News

K-State agricultural economists Robin Reid and Mykel Taylor talk about the series of 2018 Farm Bill meetings that K-State will host for producers over the next two weeks at 10 sites around Kansas...at those meetings, producers will learn about a tool that will help them make the most beneficial decision on ARC and PLC program participation.

K-State livestock economist Glynn Tonsor is featured on this week's cattle market segment: he comments on the sharp downturn in the cattle markets last week, stressing that the shutdown of the Tyson packing plant in southwest Kansas was only partially responsible for the market bearishness...he also provides an update on U.S. beef demand domestically and abroad.

Glynn Tonsor and James Mitchell talk about their research on cattle producers' and buyers' willingness to adopt cattle traceability:  they sought out the economic factors that most greatly influence that decision, for consideration as traceability policy is developed...this work will be presented at the K-State Risk and Profit Conference on the campus next week.

K-State agricultural economist Mykel Taylor and graduate researcher Noah Miller talk about using soil moisture measurements gathered via satellite as a predictor of local wheat price basis at harvest time They explain how their economic model merges historical basis trends with moisture readings early in the wheat growing season to give producers information that would be useful in advance-marketing their grain.

The director of the Arthur Capper Cooperative Center at K-State, Brian Briggeman, and the chief executive officer of the Kansas Cooperative Council, Brandi Miller, look ahead to two informational meetings that will be held consecutively in August:  the K-State Symposium on Cooperative Issues and the K-C-C Leadership Roundtable...these are designed for farmers in cooperative leadership positions and agricultural cooperative managers and employees.

K-State agricultural economist Robin Reid talks about the just-released county rates for the next round of USDA Market Facilitation Program payments:  she goes over the rate trends in Kansas and what she believes influenced those the most, and she reviews the payment application procedure.

Excerpts from a recent webinar by professor and head of Kansas State University’s Department of Agricultural Economics, Allen Featherstone, regarding the process for calculating the landlord net income for property tax computations and when agricultural landlord net income may begin to fall, as well as discussion of  three scenarios and the possible impact of House Bill 2293, which was introduced – but not acted upon – in the last Kansas legislative session.

The newly-named dean of the College of Agriculture at K-State, Ernie Minton, shares his aspirations for the college in the areas of education, research and Extension outreach under his leadership, and talks about the immediate priorities that he intends to address.