University of Minnesota, Duluth
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Complementary or Competitive? Emerging Interactions between Perennial Cover Restoration and Protection in the Conservation Reserve Program
Get PDFThe USDA’s Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) delivers environmental benefits to society by enrolling cropland and grasslands to reestablish or safeguard long-term vegetative cover. In recent years, the CRP has dramatically increased in enrollment in its new Grassland signup subprogram, which conserves existing grasslands and now constitutes a plurality of CRP acres. In contrast, enrollment in the General signup subprogram, which restores marginal croplands to grassland, has been in steady decline. Through at least the end of the 2018 Farm Bill, these two subprograms share a combined acreage cap which in theory could create either competitive or complementary interactions within the program. This paper uses descriptive analysis and a spatial comparison of participant incentives to assess the relationship between these two CRP signup types. We find that the recent low supply of General offers has been accompanied by relatively low EBI cutoffs, thereby maintaining a consistent enrollment of eligible offers, with a large share of the remaining cap being filled with Grassland acres. Despite this trend, incentives for expiring CRP land—an instance where participants could choose to either enroll in the Grassland program or re-enroll in General—favor re-enrolling in the General signup in 62% of county-years, and even more so when the grazing deduction is utilized. We argue that while these two programs do not compete administratively under current trends, these enrollment patterns could tighten competition between the programs in future periods if total enrollment approaches a shared cap, especially considering that programmatic incentives or market conditions could change under future Farm Bills. We discuss the implication of these findings for program design going forward
How Rural-Urban Migration Shapes Agricultural Innovation and Productivity
Get PDFWe empirically investigate the impact of migration flows induced by the hukou reform on agricultural innovation in terms of quantity and quality. Utilizing the 2014 hukou reform in China as a policy shock, we observe a 23.1% decrease in agricultural patent counts, with no significant effect on disruptiveness. This decline is primarily concentrated in urban areas and is reflected in a reduction in the extensive margin, specifically the number of active innovators. The decrease can be attributed to two interrelated mechanisms: the loss of skilled agricultural workers who possess critical tacit knowledge and a diminished entry of agribusiness due to resource reallocation. The findings highlight the unintended consequences of institutional policies, suggesting that urbanization initiatives may inadvertently impede agricultural technological progress when human capital externalities are insufficiently addressed
Heterogeneity in Public’s Preferences for Wind and Solar Farms Development in Northeast US: A Discrete Choice Experiment
Get PDFThis study uses data from a discrete choice experiment in the northeastern U.S. to examine resident preferences for siting wind and solar energy projects. It explores the impacts of landscape, agricultural production, cooperation, and financial compensation to stakeholders. Findings suggest that households are more favorable to renewable energy development if subsidies are provided on their electricity bills. Key factors influencing decisions include visual impact, proximity, and community engagement. Payments to landowners and communities also play a significant role in shaping local support and acceptance. Our study further reveals considerable heterogeneity in preferences. Respondents demonstrated overall support for wind or solar farm development in their local community, though preferences differed among various demographic and attitudinal groups, with the average respondent willing to be compensated $88 less in their base electric bill
Multivariate random-effects meta-analysis for sparse data using smvmeta
Get PDFMultivariate meta-analysis is used to synthesize estimates of multiple quantities (“effect sizes”), such as risk factors or treatment effects, accounting for correlation and typically also heterogeneity. In the most general case, estimation can be intractable if data are sparse (for example, many risk factors but few studies) because the number of model parameters that must be estimated scales quadratically with the number of effect sizes. This article presents a new command, smvmeta, that makes estimation tractable by modeling correlation and heterogeneity in a low-dimensional space via random projection. This reduces the number of model parameters to be linear in the number of effect sizes. smvmeta is demonstrated in a meta-analysis of 23 risk factors for pain after total knee arthroplasty. Validation experiments show that, compared with meta-regression (a reasonable alternative model that could be used when data are sparse), smvmeta can provide substantially more precise estimates (that is, narrower confidence intervals) at little cost in bias
UNVEILING THE ECOTOXICOLOGY OF CHLORPYRIFOS: FATE, TRANSPORT, AND ECOSYSTEM DISRUPTION
Get PDFExcessive and inappropriate use of these pesticides causes significant harm to non-target species, including humans. Their residues persist in the air, soil, and water for long periods, eventually leading to biomagnification through the food chain and inducing pesticide resistance in pests as well as the occurrence of mutations. Pesticides have contributed to dramatic increases in crop yields, as well as in the quantity and variety of food available. They have also aided in the containment of certain diseases. Pesticides, on the other hand, can be harmful to both human health and the environment. These negative health effects include acute and chronic nervous system damage, lung damage, reproductive organ damage, immune and endocrine system dysfunction, birth defects, and cancer. Invertebrates, fish, and amphibians are all extremely poisoned by chlorpyrifos. Death, malformations, and bioaccumulation in tissues can result from even low amounts. In aquatic environments, chlorpyrifos can upset the stability, composition, and structure of microbial communities, impairing their capacity to carry out vital tasks including pollution degradation and nutrient cycling. Plant development and health can be adversely affected by chlorpyrifos, which may lower crop production and have an effect on the food chain. Chlorpyrifos may have an impact on plant health and soil fertility by changing the makeup and role of soil microflora