Enhancing Student Learning Experiences and Providing Value to the Agribusiness Industry by Building the Industry-Institution Interface

This paper addresses agribusiness industry-institution interfaces, research-education linkages, and improving agribusiness education with opportunities such as agricultural students’ internships with agribusiness companies, conducting applied research, and finding opportunities for agribusiness educational seminars conducted by universities. The rationale for agribusiness internships is discussed, and agribusiness internship structure and planning is outlined. The potential benefits of a Departmental Advisory Board are listed, along with suggestions for implementing such a group. Applied agribusiness research opportunities including case studies and extension, outreach, or trade publications are highlighted, and examples of this type of work are discussed. Finally, continuing education opportunities for agribusiness conferences or symposiums hosted and organized by a university Department of Agribusiness are delineated.advisory board, agribusiness management, case studies, continuing education, internships, Agribusiness, Teaching/Communication/Extension/Profession,

TROUT STEAKS: CONSUMER PERCEPTIONS OF A NEW FOOD ITEM

Water quality standards and a limited water supply have dramatically restricted the expansion of the U.S. trout industry. Faced with production restrictions, producers have turned to value-added products to strengthen the economic growth of the industry. In the near future, trout steaks could surface in retail outlets as a new revenue source for the mature trout industry. A telephone survey of consumers in Chicago and Los Angeles was conducted by the University of Idaho in the spring of 1997 to determine consumer preferences for trout steaks and, ultimately, to determine the viability of this product form. Using a probit analysis, fresh trout steaks were found to be more popular than frozen trout steaks. Consumers that exhibited significantly higher preference for fresh trout steaks were Hispanic, had high school education (or less), and/or believed that trout was less expensive than other meats. Chicago respondents and individuals with an urban background tended to display a higher preference toward frozen trout steaks.Consumer/Household Economics,

CONSUMER PERCEPTIONS OF TROUT AS A FOOD ITEM

The impacts of socioeconomic/demographic characteristics, experiences and preferences of consumers on trout purchasing decisions were estimated using Probit and Ordered Probit regression techniques. Data from a survey of consumer purchasing behavior and personal attributes were used to deduce factors that led to either a high or low likelihood of purchasing trout products. Analysis of data pertaining to whole trout and value-added products yielded consistently different characteristics of consumers who show a high affinity toward purchasing one or more of such products. Results from these analyses were used to suggest techniques for marketing whole trout and value-added trout products to specific segments of the consumer population.Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety,

Strategic Group Analysis of U.S. Food Businesses Using the Two-step Clustering Method

strategic group, planning, strategy, performance, Agribusiness, Institutional and Behavioral Economics, Marketing, Productivity Analysis, M0, M14, M2, M30,

The Demand for Wine Tourism in Canyon County, Idaho

Many commercial wineries produce a dual product: commercial wine and wine tourism. Since Idaho wineries charge no entry price, wine tourism demand can only be ascertained with a shadow price for winery visitation. Demand for wine tourism visits for Canyon County in southern Idaho was estimated using the travel cost method. Trip demand was inelastic (-0.4 to -0.6) with respect to own price. The average value of Canyon County wine tourism ranged from $6 to$12 per person per trip, depending upon the assumed opportunity cost of travel time. Elasticities of tastes and preferences, closely related goods, and income were estimated with a view to understanding the market for Idaho's emerging wine tourism industry.Travel cost model, Wine tourism, Wine marketing, Resource /Energy Economics and Policy,

VALUING IDAHO WINERIES WITH A TRAVEL COST MODEL

Many commercial wineries produce a dual product; commercial wine and wine tourism. Growth of wine tourism throughout the US has been phenomenal. In contrast to the price of wine, which is reflected in the market, the demand for wine tourism can be only ascertained with a shadow price for winery visitation. The demand for wine tourism visits for Canyon County in southern Idaho was estimated using the Travel Cost Method. The value of wine tourism in Canyon County was estimated to be $5.40 per person per trip and trip demand was highly inelastic at 0.5. Elasticities of other trip demand function variables were estimated and analyzed, with a view to informing the marketing of Idaho's emerging wine tourism industry.Community/Rural/Urban Development, Crop Production/Industries,

The Contribution of the Grape and Wine Industry to Idaho’s Economy: Agribusiness and Tourism Impacts

The impact of Idaho’s wine and grape industry was assessed as an agribusiness and as a tourist industry. Idaho’s grape and wine industry is in its infancy, with wine sales of $15 million from 15 wineries and growers cultivating about 1,000 acres, primarily in southwestern Idaho’s Canyon County. Synthesized output multipliers for wine tourism were virtually identical to the agribusiness output multipliers (1.86 and 2.10 for Canyon County and the state of Idaho, respectively). The wine and grape industry’s agribusiness impact is$15 million in sales and 120 jobs in Idaho, and $23 million and 140 jobs for Canyon County. In contrast, tourism expenditures stimulate other businesses in addition to the agribusiness linkages of grape and wine production. Thus, only about three-fourths of the current wine production would be required to be sold to out-of-region tourists to equal the impact of the wine and grape industry as an agribusiness industry.Idaho, impact analysis, input/output models, tourism, wine, wine agribusiness, Agribusiness, Research and Development/Tech Change/Emerging Technologies,

Factors Influencing Growth of Dairy Product Manufacturing in the United States

dairy product manufacturing, growth, United States, Farm Management, Livestock Production/Industries, Production Economics,

A Cell-Surface Membrane Protein Signature for Glioblastoma.

We present a systems strategy that facilitated the development of a molecular signature for glioblastoma (GBM), composed of 33 cell-surface transmembrane proteins. This molecular signature, GBMSig, was developed through the integration of cell-surface proteomics and transcriptomics from patient tumors in the REMBRANDT (n = 228) and TCGA datasets (n = 547) and can separate GBM patients from control individuals with a Matthew\u27s correlation coefficient value of 0.87 in a lock-down test. Functionally, 17/33 GBMSig proteins are associated with transforming growth factor β signaling pathways, including CD47, SLC16A1, HMOX1, and MRC2. Knockdown of these genes impaired GBM invasion, reflecting their role in disease-perturbed changes in GBM. ELISA assays for a subset of GBMSig (CD44, VCAM1, HMOX1, and BIGH3) on 84 plasma specimens from multiple clinical sites revealed a high degree of separation of GBM patients from healthy control individuals (area under the curve is 0.98 in receiver operating characteristic). In addition, a classifier based on these four proteins differentiated the blood of pre- and post-tumor resections, demonstrating potential clinical value as biomarkers