The University of Nebraska – Lincoln received a two-year grant totaling more than $766,000 from the U-S Department of Agriculture to establish a new policy research group within the Center for Agricultural and Food Industrial Organization. UNL agricultural economics professor Dr. Konstantinos Giannakas will lead this research project that takes a close look at all consumers and producers and analyze each and use that data to establish more accurate and effective policies.

Dr. Giannakas stated “This will allow us to determine the affects of different policies on different consumer and producer groups.”

Dr. Giannakas says there are many different types of consumers and producers and the ag policies in place now do not take individual preferences, income, and other factors into consideration. He stated, “rarely are we able to go and say this is going to happen to the low income consumers or with consumers with aversions or say strong preference to organic food or producers that less efficient, smaller producers so this framework that our group will be developing will allow us to take up agricultural policies and determine exactly the market and welfare effect, how different groups will be affected by those policies.”

Once developed, this new framework will be used to analyze important policy issues, including market potential and best regulatory response to food nanotechnology to policies relating to downstream water pollution issues, least-cost policies, rural economic development and much more.

The latest USDA report shows Nebraska farmers are making good progress in their fields.

The Husker State’s corn crop is 44% planted, well ahead of last year’s 12%. Only 6% of the soybeans are in, which is also ahead of the average for this date of 2%. Oats are 93% planted.

Paul Bertels, an economist with the National Corn Growers Association, says things are looking good across the region, so far.

“There’s a lot of things that can happen between now and fall but from what we hear, they’re off to a good start,” Bertels says.

Corn prices remain at more than $6 a bushel, but Bertels says a record or near-record crop would push that down somewhat. He says early planting across the Corn Belt could make for an excellent harvest.

“Right now, moisture does not seem to be a problem in most of the Corn Belt, either too much or too little,” he says. “This cold weather over the past two weeks is a little troubling and it might slow the emergence down a bit, but things are off to a good start.”

In the 18 states that grow the vast majority of the nation’s corn, 53% of the crop is in the ground.