News

K-State agricultural economists Ted Schroeder, Brian Coffey and Glynn Tonsor discuss their just-released analysis of price discovery in the cattle markets, which was commissioned by the USDA: this in-depth study looked at the impacts of formula marketing agreements as they have evolved over the past two decades, as compared to the cash negotiated cattle trade. They came up with a set of recommendations on improving the flow of price information to cattle producers and throughout the beef production and marketing chain. 

K-State agricultural economist Jason Bergtold and student researcher Calder McCollum talk about the results of their in-person survey of Kansas farmers about their views on conservation practices, and what leads them to adopt, or not adopt, conservation measures in their crop production...they focused on four areas: continuous no-till, crop rotations, cover crops and variable rate input applications.

Professor of agricultural law and taxation Roger McEowen of the Washburn University School of Law takes a close look at what legally constitutes a farm partnership:  the standards that must be met, as determined by court rulings, ​for a business arrangement to qualify as a partnership...and why formally declaring that there is no partnership is often wise.

K-State agricultural economist Allen Featherstone discusses farm machinery investments, and how accelerated depreciation methods affects producers' approaches to those investments...that was the subject of a new study that he covered at the recent K-State Risk and Profit Conference, and it generally showed that Kansas producers have made good machinery purchase decisions over the past several years.

K-State agricultural economics graduate researcher Chelsea Arnold talks about her in-depth study of farm landowners’ willingness to lease crop and pasture land to younger agricultural producers who need rented ground to stay in operation...she spoke on these findings at the recent K-State Risk and Profit Conference.

From the Washburn University School of Law, professor of agricultural law and taxation Roger McEowen takes a close look at the state of California's "Proposition 12" statute, which he says has broad implications not only for the pork industry, but for all of production agriculture in this country...he offers his thoughts about future court challenges to this provision. 

K-State farm management economist Gregg Ibendahl talks about his new estimates of non-irrigated farmland lease rates for each county in Kansas...he drew upon several informational sources, including Kansas Farm Management Association data, to come up with average rental rates for dryland crop ground, which he says is very useful information as tenants and landlords negotiate leases for the next cropping season.

The executive director of the Kansas Farm Management Association at K-State, Kevin Herbel, reviews the results of a new survey conducted by the KFMA of farm employee management practices in Kansas:  the trends in wages, benefits and total compensation provided to farmhands, related to the experiences and skill sets of individual employees. He also breaks down the specific kinds of benefits and wages that Kansas farm employees earn and talks about how this information can be useful for farmers with an employee workforce as well as those looking to hire employees for the first time.