On Sept. 19, 2017, Mexico City commemorated its 32nd anniversary of rising from the debris left by its worst earthquake in modern history; the capitalinos’ resilience (residents of Mexico City) was tested anew. A 7.1 magnitude earthquake hit the capital of Mexico adding an extra struggle to a country that was recovering from a previous […]
Archive | Agriculture
Study shows new evidence that consumers are confused by date labels on food items
By Norbert L. W. Wilson, Ruiqing Miao and Carter Weis on August 13, 2018 in Agriculture, Consumer, Economics, Food and Nutrition
As food waste issues are attracting increasing attention from research and policy arenas, regulation changes regarding date label use on food items in the United States have been proposed because of concerns that date labels may confuse consumers about the quality and safety of food items and hence cause waste. For instance, the proposed 2016 […]
Conferencing Conservation: Reviewing Title II of the House and Senate Farm Bills
By Jonathan Coppess, Benjamin Gramig, Gary Schnitkey, Nicholas Paulson and Carl Zulauf on July 20, 2018 in Agriculture, Environment, Policy
With passage of their respective farm bills, the House and Senate are taking the formal steps to form the conference committee and begin negotiations to complete the legislative process. Among the many differences that the conference committee will need to resolve are those involving the conservation programs in Title II of each bill. The conservation […]
2018 Farm Bill: Two big steps forward and the top five issues for conference
By Jonathan Coppess, Gary Schnitkey, Nicholas Paulson and Carl Zulauf on July 9, 2018 in Agriculture, Food and Nutrition, Policy
On June 28, 2018, the Senate overwhelmingly passed its version of the 2018 farm bill with an historic 86 to 11 vote (U.S. Senate, Roll Call Vote 143). Senate passage followed on the heels of a very narrow, party-line re-vote in the House on June 21st finally passing the bill 213 to 211 (U.S. House […]
Progress and potential hurdles for the 2018 Farm Bill
By Jonathan Coppess, Gary Schnitkey, Nicholas Paulson and Carl Zulauf on June 20, 2018 in Agriculture, Policy
The odds for a farm bill in 2018 have improved considerably. On Wednesday, the Senate Ag Committee moved its version of a farm bill with a strong bipartisan vote (20 to 1) (Senate Ag Committee, 2018 Farm Bill; Farm Policy News, June 13, 2018). House leadership is attempting to resolve the immigration issue that contributed […]
Reviewing directions in conservation policy: CSP and EQIP in the House Farm Bill
The farm bill reported by the House Ag Committee and defeated on the House floor remains in a state of limbo (H.R. 2, Agricultural and Nutrition Act of 2018). Among the changes to policy contained in H.R. 2 are significant changes to conservation policy and programs. Specifically, the House Ag Committee eliminated the Conservation Stewardship […]
The Japanese beef market’s lessons for trade policy
By Steve Burak, Kathy Baylis, Jonathan Coppess and Qianting Xie on February 1, 2018 in Agriculture, Commodities, Consumer, Economics, Food and Nutrition, International
For ten consecutive years, Japan has increased its meat consumption; consumption increased by 3.4 percent last year over the previous year to produce the highest level of growth in five years. Beef consumption, in particular, is expected to grow nearly 4 percent this year after two straight years of decline. Japan is already one of […]
Flood insurance – who needs it?
Hurricane Harvey is a tragedy. One college friend of mine lost his house completely, and another the roof, floors, and drywall. Both are wonderful men, Texas Tech graduates. The thought on my mind tonight is flood insurance. I hope they both had policies in force, but am afraid to ask. Most homeowners carry a form […]
Limited Impact of Biomass Crop Assistance Program (BCAP) Under Current Funding Levels
Established in the 2008 Farm Bill and re-authorized in the 2014 Farm Bill, the Biomass Crop Assistance Program (BCAP) aims to promote biomass production for bioenergy and bio-products by providing growers and bio-refineries with subsidies for biomass production. The total budget for the BCAP is limited to $125 million over 2014-2018 by the 2014 Farm […]
Coffee farmers face dangerously low profits, experts warn at 6th Consultative Forum on Coffee Sector Finance
By Federico Ceballos Sierra on August 18, 2017 in Agriculture, Commodities, Consumer, Economics, International
Coffee prices have always been a source of uncertainty for all the agents of the value chain, especially small coffee farmers that have seen their livelihoods worsened every time prices drop. The most recent Consultative Forum on Coffee Finance took the subject of price volatility and increasing production costs as its main focus, seeing how […]