Transportation Impacts of Increased Ethanol Production: A Kansas Case Study

The rapid expansion of the biofuel industry has driven the Kansas agricultural market into a new era. Nationally, fuel alcohol production has increased from 1,630 million gallons in 2000 to 9,239 million gallons in 2008, a 467% increase. This national trend has occurred in Kansas as well. As of December 2009 there are 10 operational ethanol plants in Kansas with a combined annual production capacity of 438 million gallons.The growth of ethanol production in Kansas has affected the Kansas corn and sorghum markets in unknown ways. Historically, the principal market destination of Kansas corn was Kansas, Oklahoma, and Texas livestock feedlots with motor carriers accounting for all these shipments. The purpose of this research is to measure the transportation impact of Kansas ethanol production on the transportation of Kansas corn and sorghum. The specific objectives are: Objective A – Investigate the transportation impact of Kansas ethanol production on Kansas transportation from the point of view of the Kansas ethanol production industry, the grain elevator industry, and the Kansas railroad industry. Objective B – Investigate the impact of incremental truck traffic on road conditions in the vicinity of ethanol plants.Anticipated results include the inbound and outbound shipments to and from Kansas ethanol plants by mode and origin/destination. This information is likely to indicate that Kansas ethanol production has altered the traditional corn and sorghum logistics system

Methodology to Measure the Benefits and Costs of Rural Road Closure: A Kansas Case Study

While rural roads are essential to state economies, increasing farm size and the corresponding increase in farm vehicle size coupled with declining rural population have stressed the rural road system. As county population declines the financial ability of counties to maintain and rebuild the road and bridge system isn’t keeping up with the rate of deterioration. If counties can’t maintain the rural road system as it currently exists, reducing the size of the system should be considered. The overall objective of the paper is to estimate the economic impact on selected county road systems from reducing the size of the system. The specific objectives include (a) for a sample of three Kansas counties, measure the benefits and costs of keeping the road system as it currently exists and (b) for the same sample of Kansas counties, measure the benefits and costs of several scenarios of county road closure. The main conclusion is that rural counties will be able to save money by closing some relatively low traffic volume roads and redirecting the savings toward increasing the quality of other county roads. Counties with relatively extensive road systems (miles of road per square mile) and relatively high population density are less likely to realize savings from road closure. In contrast, counties with less extensive road systems and relatively low population density are more likely to realize significant savings from closure of relatively low volume roads

Running the Gamut: Music, the Aesthetic, and Wittgenstein's Ladder

Ludwig Wittgenstein’s thinking about musical aesthetics (a small but persistent strain in his writings) focused primarily on questions of demonstration and proper performance: how should this waltz or march sound? These emphases were part of a modernist-inspired effort to move aesthetics down from the heights of Kantian contemplation onto the plain of quotidian practice. But Wittgenstein does not so much escape Kant’s formulations as he extends them. The result opens the possibility of elaborating ordinary, even banal, comments about music into complex accounts of musical meaning

County-Level Impacts of Rail Line Abandonments: A Kansas Case Study

This article describes the use of econometric panel data techniques to estimate the effects of rail line abandonments at the county level. The article presents the economic theory that indicates how abandonments will affect local communities. Data were collected on line abandonments and several economic measures for counties in Kansas. Panel data estimation techniques were used to provide estimates of the effects for rural, urban and metropolitan counties. Results indicate that abandonments produce an initial period of economic growth that may be temporary for some counties. Results also indicate that any adverse impacts appear with a time lag of a few years

Intrarailroad and Intermodal Competition Impacts on Railroad Wheat Rates

The issue addressed in this paper is more fully understanding the relationship of intrarailroad competition and rail rates for wheat in the largest wheat producing states, which are Idaho, Kansas, Minnesota, Montana, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Texas, and Washington. The overall objective of the study is to investigate railroad pricing behavior for wheat shipments. The rate model was estimated with OLS in double-log specification utilizing the 2012 STB Confidential Waybill sample and other data.The research found that the distance from origin to destination and the total shipment weight had the expected negative relationships with railroad wheat rates and were statistically significant. The distance from origin to the nearest barge loading location had the expected positive relationship to railroad wheat rates and was also significant. The weight of each covered hopper car and the Herfindahl-Hirschman Index were both non-significant. However, the study used other data to determine that intrarailroad competition for wheat shipments within states appears to be present in most states