Roderick Rejesus

The proposed project will look to develop and analyze systems that would allow for earth observation data (i.e., remote sensing and satellite data sets) to strengthen US agriculture resilience against cliamte change.

The objectives of this project are to 1. train county agents on corn agronomy and corn pests 2. quantify the cost difference in growing non-Bt and Bt corn and 3. increase plantings of refuge (non-Bt) corn.

The long-term goal and main objective of this proposed project is to develop semi-nonparametric econometric methods that will improve empirical understanding of the relationship between planting density and corn production risk in the US. The specific objectives of the project are: (1) To develop semi-nonparametric estimation and inference procedures that would allow for empirical analysis of production risk based on agricultural data sets (i.e., cross-sectional and panel data sets with high-dimensionality); (2) To estimate the effect of planting density on mean yields and production risk (i.e., the higher moments of the yield distribution) using novel semi-nonparametric methods; (3) To determine how planting density choices influence the impact of climate change on mean corn yields and production risk, using novel semi-nonparametric methods; and, (4) To determine how the impact of genetically-modified (GM) traits on mean corn yields and production risk are affected by planting density, using novel semi-nonparametric methods.

The number of foreign mergers and acquisitions (M&A) of U.S. firms has increased dramatically. Policy-makers and regulators are increasingly more concerned, especially when acquisitions take place in sensitive sectors, such as the agrifood industry. There is little research evaluating the effects of foreign M&As on employment, output, price (volatility), imports, and exports. Our proposal seeks to fill this gap by collecting a comprehensive dataset on foreign acquisitions and domestic economic indicators and providing estimates of the impact of such M&As on domestic employment, output, price volatility, and exports in all sectors, and in the agrifood sector in particular. The ultimate long term goal of the project we propose is to help guide policy-makers in their discussions and potential regulation foreign acquisitions in the U.S. agrifood industry.

On-farm trials will be used to measure mitigation of nitrous oxide and ammonia emissions from nitrogen fertilization of corn with and without the use of a urease and nitrification inhibitor. Control plots receiving zero N will be used to examine inherent soil health in the system and supply power relative to corn yields.

The objectives of this cooperative research proposal are to develop and communicate a framing for the economics of soil health practice adoption that reflects the current realities of soil health programs and practice adoption in the United States; summarize the existing literature with respect to how soil health practices impact productivity and profitability in cropping systems; and conduct empirical research that contributes to understanding how soil health practices impact crop yield variability (e.g., production risk) and crop insurance indemnity payments.

The main goal of the project is to better understand the economic benefits of soil health management systems in the Northeastern U.S. The project aims to accomplish the following: (1) updating a review of literature applicable to the Northeast US, (2) develop case studies and economic/risk analysis that highlight the long-term economic impacts of soil health practices basedon data collected by project partners.

The objectives are 1. to train county agents on corn agronomy and corn pests; 2. to quantify the cost difference in growing non-Bt and Bt corn (including risk of yield loss and ����������������hassle���������������); 3. to increase plantings of refuge (non-Bt) corn.

The long-term goal of this proposed project is to substantially increase economic understanding of fraud mitigation efforts in the Federal crop insurance program and their impacts on the moral hazard behavior of insured producers. In meeting this long-term goal, the main objective of this study is to carefully evaluate the overall effectiveness of the Spot Check List (SCL) program in reducing crop insurance fraud, waste, and abuse. The specific objectives of this project are: (1) Develop a theoretical model to examine how farmers on the SCL will change their claims filing behavior; (2) Estimate the effect of the SCL on the amount and magnitude of claims filed by those farmers on the list; (3) Estimate the spillover effect of the SCL on the amount of claims filed by farmers who are neighbors of those farmers on the list; (4) Estimate the effect of the SCL on the total amount and magnitude of claims approved by insurance adjusters who work with those farmers on the list. We will achieve these objectives by building on cutting-edge developments in risk/insurance theory and using state-of-the-art econometric methods in the program evaluation literature. A unique and confidential dataset from RMA (that we are authorized to use) will also be utilized to successfully complete the proposed objectives.

The objective of this Cooperative Agreement is to develop training materials and to conduct training related to producer options for certain commodity programs authorized by the Agricultural Act of 2014 (2014 Farm Bill). The purpose of the training will be to assist producers in understanding available options and to train producers to use web-based decision tools. The online tools for producers will use broad assumptions related to commodity estimates for a multi-year period and provide farmers and ranchers an opportunity to enter variables such as crops, acres, yields, and prices as part of their consideration. Programs covered or implicated because of their connection to covered programs include: a. Base reallocation; b. Yield updates; c. Price Loss Coverage (PLC); d. Agricultural Risk Coverage (ARC) including individual- or county-level ARC coverage; e. PLC and ARC implications related to participation in the Supplemental Coverage Option (SCO) and Stacked Income Protection Plan for Producers of Upland Cotton (STAX) offered under the Federal crop insurance program; f. Coverage-level choice under the Dairy Margin Protection Program (MPP-Dairy) and associated considerations with Livestock Grain Margin (LGM-Dairy) insurance under the Federal crop insurance program; and g. Buy-up decisions under the Noninsured Crop Disaster Assistance Program (NAP).