RISK RESEARCH AND PUBLIC OUTREACH: A TALE OF TWO CULTURES?

Agricultural economists have been challenged in recent years, by voices inside and outside the profession, to evaluate the integrity of the operational bridge between research and extension activities in the land grant system. This essay investigates links between the work of risk researchers and outreach programs. Survey results indicate that (a) a significant number of risk researchers are involved in extension activities; (b) extension economists are less frequently involved in risk research than their colleagues with no extension appointment; (c) full-time extension economists use less sophisticated risk tools in their outreach efforts than used in their research; and (d) all respondents, regardless of appointment, see a need for more applied risk analysis. Major challenges include a lack of financial support to close the data gap and to conduct relevant applied analysis present major communication challenges.Teaching/Communication/Extension/Profession,

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,

CC371 Revised 1993 Estimated Irrigation Costs

Campaign Circular 371 Revised 1993 contains a report on the estimated irrigation costs for 1993

Irrigation Pumping Costs

Energy prices have risen dramatically in the last two years, with changes also taking place in relative prices between energy sources. Representative prices paid for three major energy alternatives over the last five years are reported below in Table 1. Actual prices paid have also varied considerably depending upon when the fuel was purchased during the year and the supplier. The cost of natural gas (not reported here) and electricity, are complicated with total energy supply costs that depend upon both consumption and annual connect charges. Electricity rates also depend upon the frequency of interruption of service selected. The total cost for electricity for irrigation (including consumption and connect charges) averaged about 8.8 cents per KWH in Nebraska in 2001. The rates reported in Table 1 are for anytime interruptible which is the most economical rate. The Southern Power rates reported in Table 1 are also some of the lowest in the state

Sharing Equipment

One of the most frequently asked questions I receive is what should I charge my neighbor for the use of… … .? The equipment items in question range from individual implements to center pivots. Regardless of the piece of equipment (or facility) under consideration, the criteria that apply remain the same: 1) the owner should recover a fair share of all costs associated with the additional use, both the out-ofpocket costs as well as any accrued costs, and 2) the owner has certain annual costs that the owner will be obligated to cover whether or not the equipment is used, but the neighbor would be able to share in those costs as long a

Economics of conversion from flood to pivot

Presented at the Central Plains irrigation short course and exposition on February 17-18, 1998 at the Camino Inn in North Platte, Nebraska.A number of factors generate producer interest in changing or modifying their irrigation systems. In addition to continual pressure to reduce costs, producers are increasingly facing concerns to reduce water use and the associated leaching of nitrogen. Also, a desire to increase operator output and convenience are often major considerations when looking at alternatives. The availability of funds to invest in system changes and the failure of system components can also prompt a look at the alternatives. The purpose of the discussion here is to focus upon the budgeting of continued operation of a flood irrigation system versus switching to a pivot. The effect upon labor demands will be considered although evaluating the impact of switching to pivots upon potential size of farm and family income is beyond the scope of this paper

Crop Revenue Coverage and Forward Pricing: A Case Study Under Irrigated Corn

The forward pricing of grain typically obligates the producer to purchase replacement bushels when production falls short of the contract. If the production shortfall is due to area weather conditions, prices would be expected to rise and the price of replacement grain could exceed the preharvest contract price. Crop Revenue Coverage (CRC) multi-peril crop insurance provides a revenue guarantee. The minimum revenue guarantee for corn is determined by multiplying the coverage elected times projected revenue. Projected revenue is calculated using the historical yield (APH) for the farm and the February average of the CBT December futures contract. However, the final guarantee is based on the greater of the February and October averages of December futures. Therefore, if futures prices rise along with local prices, the CRC revenue guarantee will increase to provide protection against the rising cost of replacement bushels

PRICE ENHANCEMENT AND RISK MANAGEMENT

In the recent 2000 Corn-Soybean Expo Marketing workshops participants were given an opportunity to market corn and compare their decisions with others. The workshop is described below, along with some of what we learned. Participants were asked to decide whether they wanted to purchase CRC multi-peril crop insurance and how much corn they wanted to cash forward contract from early April to late July for harvest-time delivery. For workshops in predominately irrigated areas, participants were given past corn yields for a 500-acre farm with a 10- year average yield of 165 bushels per acre based on actual yields from a University of Nebraska farm near Clay Center. Corn production that wasn\u27t forward priced would be sold at harvest and any shortfall of contracted production would have to be purchased at 5 cents above the harvest cash price. Cash forward prices were announced to participants two weeks at a time up to the end of July. Cash forward commitments were collected before the next price was announced. The actual year was not announced until harvest time. At that time the yield and harvest cash price were announced, using 1990 prices and yields

Crop Rental Rates

One of the most frequently asked questions by landlords and tenants is, “Should we be adjusting our rental arrangement in response to the recent changes in costs (or returns)?” A related question is, “What are others in the area doing?” An implication of some of the questions asked is, “We should be doing something similar to our neighbors,” or at least, “what others are doing will provide guidance on what we should be doing.