investors See Big Returns on Farmland — Are They Pricing Out Farmers?”

By: News Nation – March 15, 2024

“Institutional investors have become more visible in recent years but pushed back against the idea that they’re buying up significantly more farmland and driving up prices. The majority of purchases are still by neighbors. Because the supply of land is limited, those neighbors are also more likely to overpay when a nearby property becomes available.”

(Continued...)
Read more on: News Nation

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Karen Maguire, USDA - Economic Research Service
Wilma Davis, USDA - Economic Research Service
Megan Husby, USDA - Economic Research Service
Catharine Weber, USDA - Economic Research Service
John Bovay, Virginia Tech
Yoonjung Lee, Virginia Tech

“Food Production Using Controlled Environment Agriculture and Agrivoltaics Systems Could Become the New Normal”

By: Phys.org – March 25, 2024

"These industries have experienced tremendous growth over the last couple of decades, but official data collected and published by the USDA may not fully reflect the current technological and market situation. If controlled environment agriculture and indoor farming were to take off in the next decade, this could transform the consumer experience and possibly change the economic reality for traditional, soil-based farmers who grow crops that can also be grown in controlled environments and without soil."

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Read more on: Phys.org or Farms.com

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Rabail Chandio, Iowa State University

“SOLD! 230-Acre Iowa Century Farm Brings Nearly $4 Million At Auction”

By: Successful Farming – March 26, 2024

“I would say the land sale did not indicate any unusual demand and sold for pretty much a normal price for the region and reflects the current market assessment of the ag experts whose opinions are presented in the ISU Land Value Survey. If people expect land values to increase like they did a couple of years ago, they would be willing to pay quite high prices. If the crowd feels the land market is going to maintain its slow pace, they will react accordingly in their biddings.”

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Read more on: Successful Farming

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Carl Zulauf, The Ohio State University
Joana Colussi, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Nick Paulson, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Gary Schnitkey, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

“Ag Economists Release Report Showing Crop Yield Growth By Global Regions”

By: Agri Marketing – March 27, 2024

“Yield growth is critical to increasing crop output in the United States. US harvested land has been stable during the 21st Century and thus has not contributed to increasing US crop output. This study finds US yield growth varies by measure, crop, and comparative benchmark. Combined feed grain, food grain, and oilseed yield increased more for the US than any world region when measured in physical output units, but was in the middle when measured as percent increase. The US has a yield growth advantage in some crops, notably peanuts and soybeans; but for most crops lags the rest of the world, especially in percent increase.”

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Read more on: Agri Marketing

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Ani Katchova, The Ohio State University
Xiaoyi Fang, The Ohio State University
Rae Ju, The Ohio State University

“Trends Show More Agricultural Land Lost to Development”

By: Ohio Country Journal – March 26, 2024

“The new 2022 Census of Agriculture data shows the number of farms in Ohio declined by 2.3% and in land in farms declined by 6.4% between 2002 and 2022. One number that is concerning to agricultural stakeholders in Ohio is the loss of 931,089 acres in land in farms in Ohio in the last 20 years. The question is how much of the agricultural land in Ohio was lost to development?”

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Read more on: Ohio Country Journal

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Amit Batabyal, Rochester Institute of Technology

“Why Does it Cost So Much to Check Baggage on Airlines?”

By: Rochester Business Journal – March 4, 2024

“There used to be a time, in the not-so-distant past, when it was possible to check at least one piece of baggage at no cost on most airlines. Those days are now gone and cost-efficient airline travel today requires some planning. One reason why this is the case is the matter of baggage, particularly checked baggage.”

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Read more on: Rochester Business Journal

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Hannah Hawkins, Texas A&M University
Shawn Arita, USDA-Office of the Chief Economist
Seth Meyer, USDA- Economic Research Service
Daniel Sumner, University of California, Davis

“Pork Prices May Reflect Uncertainty Around Prop 12”

By: Farm Progress – March 28, 2024

“Since being passed by California voters in 2018, Proposition 12, a farm animal welfare law, has faced a series of legal challenges that have led to uncertainty and delays in the implementation and enforcement of its requirements for the treatment of breeding pigs. A new Special Issue of ARE Update sheds light on its contentious path to eventual full implementation on Jan. 1, 2024, and analyzes how these delays have affected the retail and wholesale pork market.”

(Continued...)
Read more on: Farm Progress

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Joseph Balagtas, Purdue University

“Why Are Food Prices So High Despite Inflation falling?”

By: Fox 13 – March 29, 2024

“While food price inflation over the last year officially is 2.1%, respondents in our survey tell us it is much higher. They tell us food prices have risen by 6% in the past year. Official measures of inflation are either month to month or year over year. Consumers might not necessarily think in terms of years, but, they might think of prices today relative to some period in the past, maybe before the pandemic.”

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Read more on: Fox 13

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Jayson Beckman, USDA-Economic Research Service
Maros Ivanic, USDA-Economic Research Service
Noé Nava, USDA-Economic Research Service

“USDA Models Climate Impact on Corn, Soy”

By: World Grain – March 28, 2024

“Climate change would dramatically slow yield growth for corn and trim yields for soybeans in coming years, affecting planting decisions and exports, according to a recent study conducted by the Economic Research Service (ERS) of the US Department of Agriculture (USDA). The study modeled how climate-linked changes in temperatures and precipitation might affect future US corn and soybean yields and what that would mean for markets and trade through the middle of the next decade.”

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Read more on: World Grain

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Dawn Thilmany McFadden, Colorado State University

“From Free-For-All to Business As Usual: How Marijuana Sales Have Evolved”

By: 420 Intel – March 28, 2024

”Prices also went up as much as 50%, so, the increased revenue may not be solely due to increased use. When cannabis was first legalized, the price of buds was nearly $2,000. That dropped to about $750 pre-COVID, then rose again before dropping in the middle of 2022.”

(Continued...)
Read more on: 420 Intel

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Molly Sears, Michigan State University

“Michigan Specialty Crop ratings Slide”

By: Bownfield - March 28, 2024

“We’re not seeing an overall change in Michigan’s rankings, but asparagus production in general is struggling a little bit. We can see a decline in asparagus acres.”

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Read more on: Bownfield

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Alicia Rihn , University of Tennessee

“New UT Extension Program to Equip Cut Flower Farmers in Tenn”

By: Morning Ag Clips -  March 28, 2024

“Extension specialists from the University of Tennessee Department of Plant Sciences and Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics are helping cut flower farmers in Tennessee make informed decisions about production and marketing. The project will include production and cultivar trials, as well as producer and consumer perspective surveys to provide new and regionally specific research.”

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Read more on: Morning Ag Clips