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Evaluating Risk and Return of Corn and Soybean Marketing Strategies Using Monte Carlo Simulation Methods
Get PDFThis study evaluates the performance of pre-harvest marketing strategies for corn and soybeans, using Monte Carlo simulation techniques. Given the increasing volatility in commodity prices and the evolving landscape of agricultural markets, producers face growing challenges in developing effective marketing plans that manage risk and enhance profitability. This thesis examines thirteen marketing strategies from 2008 to 2024, including benchmark harvest-only sales and various pre-harvest futures contract approaches. Historical futures price data for December corn and November soybean contracts were used to simulate 1,000 marketing outcomes per strategy per year, capturing a broad range of market conditions. Key performance indicators such as mean price, standard deviation, winners-losers test, and rank analysis were applied to assess the effectiveness of strategies. Additionally, paired t-tests and Levene’s tests evaluated statistical differences in mean returns and price volatility. Probability-based and winner-loser transition tests were also employed to explore the likelihood of underperformance and the persistence of strategy success. Results indicate that while average prices across years were not statistically different over the full sample period, specific strategies, particularly those targeting seasonal price peaks, achieved consistently higher returns in some years. However, these higher returns often came with increased volatility. The probability tests further highlighted that those strategies distributing sales across multiple months or crop years tended to outperform the harvest-only benchmark more consistently in individual years
An Empirical Study on the Economic and Policy Drivers of Livestock Risk Protection Utilization
Get PDFFederally supported risk management programs for livestock producers have existed for the last twenty years. Among these, Livestock Risk Protection (LRP) is a federally subsidized insurance tool available for cattle producers to manage downside price risk. In recent years, participation in LRP has surged. This paper examines the key economic and policy variables that partially drive LRP utilization and analyzes the role of risk management educational efforts in the decision to participate and the intensity of the insurance utilization using unique state-level panel data from 2003 through 2023.
The study analyzes three complementary metrics of insurance utilization: market volume (policies earning premium), market coverage (product market share), and scale of use at the operator level (producer market share). Results show that feeder cattle price, herd size, and educational efforts significantly affect the insurance participation decision and that subsidy rate, feeder cattle price, and price volatility strongly determine the intensity of the market volume (p \u3c 0.1). The findings also show that producers in states with smaller to medium-sized operations utilize LRP more intensively than with larger operations. Although statistically non-significant at p = 0.1, educational efforts suggest a positive effect on expanding LRP market volume and market shares. While the marginal effect of education on LRP market volume gets stronger at higher subsidy rates, its marginal effect on market share diminishes at higher subsidy levels. This potentially suggests a substitution effect between the producers’ knowledge of the product, enhanced by educational efforts, and the financial incentives provided by the higher subsidy rates.
The magnitude and the significance of these effects both vary across different utilization metrics. Further research could address important economic and policy implications of potential trade-offs between educational efforts and the subsidy rate on LRP utilization. This research could also be extended to county-level data to analyze localized educational efforts and impacts.
Advisor: Bradley D. Lubbe
Library and Information Science Research; A Scopus-based Bibliometric Analysis from 2014 to 2023
Get PDFAim: The purpose of this study is to the highlight research growth in Library and Information Science (LIS) for the last decade (2014-2023) at the global level as indexed in the Scopus database.
Methodology: The retrospective research approach has been used on the dataset retrieved from the Scopus database. We used the “advanced document search” technique, selected the targeted period and typed the “Library and Information Sciences”. We chose only “Article” and “Review” from the document type filter and English from the language filter. The selected bibliometric properties were analyzed and tabular demonstrations of the periodic growth with citation impact, top journals, institutions, countries, authors and keywords, have been presented. VOSviewer software has been used for data visualization.
Results: A total of 32,395 articles on LIS was indexed during the period of 10-year from January 2014 to December 2023 with an average of 3,239 articles per year. An average annual growth was recorded at 12.69 and these articles were cited with an average of 10.90 citations per article. More than one-fifth of the articles were published in the top-20 journals. One-third of the research contributed by the authors of the United States and the University of South Africa emerged as the most productive research producing organization followed by the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. The majority of research was performed on the subject of Higher Education, and Academic Libraries. Abrizah Abdullah of Universiti Malaya, Malaysia emerged as the most prolific researcher.
Conclusion: The current study highlighted the prominent bibliometric indicators of LIS research published during the last decade. The majority of the literature was contributed by the developed countries but Nigeria, Iran and Pakistan also produced promising contributions. The findings will be valuable for LIS practitioners, researchers, and academics, and will serve as a benchmark for the future studie
University Librarians’ Level of Familiarity with and Use of Web 2.0 Technologies: The Case Study of Two Iranian Universities
No full textThe present study aimed to determine the level of familiarity with and use of Web 2.0 technologies among librarians at the Isfahan University of Medical Sciences and the University of Isfahan. This research is applied in terms of its objective and descriptive in terms of its method. The statistical population of the study consisted of 135 librarians working in the libraries of the Isfahan University of Medical Sciences and the University of Isfahan. Due to the limited number of participants, total population sampling was conducted. Data were collected using the “Library 2.0 Tools” questionnaire, developed by Hosseini Shoar and Bahrami (2012) and the Empowerment Questionnaire, developed by Ghouchanian (2012). The results revealed that the use of Web 2.0 tools plays an undeniable role in librarians’ capabilities; the higher the librarians’ awareness of Web 2.0 tools, the greater their ability to use them. The research findings indicate a positive and significant relationship between the librarians’ familiarity with and their ability to use Web 2.0 tools
Incentivizing Accelerated Federal Student Loan Repayment, a Small Change
Get PDFThis Comment suggests incentivizing accelerated repayment as a practical solution to provide relief to stakeholders in the federal student loan program. By using its existing legal authority, the Department of Education can permit borrowers to satisfy their loan obligations through partial overpayments. This strategy allows borrowers to play a more active role in expediting their loan repayment, benefiting both the borrowers and the Department.
I. Introduction
II. Postsecondary Education and Federal Student Loans ... A. Student Loans & the Federal Government: World War II through 2005 … B. Expanded Student Loan Repayment Options from 2005 to Today
III. Federal Student Loans as a Debt Instrument ... A. The Government-as-Insurer Model (FFELP) ... B. The Government-as-Bank Model (FDLP) ... C. Burdens on Federal Loan Servicing Partners
IV. The Obstacle Becomes the Way: Incentivizing Accelerated Repayment ... A. Existing Bifurcated Decision-Making Disincentivizes Overpayments ... B. Existing Legal Authority ... C. Using Existing Legal Authority to Incentivize Overpayment ... D. The Department Has Existing Tools and Can Evaluate Compromise Without Requiring Default or Bankruptcy ... E. Considering Time-Value of Money & Incentivizing Overpayment Will Benefit All ...
V. Biden v. Nebraska and Other Issues
VI. Conclusio
Leadership and Change from Within: An Honors College and CTL Partnership
No full textScaling sustainable change in teaching and learning is an institutional priority in higher education, yet often it is elusive, given the decentralized and siloed academic landscape. Most colleges and departments lack the necessary expertise to design and implement scaled change or the critical organizational structures to sustain change. Centers for Teaching and Learning (CTLs) seek to advance improvement in teaching and learning and highlight improving institutional culture as part of their mission. Reliance on traditional programming and consultations, however, primarily targets individual change versus scaled or sustainable change.
The successful process of change at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Honors College emerged well outside of a top-down approach. A longstanding partnership between an honors college faculty member and the CTL fueled the conditions that would contribute to two honors college roles emerging over time. From an informal, volunteer role, an emergent faculty leadership role for professional development in teaching and learning evolved into a visible, established role. This leadership role became instrumental in guiding an informal pedagogy group to become a visible structure for leveraging collegewide change. The honors college was a key player in such transformation as it grew and adapted the roles and structures within its cultural context. The change process described below makes evident the impact achievable through emergent leadership among colleagues and the essential roles of informal, generative relationships that were voluntary, flexible, and adaptable
Reimagining an Honors Education: Building a Community of 21st-Century Learners
No full textThroughout the spring 2021 academic term and in response to a multiyear redesign of the long-established Seneff Honors College, faculty and staff from both the honors college and the Center for Teaching and Learning Innovation at Valencia College set out to develop a professional development certification that would provide faculty with the information and tools needed to develop an honors curriculum aligning with the newly designed honors college
Herbicide Management for \u3cem\u3eBromus tectorum\u3c/em\u3e to Enhance Rangeland Productivity in Western Nebraska
No full textCheatgrass, Bromus tectorum (L.), has increased in the mixed-grass prairies of the Nebraska Panhandle. Limited research is available in these ecosystems on the ecological factors that influences its spread and options for management. This study focuses on the efficacy of herbicide treatments (indaziflam and imazapic) as a cheatgrass control method on the native rangelands of western Nebraska. In September of 2022, a mixture of indaziflam (73 g ai ha-1, Rejuvra) and imazapic (70 g ai ha-1, Plateau) was aerially applied at 6 unique upland ecological sites (1-3 ha) near Scottsbluff, NE. Functional group plant biomass data were collected in treated and closely associated untreated rangelands in late June through early July of 2023 and 2024. Cheatgrass biomass in treated areas was 98% less (p \u3c 0.01) than in untreated control areas in both year one and two following herbicide treatment. Perennial grass biomass in herbicide treated areas was 3.2 times greater (p \u3c 0.01) than untreated areas and trends showed increasing forage nutritive values as the percent of cheatgrass in the plot decreased. We also used greenhouse gas analyzers (LI-COR LI-7820 N2O/H2O trace gas analyzer for N2O emissions and a LI-COR LI-7810 CH4/CO2/H2O trace gas analyzer for CO2 and CH4 emissions) to explore differences in GHG emissions within different treated and untreated plant communities. While more years of data will give us a better understanding of the long-term influence of indaziflam and imazapic to remove cheatgrass on western Nebraska rangelands, the first two years of this study show promise for success of these treatments in western Nebraska ecosystems.
Advisors: Mitchell B. Stephenson, Nicholas A. McMilla
J.A.C. Redford’s Variations on the Incarnation: Looking Back and Forward with Piano Theme and Variations
No full textThis senior thesis consists of a lecture recital and research regarding the development of the theme and variations form in piano literature. It will trace the way the types of pieces that use theme and variations have developed from era to era and composer to composer. The culminating lecture recital will present my research on the topic and will end with a performance of J.A.C. Redford’s Variations on the Incarnation, one of the most recently published theme and variations pieces for solo piano. Redford’s piece was commissioned by Dr. Paul Barnes.
The composers and pieces featured in this project will be G.F. Handel’s Chaconne in G Major HWV 435, J.S. Bach’s Goldberg Variations BWV 988, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s Sonata in A Major K. 331 I. Andante grazioso, Ludwig van Beethoven’s Variations and Fugue for Piano in E♭ major Op. 35 (Eroica) & 32 Variations in C Minor WoO 80, Johannes Brahms’ Variations and Fugue on a Theme by Handel Op. 24, Anton Webern’s Variations for Piano Op. 27 III. Ruhig flieBend, and J.A.C. Redford’s Variations on the Incarnation.
This project will trace the development of the theme and variations form and argue that Redford’s piece looks back at composer’s methods, as well as looking forward by presenting new techniques for the theme and variations form. The main component of the project will be the lecture recital, which will be recorded. This paper functions as the supplementary written component to the creative project for the thesis