05-20-04

AGRICULTURE, VETERINARY MEDICINE AND NATURAL RESOURCES NEWS FROM IOWA STATE UNIVERSITY

ISU ECONOMISTS STUDY CROP SEGREGATION COSTS
Researchers in Iowa State University's economics department and Center for Agricultural and Rural Development (CARD)are using responses from a 2002 survey of Iowa grain handlers to study issues that arise in the handling of specialtycrops and crops free of genetically modified (GM) materials. Nearly 18 percent of firms surveyed reported handlingspecialty grains. One important issue is the added costs of differentiating products. On average, firms reported costsof 32 cents per bushel for handling. In a preliminary analysis of the data, the ISU researchers find significantdifferences in specialty crop handling costs and investment between cooperative handlers and privately held firms andcorporations. Subsequent work will address reasons for these differences. More analysis of the survey data is plannedto help sort out the industry effects of providing new systems for segregating non-GM and specialty crops. A paperdescribing the preliminary study, "Product Differentiation and Segregation in Agricultural Systems," is available atwww.card.iastate.edu. Contact John Miranowski, (515) 294-6132; Helen Jensen,(515) 294-6253; or Sandy Clarke, CARD communications, (515) 294-6257.

ISU SOYBEAN RUST EXPERT ON USDA NATIONAL ASSESSMENT TEAM
X.B. Yang, Iowa State University plant pathologist, is one of the nation's leading experts on Asian Soybean Rust. Hisexpertise has earned him a place on a national assessment team that will be called upon to survey the problem within 24hours after it is found in the continental United States. A team of experts has been organized by the United StatesDepartment of Agriculture Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service to respond if rust is found in the United States.Yang began studying the disease in the USDA Foreign Diseases and Weed Science Research Unit in 1989. He now chairs theNorth Central Soybean Rust Committee. His expertise focuses on wind-borne movement of the fungus and the use ofmodeling to predict how the disease could spread. The fungus was first identified in Japan in 1902. It was discoveredin Australia in 1934 and traveled from there to Africa. Brazilian soybean producers first detected the disease in 2001.Contact Yang, (515) 294-1741; or Barb McManus, College of Agriculture Communications, (515) 294-0707.

ISU ECONOMISTS TAKE A FIRST-HAND LOOK AT BRAZILIAN AG
Brazil's emergence as a commodity-producing powerhouse has kept U.S. economists, trade representatives and policymakersinterested in learning more about the country's infrastructure, production capacity and growing capital investment inagriculture. Last fall, economists with the Center for Agricultural and Rural Development (CARD) at Iowa StateUniversity traveled to Brazil to get a first-hand impression of its agricultural sector--particularly of its futurepotential in crop production. In a briefing paper summarizing the fact-finding trip, the researchers say that Brazil'sfuture expansion of production and exports is almost certain. However, other social, economic, and political pressuresmay cause Brazilian policymakers to reassess the large-scale, low-cost model embraced in the Center-West region of thecountry. The authors write, "We observed factors within Brazil itself that have potential for creating tensions whichmay ultimately force politicians to consider reforms that reduce production efficiency to achieve other social andenvironmental objectives." Some tensions include pressures to support small farmers and rural economies, lobbiesagainst deforestation and environmental degradation, and the agrarian reform movement to benefit the landless poor. Thebriefing paper, "Brazil: The Future of Modern Agriculture?" was published by the Midwest Agribusiness Trade Researchand Information Center and is available atwww.matric.iastate.edu. ContactFrank Fuller, (515) 294-2364; Jay Fabiosa, (515) 294-6183; or Sandy Clarke, CARD communications, (515) 294-6257.

NATIONAL VALUE-ADDED AG CONFERENCE SET FOR PEORIA, JUNE 17-18
An ISU Extension value-added agriculture specialist is helping plan the Sixth Annual National Value-Added AgConference, which will be June 17-18 in Peoria, Illinois. Mary Holz-Clause, co-director of the Ag Marketing ResourceCenter (AgMRC) and ISU Extension program specialist, says the conference is designed for producers and others involvedin value-added agriculture. It is sponsored by a consortium of universities, state agencies and farm organizations. Thetwo-day event will offer sessions on agricultural entrepreneurship, direct and niche marketing tools, organic andnatural market trends, biodiesel, wind energy and biogas products. More information on the conference is available athttp://www.agmrc.org/calendar/nationalvaaconference.pdf.Contact Holz-Clause, (515) 294-0648; or Christa Hartsook, AgMRC communications, (515) 294-4430.

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