Keeping Track
February 2011
Calendar of Events:
March 7 |
Second Eight-Week courses begin |
Congratulations and Names in the News:
Cathy Malady retired January 31, 2011 after 45 years of service in the department. Cathy spent every day of her Purdue employment in the Department of Agricultural Economics. She received many congratulations and messages of good will and was honored at a reception held January 12th in the Krannert Drawing Room. Thank you, Cathy, for you many years of loyal service.
Dr. Peter Mulder (http://www.petermulder.net/) will be a visiting assistant professor from the Dept. of Spatial Economics at the VU University Amsterdam in The Netherlands. He is teaching the international economic development class (AGEC 340) during the Spring semester. Dr. Mulder has worked in the areas of energy economics, and economic growth and development, and currently focuses his attention on the economics of cities and regions, and the role of culture in economic processes.
News from AGEC Graduate Students:
We are pleased to announce two outstanding Master’s Thesis for 2010. These will be nominated for the AAEA Outstanding Master’s Thesis Award.
Tamara Ogle “Income Transfer Efficiencies of U.S. Farm Payment Programs”
Dr. Roman Keeney, Advisor
Samuel V. Brown “Rural Electric Cooperatives’ Adoption of Renewable Energy Technology”
Dr. Paul V. Preckel, Advisor
The Outstanding 2010 Doctor of Philosophy dissertation is “Global Impact of Biofuels on Agriculture, Trade, and Environment: A Computable General Equilibrium Analysis” written by Dileep Birur. Dr. Wallace Tyner and Dr. Thomas Hertel, Advisors.
Patrick Ward has been nominated by the Department for the 2011 CETA Award. The Committee for the Education of Teaching Assistants accepts nominations each year for this campus award for graduate student teaching excellence.
We are pleased to announce that Ce Wu, PhD candidate has been awarded a Bilsland Fellowship for the 2011-2012 academic year.
Congratulations to the following as they completed their Master of Science Thesis Defenses:
Hayatullah Ahmadzai “On-Farm Grain Storage Losses: Potential Gains from Improved Storage Facility and Management Practices in Afghanistan” Dr. Roman Keeney, Advisor
Ghulam H. Halimi “Can Afghanistan Achieve Self-Sufficiency in Wheat? Limitations Due to Market Integration” Dr. Philip Abbott, Advisor
News from Center for Commercial Agriculture:
The Center for Commercial Agriculture hosted its first live web event on January 10, 2011. The webinar was a roundtable discussion on the topic of Land Values. Over 375 farmers, land-owners, realtors and other interested parties registered for the event. Faculty involved in the discussion were: Mike Boehlje, Craig Dobbins, Brent Gloy and Chris Hurt. The webinar was facilitated by Bruce Erickson. There is a white paper written on the topic and 4 mini-presentations that can be found on the Center for Commercial Agriculture website along with the archived version of the webinar.
http://www.agecon.purdue.edu/commercialag/progevents/landvalueswebinar.html
Upcoming Center for Commercial Agriculture events:
Webinar – February 25, 2011
Managing Risk – Capturing Opportunity
Farming has always been a risky business with the returns to reward that risk available for only brief periods of time. The risk in agriculture today, particularly in crop production, is greater than it has been in the past, but there is opportunity to be rewarded for taking that risk. This webinar will focus on management strategies that farmers can implement to position their business for success in these increasingly turbulent times. Join Drs. Mike Boehlje and Brent Gloy on Friday, February 25th for this live event.
http://www.agecon.purdue.edu/commercialag/progevents/managingrisk.html
News from Center for Food and Agricultural Business:
Center Partners with NOV to Develop Sales Employees
In early January, more than 40 hand-selected managers from National Oilwell Varco (NOV) attended the first module of the NOV-Purdue Sales Management Program. This marks the fourth offering of the nine-month program, in which instructors will help participants prepare for the future challenges of a sales management role. Core faculty leading the program include Scott Downey, assistant professor of agricultural economics; Sugato Chakravarty, head of the Department of Consumer Sciences and Retailing; Paul Wang of Northwestern University; and Stacey Schetzsle from Ball State.
The first module was held in Houston, Texas, and NOV CEO Pete Miller welcomed participants to the program. The weeklong module included an NOV-Purdue alumni panel, as well as sessions on sales coaching, customer strategy planning, finance, and the global oil and gas industry. Participants also had the opportunity to meet with NOV's global account vice presidents, to visit several NOV sites including a drill rig simulator, and to work through case studies from within their industry. Participants will complete a distance-delivered session before attending their next residency in May.
National Oilwell Varco (NOV) is a worldwide leader in the design, manufacture and sale of comprehensive systems, components and services to the upstream oil and gas industry. The center collaborates with the Department of Consumer Sciences and Retailing to develop and deliver the program.
Purdue Teams with Syngenta Seeds, Aims for Agronomic Excellence
Center staff and faculty have partnered with Syngenta to design Syngenta Agronomic Excellence, a program intended to help Syngenta managers understand the complex nature of the farm business and the decision-making process of crop growers around the world.
The initiative represents a multi-faceted project with several different components, including Web-based learning modules and classroom experiential learning. The program targets many different employee groups throughout the global organization with varying backgrounds and experience. The program brings Syngenta's seed and crop protection divisions together to look at production agriculture through the eyes of the grower.
Thirty-seven Syngenta Seeds employees from across the United States and Canada came to Purdue’s Beck Ag Center in late January for the pilot offering. Participants learned more about the life of a grower through sessions on topics like distribution and processing and understanding the goals, needs and beliefs of the grower.
Faculty members Mike Boehlje, Allan Gray, Scott Downey, Corinne Alexander, Bruce Erickson and Brent Gloy, all from the Department of Agricultural Economics, delivered sessions, along with faculty member Klein Ileleji of the Department of Agricultural and Biological Engineering. Local growers Levi Huffman and Kevin Kelley were on hand as “living cases” to talk about their experiences managing and operating their own farms.
MS-MBA Recruitment Going Strong
The MS-MBA staff are heavily focused on recruiting the next class of agribusiness professionals to complete the dual-degree, distance-delivered program. They have developed a new brochure that will help recruitment efforts. In addition, Program Manager Luanna DeMay attended the Indiana Agribusiness Conference and Expo, sponsored by the Agribusiness Council of Indiana, to connect with potential students.
Center for Commercial Agriculture Holds Land Values Webinar
On January 10, faculty members Brent Gloy, Mike Boehlje, Chris Hurt, Bruce Erickson and Craig Dobbins presented The Land Values Webinar. This online session, offered by the Center for Commercial Agriculture, helped people understand and interpret the recent increases in farmland values, an issue that has generated substantial discussion and debate. Nearly 400 people viewed the webinar. To learn more, download faculty presentations or to stream an archive of the webinar, visit http://www.agecon.purdue.edu/commercialag/progevents/landvalueswebinar.html.
Travel, Speeches, Presented Papers:
Metin Cakir presented a seminar on November 19th at the Department of Bioresource Policy, Business and Economics, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, Canada.
Seminar title: “Estimating Market Power of US Dairy Cooperatives in the Fluid Milk Market”
Metin Cakir presented a seminar on January 19th at the Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics, University of Connecticut, CT. entitled “Estimating Market Power of US Dairy Cooperatives in the Fluid Milk Market”
Dr. Raymond Florax gave a keynote presentation in December 2010 at the conference "Urban Development: Patterns, Causes, Foundations, and Policy", organized by the Institute for Housing and Urban Development Studies (IHS), the Erasmus University Rotterdam and Utrecht University (Department of Economics and Faculty of Geosciences). His presentation dealt with sectoral differences in urban concentration with an application to a large spatial planning project.
David Ortega will present his paper (co-authored with H. Holly Wang, Nicole Olynk, Laping Wu and Junfei Bai) "Got (Safe) Milk? Chinese Consumers’ Valuation for Select Food Safety Attributes" at the Southern Agricultural Economics Association meeting in Corpus Christi, TX, February 7, 2011.
Wally Tyner will be speaking at the Renewable Fuels Association annual conference on February 21, 2011 on the subject of biofuels policy issues.
David Widmar will be presenting the following at the Southern Agricultural Economics Association‘s Annual meeting in Corpus Christ, Texas February 5-8, 2011:
(Poster) “The Economics of Using Distiller Grains in Small-Scale Beef Operations in Indiana” Ken Foster, David Widmar, Dennis Buckmaster, Ronald Lemenager, and Nicole Olynk, Purdue University
(Paper) “Integrated On Farm Decision Making: Economic Implications of Increased Variation in Litter Size” David Widmar, Nicole Olynk, Allan Schinckel, Brian Richert, and Ken Foster, Purdue University
Publications:
Binkley, J., and A. Golub. “Consumer Demand for Nutrition versus Taste in Four Major Food Categories”, Agricultural Economics, Volume 42, Issue 1, pages 65–74, January 2011.
John M. Connor, Has the European Commission Become More Severe in Punishing Cartels? Effects of the 2006 Guidelines: SSRN Working Paper (draft 6/28/2010, posted 1/11/2011). [http://ssrn.com/abstract=1737885]
Gerke J. Hoogstra, Jouke van Dijk and Raymond Florax (2011) Determinants of Variation in Population–Employment Interaction Findings: A Quasi-Experimental Meta-Analysis, Geographical Analysis 43(1), 14–37.
Carla Sá, Raymond J.G.M. Florax and Piet Rietveld (2011, in press) Living Arrangement and University Choice of Dutch Prospective Students, Regional Studies.
Susan E. Chen and Raymond J.G.M. Florax (2010) Zoning for Health: The Obesity Epidemic and Opportunities for Local Policy Intervention, The Journal of Nutrition 140(6), 1181S–1184S.
Susan E. Chen, Raymond J.G.M. Florax, Samantha D. Snyder and Christopher Miller (2010) Does where you Live Make you fat? Obesity and Access to Chain Grocers, Economic Geography 86(4), 431–452.
Taheripour F., T.W. Hertel, and W.E. Tyner, (2010). “Implications of biofuels mandates for the global livestock industry:
a computable general equilibrium analysis,” Agricultural Economics, DOI: 10.1111/j.1574-0862.2010.00517.x.
Huang S., B.S. Hodge, F. Taheripour, J.F. Pekny, and G.V. Reklaitis, W.E. Tyner, (2010). “The effects of electricity pricing on PHEV competitiveness,” Energy Policy, DOI:10.1016/j.enpol.2010.12.029.
Fred Whitford, Betsy Bower, Laurel Mann, Richard Feinberg, Scott Downey, Steve Dlugosz, June Van Klaveren, and Kevin Leigh Smith, An Agricultural Retailer’s Guide to Customer Care, Purdue Extension, PPP-90
Internship Opportunities:
http://www.federalreserve.gov/careers/intern_research.htm
http://www.fsdinternational.org/intlopps/programs/internships1
http://www.fcnl.org/young/intern.htm
http://www.uschamber.com/careers/internships/default
http://www.unausa.org/site/pp.asp?c=fvKRI8MPJpF&b=317257
Job Announcements:
University of Wisconsin at River Falls: Assistant professor Agricultural Business
Mississippi State University: Assistant Professor, Natural Resource & Environmental Economics
California Polytechnic State University: Assistant Professor in Agribusiness
Career and Job Sites on the Internet:
| Purdue | http://www.purdue.edu/jobs |
| AAEA Job Posting | http://www.aaea.org/classifieds/ |
| Academic Employment Network | http://www.academploy.com/ |
| Academic Position Network | http://www.apnjobs.com/ |
| Agriculture Career Connection | http://www.ag-biz.com/ |
| Community Colleges, misc | http//www.aacc.nche.edu/ |
| Chronicle of Higher Education | http://chronicle.com/jobs/ |
| Congressional Budget Office | http://www.cbo.gov |
| Education Jobs Page | http://www.nationjob.com/education |
| Employment/Resume Posting | http://galaxy.einet.net/GJ/employment.html |
| EPA | http://jobs.quickhire.com/scripts/epa.exe |
| Foreign Ag Service | http://www.fao.org/VA/vac_en.htm |
| Government Career | http://www.usajobs.opm.gov/ |
| National Job Bank | http://www.jobs.joe.org |
| USDA, Ag Research Service | http://www.ars.usda.gov/careers/docs.htm?docid=11797 |
For further information, see the Job Posting File in Room 651
Contact Lou Ann Baugh concerning information to be included in future issues of KT
Keeping Track Monthly Newsletter Archive