AAEA News

Election Ballots Coming Soon

The ballots for the AAEA Executive Board election will soon be available. Take the time to make your voice heard. The 2014 AAEA election ballot has been set and final preparations are underway for delivery to the membership. The election will be open from April 15 through May 15, 2014.

All current AAEA members as of May 5, 2014, will be eligible to vote. Members with valid e-mail addresses will receive ballots electronically. Please make sure your spam filter is set to accept e-mails from info@aaea.org. If you have a valid e-mail address and do not receive a ballot, your spam filter may be blocking e-mails from AAEA. Spam filters may block AAEA messages without notifying AAEA of the block.

Please notify the AAEA Business Office at info@aaea.org if you do not receive the electronic ballot by April 16, 2014. Members that request a paper ballot or who do not have a current e-mail address on file will receive a ballot in the mail. If you have any questions about this process, please contact the AAEA Business Office.

Section Elections

Elections for Section leadership positions will take place concurrently with the Executive Board election. Once you have submitted your Executive Board ballot, you will be directed to ballots for the Section elections that you are eligible to vote in. Only current members of each Section are eligible to vote in that Section’s election. Section elections will also close on May 15, 2014.

Deadline Approaching: Travel Grants for Early Career Professionals and Graduate Students

The AAEA Trust seeks applications for Early Career Professional and Graduate Student Travel Grants. These grants defray housing and transportation costs associated with attending the 2014 Annual Meeting in Minneapolis, July 27-29, 2014. Up to $400 will be awarded to each applicant, based on professional merit, financial need, and expected active participation in the Annual Meeting.

A qualifying applicant must be a graduate student or comparatively new junior professional (within three years of award of your last degree) engaged at an accredited U.S. college, university, or other institution in such applied economics fields as agribusiness, agricultural, consumer, food, development, environmental, health, marketing, regional, rural, or resource economics. Reflecting the Trust’s goal of broadening participation in the Annual Meeting, preference may be given to individuals working under institutional circumstances not normally conducive to AAEA meeting attendance.

Applications must be submitted through the online application form. You will be asked to submit the following:

1. Your name, postal address, e-mail address, and phone number;
2. Your current status, including: early career professional or graduate student; department and institution at which enrolled or employed; degree program underway or recently completed; years at institution; brief summary of research area; and professional rank or anticipated graduation date;
3. Description of your interest and/or planned participation in the Annual Meeting;
4. Proposed travel budget, including other funding sources available, such as from the your institution; and
5. A nomination from a department,  division head, or supervisor which includes written acknowledgement of the nomination and certification of your financial need, including certification that funding is unavailable from other sources.

Applications should be submitted by the individual seeking support; however, only one application from each department or division will be considered. In the event that more than one application is submitted from a specific department or division, it will be up to the department head to decide which will be considered. Applications will be accepted only from U.S. colleges, universities, and institutions.  The deadline for submission is April 7, 2014.

President-Elect Seeks Volunteers for AAEA Committees

Members interested in shaping the future of the AAEA can play an essential role by serving on an association committee. Committee service also offers an excellent opportunity for developing contacts and increasing professional networking.

“I invite all members to get actively involved in AAEA through serving on our committees,” says President-elect Barry Goodwin. “By serving, you influence the direction and priorities of the AAEA, and help us to best meet the needs of agricultural and applied economists. Your work will shape our AAEA Trust, awards and special lectures, membership, leadership selection, publication, statistics infrastructure, outreach, meeting, and career development activities. For established professionals, we rely on your contributions to guiding the AAEA’s work. For early career professionals, working on a committee is a great way to build your professional network and service record. Please email us (see below) with your interest in serving.”

Goodwin will make appointments to the following 2014–2015 committees by June 2014:

• AAEA Trust
• Awards
• Case Study Invited Paper
• Communications/Publications
• Early Career Development
• Economics, Statistics & Information Resources
• Employment Services
• Fellows Selection
• Finance
• Galbraith Forum and Award
• Membership
• Nominating
• Outreach
• Selected Presentations
• Tellers
• T.W. Schultz

For information about these committees and a list of their current members, please visit http://www.aaea.org/about-aaea/aaea-committees

Any AAEA member interested and willing to serve on a committee should contact Brian Mondragón Jones at bmjones@aaea.org or (414) 918-3190 by April 21, 2014.

Invited Speakers for the Social Networks, Social Media and the Economics of Food Symposium

May 28-30, 2014
Hyatt Regency, Montreal, Quebec, Canada

The purpose of this symposium is to provide a forum for presenting studies on the economics of food production and choice in a world in which social media and social networks have assumed a prominent role. The objective is to promote a better understanding of peer group influence on food consumption, and how social media and social networking affect food production and food choice decisions. Recognizing the role of social media in the broader food environment can help explain food choices that lead to unhealthy diets or the consumption of unsafe food. Understanding social media and social learning will help inform policies that use social concepts to control these, and other, food-related problems.

The symposium will have four invited speakers:

• Jordan LeBel is an Associate Professor in the department of marketing at the John Molson School of Business (Concordia University) in Montreal where he teaches Food Marketing and Experience Design and Marketing. He is the director of the Luc Beauregard Center of Excellence in Communications Research. He draws from his past in the foodservice industry as a chef and restaurant inspector for inspiration for his research, which focuses on the role and definition of pleasure in consumers’ food choices. His work on comfort foods and chocolate has received widespread media coverage.
• Sanjeev Goyal is a Professor of Economics at the University of Cambridge and Fellow of Christ's College, Cambridge. He is also the Director of the Cambridge-INET Institute. Professor Goyal is a pioneer and leading international scholar in the study of social and economic networks, with a number of publications in leading international journals. In 2007, Princeton University Press published his book, “Connections: An Introduction to the Economics of Networks”. A Chinese translation was published by Beijing University Press in 2010.
• Adrian Moss is Managing Director of Focus Business Communications (FBC), a digital communications agency located in Southampton, UK and specialising in audio/video content. Since 2005 FBC has also been helping clients use social media to engage in ‘conversational’ marketing and community development focussing on building internal and external audiences for their audio and video content.
• Daniel Hruschka is trained as an anthropologist and epidemiologist and is an Associate Professor of Anthropology and Global Health at Arizona State University. He studies how cultural, social and economic factors shape human health and biology, including recent global increases in body weight and fat-linked diseases. Hruschka has received funding from the National Institutes of Health and the Templeton Foundation and is the recipient of a National Science Foundation Faculty Early Career Development Award.
  Hruschka's work on body weight has been published in the American Journal of Public Health, Economics and Human Biology, the American Journal of Physical Anthropology, and the American Journal of Human Biology.

The full agenda is available here. 

Follow AAEA on Twitter @AAEA_Economics. Use #EconFood14 to stay up-to-date on the latest symposium news!

Important Deadlines:

• April 3, 2014: Deadline for Final Papers and Posters to be uploaded on AgEcon Search
• May 15, 2014: Registration and Cancellation Deadline

Registration
Registration for the Joint Symposium is open. Click here to register online or complete a PDF form and return to the AAEA business office by fax: 414-276-3349 or e-mail info@aaea.org. If you have any questions regarding registration, please contact info@aaea.org.
Registration Fee:

• April 1 - May 15: $285 (USD)

Hotel Reservations
All of the Joint Symposium activities will take place at the Hyatt Regency Montreal. Hotel reservations can be made online or by calling 1-800-361-8234. When making reservations over the phone, please mention the AAEA Symposium. The deadline to reserve a hotel room is Monday, April 28. After that date the rates below cannot be guaranteed.
Hyatt Regency Montreal

• Single/Double: $199 (CAD)
• Regency Club: $259 (CAD)

For more information please visit: http://www.aaea.org/meetings/2014-aaeaeaaecaes-joint-symposium
Questions? Contact the organizing committee at social.food.econ@gmail.com or the AAEA Business Office at info@aaea.org.

Call for Abstracts: Crop Insurance and the 2014 Farm Bill Symposium

October 8-9, 2014
Marriott Louisville Downtown
Louisville, KY

AAEA seeks Selected Presentation submissions for the 2014 AAEA-sponsored Symposium “Crop Insurance and the 2014 Farm Bill: Implementing Change in U.S. Agricultural Policy”. Submissions for Selected Presentations need to include a two-page, single-spaced abstract that provides a clear explanation of what will be presented at the Symposium. Authors should include in this abstract a discussion of the relevance of the topic, research methodology, and potential for generating discussion during the meeting. Please do not include your name or contact information in the abstract file.

Abstracts need to be received by Tuesday, April 22, 2014, and should be submitted using AAEA’s online submission system. Material previously presented at other meetings cannot be accepted, and the submitting author will be asked to verify that the material has not been presented elsewhere. For more information visit the symposium website.

Call for Session Moderators: 2014 Annual Meeting

AAEA is seeking volunteers to serve in the moderator role for Selected Paper Presentations at the 2014 Annual Meeting in Minneapolis. Building on the Culture of Engagement discussed in AAEA President, Julie Caswell’s January column in The Exchange, we are seeking moderators who will be actively engaged in fostering discussion during their session. In addition to keeping the session on schedule (15 minutes per presentation, followed by 5 minutes for discussion), moderators should come prepared with questions for each presenter.

If you are interested in serving as a moderator, please contact the AAEA Business Office at info@aaea.org or check the “I am willing to serve as a Moderator” box located on the Annual Meeting registration form.

Call for Submissions: Invited Papers for 2015 ASSA Annual Meeting

President-elect Barry Goodwin is soliciting AAEA invited paper session proposals and sessisons at the 2015 Allied Social Sciences Association (ASSA) Annual Meeting in Boston, MA, January, 3-5, 2015. Preference will be given to proposals that add to knowledge on public issues of national and international importance or expand capabilities and tools for economic research.

The objective of AAEA sessions at the ASSA Annual Meeting is to share new knowledge with members of other economics associations as well as with AAEA members. Sessions may be jointly sponsored with other ASSA member associations. AAEA encourages sessions that will draw widely from ASSA attendees. Therefore, preference will be given to proposals that jointly serve the interests of the AAEA and other economists more broadly.

Papers in these Invited Paper sessions will be considered for publication in the American Journal of Agricultural Economics in August 2015. Preference will be given to proposals that reflect a commitment to furnish a high-quality collection of papers suitable for publication.  Papers will go through a review process and it is not guaranteed that all papers in an accepted session will be published. Papers submitted for review should be in their publish-ready state because there will not be time for multiple versions and reviews. Discussant comments will not be published. Authors will be contacted by the AJAE editors regarding style and length of manuscripts to be submitted to the editors for publication consideration.

Proposed session formats with three papers and one discussant or four papers without a discussant are permitted. Proposals for sessions without a discussant must include a clear plan for ensuring and fostering participant interaction. Please note that sessions at ASSA are two hours in length.

Proposals will be reviewed and selected by a subcommittee of the AAEA Board. Proposals should be submitted to Kristen Wright at kwright@aaea.org. They should include the proposed session title and paper titles, as well as the names, addresses, phone numbers, and e-mail addresses of the session organizer, moderator, paper presenters, and discussants. A brief (approximately two pages) justification of the session, and one paragraph abstract describing the objective of, and new knowledge generated by, each paper, should also be included. It is the responsibility of the organizer to ensure that all individuals identified in the proposal are willing to participate.

All presenters/speakers/discussants must be members of AAEA. A membership waiver request can be included in the proposal in the case of extenuating circumstances. In addition, participants need to register for the ASSA meeting. AAEA cannot grant registration waivers for the meeting.

Please send proposals by April 24, 2014, in Word or PDF format, Kristen Wright at kwright@aaea.org.

Mentor Application Deadline Extended for 2014-2015 Mentoring Program

The AAEA Early Career Development Committee is pleased to announce the 2014-2015 AAEA Mentoring Program. This is an excellent opportunity for members to enhance their careers through the development of a dynamic mentoring partnership. The Mentor Application deadline has been extended to April 8, 2014. We are no longer accepting applications for mentees.

As a volunteer mentor, you have the opportunity to share your knowledge, your experience, and your insights with the next generation of leaders working in applied economics and related fields. Mentors should have at least seven years of experience or tenure in their current profession and demonstrated excellence in their career.
The 12 month commitment begins with a comprehensive matching process.  Once partnerships are formed, a formal Dynamic Mentoring Connections training will take place at the Joint Annual Meeting in Minneapolis, MN on July 25-26, 2014 for all matched participants.  While the program encourages mentoring pairs to commit to a minimum of two meetings (email, phone, etc.) per month devoted to mentoring activities, mentor pairs will determine the length and frequency of the mentoring meetings. A mid-year energizer webinar and year-end celebration will also be provided as part of the program. Additionally, all program participants will be asked to complete program evaluations at mid, end, and 6 months after program completion.

For more information about the program and to submit your mentor application online, please visit: http://www.aaea.org/membership/early-career-development/mentorship-workshop

C-FARE

Save-the-Date Events!

Jon Brandt Public Policy Forum on ‘Big Data’

The Council on Food, Agricultural and Resource Economics (C-FARE) and AAEA will host the 1^st Annual Jon Brandt Policy Forum – The Critical Role of Data in Increasing the United States’ Competitive Edge – on Tuesday, April 29, 2014 from 3:30 p.m. – 5:30 p.m. ET in 562 Dirksen Senate Office Building in Washington, DC.

JB Penn, Chief Economist at Deere & Company and At-Large Member of the C-FARE Board of Directors will provide the keynote address to set the stage, discussing the situation, policy environment, and road ahead. A panel of experts will be moderated by Sara Wyant, the President of Agri-Pulse Communications, Inc. The panel will include:

• Mary Bohman— USDA Economic Research Service
• Hubert Hamer, Jr. - USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service
• Barry Goodwin –Agricultural and Resource Economics, North Carolina State University
• Bob Young – American Farm Bureau Federation

Register Today!

Cultivating a Healthy Future: Agriculture’s Role in Improving Health and Wellness

Monday, April 7, 9:00 a.m. – 1:00 p.m. ET

Capital Visitors Center, Washington, DC

Please join us for this half-day Summit, which offers an innovative look at how U.S. food systems impact human health. Leaders from government and industry will highlight the beneficial impact of our agricultural system on health. The health of our nation, including the health of our communities and our economy, is explicitly linked to our agricultural system. This Summit will exhibit case studies that will highlight the links between agriculture and human health and how agriculture research programs can support healthy outcomes in people, plants and animals. C-FARE is a proud member of N C-FAR.

Advance registration required for security. RSVP by today, April 3. Register Today!

Opportunity

Call for Applications-C-FARE/AAEA Early Career Professionals Leadership Award

The C-FARE, with support from the AAEA Trust, invite Early Career Professionals Leadership Award applications from young and beginning members of the agricultural and applied economics profession.

The six final award recipients will participate in a two-day program in Washington, DC from June 19-20, 2014. The program will expose the young leaders to federal funding opportunities and train them to be exceptional science policy communicators. This award represents an excellent opportunity for AAEA members to enhance their careers through networking and outreach. Awardees will be selected based on professional merit, guarantee of matching funds, and anticipated use of event information and training. Applicants must be an Early Career Professional member of AAEA. Please see the page here for more information and directions on how to apply. Deadline: Nomination packets should be submitted electronically in a single PDF to C-FARE at info@cfare.org by May 5, 2014. A response will be sent to all applicants by May 12.

Past Events

Stewarding America's Water Bodies - Policy Innovations in Non-point Source Pollution

• View the Video and PPTs from the C-FARE Choices Webinar that took place on March 21.

The most recent assessment of U.S. surface waters reveals that 55% of the nation’s rivers and streams are in poor condition. The leading causes of impairment are pollutants associated with land uses such as roads, parking lots, and farm fields. These “non-point” water pollutants diminish aesthetic and recreational values; raise costs of treating water for drinking and industrial uses; impair stream and reservoir ecosystems; and create nutrient-induced dead zones. As federal budgets grow more limited and legislative will ebbs, U.S. conservation and environmental goals are broadening to encompass soil productivity, air and water quality, and wildlife habitat as well as carbon sequestration. In view of these divergent trends, new approaches to protecting America’s water bodies are needed.

Speakers:

• Dr. John Braden, Professor Emeritus of Environmental Economics, Department of Agricultural and Consumer Economics at the University of Illinois
• Dr. Silvia Secchi, Assistant Professor, College of Agricultural Sciences at Southern Illinois University

2014 Spring C-FARE Board Meeting

The C-FARE Board of Directors will meet on April 28-30 to develop branding, programming, and fundraising initiatives for the next year.

The Council on Food, Agricultural and Resource Economics (C-FARE)

C-FARE is a non-profit organization dedicated to strengthening the national presence of the agricultural economics profession. C-FARE's governing board includes prominent agricultural economists representing a wide range of public and private sector interests.

900 Second Street, NE Suite 205

Washington, DC  20002

www.cfare.org

Follow C-FARE on Facebook and Twitter!