The emergence of genetically modified organisms has sparked a multi-faceted debate, covering issues related to human health, ethics, and the environment. Discussions of the economics of GMO adoption are highly politicized and are influenced by large corporations and non-governmental organizations. This study aims to provide insight into the economic impacts of genetically modified organisms on individual farmers of cotton in India. The first GMO to reach commercialization in India was Bt cotton in 2002, which led to significant increases in revenue and yield among smallholder farmers. Using survey data collected between 2003 and 2009, I examine the economic impacts of Bt cotton and explore macro level changes in the Indian economy.

With the price of corn now over $6 per bushel, and with feedlot total cost per pound of gain now approaching $1.00 per pound of gain there are new incentives to try and add weight to calves outside of feedlots. The question then arises of how to add weight to a calf in the most economical manner. There are many different feeding programs to consider. However, with few exceptions, the cheapest way to add weight outside of a feedlot usually involves the calf grazing for an extended period of time. Winter pasture grazing, wheat pasture grazing and corn stalk grazing followed by summer pasture grazing are examples of these programs. However, with the exception of California, most of the area west of the Great Plains lacks the resources and climate for most of these winter grazing programs. For those states, cattle producers can background calves through the winter and then allow them to graze pastures in the summer. Backgrounding calves is essentially taking calves at weaning and feeding them to heavier weights without placing them directly in a feedlot on a finishing ration. The overall objective of this research is to evaluate the level and variability of returns to several background feeding alternatives. The returns will be evaluated in an expected value-variance analysis and ranked using stochastic dominance procedures. It appears that there are several different background alternatives that producers could utilize to increase returns with an acceptable level of risk and add additional value to their calves.

Milk mineral (MM) is a type II antioxidant (metal chelator) that can bind iron and prevent iron catalysis of lipid oxidation. Thus, MM might have microbial growth inhibition effects on iron-dependent bacteria. Objective 1 was to evaluate effects of MM on growth of non-pathogenic iron-dependent bacterial strains (Listeria innocua, Eschericia coli, Pseudomonas fluorescens). MM (1.5 % w/v) did not significantly inhibit growth of Listeria and E. coli. However, growth of Pseudomonas fluorescens was consistently and significantly reduced by ~1 log colony forming units per ml (CFU/ml) with all levels of MM (0.5, 0.75, 1.5 % w/v). All levels of MM also had no growth inhibition effects against the mixed microflora of fresh ground beef during storage for up to 10 days at 2°C. In conclusion, MM had little or no effect to inhibit microbial growth. The strong affinity of MM to ionic iron inhibits lipid oxidation, but does not inhibit bacterial growth supported by other forms of iron (heme or amino acid + iron complexes). Several studies report that MM has greater antioxidant effect than sodium tripolyphosphate (STP) in ground meats, especially at longer storage time. Objective 2 was to compare stability of MM and STP in ground beef patties by monitoring the decomposition to soluble orthophosphates (Pi). Patties (control) and patties with 0.75 % MM or 0.5 % STP were stored at 2 or 22°C for 0, 1, or 2 days. CFU/g and Pi were measured. As expected, CFU/g at 22°C was much higher than treatment at 2°C. Pi levels at 2°C were lower (P < 0.05) than at 22°C. At day 0, for both temperatures, patties formulated with MM had the highest Pi levels. However, after 2 days storage, samples with added STP had the highest level of Pi, followed by MM and control. Thus, decomposition as measured by release of Pi was significantly higher for STP than for MM added to beef patties. There was a significant positive correlation (0.77) between CFU/g and Pi during storage of beef patties for 2 days at 22°C. In conclusion, increased Pi during storage of beef patties was at least partially due to bacterial phosphatases. A third experiment was conducted to examine the stability of 0.75 % MM or 0.5 % STP added to growing cultures of Pseudomonas fluorescens at 2°C or 22°C for 0, 1, and 2 days. Neither MM nor STP was stable in autoclaved media (Pi increased significantly). The factors responsible for decomposition of MM or STP in autoclaved media remain to be determined.

Since the beginning of history the wool of sheep has been used by the human race. Its chief use has been and still is for clothing. Also, it is widely used for blankets, upholstery, carpets, and numerous other products. The wool industry is important to the state of Utah, which was the sixth largest producing state in the United States in 1958. Wool growers in Utah received approximately $7,897,000 in sales proceeds and government payments for wool sold during the 1958 marketing year (12).1

The influence of an individual's dress practices on his/her sense of self has been studied for many years. Courses such as the Dress and Humanity course at Utah State University have been developed to educate students on the impact of dress on society. In this study, students in the Dress and Humanity course were given a pre-course and post-course survey to determine if self-perceptions related to dress practices underwent a change over the duration of the semester. Significant differences were found in the categories of body image, evaluating self-esteem, and communication of self to others. A relationship was found between survey responses and gender, degree of importance of clothing purchases, and how much money participants spent in the 365 days previous to the pre-course survey.

The supply of market milk in the Great Basin marketing area has been increasing more rapidly than the demand for fluid milk and cream. During the last four years, supply of market milk increased 35 million pounds, while fluid use increased only 15 million pounds.

Contamination of freshwater systems by nutrients has been studied extensively in the eastern U.S. Little research on the fate of nutrients in grazing conditions has been done in the western U.S. Western agriculture is often irrigated and research addressing the potential for leaching under these conditions is warranted. This study used Management Intensive Grazing (MIG) and eight grass-legume mixtures to evaluate the management and forage choice in relation to nitrogen and phosphorus leaching to ground water. Soil water samples were taken weekly through the growing season from 2001 through 2003. Water samples were analyzed for nitrate, ammonia, and phosphate. Soils were described and a textural discontinuity was discovered in two of the six soil profiles described. Data were analyzed by treatment, grass, legume, and soils by treatment. Three-year nitrate-N means were found to be in a range of 4.50 to 48.10 and 2.11 to 49.5 mg NO3 - -N L-1, at 60 cm and 90 cm, respectively. The amount of leaching depended on the grass-legume mixture as well as the soil characteristics. Significant differences were found between grasses (P=0.0001) with tall fescue leaching the least and orchardgrass leaching the most. Differences in leaching under legumes were also found to be significant (P=0.001), with white clover always leaching more than birdsfoot trefoil when significant differences were observed. Ammonia leaching was nonsignificant at a studywide analysis. Phosphorus treatment concentrations ranged from 0.025 to 0.41 mg PO4- -P L-1 and were significantly different (P=0.001). A comparison by grass type indicated that perennial ryegrass leached significantly higher concentrations of P (P=0.01) at 60 cm than the other grasses, but found no difference at 90 cm. No significant differences were found between legumes at either depth. Leaching of P was less affected by the soil textural discontinuity than nitrogen leaching. Soil differences affect leaching in varying degrees. Nitrate was affected most strongly by soil differences. These differences were more strongly evident at 60 cm than 90 cm. Soils affected phosphorus leaching differently than nitrate, and were more strongly affected at 90 cm than at 60 cm. Ammonia was not affected by soil characteristics.

Soil sampling can help producers gain more accurate knowledge about soil nutrient properties and field-level characteristics. This information aids in the placement and timing of fertilizer application. Optimal input application may lower variable costs, increase economic returns, and moderate off-site environmental impacts of farming. Yet producer decisions to incorporate soil information into management practices and perceptions about the value of soil test information over time depends on a wide range of economic, social, and producer characteristics. Studies examining the value of soil information for optimal nutrient management may help inform producers considering adopting these technologies about the potential benefits of soil testing. This thesis provides two studies examining (1) the factors associated with the adoption of precision soil sampling and the length of time this information is perceived useful by cotton producers, and (2) the value of soil test information with regards to optimal potassium fertilizer management in cotton production over multiple growing seasons. Perceptions about the usefulness of soil test information over time depend on a variety of factors directly or indirectly related to input management. In the first study, the adoption and frequency of soil testing is examined as a function of off-farm, farm business, information sources, and operator characteristics using a Poisson hurdle regression model. Analyzing data from a survey of cotton farmers in 12 Southern states, the length of time producers perceived soil test information to be useful were influenced by farmer experience, land tenure, and the use of other information gathering technologies such as Greenseeker® and electro conductivity. In the second study, optimal potassium (K) management with information about fertilizer carryover was analyzed using a dynamic programming model. Monte Carlo simulation results suggest the information site-specific technologies provides with respect to residual fertilizer carryover effects of K are greatest when a producer is able to identify the magnitude of soil carryover capacity and incorporate this information to manage K. The information obtained from this research may provide insight for cotton producers, agribusiness firms, and agricultural service providers about the perception and potential benefits of soil sampling information to manage inputs in cotton production.

Biofuels have been widely recognized as a potential renewable energy source that can lessen the United States’ dependence on imported petroleum and enhance the domestic economy. Particularly, biofuels derived from lignocellulosic biomass (LCB) have been the focus in the development of a sustainable biofuels industry. However, technical barriers in the LCB feedstock supply chain have been one of the major challenges impeding the economic viability of this industry. To expedite the commercialization process of LCB-based biofuels production, this paper employed a spatial mixed-integer mathematical model to explore the optimal biomass logistic system for a switchgrass-based biofuels biorefinery in East Tennessee. The evaluated logistic systems in this study included five conventional systems (one round bale system, one square bale system, and three mixed bale systems) in the baseline scenario and one stretch-wrap bale system in the preprocessing scenario. Results showed that the stretch-wrap bale system could potentially reduce total logistic cost of switchgrass by 12 to 21% compared that of the conventional systems. Also, the result of the optimal case in the conventional systems suggested that the mixed bale system without storage protection is most economical after taking into account the dry matter loss during storage. This study also provided information regarding the optimal location of a biorefinery, a switchgrass production plan, monthly harvested and delivered tonnage, and the draw area of switchgrass under each logistic system. The optimal location of a commercial-scale biorefinery was identified to be located in the northwest of Monroe County, a location close to the demonstration plant in Venore, Tennessee. Additionally, this study showed that the percentage of available hay land used for switchgrass production, the switchgrass-ethanol conversion rate, the energy prices, and the storage dry matter loss of compact switchgrass bale produce significant impacts on the total logistic cost of switchgrass for the biorefinery.

Industry clusters can be important components of regional development. The effects of industry clusters on growth typically vary across geography, which has implications for targeted development strategies. Employment and business establishment growth in the Appalachian region (2000 – 2008) was regressed on industry cluster concentration indexes controlling for local determinants. The hypothesis that local response to growth determinants is geographically heterogeneous was tested using Smooth Transition spatial process models. This class of models exhibiting regime switching behavior is useful for identifying regional clusters, providing another tool for exploring relationships between geographical determinants and economic growth.