Integrated Farm/Livestock Management Demonstration Program, 2002

Farm/Livestock Management Demonstration Program produced by Iowa Departmment of Agriculture and Land Stewardship

Influence of the Premium Subsidy on Farmers’ Crop Insurance Coverage Decisions, April 2005

The Agricultural Risk Protection Act greatly increased the expected marginal net benefit of farmers buying high-coverage crop insurance policies by coupling premium subsidies to coverage level. This policy change, combined with cross-sectional variations in expected marginal net benefits of high-coverage policies, is used to estimate the role that premium subsidies play in farmers’ crop insurance decisions. We use county data for corn, soybeans, and wheat to estimate regression equations that are then used to obtain insight into two policy scenarios. We first estimate that eventual adoption of actuarially fair incremental premiums, combined with current coupled subsidies, would increase farmers’ purchase of high-coverage policies by almost 400 percent from 1998 levels across the three crops and two plans of insurance included in the analysis. We then estimate that a return to decoupled subsidies would decrease farmers’ high-coverage purchase decisions by an average of 36 percent.

The Conservation Reserve Program in the Presence of a Working Land Alternative: Implications for Environmental Quality, Program Participation, and Income Transfer, August 2005

The United States has invested large sums of resources in multiple conservation programs for agriculture over the past century. In this paper we focus on the impacts of program interactions. Specifically, using an integrated economic and bio-physical modeling framework, we consider the impacts of the presence of working land programs on a land retirement for an important agricultural region—the Upper Mississippi River Basin (UMRB). Compared to a land retirement only program, we find that the presence of a working land program for conservation tillage results in significantly lower predicted signups for land retirement at a given rental rate. We also find that the presence of both a large working land and land retirement program can result in more environmental benefits and income transfers than a land retirement only program can achieve.

Livestock Revenue Insurance, November 2000

This study outlines several possible structures for livestock revenue insurance. The policies take the form of an exotic option—an Asian basket option. The actuarially fair premiums for these policies are equal to the prices of the options they represent. Due to the complexity of pricing Asian basket options, we have combined two techniques for pricing options to reach the actuarially fair premiums. Projected premiums, producer welfare, and program efficiency are evaluated for the insurance products and existing market tools. Using efficiency ratios and certainty equivalent returns, we compare the insurance policies to strategies involving existing futures and options.

Soil and Water Conservation; Conservation Program Summary, 2002

Report of Conservation Program Summary produced by Iowa Departmment of Agriculture and Land Stewardship

Integrated Farm/Livestock Management Demonstration Program, 2004

Farm/Livestock Management Demonstration Program produced by Iowa Departmment of Agriculture and Land Stewardship

Integrated Farm/Livestock Management Demonstration Program, 2001

Farm/Livestock Management Demonstration Program produced by Iowa Departmment of Agriculture and Land Stewardship

Integrated Farm/Livestock Management Demonstration Program, 2003

Farm/Livestock Management Demonstration Program produced by Iowa Departmment of Agriculture and Land Stewardship

Iowa Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program, Helping Landowners Protect Iowa’s Natural Resources,January 2009

The Iowa Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program is a state, federal, local, and private partnership that provides incentives to landowners who voluntarily establish wetlands for water quality improvement in the tile-drained regions of Iowa. The goal of the program is to reduce nitrogen loads and movement of other agricultural chemicals from croplands to streams and rivers. In addition to improving water quality, these wetlands will provide wildlife habitat and increase recreational opportunities.

Finnish embryo transfer breeding program "ASMO" : description of the goals and a summary of the results of initial selection

Selostus: Alkionsiirtojalostusohjelma "ASMO", sen tavoitteet ja yhteenveto alkuvalinnan tuloksista

Rethinking Health Insurance, Iowa State Planning Guide, September 30, 2005

Iowa has been a HRSA State Planning Grant participant since October 2000. Iowa’s purpose in participating in the program has remained constant: to identify, through research, policies that will help expand access to affordable health insurance coverage for all Iowans. The Iowa State Planning Grant project (Iowa-SPG) has been able to serve as a significant state data resource on the uninsured in Iowa throughout its tenure. Through the use of State Planning Grant resources, policymakers, the media, and interested citizens have been able to access, from one convenient and trusted source, a variety of information on Iowa’s uninsured population. Section 1 of this report presents an update of state-level data on the uninsured with a focus on the data that has been of greatest interest to various Iowa constituencies during the State Planning Grant years, 2001-2005.

Beginning Farmer Loan Program, Summary of Loan Programs, February 1, 2013

Beginning Farmer Loan Program, Summary of Loan Programs

Asset Management Program Enhancement Plan: Baseline Assessment Phases I and II, 2015

This project resulted in the development of a framework for making asset management decisions on low-volume bridges. The research focused on low-volume bridges located in the agricultural counties of Iowa because recent research has shown that these counties have the greatest percentage of structurally deficient bridges in the nation. Many of the same counties also have the highest crop yields in the state, creating a situation where detours caused by deficient bridges on farm-to-market roads increase the cost to transport the crops. Thus, the research proposed the use of social return on investment (SROI), a tool used by international institutions such as the World Bank, as an asset management metric to gauge to the socioeconomic impact of structurally deficient bridges on the state in an effort to provide quantified justification to fund improvements on low-volume assets such as these rural bridges. The study found that combining SROI with current asset management metrics like average daily traffic (ADT) made it possible to prioritize the bridges in such a way that the limited resources available are allocated in a manner that promotes a more equitable distribution and that directly benefits the user, in this case Iowa farmers. The result is a system that more closely aligns itself with the spirit of MAP-21, in that infrastructure investments are used to facilitate economic growth for Iowa’s agricultural economy.

Developing an Effective Construction Training Program for Hispanic and American Supervisors and Craft Workers, 2007

Hispanics are a large and growing part of the United States workforce. Projections of the U.S. Census Bureau (2001) state that, by the year 2050, Hispanics will account for 25% of the population. For the Midwest in particular, the Hispanic population is expected to increase 35% by the year 2025. The construction industry is expected to experience a greater percentage increase of its Hispanic population, due to the labor-intensive nature of the industry. This study addresses the expected increase of Hispanic workers in the construction industry by testing the best approaches for delivering training to construction crews with Hispanic workers as well as American supervisors and laborers in the state of Iowa. The research methodology consisted of assessing the effects on communication, safety, work environment, and productivity as a result of the integration training. Results show that integration on-site training decreases workers’ desire to move and increases quality of work and productivity. Most importantly, experimental design was used to show the increasing levels of direct construction communication due to the Toolbox Integration Course for Hispanic Workers and American Supervisors (TICHA) designed as part of this project. This study recommends the creation of a quasi-governmental or association program that can offer continuous research and training that can benefit the construction industry as well as society as a whole. The industry involvement in this process is crucial for contractors. Not only do contractors benefit from reduced insurance premiums when workers act safely, but workers with better communication skills are more productive.

Managed Care Ombudsman Program

In Iowa, the Managed Care Ombudsman Program was established to advocate for the rights and wishes of IA Health Link members who live or receive care in a health care facility, assisted living program or elder group home, as well as members enrolled in one of the seven home and community-based services (HCBS) waiver programs: AIDS/HIV, Brain Injury, Children’s Mental Health, Elderly, Health and Disability, Intellectual &/or Physical Disability. All services provided by the Managed Care Ombudsman Program are confidential and free of charge.