Agriculture

2parts

1st part

1page regarding carbon credits:

-what are they?

-background information on carbon credits

-the soil science behind carbon credits (think organic matter, soil carbon, best management practices)

-opportunities for stakeholders (those involved in agriculture production)

2nd part

Economics and the prices farmers pay to produce their products and what they receive for their products is a huge issue for agriculture. To illustrate this, youll be doing some research and submitting this as an assignment/activity. Please read and follow the directions.

Find the average input prices for the following decades:

1970s

1980s

1990s

2000s

2010s

2020s (2020-current)

Inputs:

Equipment (pick a specific piece)

Parts (overall trend)

Service ($/hour)

Fuel (diesel and gas; $/gallon)

Fertilizer (NPK) (price per ton)

Seed (corn, soybean, wheat, grass)

Feed (grains) ($/50 or 100 lbs, or $/ton)

Farm labor ($/hour)

Land values ($/acre, look by state or region)

Now examine the following commodity prices farmers would receive for the following products in each of the same years (research what the prices would have been)

choose 2 livestock meat species (hogs, cattle, broilers, sheep, goats)

milk ($/cwt.)

corn ($/bu)

soybeans ($/bu)

other crop of your choice ($/unit)

*notice trends in % increase or decrease by decade

(% increase= final-initial/initial)

After finding the above numbers and trends, answer the below questions

Track the percent increase or decrease for each average input price and commodity price for each decade (ex. $/bu. Of corn for the 70s, compared to the 80s, compared to the 90s, ect.). (it may be helpful if you put these into a graph)

Have prices farmers receive for their products increased proportionally to input costs over the years? What are the implications?

How do you solve the issue of high inputs in agriculture (from a producer perspective)?