Analysis of Participation in Multifunctional Agriculture: U.S. Rice Farms

Multifunctional agriculture is particularly fundamental to some working lands conservation policies and programs, such as the Environmental Quality Incentive Program (EQIP), Conservation Security Program (CSP) and Wildlife Habitat Incentive Program (WHIP). Farmers can also be engaged in providing recreational and agri-tourism services such as hunting, fishing, bird-watching, farm tours, petting zoos and hospitality services. Using the Agricultural Resource Management Survey (ARMS) we analyze factors associated with participation in conservation, recreation and agri-tourism activities as a function of farm structure, farm financial measures, production practices, and socio-demographic characteristics of the farm operator. To estimate the functional relationships we estimate a binary logistic model where the dependent variable takes a value equal to one if the farm operator reports in the ARMS survey participation in conservation programs, recreation or agritourism. Results show that the level of farm operator education and cultural practices that use conservation technical assistance are significant at the 0.01 and 0.10 levels, respectively, in explaining participation. Farm financial characteristics were not significant. Location (state where operator is located) is also not significant.multifunctional agriculture, agri-environmental policy, rice, logistic model, Agricultural and Food Policy, Land Economics/Use, Q18, Q26, Q28,

Analysis of Participation in Multifunctional Agriculture: U.S. Rice Farms

Multifunctional agriculture is particularly fundamental to some working lands conservation policies and programs, such as the Environmental Quality Incentive Program (EQIP), Conservation Security Program (CSP) and Wildlife Habitat Incentive Program (WHIP). Farmers can also be engaged in providing recreational and agri-tourism services such as hunting, fishing, bird-watching, farm tours, petting zoos and hospitality services. Using the Agricultural Resource Management Survey (ARMS) we analyze factors associated with participation in conservation, recreation and agri-tourism activities as a function of farm structure, farm financial measures, production practices, and socio-demographic characteristics of the farm operator. To estimate the functional relationships we estimate a binary logistic model where the dependent variable takes a value equal to one if the farm operator reports in the ARMS survey participation in conservation programs, recreation or agritourism. Results show that the level of farm operator education and cultural practices that use conservation technical assistance are significant at the 0.01 and 0.10 levels, respectively, in explaining participation. Farm financial characteristics were not significant. Location (state where operator is located) is also not significant.multifunctional agriculture, agri-environmental policy, rice, logistic model, Agricultural and Food Policy, Community/Rural/Urban Development, Crop Production/Industries, Environmental Economics and Policy, Land Economics/Use, Q18, Q26, Q28,

Vigilancia y dictadura en Los vigilantes de Diamela Eltit

The Chilean author, Diamela Eltit, is known as a writer who discusses oppression of women and the historical-cultural conditions that Chile has lived in over the past thirty years. Her literary style creates an opportunity for writers and artists to express and demonstrate political resistance in an obviously defiant manner. In much of her writing, Eltit examines society after the coup d\u27état in 1973 and the dictatorship of Pinochet in Chile. She evokes a vivid image of life during the dictatorship, or in the case of her novel, Los vigilantes, under the effects of dictatorial oppression. The novel, Los vigilantes, is an allegory of life under the dictatorial law inaugurated under the regime of Augusto Pinochet (1973-1990). The narration consists of letters from Margarita, a single mother, who along with her mute son suffers the repression and fear of living in an authoritarian regime. The novel shows gender inequalities, and the forms in which a patriarchal culture molds the values and actions of its citizens. In my essay, I explore the politics of the novel, Los vigilantes, by Diamela Eltit, specifically vigilance and the way in which it affects the behavior and psychological state of the protagonist. I discuss how the dictatorial state of Los vigilantes creates a political atmosphere where repression and fear determine the life of those that resist the law and the homogeneity of society. The vigilance instated by the dictatorship is reproduced in the citizens, who become agents and accomplices and create suspicion as a form of sociability – the idea of the panoptic society by Michel Foucault. Everyone suspects and watches one another while living in a stratified, unequal, and unjust society. Because Margarita is a mother without her husband, living alone with her son, she is watched by everyone around her: the neighbors, townspeople, and her mother-in-law. Her correspondence with her absent husband reveals the control that he has over her through his words alone. As readers, we never see any of the correspondence from the husband, but know that he controls Margarita by making threats to take away her son, by sending his mother to visit her, and by asking the neighbors to watch her. The father/husband in Los vigilantes, incarnates the power of the dictator, Pinochet

DISTRIBUTIONAL IMPACTS OF CAPPING ELIGIBILITY FOR COMMODITY PROGRAM PAYMENTS

Adjusted Gross Income, Commodity Payments, Eligibility, Means Test, Resource /Energy Economics and Policy, Q12, Q18,

FSA Direct Farm Loan Program Graduation Rates and Reasons for Exiting

Farm Service Agency (FSA) direct loans are intended to provide transitory credit to creditworthy borrowers unable to obtain conventional credit at reasonable terms. Farm loan program (FLP) effectiveness is measured in part by how readily direct loan borrowers graduate to conventional credit. A survey of FSA borrowers originating direct loans during fiscal years 1994-1996 is utilized to estimate graduation rates. A majority of 1994-1996 loan originators did exit the direct FLP by November 2004. A multinomial logit model indicates financial strength at origination resulted in greater likelihood of farming without direct loans approximately nine years after loan origination.Agricultural Finance,

Analyzing FSA Direct Loan Borrower Payback Histories: Predictors of Financial Improvement and Loan Servicing Actions

Classical and count data regression models are estimated to predict improvement in three key financial indicators—net worth, debt-to-asset ratio and current ratio—as well as the number of loan restructurings and delinquencies. Data consist of Farm Service Agency direct loans originated in fiscal years 1994-1996. Models to predict outcomes vary by loan type. Models explaining variation in the financial measures have modest explanatory power but initial levels of debt-to-asset ratio and current ratio are significant in explaining changes in debt-to-asset ratios and current ratios, respectively. Models explaining number of restructurings and delinquencies for operating loans have satisfactory explanatory power. Increasing crop revenues to total farm revenues and increasing farm size lead to increased loan servicing actionsFSA direct loans, financial improvement, loan servicing actions, Agricultural Finance, Farm Management, q14, q12,

Analysis of Farm Service Agency Direct Loan Loss Likelihoods and Loss Rates

The USDA's Farm Service Agency (FSA) serves as the nation's lender of last resort by providing direct loans to farmers unable to obtain credit at reasonable rates and terms. Annual loan losses have been substantial, averaging $576 million for fiscal 1994-2004. An econometric model using survey data from a sample of FSA loans originated in fiscal 1994-1996 is estimated to identify factors associated with loan losses. The results indicate previous debt settlement experience, loan type, farm type, farm size, and farm financial characteristics are important factors. This information may be used by FSA to adjust its underwriting standards in an effort to reduce loan losses and provide additional loans to farmers given its current funding.Agricultural Finance,

NLO vector boson production with light jets

In this contribution we present recent progress in the computation of next-to-leading order (NLO) QCD corrections for the production of an electroweak vector boson in association with jets at hadron colliders. We focus on results obtained using the virtual matrix element library BLACKHAT in conjunction with SHERPA, focusing on results relevant to understanding the background to top production.Comment: 4+2 epsilon pages, Submitted for the proceedings of TOP2011 - 4th International Workshop on Top Quark Physics, 25-30th September 2011, Sant Feliu de Guixols, Spai

Farm Service Agency Direct Farm Loan Program Effectiveness Study

The three primary objectives of the Effectiveness Study are to: (1) identify groups being served by FSA direct farm loan programs, (2) examine the length of time borrowers remain in the programs and the proportion of borrowers who exit or 'graduate' from the programs, and (3) measure and identify ways of reducing loan subsidy rates. The study found that direct Farm Loan Programs (FLPs) appear to be serving their intended clientele. Recent FLP borrowers are more financially stressed than non-borrowers and would be generally considered as family farms. About 78 to 92 percent would qualify as small family farms using USDA's Small Farms Commission definition. FLP credit market penetration is relatively high among farms likely to be eligible for these credit programs, despite the fact that these programs represent a relatively small proportion of total outstanding agricultural debt. Increasing market penetration or the share of farms served by the program would require greater obligation funding and hence greater budgetary costs. Conversely, implementing more rigorous loan eligibility criteria would likely lower the number of operators receiving loans and hence loan loss occurrences and subsidy rates would likely fall. The majority of FSA Direct borrowers from FY 1994-1996 used FLPs as a transitional tool. At time of origination, FSA Direct borrowers had fewer years of farming experience than the farming population at large. More than half of these borrowers no longer had active FLP loans by the end of November 2004. So for the majority of borrowers, FLPs are not a lifetime credit source. FLPs are helping farmers move to commercial credit or aiding farmers who subsequently leave farming completely, as is common among U.S. farmers. Not surprisingly, farmers in stronger financial condition originating FSA Direct loans are more likely to exit and have fewer outstanding loans with FSA. FSA experiences higher loan loss rates than conventional agricultural lenders. This is to be expected because commercial lenders can be more selective in choosing borrowers and price loans to match risk profiles which FSA does not do. In essence, FSA's mission is to provide credit to riskier 'creditworthy' borrowers. The agency is accomplishing this goal. The natural consequence is that FSA loan loss rates are higher than for conventional lenders. Whether the current borrowers are too risky or should even riskier borrowers be included are policy questions. The analysis indicates that attempts to cut losses systematically would imply denying credit to some current borrowers.Agricultural Finance,

Associations Between Temperamental Negative Affectivity and Parental Anxiety Across Childhood

Extant research suggests a link between child temperamental negativity and parental anxiety and depression. However, most studies focus on temperamental negativity generally, and over fairly short longitudinal time spans. The present study extended the time span well beyond immediate postnatal infancy and explored associations between specific child temperament dimensions, both positive and negative, and parental psychopathology. We expected positive relationships between temperamental negative affectivity and parental mental health problems, but an inverse relation involving temperamental effortful control. Data were collected on child temperament, and parental anxiety and depression, using a cross-sectional design and anonymous survey methodology across five child age groups: infancy (INF; 3 - 13 months, N ≅ 83), toddler (TOD; 14 - 36 months, N ≅ 94), early childhood (EC; 3 - 7 years, N ≅ 81), middle/late childhood (MLC; 8 - 10 years, N ≅ 31), and early adolescence (EA; 10 - 15 years, N ≅ 38). REDCap survey links were published on several dozen social media outlets and relevant listservs. Across all datasets, parental respondents primarily identified as white and female. Child gender distribution was approximately equal between girls and boys. We used the Rothbart family of instruments to assess temperamental negative affectivity and effortful control in each sample (i.e., IBQ-R Short Form, ECBQ Short Form, CBQ Short Form, TMCQ Standard Form, and EATQ-R Short Form, respectively). Parental anxiety was measured by the Generalized Anxiety Disorder Assessment (GAD-7), and parental depression was measured by the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9). Associations involving child negative affectivity were generally consistent with expectations. Results indicated positive correlations between parental anxiety and child negative affectivity in 4 out of 5 groups (INF: r(83) = .25, p = .02; TOD: r(94) = .27, p = .01; EC: r(81) = .37, p \u3c .001; EA: r(39) = .57, p \u3c .001), and between parental depression and child negative affectivity in all age groups (INF: r(81) = .26, p = .02; TOD: r(91) = .22, p = .03; EAC: r(80) = .26, p = .02; MLC: r(30) = .42, p = .02; EAA: r(37) = .42, p = .01). Effortful control was negatively, but less robustly, correlated with parental anxiety (TOD: r(94) = -.22, p = .03; EAA: r(39) = -.44, p = .02) and depression (TOD: r(91) = -.29, p = .01; MLC: r(30) = .45, p = .01). Although we make no assumptions regarding directions of effect between child temperament and parental mental health, bidirectional influences seem likely. For example, parental mental health problems probably exacerbate temperamental negative affectivity, and temperamental negative affectivity probably exacerbates parental mental health problems. This study provides an important expansion of the timeframes of associations between parental mental health and child temperament