What Approach to Watershed Management?

A study of one Iowa watershed by USDA and Iowa State University economists points up the need for examining alternative methods for watershed management in controlling soil erosion and damage-producing runoff

Taxes and assessments on Oregon forestland and timber

Oregon has several forest tax and assessment programs. All forestland owners pay an annual property tax. Some owners may owe a severance tax on cut timber, depending on how their forestland is classified for tax purposes. All harvesters of Oregon timber pay a Forest Products Harvest Tax (FPHT) on harvested timber.Published October 2006. Please look for up-to-date information in the OSU Extension Catalog: http://extension.oregonstate.edu/catalo

Federal income taxation for woodland owners : an overview

Oregon’s woodland owners face several types of taxes: local property taxes, state severance and harvest taxes on timber, state and federal taxes on income from forest operations, and possibly federal estate taxes on the woodland portion of the owner’s estate. This publication highlights key aspects of federal income tax laws and regulations specifically related to operations on private and family forest land (also called nonindustrial private forest land, or NIPF land).Published June 2007. Please look for up-to-date information in the OSU Extension Catalog: http://extension.oregonstate.edu/catalo

An Analysis of Policies of the Farmers Educational and Cooperative Union of America

The problem, then, to which this study is directed has two parts: (1) Has the National Farmers Union accurately reflected the interests of family-type and low-income farmers since 1941? (2) Can specific allegations of “leftism” directed at the National Farmers Union be justified? In order to determine if the purposes of the Farmers Union have changed since 1941, it is necessary to define the purposes prior to that year.Chapter II is devoted to that end and comprises a brief history of the Farmers Union prior to 1941.Because the major portion of this study is devoted to an analysis of the legislative record of the National Farmers Union since 1941, emphasis is placed on legislation advocated or supported by the organization prior to 1941. Chapters III through VI consider the positions taken by the National Farmers Union on various legislative issues—agricultural credit, support prices, medical care facilities, and cooperative taxation.The issues were selected for two reasons:(1) they were important to the American farmer, and (2) they provide a limited but fairly representative coverage of agricultural policy.Chapters II through VI also include an analysis of the positions taken by the Farm Bureau and the Grange on the legislative issues, to ascertain whether the Farmers Union has represented family-type and low-income famers more accurately. Chapter VII constitutes a description of a long-range agricultural program proposed by the National Farmers Union.The purpose of Chapter VII is to clearly show the basic philosophy of the organization. Chapter VIII presents specific allegations of “leftism” directed at the National Farmers Union.It also includes some of the evidence that was used in justifying the allegations. Material presented to refute the allegations constitutes Chapter IX. Conclusions regarding the extent to which the National Farmers Union has been representative of family-type and low-income farmers and the justification for the allegations are stated in Chapter X. Advisor: C. Clyde Mitchel

Demands for Land for Agriculture -- Past, Present, and Future

Excerpts: The land area of the United States must fulfill increasing demands from a growing population and a continuously developing economy. As they have in the past, demands for land and its products and services will change in form and intensity. The supply of agricultural land is likely to be subject to increasing pressure from urbanization and greatly expanded public installations and facilities. Such uses are creating demands for land which to a large extent were nonexistent or insignificant throughout much of our history. This paper focuses on the past, present, and future use of land for agriculture in the United States. Historical trends in use and the expansion of agriculture through new land settlement are briefly reviewed. The changing structure of modern agriculture is examined in some detail. Factors determining future demands for the products of land are appraised. Based upon a set of assumptions about these factors and about resource productivity, estimates of land requirements for agriculture in 1980 are presented. The potential for meeting demands for agricultural products further in the future is briefly discussed

A Method for Evaluating Erosion Control in Farm Planning

Many good studies dealing with economics of conservation have been reported, but some essential questions remain unanswered. What effect does planning the farm to achieve conservation goals have on farm income? How much income could a farmer earn if he ignored conservation? How would income differ between farms planned to keep erosion losses below an acceptable physical level and the same farms planned to get the most profit? This article shows how linear programming can be used to answer questions of this type. The opinions expressed are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the views of the Farm Economics Division, Economic Research Service, or the U.S. Department of Agriculture

Unpacking user relations in an emerging ubiquitous computing environment: introducing the bystander

The move towards technological ubiquity is allowing a more idiosyncratic and dynamic working environment to emerge that may result in the restructuring of information communication technologies, and changes in their use through different user groups' actions. Taking a ‘practice’ lens to human agency, we explore the evolving roles of, and relationships between these user groups and their appropriation of emergent technologies by drawing upon Lamb and Kling's social actor framework. To illustrate our argument, we draw upon a study of a UK Fire Brigade that has introduced a variety of technologies in an attempt to move towards embracing mobile and ubiquitous computing. Our analysis of the enactment of such technologies reveals that Bystanders, a group yet to be taken as the central unit of analysis in information systems research, or considered in practice, are emerging as important actors. The research implications of our work relate to the need to further consider Bystanders in deployments other than those that are mobile and ubiquitous. For practice, we suggest that Bystanders require consideration in the systems development life cycle, particularly in terms of design and education in processes of use

Association of elevated serumfree light chains with chronic lymphocytic leukemia and monoclonal B-cell lymphocytosis

Chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) and its precursor, monoclonal B-cell lymphocytosis (MBL), are heritable. Serumfree light-chain (sFLC) measures are a prognostic factor for CLL, but their role in susceptibility to CLL is not clear. We investigated differences between sFLC measurements in pre-treatment serum from five groups to inform the association of sFLC with familial and sporadic CLL: (1) familial CLL (n = 154), (2) sporadic CLL (n = 302), (3) familial MBL (n = 87), (4) unaffected first-degree relatives from CLL/MBL families (n = 263), and (5) reference population (n = 15,396). The percent of individuals having elevated monoclonal and polyclonal sFLCs was compared using age-stratified and age- and sex-adjusted logistic regression models. In age groups >50 years, monoclonal sFLC elevations were increased in sporadic and familial CLL cases compared to the reference population (p's  0.05). Unaffected relatives and MBL cases from CLL/MBL families, ages >60 years, showed elevated monoclonal sFLC, compared to the reference population (p's < 0.05). This is the first study to demonstrate monoclonal sFLC elevations in CLL cases compared to controls. Monoclonal sFLC levels may provide additional risk information in relatives of CLL probands