Mooney, Daniel F.

January, 2023

Comparative Profitability of Irrigated Cropping Activities for Temporary Water Transfers under Risk Aversion

By: Mooney, Daniel F.; Kelley, Timothy H.
Temporary water transfers are attractive to farmers because they provide revenue, but they also reduce water available for crop production and may affect economic risk. We compare the expected profitability, risk exposure, and water savings (i.e., conserved consumptive use) of irrigated cropping activities for temporary transfers in Colorado. Crop switching, modified harvesting, rotational fallow, and limited irrigation significantly affect gross margins, risk premiums, and consumptive use. Excluding risk from the economic analysis underestimates breakeven water transfer values by 4%Ð36%. Compensating farmers for risks they take and forgone returns from water they transfer will increase willingness to participate in temporary transfers.
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August, 2014

Corrigendum to “Adoption and Frequency of Precision Soil Testing in Cotton Production”

By: Lambert, Dayton M.; English, Burton; Harper, David; Larkin, Sherry L.; Laron, James; Mooney, Daniel F.; Roberts, Roland; Velandia, Margarita; Reeves, Jeanne
The authors regret that the above paper contained an error in the calculation of the survey expansion weights (Lambert et al., 2014, p. 110). Using the notation of the paper, the expansion factor for the lth stratum was introduced as wl =agbh=ngh, where g indexes states and h indexes farm size class. This is in fact the correct expression if Sinkhorn’s (1964) RAS method were used. However, Ireland and Kullback’s (1968) cross-entropy method was used to estimate the expansion factors, and division of variables a and b by the survey response frequency (ngh) is unnecessary. The typographical error has no bearing on the empirical analysis. References
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April, 2014

Adoption and Frequency of Precision Soil Testing in Cotton Production

By: Lambert, Dayton M.; English, Burton C.; Harper, David C.; Larkin, Sherry L.; Larson, James A.; Mooney, Daniel F.; Roberts, Roland K.; Velandia, Margarita; Reeves, Jeanne M.
A 2009 survey of cotton farmers in twelve states collected information about the use of georeferenced precision soil testing (PST). Adoption of PST technology and the interval until retesting were examined with a Poisson hurdle regression. Survey data were calibrated using a post-stratification weighting protocol. Farming experience, farm size, land ownership, variable rate fertilizer management plans, and the use of soil electrical conductivity devices were correlated the with period until PST adopters retested soil. Understanding how producers perceive the useful life of soil-test information may be important for monitoring the effectiveness of best nutrient management practice adoption.
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