This chart was created in 2011 to illustrate the US. price of fuel relative to the US. price of food. The debate back in those days was whether to produce food or fuel (food vs. fuel). It was the politics … Continue reading →
Manure doesn’t have to be a liability or associated with a 4-letter expletive. Cultural shifts begin with the seminal definition of the issue in question. If the initial definition is negative, options are bound by the limits of the definition. … Continue reading →
Life shapes us. It has certainly shaped Mark Jenner’s career path. I was raised to make the world a better place, and what an odyssey of bridge-building and provocation it has been! This week, I turned in my keys at … Continue reading →
In 2008, a major publisher ran a story about where all the biomass feedstocks were. It was a good story that brought attention to biomass as a fuel source. But they used the National Renewable Energy Labs (NREL) ‘Total Tonnes’ … Continue reading →
Over the course of my career maps and mapping software have continued to evolve. Maps are compelling and visually informative. As this graphic interface has evolved, there are rules about what is proper and what is not. Like so many … Continue reading →
Most economic demand today manifests itself in report charts and news as a change over time. But traditional economic supply and demand curves do not have time in them (price x quantity). Demand drives any economy, but it doesn’t look … Continue reading →
Outer space is now open for business. On February 22, 2024, a private company space vehicle, Intuitive Machines landed on the Moon. The first manned U.S. lunar landing occurred in 1969 and was completely government funded. The 1960s U.S. space … Continue reading →
Nearly 25 years ago, I was asked to evaluate the economic opportunity for growing industrial hemp in my role as economist for the American Farm Bureau Federation. I wrote one rather concise report and distributed it to all the state … Continue reading →
Fifty years ago, in 1974, the definition of a U.S. farm for the purposes of collecting data in the Census of Agriculture, was set at $1,000 of farm value of production. This includes gross sales or potential sales. The Ag … Continue reading →
Abraham Lincoln commissioned the first census of farm by the Department of Agriculture 180 years ago. Some of the data categories have not changed since then, like specifying a farm of 1 to 9 acres in size. As a culture, … Continue reading →
