Suchergebnisse

AbstractAnaerobic digestion allows farmers to create renewable energy and significantly reduce manure methane emissions. Estimates of the aggregate supply curve for carbon dioxide (CO2) equivalent offsets from the adoption of anaerobic digestion (AD) were developed based upon dairy farm data collected by the National Agricultural Statistics Service/Economic Research Service Agricultural Resource and Management Survey. The estimated supply curve demonstrates how the supply of CO2 offsets from AD would be influenced by offset prices. A sensitivity analysis examines how changes in capital and operating costs, as well as energy prices, would influence the supply of offsets. Under a base set of assumptions, offset prices in excess of $15 per ton of CO2 equivalent would be required to reduce methane emissions from manure storages by 50% from 2005 levels.

AbstractThe power of the symbolic mathematics program Maple is demonstrated for teaching topics from microeconomics (the benefits of portfolio diversification) and econometrics (a geometric perspective of multicollinearity). In particular, it appears that the use of symbolic mathematics programs has excellent potential to strengthen the development and integration of graphical and algebraic intuition for a wide variety of economic problems.

Government subsidized farm savings accounts have gained attention as possible risk management tools. These accounts encourage farmers to set aside funds in high income years to be drawn upon in low income years. This study considers two potential savings programs, Farm and Ranch Risk Management (FARRM) accounts and Counter-Cyclical (CC) farm savings accounts. FARRM accounts use tax deferral as the primary incentive for participation and under CC accounts the government would match farmer deposits up to $5,000. This report examines the potential benefits of these accounts for New York dairy farmers. The study illustrates how the selection of different income to define eligibility will impact the potential eligibility and benefits received by the accounts. In particular, if measures do not correct for changes in farm size, the value of the accounts to commercial farmers will be greatly reduced. Although participation and benefit estimates vary by the specific net and gross income measures used to define participation and allow withdrawals, the differences were relatively small. The analysis indicates that most commercial dairy farms would be eligible to build substantial balances in the accounts. The use of net income measures as opposed to gross income measures increases the likelihood that farmers will be able to access the funds deposited in the accounts. The next sections of the study describe the construction of the farm data used to analyze the account programs. Then, the analysis of Farm and Ranch Risk Management (FARRM) and Counter-Cyclical (CC) farm savings accounts is presented. The analysis begins by describing the magnitude and degree of variability in measures of net income and gross farm income. Next, the analysis considers the ability of farmers to contribute to FARRM and CC accounts. Finally, the study considers the likelihood that farmers will be able to withdraw funds from the accounts and provides some very basic estimates of the potential benefits associated with FARRM and CC accounts.