HOW BIG IS MINNESOTA'S FOOD AND AGRICULTURAL INDUSTRY?

This report shows that the state's food and agricultural industry is still a significant component of the economy, although probably less so than in earlier years due mainly to agricultural commodity price declines. Agricultural output amounted to 8 percent of the state's total output in 1999, while employment in the industry represented 5 percent of total employment and 3 percent of the labor income generated in the state. Agricultural exports out of the state were 19 percent of the state's total exports. These agricultural exports generate additional indirect sales such as feedgrains sold to pork producers and farm machinery sales to crop farms. The indirect impact measures are derived using the IMPLAN input-output software package. The food and agricultural industry accounts for 213,000 jobs, or 6 percent of the state total, when these secondary impacts of exports are considered. When all food and agricultural industry final sales for export and in-state use are used as the direct measure rather than just exports, the total number of jobs directly or indirectly generated comes to 350,000, or 11 percent of the state total. The importance of agriculture is greater on a percentage basis for the western and southeastern portions of the state. Another measure of the food and agricultural industry's contribution to the state economy is the state's strong $8 billion "trade surplus" in food and agricultural products.Agribusiness,

Energy Crop Production Costs and Breakeven Prices Under Minnesota Conditions

Production costs and breakeven prices were calculated for four energy crops plus corn stover. The energy crop breakeven prices were calculated under two different scenarios regarding land costs and the opportunity costs of not utilizing the land for some other competing land use. One scenario is that the competing land use is pasture. The other is that the energy crops would compete with grain crops on more expensive land, and would need to provide a return over land costs equal to returns on the grain crops. Corn stover would be the cheapest of the energy biomass sources considered, at $50/ton to cover the additional machinery costs to shred, rake, bale, and transport 25 miles to a processing plant. Aside from stover, a grassland crop under high fertilization with a 4-ton yield has the lowest cost at$77/ton of dry matter. A grassland crop under low fertilization with a 2-ton yield but a longer stand life has the highest cost at $110/ton. Hybrid poplar comes in at$81/ton. Willow is at an early stage of development in Minnesota, but it would be the cheapest energy crop at $72/ton if it achieves a 5-ton yield with a 23-year stand life that has been reported in New York. These costs are based on the pasture land rental rate of$40/acre. The more expensive grain crop land translates directly into higher energy crop breakeven prices which are also presented in the paper.Crop Production/Industries,

MIDWEST PORK PRODUCERS' CHARACTERISTICS AND PLANNED USE OF SOMATOTROPIN

Livestock Production/Industries,

PRODUCTIVITY VARIATION OVER TIME IN MINNESOTA FARROW-TO-FINISH SWINE OPERATIONS

Livestock Production/Industries, Productivity Analysis,

OILSEED ECONOMICS

Crop Production/Industries,

SUGGESTED PROCEDURES FOR ESTIMATING FARM MACHINERY COSTS FOR EXTENSION AUDIENCES

North Central Farm Machinery Task Force is a group of extension economists who evaluated alternative methods for estimating farm machinery costs and made recommendations for the development of extension materials. This paper describes the procedures agreed upon, and explains the rationale for the procedures chosen. The focus is on "typical" machinery costs for use in extension budgets and other analyses and examples. This paper also provides detailed documentation of the methods used in recent versions of the widely used Minnesota Farm Machinery Economic Cost Estimates publication (referred to below as "the Minnesota fact sheet"), focusing mainly on the 2000 version.Agricultural Finance, Farm Management,

Economic Impacts of Establishing Short Rotation Woody Crops to Support Energy Production in Minnesota

The utilization of short rotation woody crops (SRWC) to produce wood on marginal crop and pasture land could greatly enhance the production of wood for various uses in Minnesota with utilization for energy being of current interest. SRWC involves the more intensive application of inputs on more valuable land than naturally regenerated forests that currently supply the bulk of the forest products industry in Minnesota. Breeding efforts to improve productivity and disease resistance in hybrid poplar species are making the technology of SRWC competitive with agricultural uses of marginal land. This study models the economic impact of a potential shift in use of the land resource by replacing production of hay and pasture that provides feed for cow-calf beef operations in northwest and west central Minnesota with SRWC. Regional economic impacts of such a shift are measured with established input-output techniques, using the software tool IMPLAN. To complete this analysis, the magnitudes and sectors of expenditures needed to produce either beef calves or hybrid poplar plantations were compared using farm records and hybrid poplar budgets. Construction of a $175 million energy conversion facility capable of making 44 million gallons of ethanol and 7.6 million gallons of mixed alcohols by catalytic means following gasification would result in creation of 2,412 jobs during the construction period, with$158 million in value-added (mainly employee compensation and business taxes). Operation of the facility after the end of construction, if supported by 200,000 acres of hybrid poplar production, would not change the number of jobs very much compared with using the land for cow-calf operations. However, the SRWC-related jobs would likely be at higher average salary levels and business tax collections would be higher, for a value-added increase of $80 million annually. In addition to greater wood supplies to support the forest products industry, logging pressures may be reduced on public forest land as a consequence of greater deployment of technology and methods that can result in production per acre that is eight to ten-fold greater than naturally regenerated forests.Hybrid Poplar, SRWC, IMPLAN, economics, energy, ethanol, OSB, Resource /Energy Economics and Policy,

State Specialists’ Views of Minnesota’s Evolving Extension System

extension, Teaching/Communication/Extension/Profession,

ECONOMICS OF SOME SWINE PRODUCTION SYSTEMS WITH REFERENCE TO ANIMAL WELFARE

Livestock Production/Industries,

Alternative Systems for Producing Hay for Sale on Exiting Dairy Farms

A.E. Res. 86-2