Eggs at $5 per Dozen are Still Good Value
The price of eggs reported by the Bureau of Labor and Statistics used in the January Consumer Price Index (CPI), was $4.95 per dozen. In many places it is higher than this. In the Midwest if you know where to … Continue reading →
Discovering Manure Value When Markets and CAFO Regulations Both Fail
When markets fail to perform efficiently does that mean only a government policy fix will work? Or when the government policies fail does that mean only a market fix will succeed? In a word, no. This chart shows the total … Continue reading →
The More For Less of Trade – Real Adventures in Economics
Trade fundamentally seeks out the most efficient combination of resource use. In economic terms, it optimizes the lowest opportunity cost. The US, and more recently Brazil, produce soybeans so well they supply the world. When other nations import soybeans, it … Continue reading →
Local Resource Endowment Comparative Advantages – Secret Life of Rural Communities
When the benefits of an activity are difficult to put a dollar value on, or monetize, the traditional cost curves don’t tell the whole story. Total costs are the sum of all the variable costs and fixed costs. Undervalued community … Continue reading →
Discovering the Value of Community – Secret Life of Rural Communities
What is the value of a local home high school football game? How about the value of a community service organization? When I began my teaching career in undergraduate economics, I also moved back to my ancestorial home, Greenville, Illinois, … Continue reading →
Making Sen$e of the Calculus of Food Price Increases
Food price inflation is still in the news. Eggs have become a national security issue. Well, one would think so from the news. Mostly, the egg-laying chickens are sick and dying. But once we get beyond this egg-industry crisis, we … Continue reading →
A Century of Lessons in US Soybean Production – Real Adventures in Economics
One hundred and one years ago, USDA began counting the production of soybeans on US farms. This is not because that is when farmers began harvesting soybeans for grain. No. This is when the quantity of soybean production was sufficient … Continue reading →
Buckle Up for the 40-Year Cycle of Year-End Food Price Rhythm
In a January 21, LinkedIn post about a 1/19/25 Wall Street Journal Article on food prices rising in December, it was speculated that it is traditional food eating month. If prices were going to rise in an annual cycle, December … Continue reading →
Byproduct Price Discovery in the Absence of Demand – Real Adventures in Economics
Agricultural byproducts are not produced on demand. The quantity of byproduct production is based on the demand for the higher valued commodity or product. This is not news. But it seems forgotten in the passionate discussions of waste cooking oils … Continue reading →
An Inventory of Cellular Transformation on Today’s US Farms
Is emerging cellular agriculture an extension of farming? Or is it a replacement for farming? An extension of farming – grain to beer – is an economic complement. A farm replacement – meat and dairy protein from tanks – is … Continue reading →