Introduction< The 2024 Sveriges Riksbank Prize for Economic Sciences has been awarded to Daron Acemoglu, Simon Johnson and James Robinson for work on the influence of institutions on long-term economic progress and growth. Much has been written about this, for instance by ´Pseudoerasmus´ here and by Radford here. In this article, an ´in-depth´ analysis of a part of the work leading to the the prize, an analysis of the long-term impact of the Dissolution of the English monasteries...
Read More »White House Looking at Food and Nutrition, But Will it Matter?
Any given recession, food assistance needs increase. In an inflationary environment where purchasing power declines, food assistance needs increase. During a pandemic, well you get the idea. What is lost in that narrative is that the foods available to the general public, are same available to food assistance beneficiaries. The only difference is the bank account that it’s draws through the debit card, and a few other stipulations like beer and...
Read More »One Man’s Toilet Water is Another Man’s Organic Farm
One Man’s Toilet Water is Another Man’s Organic Farm, Michael Smith, Agricultural Economist and Farmer In my search to find sustainable sources of organic material to turn into viable soil modification vectors, I had been struggling to source material to add to the Padina sands that are in abundance in our lands. See, in late 2020 we had five tons of compost brought in all at once and we scattered it here and there. Before that we had brought...
Read More »Land Rich, Cash Poor
Farmer and Agriculture Economist Michael Smith “[Land profits] are a species of revenue which the owner, in many cases, enjoys without the care and attention of his own” -Adam Smith In other words, land appreciates not by the owners doing, but his neighbors. Sure, there are certain things that can be done to improve land, build a house, clear the brush and trees, install utilities. Or choose none of the above and wait. The post pandemic...
Read More »Well, Its About to Become Worse – Update
Economist and Farmer Michael Smith Introduction Well, Its About to Become Worse as Urea prices jumped to a record strong demand creating supply shortages. Food prices to increase . . . And the Details I was recently sitting on a conference call with a fertilizer analyst and a bunch of monocrop growers, generally feeling out of place with my few dozen pounds of peppers, cucumbers and radishes sitting in cold storage while they go over...
Read More »Well, Its About to Become Worse – Update
Economist and Farmer Michael Smith Introduction Well, Its About to Become Worse as Urea prices jumped to a record strong demand creating supply shortages. Food prices to increase . . . And the Details I was recently sitting on a conference call with a fertilizer analyst and a bunch of monocrop growers, generally feeling out of place with my few dozen pounds of peppers, cucumbers and radishes sitting in cold storage while they go over...
Read More »Application for Regenerative Agriculture Certification
“Regenerative Agriculture Certification,” Michael Smith, Farmer and Economist Dear Regenerative Certification team, It is a pleasure to submit and share what Foxglove Grove has been working toward since our initial business plan and due diligence exploration phase going back to 2015. As of 2020 we have taken 2018 proof of concept, turned it into an uncertified organic farm and 501c3 educational establishment. We are in Central Texas among acres...
Read More »Analyzing the impact of biodiesel and it causing a potential issue
[unable to retrieve full-text content]Michael Smith Farmer and Agricultural Economist, “Farmers need more space for crops to meet mounting demand”- AgResource | Reuters Dan Basse of AgResource Co. analyzes the impacts of biodiesel and is throwing up a potential issue. Reuters interviewed an agronomist who is closely watching the budget reconciliations and the spending of a $350 billion yearly […] The post Analyzing the impact of biodiesel and it causing a potential...
Read More »“Quit Your Whining” – Economists to Cattle Ranchers
Author, Farmer, and Economist Michael Smith briefly talking returns to Cattle Ranchers and profits to meat processors and retail. The beef industry is under fire, we’ve been seeing this for years. We first saw where Smithfield has taken over whole towns for pork production, vertically integrating as much as possible, even to take a cut of the feed grain market in those towns. This provides the blueprint for a bigger industry, beef. Matt...
Read More »Reconciliation and Climate-Smart Agriculture
Angry Bear’s Mike Smith; I am a little baffled by our governments assessment of agriculture. Just today they released a few details about paying farmers to plant cover crop, as per this article here. House Budget Plan Offers Big Injection of Funds in USDA Conservation Programs House Budget Plan Offers Big Injection of Funds in USDA Conservation Programs (dtnpf.com), Progressive Farmer OMAHA (DTN) — Farmers would get up to $25 an acre from the...
Read More »