Anton and Eric chat with Dr. Amanda Countryman, associate professor in the Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics at Colorado State University. We discuss issues surrounding the mandatory country of origin labeling for beef, and reasons for why it was eventually repealed. Dr. Countryman provides insights from her recent paper that examines the economic [...]

  Anton and Eric chat with Dr. Amanda Countryman, associate professor in the Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics at Colorado State University. The discussion focuses on all things trade. Dr. Countryman’s research focuses on agricultural trade issues, and we cover topics, including an overview of current trade negotiations, the role of the World Trade [...]

  Anton chats with Dr. Alfons Weersink, professor in the Department of Food, Agricultural, and Resource Economics at the University of Guelph. The discussion focuses on the increasing heterogeneity of farms: why do farms look more different from one another today than at any time in the past? Dr. Weersink helps provide a historical perspective [...]

  Anton chats with Joe Janzen, assistant professor of economics at Montana State University, about what happened in the 2017 pulse markets and what’s ahead in the marketing year. Joe provides insights about several key market metrics that can be used to evaluate economics signals of how much pulse crops are valued, which can be [...]

  Anton chats with Dr. Eric Belasco, associate professor in the Department of Agricultural Economics and Economics at Montana State University, about the recently announced international agreement between the China-based JD.com and the Montana Stock Growers Association. The deal intends to invest $200 million into establishing and strengthening marketing Montana beef to Chinese consumers. But [...]

  Anton chats with Dr. Will Secor, an economist CoBank’s Knowledge Exchange unit. Dr. Secor received his PhD in applied economics from University of Minnesota and has focused on understanding dynamics within the food supply chain. He has recently written a report (find the full report here) about the market dynamics within the grain elevator [...]

  Anton chats with Kate Fuller, an assistant professor of economics and extension specialist at Montana State University, about what has recently been happening to agricultural land values. Kate also dives deeper into the topic by discussing agricultural economics research and her own findings about factors outside of agriculture that can be important drivers for agricultural [...]

  Kate chats with Anton Bekkerman, an associate professor of economics at Montana State University, about what happened in the 2017 wheat markets in the northern Great Plains and the impacts of those events on farm finances. Anton provides insights about several key financial metrics that can be used to evaluate short and long-term financial vulnerability, and [...]

  Anton chats about the changing landscape of rural communities in Montana with Joel Schumacher, an associate extension specialist of economics at Montana State University.  Joel has looked extensively into the issues affecting rural communities in Montana and in the northern Great Plains, and will provide insights into how these communities have changed in the past 10-20 years and the [...]

Kate chats about land leasing issues with John Hewlett, a farm and ranch management extension specialist at the University of Wyoming and Shannon Neibergs, who directs the Western Risk Management Education Center.  Both John and Shannon’s work on leasing incorporates risk and risk management.  The group also discusses cover crops in leases, and available drought [...]