Newsletter March 2002

SAEA web site http://www.saea.org
JAAE web site http://www.agecon.uga.edu/~jaae/

PRESIDENT'S CORNER As we begin our 34th year, I would like to introduce the new slate of officers of the Southern Agricultural Economics Association. I am honored to serve as your President this upcoming year. Bill Park of the University of Tennessee is the Past-President, and Les Myers of Virginia Tech is SAEA President-Elect. Our Directors are Steve Halbrook of the Farm Foundation (one year remaining), Lois Willett of the University of Florida (two years remaining), and Michele Marra of N.C. State (three years remaining). John Penson of Texas A&M is the Editor of the JAAE. Ken Paxton and Lonnie Vandeveer of Louisiana State University will assume the duties of Secretary/Treasurer on April 1, 2002. Bob Nelson and Walt Prevatt of Auburn University are in the final stage of their term as Secretary/Treasurers and the Association greatly appreciates their work and efforts in keeping the SAEA running smoothly. I would also like to express my appreciation to Bill Park for his leadership in conducting the Association's business last year.

Orlando Meeting Highlights

I am pleased to report that this year's SAEA meetings in Orlando were a success. Thanks to everyone who participated. Attending the meetings were 229 regular members, 69 graduate students, and 51 undergraduate students, totaling 349 meeting participants, up 19% from the 2001 meetings. We had strong presentations in all sessions. Thanks to Director Steve Halbrook for organizing the SAAS symposium titled, "Farm Bill 2002: Issues and Possibilities for Southern Agriculture", that was held on Sunday afternoon. This symposium was jointly sponsored by the SAEA and the Farm Foundation. Thanks to Ralph Christy (Cornell University) for organizing the Invited Paper Session, "Civic Community and Rural Development in the South" (Joint with Southern Rural Sociology Association), and P. Lynn Kennedy (Louisiana State University), Mary Marchant (University of Kentucky), and Won W. Koo (North Dakota State University) for organizing the Invited Paper Session, "Deepening Our Understanding of the New International Trade Environment." Titles of all the invited papers, selected papers, and posters can be accessed through the SAEA web site.

Thanks to Mary Ahearn (USDA) and Darrell Bosch (Virginia Tech) for coordinating an excellent set of Selected Papers. There were 180 submissions of which 81.7% (147) were accepted. This rate of acceptance compares to 82% in 2001 and 80% in 2000. In addition, we had 18 Organized Symposia with one being cross-listed with Rural Sociology. Donna Lee (University of Florida) coordinated the Poster Session where 17 posters were displayed.

A highlight of the Orlando meetings was the Tuesday night SAEA reception at the Universal City Walk "City Jazz." About 150 SAEA mem bers were present for Virginia Tech's Eluned Jones' singing performance, which was a big hit! The Association appreciates Eluned's talents and her willingness to share them with us. Lois Willett of the University of Florida organized and coordinated this reception and the Association is grateful for her service.

Awards

The Association was honored to recognize Kurt Anschel (University of Kentucky), Gail Cramer (LSU), Don Ethridge (Texas Tech), Ernie Davis (Texas A&M), and Fred Woods (USDA) for the Lifetime Achievement Award. Their remarks will be published in the August issue of the JAAE. Thanks to Hal Harris for his leadership and to the other members of the lifetime achievement award committee, Howard Clonts (Auburn), John Holt (Florida), and Richard Conner (Texas A&M).

Hal Harris also coordinated the Teaching, Extension, and Graduate Student Paper awards this past year. Congratulations to Allen Wysocki (University of Florida), winner of the Teaching Award for his teaching of the course, "Selling Strategically." Thanks to Dixie Reaves (Virginia Tech), Molly Espey (Clemson), and Mike Olexa (Florida) for their service in this selection.

Two SAEA Outstanding Extension Program Awards were presented. Congratulations to Will Snell (University of Kentucky) for his "Tobacco Extension Programming in Kentucky and Southern Tobacco States" and Damona Doye (Oklahoma State), J. Walter Prevatt (Auburn), James M. McGrann (Texas A&M), Stan Bevers (Texas Agriculture Extension Service), and Steve Swigert (Noble Foundation) for their program "Improving Integrated Resource Management Skills of Beef Producers." Thanks to Lee Meyer (Kentucky), Nathan Smith (Georgia), and Damona Doye (Oklahoma State) for their service in this selection. It should be noted that Damona recused herself from the final selection process.

Congratulations to Jared Carlberg (Oklahoma State University), winner of the Graduate Student Paper Award for his paper, "Effects of Ownership Restrictions on Farmland Values in Saskatchewan." Thanks to Lisa House (Florida), Wes Harrison (LSU), and Martin Redfern (Arkansas) for their service in this selection.

The First Place Poster Award went to Manuel Filipe, Lonnie Vandeveer, and Kurt Guidry (Louisiana State) for their poster "Pre-Harvest Marketing Strategies and Financial Performance: What's the Connection?" Second Place went to Damona Doye, Karen Smith, Darrel Kletke, David Lalman and Francis Epplin (Oklahoma State) for their poster "Profit-Maximizing Forage/Livestock Systems for Small Farms." Third Place went to C. Phillip Baumel, Marty J. McVey and Robert Wisner (Iowa State) for their poster, "Are Large Scale Agricultural Sector Models Useful for Forecasting Exports?" An Honorable Mention went to Brigid A. Doherty, John C. McKissick and John C. Bergstrom (Georgia) for their poster "Georgia Citizens' Attitudes Toward Animal Agriculture." Another Honorable Mention went to Tammie LaGrone, Damona Doye, Darrel Kletke, Daren Redfearn, and Francis Epplin (Oklahoma State) for their poster "Reducing Cow/Calf Nutrition Costs for Small Oklahoma Farms." Thanks to Donna Lee (University of Florida) for chairing this committee along with the other two members of the selection committee, Dan Rainey (University of Arkansas) and Phil Kenkel (Oklahoma State University).

I am pleased to report that the undergraduate Academic Quiz Bowl competition was well attended with 51 undergraduate students from nine universities. This activity was initiated in 1995 at the New Orleans meeting and has been one of the more exciting activities at our annual meetings. Thanks to the many advisors who have made it a success over the years. Congratulations to this year's Academic Quiz Bowl winning team of Jared Adcock (Florida), John Allen (Arkansas State), and Dane Everett (West Texas A&M). The runner-up team included Ace Berry (West Texas A&M), Justin Lee (Clemson), and Anthony Schrieber (Florida). Thanks to David Barber (University of Florida), Chair of the Student Affairs Committee, junior advisor Joey Mehlhorn (Middle Tennessee State), and Octavio Ramirez (Texas Tech) for their work on the Academic Quiz Bowl, etc. Thanks also to the many individuals who served as judges and to the departments who supported all the student participation

SAEA News

All members should be aware of the digitizing project of all past issues of the JAAE and the SJAE. This will be done over the next year and be complete by July 2003. Another initiative of the Association will be the electronic distribution of this Newsletter. We will be taking further steps to move the Newsletter on-line over the course of this year. As you know, past issues of the Newsletter are already on-line at the SAEA web site. The plan is to simultaneously publish the Newsletter in hard copy and electronic form. Eventually, those who prefer the hard copy will receive it while those that prefer the electronic copy will not receive the hard copy. In future Newsletters I will be addressing other selected issues of interest to Association members

2003 Annual Meeting

Mobile, Alabama will be the site of the 2003 annual meetings. Les Myers of Virginia Tech will be coordinating the Invited Paper sessions. The full call for proposals appears elsewhere in this Newsletter. The deadline is May 31. Please contact Les if you have any questions or if you wish to discuss your ideas about potential Invited Paper Session topics with him. I want to encourage all members to consider participating in an Invited Paper session. The papers are published in the JAAE.

Bill Park will coordinate the Lifetime Achievement award(s), and the Teaching, Extension, and Graduate Student Paper awards this year. Nominations will be due sometime early in the fall, but it is never too early to start thinking about these awards. A full announcement will be made in the next newsletter. However, last year's instructions are still posted on our webpage (June 2001 Newsletter) and could be used as a guide to put a nomination package together. I would like to remind everyone that the Graduate Student Paper award carries a $500 prize. If you are aware of a good single-authored student paper, written for an academic course, please consider nominating it.

Kenneth Stokes of Texas A&M at Stephenville will be in charge of coordinating the Selected Papers for next year's meetings. A call for Selected Papers, Symposia and Posters will appear in the next issue of the SAEA Newsletter.

Closing Thanks

Thanks again to all of you who participated at the meetings in Orlando. Special thanks to Bob Nelson and Walt Prevatt for all of their hard work, putting on the meetings, and putting small and large fires out. Finally, on behalf of the Association, I would like to thank Gloria Cook of Oklahoma State University for a job well done in registering the meeting participants. Her contributions to the Association are greatly appreciated!

In closing, the Orlando meetings were productive and a lot of fun. I wish to express my sincere appreciation to the membership for your involvement and support with a special thank you to the SAEA Board, both incoming, continuing, and outgoing officers. It has been a pleasure to work with Hal Harris, Bill Park, Steve Halbrook, Lois Willett, Michael Dicks, Charles Moss, James Seale, Walt Prevatt, and Bob Nelson. Special thanks also go to Carol Lee for all her hard work.

I enjoyed serving as President-Elect this past year, and I look forward to working with you, the SAEA membership, this coming year. Thank you for your continued involvement and support of the Association.

Steve Turner
President

ANNOUNCEMENT

FOOD DISTRIBUTION RESEARCH SOCIETY 2002 ANNUAL CONFERENCE CALL FOR RESEARCH REPORTS, UPDATES AND POSTERS

The Society welcomes submissions of Research Reports, Research Updates and Poster Session Presentations for the 43rd Annual Conference, which will be held October 27-30th, 2002 at the Marriott Biscayne Bay, Miami, Florida. The theme of this year's meeting is "Emerging Business Models". Research Reports and Research Updates will be evaluated and accepted on the basis of one-page abstracts. Poster Session Topics will be evaluated and accepted on the basis of a 50 word abstract. The FDRS will provide a cloth-covered table in an area set aside at the conference. The presenters will be responsible for supplying their own poster backing material and an easel for the display of their posters.

Send all materials to: Dr. Delmy L. Salin
USDA-Economic Research Service
Room 5096 N
Washington, DC 20036
Phone: (202) 694-5170

All materials should be postmarked no later than July 1st, 2002. Authors will be notified about the status of their submissions by August 31, 2002. For more information visit our website "http://fdrs.ag.utk.edu".

In order to be accepted as part of the Annual Conference, and to be published as part of the proceedings in the Journal of Food Distribution Research, at least one author must be a member of the Food Distribution Research Society and at least one author of an accepted research report and research update must make the presentation and be registered at the Annual Conference. Papers can be submitted to the Journal of Food Distribution Research for consideration as refereed papers. Authors of Research Reports that are accepted for presentation at the annual meeting are required to send a hard copy and a computer disk (3.5") copy of the paper three weeks before the annual meeting to Dr. Forrest Stegelin, Dept. of Agricultural and Applied Economics, University of Georgia, 300 Conner Hall, Athens, Georgia 30602-7500.

POSITION ANNOUNCEMENTS

Texas Tech University, Full/Associate Professor: Risk Management — by April 1, 2002

Full/Associate Professor, Risk Management with an emphasis in crop insurance; 12-month tenure track position. Available: June 1, 2002. The candidate selected will be expected to provide leadership in establishing a nationally recognized research program in the area of risk management with an emphasis in crop insurance. Research support and funding will be available to assist in the establishment of this research program. In addition to establishing a research program, the candidate may have some teaching responsibilities at the undergraduate and graduate levels. Demonstrated ability to obtain external grant funding and publish in basic and applied research outlets and contribute to teaching and graduate education is necessary. Qualifications: Ph.D. in Agricultural Economics, Economics, or related discipline. For full position announcement see http://www.aeco.ttu.edu. Application process: send a letter of application, vita (including a list of publications and evidence of teaching experience), and the names and addresses of three references to Don Ethridge, Search Committee Co-Chair, Department of Agricultural and Applied Economics, P.O. Box 42132, Texas Tech University, Lubbock, TX 79409-2132; phone (806) 742-2821; fax (806) 742-1099; e-mail don.ethridge@.ttu.edu. Application deadline is April 1, 2002, or until a suitable candidate is found. AA/EOE.

Texas Tech University, Assistant/Associate Professor: Risk Management — by June 1, 2002

Assistant/Associate Professor, Risk Management with an emphasis in crop insurance; 9-month tenure track position. Available: August 1, 2002. The candidate selected will be expected to assist in establishing a nationally recognized research program in the area of risk management with an emphasis in crop insurance. In addition to establishing a research program, the candidate will have teaching responsibilities at the undergraduate and graduate levels. Ability to obtain external grant funding and publish in basic and applied outlets and contribute to the teaching and graduate education is necessary. Qualifications: Ph.D. in Agricultural Economics, Economics, or related discipline. For full position announcement see http://www.aeco.ttu.edu. Application process: send a letter of application, vita (including a list of publications and evidence of teaching experience), and three letters of recommendation (to be received by the application deadline) to Phillip Johnson, Search Committee Co-Chair, Department of Agricultural and Applied Economics, P.O. Box 42132, Texas Tech University, Lubbock, TX 79409-2132; phone (806) 742-2821; fax (806) 742-1099; e-mail phil.johnson@.ttu.edu. Application deadline is June 1, 2002, or until a suitable candidate is found. AA/EOE.

The Southern Agricultural Economics Association is soliciting proposals for Invited Papers Sessions for the 2003 SAEA meeting in Mobile, AL. The Board seeks proposals that will be of broad interest to members and that will address emerging and anticipated economic and policy issues relevant to rural communities, agribusiness, resources and the environment, and food safety/nutrition. Topics may have relevance to one or more of the basic research, outreach, and instruction missions. Proposals should include a session title, topics to be covered with preliminary paper titles, paper presenters and discussants, a brief rationale for the session and its importance to the southern region. Please list names and affiliations of moderator, presenters and discussants with submission. No more than four people should be proposed to present and/or discuss papers and all proposed participants must agree to be at the meetings prior to submitting an Invited Paper proposal. All accepted proposals must submit a PowerPoint presentation for Board review of acceptability prior to the meetings (guidelines to be provided upon acceptance). It is the organizer's primary responsibility to correspond with and keep all participants on schedule. Invited Papers are normally published in the August issue of the Journal of Agricultural & Applied Economics.

Proposals must be received by May 31, 2002
FAX submissions will not be accepted.

Please send submissions to:

Les Myers
Dept. of Ag. & Applied Economics
Virginia Tech University
208 Hutcheson Hall
Blacksburg, VA 24060-0401
Phone: 540-231-6301
Fax: 540-231-7417
Email: myersl@vt.edu

	Lifetime Achievement Award Winners:
Don Ethridge	Ernie Davis	Gail Cramer	Fred Woods	Not Pictured Kurt Anschel

*Students note: a special student rate of $10 may be available through your department – see your Department Chair or Graduate Advisor for details. This special rate is paid through your department, not with this form.

Make Checks Payable to SAEA

Return to:
Kenneth Paxton / Lonnie Vandeveer
Dept. of Ag. Economics and Agribusiness
Louisiana State University
101 Ag. Admin. Bldg.
Baton Rouge, LA 70803-5604 USA

The SAEA Board allocated $1,000 for graduate student activities from June, 2001 to June, 2002. The intent of this award is to reimburse graduate students for out-of-pocket expenses in attending the Orlando meeting that were not reimbursed by their own institution. Most of this money was used to waive registration for applicants who pre-registered at the Orlando meeting. About $160 remains, which can be spent on graduate student travel reimbursement, according to the Board rules for disbursement (see website at "Information" for the form and guidelines).

Southern Agricultural Economics Association
Department of Agricultural Economics & Rural Sociology
208 Comer Hall
Auburn University
Auburn, Al 36849-5406