The Role of Irrigation in the Development of Agriculture in the United States

2018 ◽  
Vol 78 (4) ◽  
pp. 1103-1141 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eric C. Edwards ◽  
Steven M. Smith
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Surface Water ◽  
Irrigation Water ◽  
Crop Production ◽  
The United States ◽  
Western United States ◽  
Policy Changes ◽  
Annual Increase ◽  
Small Streams

We examine the role of irrigation in explaining U.S. agricultural gains post-1940. Specifically, we analyze how productivity and farm values changed in the western United States as a result of technological and policy changes that expanded access to ground and surface water. To statistically identify the effects, we compare counties based on their potential access to irrigation water defined by physical characteristics. We find areas with access to large streams and/or groundwater increase crop production relative to areas with only small streams by $19 billion annually, equivalent to 90 percent of the total annual increase in the western United States after 1940.

scholarly journals Geographical Characterization of Greenhouse Irrigation Water

1997 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 49-55 ◽  
Author(s):  
William R. Argo ◽  
John A. Biernbaum ◽  
Darryl D. Warncke
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Irrigation Water ◽  
Crop Production ◽  
Water Source ◽  
The United States ◽  
Nutrient Concentrations ◽  
Distribution Analysis ◽  
Unequal Distribution ◽  
Mean Values

Chemical analyses of 4306 randomly selected greenhouse water samples for 1995 from the United States and Canada were obtained from four analytical laboratories and graphically characterized using a distribution analysis. For pH, electro-conductivity (EC), and nutrient concentrations, a mean and median value and the percentage of samples with concentrations above or below those generally considered acceptable are presented for all samples and the 10 leading states in floricultural production. The median nutrient concentrations were more representative of the type of water found throughout the United States and Canada than that of the mean values because of the unequal distribution of the data. The overall median water source had a pH of 7.1; an EC of 0.4 dS·m−1; an alkalinity of CaCO3 at 130 mg·L−1; (in mg·L−1) 40 Ca, 11 Mg, 8 SO4−S, 13 Na, 14 Cl, 0.02 B, and <0.01 F; a Ca: Mg ratio of 3.2, and a sodium adsorption ratio (SAR) of 0.7. The information presented characterizes irrigation water and may assist in developing more refined fertilizer recommendations for greenhouse crop production.

scholarly journals Human-started wildfires expand the fire niche across the United States

2017 ◽  
Vol 114 (11) ◽  
pp. 2946-2951 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jennifer K. Balch ◽  
Bethany A. Bradley ◽  
John T. Abatzoglou ◽  
R. Chelsea Nagy ◽  
Emily J. Fusco ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Fire Risk ◽  
The United States ◽  
Federal Agencies ◽  
Western United States ◽  
Fire Season ◽  
Direct Role ◽  
Time Period ◽  
Government Records

The economic and ecological costs of wildfire in the United States have risen substantially in recent decades. Although climate change has likely enabled a portion of the increase in wildfire activity, the direct role of people in increasing wildfire activity has been largely overlooked. We evaluate over 1.5 million government records of wildfires that had to be extinguished or managed by state or federal agencies from 1992 to 2012, and examined geographic and seasonal extents of human-ignited wildfires relative to lightning-ignited wildfires. Humans have vastly expanded the spatial and seasonal “fire niche” in the coterminous United States, accounting for 84% of all wildfires and 44% of total area burned. During the 21-y time period, the human-caused fire season was three times longer than the lightning-caused fire season and added an average of 40,000 wildfires per year across the United States. Human-started wildfires disproportionally occurred where fuel moisture was higher than lightning-started fires, thereby helping expand the geographic and seasonal niche of wildfire. Human-started wildfires were dominant (>80% of ignitions) in over 5.1 million km2, the vast majority of the United States, whereas lightning-started fires were dominant in only 0.7 million km2, primarily in sparsely populated areas of the mountainous western United States. Ignitions caused by human activities are a substantial driver of overall fire risk to ecosystems and economies. Actions to raise awareness and increase management in regions prone to human-started wildfires should be a focus of United States policy to reduce fire risk and associated hazards.

scholarly journals Modern Macroeconomics in Practice: How Theory Is Shaping Policy

2006 ◽  
Vol 20 (4) ◽  
pp. 3-28 ◽  
Author(s):  
V. V Chari ◽  
Patrick J Kehoe
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Economic Theory ◽  
Labor Markets ◽  
Inflation Targeting ◽  
The United States ◽  
Income Taxes ◽  
Policy Changes ◽  
Capital Income ◽  
Macroeconomic Theory

Over the last three decades, macroeconomic theory and the practice of macroeconomics by economists have changed significantly—for the better. Macroeconomics is now firmly grounded in the principles of economic theory. We focus on the role of economic theory in shaping policy. Over the last several decades, the United States and other countries have undertaken a variety of policy changes that are precisely what macroeconomic theory of the last 30 years suggests. The evidence that theoretical advances have had a significant effect on the practice of policy is often hard to see for policymakers and advisers involved in the hurly-burly of day-to-day policymaking, but easy to see if one steps back and takes a longer-term perspective. Examples of the effects of theory on the practice of policy include increased central bank independence; adoption of inflation targeting and other rules to guide monetary policy; increased reliance on consumption and labor taxes instead of capital income taxes; and increased awareness of the costs of policies that distort labor markets.

Sustainability without Subsidy: Public Case for Vertically Integrated Rail Oligopolies for Freight

2019 ◽  
Vol 2673 (12) ◽  
pp. 204-214
Author(s):  
John G. Allen ◽  
Gregory L. Newmark
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
The United States ◽  
Transportation Policy ◽  
Western United States ◽  
Policy Changes ◽  
Rail Freight ◽  
Satisfactory Model ◽  
Policy Concern ◽  
High Standards ◽  
Physical Plants

Maintaining rail freight networks without subsidy is an important transportation policy concern. Today’s vertically integrated rail oligopolies (VIROs) in the United States, Canada, and Mexico have enabled rail freight to be commercially self-sustaining. A combination of favorable geography involving a choice of railroads for most longer hauls and commercial freedom for railroads to set prices without prior regulatory approval have helped create a situation in which North American freight railroads are self-sustaining without government subsidies. This research examines the development of VIROs in the United States, Canada, and Mexico today. A largely hands-off policy, combined with a willingness to allow railroads to accumulate enough money to maintain their physical plants to high standards, have led to today’s major freight railroad duopolies in the eastern and western United States, Canada, and Mexico. Despite some complaints from shipper interests, today’s VIROs are largely stable (with the possible exception of broader policy changes in Mexico). Lawmakers and regulators should ensure that any future mergers do not adversely affect the performance of what has thus far been a largely satisfactory model.

Conclusion

2020 ◽  
pp. 263-284
Author(s):  
Kevin Riehle
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Soviet Union ◽  
National Security ◽  
The United States ◽  
Policy Changes ◽  
Soviet Government ◽  
The Soviet Union ◽  
Perception Of Threat ◽  
The Stability

Several lessons emerge from these defectors’ revelations. First, the motivations of defectors changed based on the circumstances around them, which reflected Soviet policy changes. Those policy changes, such as purges and increased domestic repression, were often at the foundation of defector’s motivations. Second, vetting standards for Soviet personnel assigned to sensitive national security positions fluctuated, depending on the stability in the Soviet government and the level of urgency for hiring new personnel. When the Soviet Union was stable, it had the luxury of enforcing strict standards. When the Soviet Union needed a lot of people fast—such as during purges or wartime—it did not vet them as thoroughly. Finally, the Soviet perception of threat evolved, beginning with Great Britain as the primary threat in the early Soviet era, and joined by Germany after 1933, although Stalin never abandoned hope for an accommodation with Hitler. However, even before Germany was defeated in 1945, Soviet intelligence began targeting its wartime allies. By the late 1940s, when the United States assumed the role of the leader of the democratic world, the label “main enemy” was coined and applied to the United States, which stuck for the rest of the Soviet era.

Conclusion

2019 ◽  
pp. 152-170
Author(s):  
Sarah C. Bishop
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
The United States ◽  
Immigration Reform ◽  
Policy Changes ◽  
Immigrant Rights ◽  
Voting Power ◽  
The Future ◽  
Immigrant Rights Movement ◽  
Future Work

This chapter argues that the future of the immigrant rights movement hinges on the power of storytelling. It illuminates the ideological role of audience knowledge and ignorance to the movement and demonstrates that the voting power to advance immigration reform may rest in the hands of individuals who favor a path to citizenship but do not know what policy changes would be necessary for that to happen. Bishop interrogates both nationalism and citizenship to demonstrate their critical relationship to the contested nature of immigration in the United States. The chapter details several areas of potential future work that could extend academic understanding of the role of storytelling in the immigrant rights movement.

The Role of Gender and Sensation Seeking in Film Choice

2008 ◽  
Vol 20 (3) ◽  
pp. 97-105 ◽  
Author(s):  
Smita C. Banerjee ◽  
Kathryn Greene ◽  
Marina Krcmar ◽  
Zhanna Bagdasarov ◽  
Dovile Ruginyte
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Undergraduate Students ◽  
Sensation Seeking ◽  
Negative Mood ◽  
Positive Mood ◽  
The United States ◽  
High Arousal ◽  
Subject Design ◽  
Happy Mood

This study demonstrates the significance of individual difference factors, particularly gender and sensation seeking, in predicting media choice (examined through hypothetical descriptions of films that participants anticipated they would view). This study used a 2 (Positive mood/negative mood) × 2 (High arousal/low arousal) within-subject design with 544 undergraduate students recruited from a large northeastern university in the United States. Results showed that happy films and high arousal films were preferred over sad films and low-arousal films, respectively. In terms of gender differences, female viewers reported a greater preference than male viewers for happy-mood films. Also, male viewers reported a greater preference for high-arousal films compared to female viewers, and female viewers reported a greater preference for low-arousal films compared to male viewers. Finally, high sensation seekers reported a preference for high-arousal films. Implications for research design and importance of exploring media characteristics are discussed.

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