Brief Summary of Minutes of Annual Meeting

Cooperating Agencies and Principal Leaders:
Frank Allaire,*% Ohio State University
Bradford Barham, University of Wisconsin-Madison
William Crist, University of Kentucky
Tricia Dyk, University of Kentucky
Jeremy Folz,* University of Connecticut
Lori Garkovich,* University of Kentucky
Gilbert Gillespie,* Chair, Cornell University
Catherine Grossclose, Utah State University
Douglas Jackson-Smith,* University of Wisconsin-Madison
Rick Krannich, Utah State University
William Lazarus, University of Minnesota
Thomas Lyson, Cornell University
Jennifer McAdam,* Utah State University
Wm. Alex McIntosh,* Texas A&M University
Margot Rudstrom,* University of Minnesota
Carolyn Sachs,*% Pennsylvania State University
Harry Schwarzweller, Michigan State University
Anthony Shelton,* Administrative Advisor, Cornell University
Stewart Smith,* University of Maine
Loren Tauer, Cornell University
Peggy Tomasula, USDA/ARS/ERRC, Pennsylvania
Michael Tunick, USDA/ARS/ERRC, Pennsylvania
Henry Tyrrell,* CSREES liaison, USDA
Chris Wolf* Michigan State University
Wynne Wright, University of Minnesota

* voting member from participating state
 state fully active in 2000
 state activities limited in 2000
% state previously active, not active in 2000


Progress of the Work and Principal Accomplishments:

Overview:

Members of the technical committee are generally progressing toward completing the research protocols agreed upon at the 1996 NE-177 meeting in Vermont. Differences in progress across states is generally related to availability of funding from host institutions and independent sources. All states now actively participating in the project have now selected study areas and have conducted surveys of dairy farms in those areas. Those states with later data collection have generally followed the core methodologies and measurement instruments developed by the states that began data collection earlier (WI, MI, and NY), so the database of comparable information across states is building. Specific progress toward both the project objectives outlined in the revised NE-177 proposal (October 1996 through September 2002) is summarized below:

NE-177 Objective 1, Determine the interrelationships among and relative importance of social, economic, technological and political environments, regional conditions, and entrepreneurial strategies affecting restructuring of the dairy industry in different dairy localities.

All states actively participating have made progress on improving our understanding of the underlying patterns of structural change in their dairy sectors, and on the factors that seem to explain the observed pace and character of change in each state. Because the various states participating in the project are at different stages of development, only beginning systematic efforts were made in 2000 to explore across states the significance of contextual factors in explaining regional variation in patterns of dairy sector restructuring. The 2000 annual meeting provided a valuable forum for exchanging information and perceptions, and for making plans to bring the data collected into a unified data set. A panel session at the annual meetings of the Rural Sociological Society in Washington, DC in August of 2000 was a forum for presenting emerging findings.

NE-177 Objective 2: Identify, examine, and assess the effects of structural change in the dairy sector on local communities and related enterprises.

This objective on exploring the farm-community linkages that are central to the revised NE-177 project has proven to be the most difficult to carry out. Wisconsin has gathered detailed information about the purchasing patterns of local farmers and combined that with information about farm residents‘ participation in community social and cultural life. Most other states have collected data on farm residents participation in community life. Wisconsin has surveyed non-farming community members. New York has conducted interviews with local officials, agency staff, and non-dairy farming community members. Most states have been able to gather important secondary data about their study communities. We expect that we will be in a good position to begin to share comprehensive data and findings with one another at our 2001 annual meeting (currently scheduled for October 11-13, 2001 in Logan, Utah).


Usefulness of the Findings:

Although not all states have progressed as far as we originally envisioned (at the fall, 1996 meeting), we believe that project activities have generated significant findings. We have shared instruments and preliminary findings at our annual meetings, and seven of the articles in Dairy Industry Restructuring (Volume 8 of Research in Rural Sociology and Development, JAI Press) were authored by authored by current or former project participants.

Specific experiences from four states provide examples of the kinds of impacts NE-177 research has had to date. In Wisconsin, for example, information about patterns of structural change in their three study communities have helped scientists and policy makers identify a lack of new entrants (as opposed to an epidemic of exits) as the primary driver of accelerated declines in dairy farm numbers. The Wisconsin work has also challenged the perception that most of the dynamic changes are occurring at the upper end of the dairy herd size spectrum (for example, modest, incremental expansion among traditional family-labor dairy farms has brought more new cows into the sector in the 1990s than have the more highly publicized large-scale expansions). In Kentucky, the realization that many dairy farmers orient their production decisions around the labor and capital demands of tobacco-raising has led to a reassessment of the decision-making models we use to understand farmer behavior. In New York, an analysis of baseline survey results were used to examined the relationships among different indicators of farm operators‘ community engagement, (including involvement in non-agriculturally- related organizations, involvement in local agricultural activities, and interpersonal networks) and two measures of dairy farm performance and two measures of future plans. Their results provided empirical support for relationships between farmers‘ and farm households‘ integration into the social and economic fabric of their community and their dairy farm performance and forward looking plans. In Connecticut research results were input for community forum examining the future for dairying in a town with declining dairy farm numbers and considerable urban pressure. The town meeting, attended by more than 600 people, led to a local right-to-farm initiative being passed unanimously.

Work Planned for Next Year:

At the October, 2000 meeting of the technical committee, we assessed the current state of data collection and made plans for combining existing and projected data by the time of our next annual meeting. Principles for sharing data from different sources were developed. Also, plans were made for additional data collection and analyses. Specific plans are outlined in the 2000 NE-177 technical committee meeting minutes.

Butler, L.J., Wolf, C. 2000. "California Dairy Production: Unique Policies and Natural Advantages." Pp. 141-161 in Dairy Industry Restructuring, edited by H.K. Schwarzweller and A.P. Davidson. Volume 8, Research in Rural Sociology and Development. New York, NY: JAI Press, Elsevier Science, Inc.

Doye, D., Jolly, R., Hornbaker, R., Cross, T., King, R.P., Lazarus, W.F., Yeboah, A. Case Studies of Farmers‘ Use of Information Systems. Review of Agricultural Economics 22(2000):567-585.

Foltz, J.D., Chang, H.H. 2000. "The Adoption of rBST on Connecticut Dairy Farms." submitted to American Journal of Agricultural Economics

Foltz, J.D., Jackson-Smith, D, Chen, L. 2000. "Do Purchasing Patterns Differ Between Large and Small Dairy Farms? Econometric Evidence from Three Wisconsin Communities." submitted to Agricultural and Resource Economics Review

Garkovich, L., Crist, W., Dyk, P. 2000. Kentucky Dairy Farms and Tobacco Production. Pp. 291-308 in Dairy Industry Restructuring, edited by H.K. Schwarzweller and A.P. Davidson. Volume 8, Research in Rural Sociology and Development. New York, NY: JAI Press, Elsevier Science, Inc.

Jackson-Smith, D., Barham, B. 2000. Dynamics of Dairy Industry Restructuring in Wisconsin. Pp. 115-140 in Dairy Industry Restructuring, edited by H.K. Schwarzweller and A.P. Davidson. Volume 8, Research in Rural Sociology and Development. New York, NY: JAI Press, Elsevier Science, Inc.

Lyson, T.A., Guptill, A.E., Gillespie, G.W. 2000. Community Engagement and Dairy Farm Performance: A Study of Farm Operators in Upstate New York. Pp. 309-323 in Dairy Industry Restructuring, edited by H.K. Schwarzweller and A.P. Davidson. Volume 8, Research in Rural Sociology and Development. New York, NY: JAI Press, Elsevier Science, Inc.

Mcintosh, W.A, Luedke, A. 2000. Competing Explanations of Successful Dairy Farming in Texas. Pp. 229-263 in Dairy Industry Restructuring, edited by H.K. Schwarzweller and A.P. Davidson. Volume 8, Research in Rural Sociology and Development. New York, NY: JAI Press, Elsevier Science, Inc.

Morse, G.W., Lazarus, W.F.. Failures Lead to Success in Dairy Business Retention and Enhancement Programs. In Small Town and Rural Economics Development: A Case Studies Approach, Peter V. Schaeffer and Scott Loveridge, ed., Westport, Connecticut: Praeger, 2000.

C Abstracts in Proceedings:

Koehler, R., Lazarus, W.F. Swine Manure - Does it Add or Subtract From Your Bottom Line? In 2000 Minnesota Pork Conference Proceedings, St. Paul: University of Minnesota Extension Service, December 2000.

Rudstrom, M.V., Alford, E.A. How Profitable are Minnesota Grazing Dairies? Selected paper, AAEA Annual Meetings, Tampa FL., August 2000.

C Reports:

Buttel, F.H., Jackson-Smith D.B., Moon, S. 2000. A Profile of Wisconsin‘s Dairy Industry, 1999. PATS Research Summary, No. 4. Madison: Program on Agricultural Technology Studies, University of Wisconsin.

Doye, D., Jolly, R., R. Hornbaker, Cross, T., King, R.P., Lazarus, W.F., Yeboah, A., Rister, E. Farm Information Systems: Their Development and Use in Decision Making A publication of the NC-191 regional committee on Farm Information Systems.‘ North Central Regional Research Publication 345, Iowa State University, Extension Distribution Center, Ames, IA, August 2000.

Foltz, J. 2000 "Profitability of Connecticut Dairy Farms." Connecticut Dairy Project Extension Fact Sheet. Available in adobe acrobat at http//www.sp.uconn.edu/~foltz/factsheets.html.

Foltz, J. 2000 "Connecticut Dairy Farm Statistics Summary." Connecticut Dairy Project Extension Fact Sheet. Available in adobe acrobat at http//www.sp.uconn.edu/~foltz/factsheets.html.

Foltz, J. 2000 "Technology Use on Connecticut Dairy Farms." Connecticut Dairy Project Extension Fact Sheet. Available in adobe acrobat at http//www.sp.uconn.edu/~foltz/factsheets.html.

Foltz, J. 2000 "RBST Use on Connecticut Dairy Farms." Connecticut Dairy Project Extension Fact Sheet. Available in adobe acrobat at http//www.sp.uconn.edu/~foltz/factsheets.html.

Foltz, J. 2000 "Rotational Grazing on Connecticut Dairy Farms." Connecticut Dairy Project Extension Fact Sheet. Available in adobe acrobat at http//www.sp.uconn.edu/~foltz/factsheets.html.

Jackson-Smith, D., Barham, B. 2000. The Changing Face of Wisconsin Dairy Farms: A Summary of PATS‘ Research on the Character and Pace of Structural Change in the 1990s, Program on Agricultural Technology Studies, Research Report, 7.

Jackson-Smith, D., Moon, S, Ostrom, M., Barham, B. 2000. Farming in Wisconsin at the End of the Century: Results of the 1999 Wisconsin Farm Poll, Wisconsin Farm Research Summary. Program on Agricultural Technology Studies, #4.

Lazarus, W.F. Minnesota Farm Machinery Economic Cost Estimates for 2000. FO-6696, University of Minnesota Extension Service, July 2000. Also accompanying spreadsheet template, http://apecon.agri.umn.edu/crop.html.

Lazarus, W.F., Morse, G.W., Platas, D., Guess-Murphy, S. Economic and Local Government Impacts of the Minnesota Pork Industry, Final Research Report Prepared for the Minnesota Pork Producers Association. March 2000.

Wolf, C., Harsh, S., Bucholtz, S., Damon, A., Lloyd, J. 2000. "Michigan Dairy Farm Industry: Summary and Analysis of the 1999 Michigan State University Dairy Farm Survey." Michigan Agricultural Experiment Station Research Report 573.