Assessing the Impacts of Farm, Food, Conservation, and Energy Policies on the Economy and the Environment

<p>NON-TECHNICAL SUMMARY:<br/> The purpose of this research is to evaluate the impacts of farm, food, conservation, and energy policies on the agricultural and general economy as well as the environment. The policy environment is continually changing and it is important to understand the impact of government policies. Federal and state policy alternatives will be analyzed to determine the potential implications of these policies on farmers, agribusinesses, rural economies, the environment, consumers, taxpayers, and market efficiency.
APPROACH: Objective 1: Build and adapt appropriate economic models to determine the impacts of farm, food, conservation, and energy policies on Oklahoma agriculture and the general economy. Existing models will be modified for use based on the particular policy issue being studied. Modeling efforts will include analyses based on statistics, econometrics, spreadsheets, simulation, forecasting, mathematical programming, input/output, general equilibrium, or partial equilibrium approaches. Data sources will include Oklahoma producers, Oklahoma Farm Service Agency, National Agricultural Statistics Service, Economic Research Service, IMPLAN, as well as various other sources. Objective 2: Build a database to include Oklahoma data on participation in ACRE and DCP, as well as production data for each sign-up year from the Farm Service Agency. Use the ACRE/DCP participation
decision tool along with other decision tools to evaluate alternatives and compare the consequences of the ACRE vs. DCP programs. Determine government payments under the ACRE and DCP programs under alternative scenarios. Objective 3: Prepare journal articles, staff papers, fact sheets, electronic articles, presentations, etc.
<p>PROGRESS: 2012/10 TO 2013/09<br/>Target Audience: State agency personnel, agricultural producers and landowners, agribusinesses, consumers, taxpayers, faculty members at Oklahoma State University and other universities, extension professionals, and Congressional staff. Efforts include delivery of presentations, answering questions, and disseminating information through publications. Changes/Problems: The passage of the new farm bill was delayed until January 2014 which delayed the completion of the decision tool. A large farm bill extension program will take place in 2014. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided? Information and training on farm bill programs was provided to OSU extension educators and producers. OSU extension educators used the information to help producers understand the new commodity and crop insurance
programs. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest? Results were disseminated in various professional outlets (journal articles, conference presentation), fact sheets, webinars, extension presentations, and SUNUP interviews. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals? A local, regional, and national level farm bill education program will be conducted to provide information on new farm bill programs. Decision tools will be developed to assist producers with commodity and crop insurance decisions. Impact Statement Research on potential commodity programs in the new farm bill assisted Congressional staff in farm bill deliberations. Extension program participants gained additional knowledge about potential programs in the new farm bill and key changes from the 2008 farm bill. This research will provide a greater impact following
the implementation of the 2014 farm bill and will likely result in a change of action from producers. Producers can use the decision tool to make decisions regarding commodity program and crop insurance enrollment. After the initial enrollment period for 2014 farm bill commodity and crop insurance programs, the impact of the farm bill decision tool and extension programs will be assessed. Initial outcomes include a potential change in knowledge of these issues in the research community. Further outcomes/impacts will be assessed as the research is disseminated through various extension and research outlets.
<p>PROGRESS: 2011/10/01 TO 2012/09/30<br/>OUTPUTS: The main objectives of this project include: (1) Improve our understanding of the impacts of government policies on the agricultural economy, with a particular focus on the 2012 Farm Bill, the 2008 Farm Bill, Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007, and American Clean Energy and Security Act of 2009; (2) Analyze the effectiveness of farm policies that are designed to manage risk with particular attention given to the interaction of various commodity policies in the Farm Bill and the economy-wide impacts of the new commodity programs; and (3) Disseminate results in appropriate professional outlets as well as Cooperative Extension programs. Outputs from this project are timely and new analyses were conducted over the past year relating to new proposed programs in the 2012 farm bill and the resulting impacts on the
agricultural economy. Another focus during this project stage was the initial development of a web-based decision tool to help producers decide between new programs in the 2012 farm bill. Information relating to new farm bill programs in the 2012 farm bill was provided to producers and landowners at various extension meetings across the state. Information was also disseminated through policy newsletters and OSU SUNUP television interviews. In addition to the research focusing on farm commodity programs, additional research was conducted relating to conservation policy and food/nutrition policy programs. The 2012 farm bill may reduce the annual enrollment cap for Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) acreage and many producers/landowners with expiring CRP contracts will be making decisions about the future use of the land. Many studies suggest that producers may decide to return the land to
crop production. This research examined the economic feasibility of returning the land to crop production. The CRP research has been presented at the American Agricultural Economics Association annual meeting, extension material will soon be created, and two journal articles will be submitted. On the food policy side, the FDA has recommended that food manufacturers limit the amount of sodium in food products. This research examined the potential impact on Oklahoma food manufacturers if the FDA decides to implement a mandatory sodium reduction policy. The salt reduction policy research has been presented at the Food Distribution Research Society Annual Conference and the American Agricultural Economics Association Food Environment Conference. A journal article will be submitted on the sodium reduction research as well as a policy briefing article to assist policymakers. Additional
research also examined the impact of the 2010 dietary guidelines on the agricultural industry. The dietary guideline research was presented at the American Agricultural Economics Association annual meeting. PARTICIPANTS: Others have not worked more than one month each on this project. TARGET AUDIENCES: State agency personnel, agricultural producers and landowners, agribusinesses, consumers, taxpayers, faculty members at Oklahoma State University and other universities, extension professionals, and Congressional staff. Efforts include delivery of presentations, answering questions, and disseminating information through publications. PROJECT MODIFICATIONS: No changes.
<p>PROGRESS: 2010/10/01 TO 2011/09/30<br/>OUTPUTS: The main objectives of this project include: (1) Improve our understanding of the impacts of government policies on the agricultural economy, with a particular focus on the 2008 Farm Bill, Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007, and American Clean Energy and Security Act of 2009; (2) Analyze the effectiveness of farm policies that are designed to manage risk with particular attention given to the interaction of various commodity policies in the 2008 Farm Bill and the economy-wide impacts of the new commodity programs during each year of sign-up; and (3) Disseminate results in appropriate professional outlets as well as Cooperative Extension programs. Outputs from this project are timely and new analyses were conducted prior to the annual deadline for producers to enroll in new farm bill programs. The web-based
decision tool was updated to assist producers with the 2011 ACRE decision. Information relating to new farm bill programs was provided to producers and landowners at various extension meetings across the state. Information was also disseminated through SUNUP television interviews. PARTICIPANTS: Others have not worked more than one month each on this project. TARGET AUDIENCES: State agency personnel, agricultural producers and landowners, faculty members at Oklahoma State University and other universities, and extension professionals. Efforts include delivery of presentations, answering questions, and disseminating information through publications. PROJECT MODIFICATIONS: No Changes
<p>PROGRESS: 2009/10/01 TO 2010/09/30<br/>OUTPUTS: The main objectives of this project include: (1) Improve our understanding of the impacts of government policies on the agricultural economy, with a particular focus on the 2008 Farm Bill, Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007, and American Clean Energy and Security Act of 2009; (2) Analyze the effectiveness of farm policies that are designed to manage risk with particular attention given to the interaction of various commodity policies in the 2008 Farm Bill and the economy-wide impacts of the new commodity programs during each year of sign-up; and (3) Disseminate results in appropriate professional outlets as well as Cooperative Extension programs. Outputs from this project are timely and new analyses were conducted prior to the annual deadline for producers to enroll in new farm bill programs. The web-based
decision tool was updated to assist producers with the 2010 ACRE decision. Information relating to new farm bill programs was provided to producers and landowners at various extension meetings across the state. Information was also disseminated through SUNUP television interviews. PARTICIPANTS: Others have not worked more than one month each on this project. TARGET AUDIENCES: State agency personnel, agricultural producers and landowners, faculty members at Oklahoma State University and other universities, and extension professionals. Efforts include delivery of presentations, answering questions, and disseminating information through publications. PROJECT MODIFICATIONS: No Changes.