Hedonic analysis of Wisconsin Beef Improvement Association Bull Sale and Development Program data revealed buyer preferences for calving ease, growth, production weight, and carcass merit traits. Attributes like calving ease direct Expected Progeny Differences (EPD), average daily gain, birth to yearling gain EPD, and rib-eye area consistently ranked higher and significantly influenced the bull’s sale price. Further analysis using a 2-Class Finite Mixture Model indicated distinct groups of buyers in the region who prioritized measured bull attributes and others who did not, confirming heterogeneity in buyer preferences.

This study presents an eye-tracking experiment to investigate consumer responses toward local Texas honey. Honey adulteration news was used as a treatment along with product attributes, such as a certified Texas honey seal, price, organic, and product reviews. The eye-tracking technology was applied to examine the effect of attribute-non-attendance to measure the treatment effects more robustly. The results show that honey adulteration information increases consumers’ willingness to pay (WTP) for some quality-related attributes. The results also show that negative product reviews have a much larger reduction in the magnitude of WTP than the increase produced by positive product reviews.

This paper examines the impact of land ownership on farm-level investment and investment risk (variability) in Indian agriculture using nationally representative survey data. The study adopts a flexible moment approach with White’s heteroscedasticity consistent standard error method. Results reveal that land ownership intensity significantly augments on-farm investment and reduces its variability. Other variables like family head’s education, access to irrigation, technical advice, credit and nonfarm income have significant inducement effects on-farm investment. We also observe that farmers’ education, age, irrigation, technical advice, MSP awareness and commercialization reduce farm investment risk. Findings have important policy implications for Indian land tenancy

Corporate political engagement is increasingly noticeable at grocery stores; however, there is limited research evaluating the impact on consumer demand. Here, we investigate the case of Aunt Jemima (AJ), which responded to criticism that the branding was racist by removing the eponymous image and renaming the brand Pearl Milling Company. We evaluate the changes on demand for both the brand and their competitors and find that renaming the brand reduced both willingness to pay for and choice of AJ and increased choice of competitors. Finally, we show these effects are mitigated significantly by informing consumers of the reason for rebranding.

The purpose of this study is to analyze agricultural producers’ willingness to adopt regenerative cover crop practices in their operation and the effects of producer and farm characteristics on willingness to accept (WTA) values. The paper utilizes the double-bounded contingent valuation method to analyze survey responses submitted by producers and non-operating landowners in the Texas and Oklahoma portions of the Southern Great Plains. Results showed an average WTA of $26.38/acre for producers to adopt cover crops and that programs aimed at increasing adoption rates may require more substantial investment compared to those focused on continuity with current adopters.

The objective was to estimate the difference in cost, revenue, and profit between unassisted and assisted calvings on western Canadian cow-calf operations. Historical records of individual animal production measures from 2015 to 2020 and industry-described inputs were used in a modified decision tree model. The incidence of assisted calvings in heifers and cows was 4.6 and 2%, respectively. Assisted heifers and cows had an expected profit of −$227.43 and −$67.06 CAD per calving, respectively, while unassisted heifers and cows had an expected profit of −$76.11 and $120.12 CAD per calving, respectively. Calving assistance can impact the profitability of western Canadian cow-calf operations.

This study explores the economics of culling decisions in cow-calf operations in the Southern U.S. with a novel application of a dynamic mathematical programing model. The results provide an optimal culling strategy under the base model and a range of optimal strategies that vary with respect to different components such as fertility probabilities, prices, replacement costs, and pregnancy checking. The results suggest that producers should cull all cows that are older than age 10 and cows that fail to calve once they reach the age of 7. The sensitivity analysis underlines the impact of market conditions, replacement costs, and pregnancy check use on the optimal culling decisions.

Tree care license requirements are expected to improve service quality and provider competencies. The study elicits the licensing fee Georgia firms would pay using survey data from 153 tree care firms. An empirical relationship identifies firm characteristics that influence the fee size using the inverse hyperbolic sine transformation function. Results show that respondents who propose higher annual licensing fees are on average younger, more educated, male, and likely to agree that mandatory licensing is necessary to establish professionalism in the tree care industry. Also, those often engaged in tree trimming services and firms with higher annual revenues contemplate paying higher licensing fees.

In Africa, rangeland ecosystems have been exploited due to heavy and unsustainable grazing. Policy and institutional mechanisms such as integrating silvopastoral systems with sustainable grazing practices have been devised to mitigate the negative effects. In this study, we investigated whether the uptake of sustainable grazing management in the form of controlled grazing spurs investment in multipurpose trees (MPTs) and enhances income. Using instrumental variable regression, we find that controlled grazing increases not only the propensity to plant MPTs but also the number of tree species. More importantly, IV and treatment effect results indicate that controlled grazing enhances income from MPTs.

This study examines the grazing management plans (GMPs) adoption and prioritization of environmental and economic objectives among U.S. cow-calf and stocker operations, utilizing 2020–2021 survey data and logistic regression analysis. Findings reveal regional adoption differences, with higher rates in the Midwest. Operations with succession plans, larger grazing lands, and stocker activities are more likely to adopt GMPs. Operations with more privately owned land and smaller herd sizes prefer environmental goals, while those with less grazing land prioritize economic outcomes due to resource concerns. The study provides insights for policies promoting GMP adoption and sustainability in the U.S. beef sector.

This review article explores the role of land-grant Extension amidst an escalating epistemic crisis, where misinformation and the contestation of knowledge severely impact public trust and policymaking. We delve into the historical mission of land-grant institutions to democratize education and extend knowledge through Cooperative Extension Services, highlighting their unique position to address contemporary challenges of information disorder and declining public confidence in higher education. Land-grant universities can reaffirm their relevance and leadership in disseminating reliable information by reasserting their foundational principles of unbiased, objective scholarship and deep engagement with diverse stakeholders. This reaffirmation comes at a critical time when societal trust in science and academia is waning, necessitating a recommitment to community engagement and producing knowledge for the public good. The article underscores the necessity for these institutions to adapt to the changing information landscape by fostering stakeholder-engaged scholarship and enhancing accessibility, thus reinforcing their vital role in upholding the integrity of public discourse and policy.

Much historical yield-monitor data is from fields where a uniform rate of nitrogen was applied. A new approach is proposed using this data to get site-specific nitrogen recommendations. Bayesian methods are used to estimate a linear plateau model where only the plateau is spatially varying. The model is then illustrated by using it to make site-specific nitrogen recommendations for corn production in Mississippi. The in-sample recommendations generated by this approach return an estimated $9/acre on the example field. The long-term goal is to combine this information with other information such as remote sensing measurements.

Using the Heckman framework, we develop profiles of households who purchase Greek yogurt and non-Greek yogurt and estimate own-price, cross-price, and income elasticities of demand. Attention is centered on the impacts of age, race, education, and ethnicity of the household head, household income, household size, region, the presence of children, and prices of Greek yogurt and non-Greek yogurt. This analysis rests on data acquired from Nielsen pertaining to 164,484 households over calendar years 2018–2020. Own-price elasticities are estimated to be −1.36 for Greek yogurt and −0.70 for non-Greek yogurt. Additionally, these yogurt products are not only substitutes but also necessities.

This paper examines child labor response to parental education. Prior studies present anecdotal evidence with a causal interpretation of this relationship rarely explored. Hence, conditional on a range of parental characteristics and multigenerational co-residence, I use as a set of instruments grandparents’ educational attainment to exploit plausibly exogenous variation in parents’ schooling. I generally find evidence of a negative parental education impact on child labor outcomes. The effect of maternal education on household farm work, however, is not significant. With respect to potential mechanisms, the results suggest that engagement in nonfarm employment pursuits among educated parents may mediate these effects.

The goal of this paper is to systematically review the literature on United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) forecast evaluation and critically assess their methods and findings. The fundamental characteristics of optimal forecasts are bias, accuracy and efficiency as well as encompassing and informativeness. This review revealed that the findings of these studies can be very different based on the forecasts examined, commodity, sample period, and methodology. Some forecasts performed very well, while others were not very reliable, resulting in forecast specific optimality record. We discuss methodological and empirical contributions of these studies as well as their shortcomings and potential opportunities for future work.

This research investigates the Environmental Kuznets Curve (EKC) hypothesis within Brazil’s soy transportation sector. It aims to determine if CO2 emissions from soy transport show an “Inverted-U” or “N” shaped relationship with income from 2002 to 2017. Using a mathematical optimization model and System GMM for analysis, the study finds an “N” shaped EKC, indicating emissions initially increase, decrease, and then rise again with income. This suggests long-term environmental damage from sector growth, highlighting the need for targeted measures to mitigate emissions and enhance operational productivity, such as investments in intermodal transport and road efficiency improvements.