AEAB Department Receives High Honors and Demonstrates Strong Presence at SAEA Annual Meeting

Faculty and graduate students from the Department of Agricultural Economics and Agribusiness made a strong impact at the Southern Agricultural Economics Association Annual Meeting, held Feb. 1-4 in Louisville, Kentucky. Department representatives contributed an extensive slate of presentations spanning risk management, production economics, policy analysis and agricultural markets, while two faculty members received top association honors. 

"It is a privilege to serve as the department head of a faculty as productive as AEAB," said Lawton Lanier Nalley, head of the Department of Agricultural Economics and Agribusiness. "Their research is not only innovative but also serves the needs of Arkansans. Equally as impressive is the integration of AEAB graduate students in this research and its dissemination." 

Rainey Receives Lifetime Achievement Award 

Ron Rainey, an assistant vice president for the U of A System Division of Agriculture, director of the Southern Risk Management Education Center and professor of agricultural economics, received the SAEA Lifetime Achievement Award during the annual meeting. The award recognizes his three-decade career and national reputation for coalition building in agricultural risk management education. 

Rainey joined the Division of Agriculture in 1993 as an assistant extension specialist in economics. Over the course of his career, he has focused on marketing strategies and value-added approaches to enhance financial outcomes for farmers and ranchers. Under his leadership, the Southern Risk Management Education Center has become a national leader in extension risk management education, serving 13 states across the southeastern United States. 

A native of the Center community in Conway County, Rainey earned his bachelor's and master's degrees in agricultural economics and a Ph.D. in economics from the U of A. 

Ala-Kokko Earns Outstanding Dissertation Award 

Assistant professor Kristiina Ala-Kokko received the SAEA Outstanding Dissertation Award for her doctoral research, "Cultivar Innovation: Impacts on Adoption and Potential for Adaptation," completed at Kansas State University. The award recognizes the scholarly impact of her research and its contributions to the agricultural field, particularly in understanding how cultivar innovation influences producer adoption decisions and long-term adaptation potential. Ala-Kokko, who joined the Department of Agricultural Economics and Agribusiness in 2025, also served as a session chair during the meeting. 

Presentations by AEAB Faculty and Students 

Department faculty and graduate students presented the following research during paper, poster and oral presentations: 

• "A Retained Ownership Decision Methodology for Fed Cattle Owners" — Will Simmons, Kalyn Coatney, Curt Lacy, Xaiofei Li, Qian Zhou and Daniel Rivera. 

• "Are Sticky Prices Present in U.S. Ag Land Lease Rates?" — John Tyler Blazzard, Andrew Anderson and Lawson Connor. 

• "Assessing Quality and Price Trends in Southeastern Cattle Sales" — Charles Martinez, James Mitchell and Chris Boyer. 

• "Broken Incentives Result in Broken Kernels: Rethinking Rice Pricing Policy for Quality Improvement" — Charlotte Brockman, Lawton Nalley and Alvaro Durand-Morat. 

• "Climate Change and Its Impact on the Global Rice Market" — Taskin Afrina. 

• "Consumer Preferences for Hemp-Based Bioplastics in Food Packaging: Evidence from a U.S. Consumer Survey" — Luke Wimpy, Brandon McFadden, Ellen Goddard, Jane Kolodinsky and Tyler Mark. 

• "Crop Insurance for Organic Rice: Addressing Risk and Competitiveness" — Joohun Han, Alvaro Durand-Morat, Hunter Biram and Kenton Watkins. 

• "Do Reference Prices Signal Producers' Short Hedges in Futures Markets?" — Yao Yang, Andrew McKenzie and Andrew Anderson. 

• "Effects of Producer Management Practices on Rice Milling Quality and Milling Adjusted Rough Rice Prices" — K. Bradley Watkins, Jarrod Hardke and Ralph Mazzanti. 

• "Effects of Warming on Cool-Season Pulse Varieties in North America" — Kristiina Ala-Kokko and Jesse Tack. 

• "Evaluating Heterogeneous Producer Responses to Livestock Risk Protection Insurance Subsidy Reforms" — Xiaoyi Fang and Yao Yang. 

• "Exploring Food Channel Expenditures in the Context of Food Values and Regional Differences" — Courtney Cooper, Lawton Lanier Nalley and Dawn Thilmany. 

• "Factors Associated with Farm Service Agency Direct Farm Ownership Loan Delinquency" — Bruce Ahrendsen, Mohammad Hossain, Ryan Loy, Lawson Connor and Gianna Short. 

• "Feasibility of Floating Photovoltaics in Arkansas Irrigation Reservoirs" — Travis Wagher, Michael Popp, Christopher Henry, Yi Liang and Alvaro Durand-Morat. 

• "Heterogeneous Impacts of the New World Screwworm-Induced U.S.-Mexico Border Closure on U.S. Basis Cattle Prices Across Space and Time" — Mackenzie Gill, Jada Thompson and James Mitchell. 

• "Intraday Cotton Futures Price Responses to World Agricultural Supply and Demand Estimates (WASDE) News" — Owen Tyrone, Andrew Anderson and Andrew McKenzie. 

• "Livestock Outlook" — David Anderson, Kenny Burdine, Dennis Brothers, Andrew Griffith, Tyler Cozzens and James Mitchell. 

• "Mapping Opportunity: Geospatial Analysis of Agricultural Workers' Preferences for Credential Delivery Modes" — Kathryn Goodrich and Nathan Kemper. 

• "Recalibrating Rainfall Indexing: Evaluating PRF Insurance Performance Across Regional and Temporal Variability" — Walker Davis, Amy Hagerman, Lawson Connor and Hunter Biram. 

• "Remote Sensing for Policy: Identifying Voluntary Cover Crop Adoption in the Mississippi Alluvial Region" — Zobaer Ahmed, Lawson Connor, Aaron Shew, Michael Popp, Kristofor Brye, Steven Green and Lawton Nalley. 

• "Stochastic Analysis of Weed Management Strategies in Small-Scale Tomato Production" — Dang Huy Hoang Tran, Michael Popp and Matthew Bertucci. 

• "Subsidy Elasticities in the U.S. Livestock Risk Protection Program" — Xiaoyi Fang, Eunchun Park and Christopher Boyer. 

• "The Economic Impacts of Public Rice Breeding Programs in Arkansas" — Nathan Kemper. 

• "The Gravity of the Ukraine War: Measuring Conflict Impacts on European Grain Trade" — Stefan Bonchis and Jada Thompson. 

• "The Impact of Renewable Fuel Standard Policy on Livestock Feed Hedging Strategies" — Kylie Miller, Yao Yang and Andrew McKenzie. 

• "Trade Agreements as Resilience Mechanisms: Ukrainian Agricultural Exports During Conflict (2012-2022)" — Jason Holderieath and Jada Thompson. 

• "When the River Runs Low: Heterogeneous Impacts of Transportation Disruptions on Local Grain Basis" — Yuan Zhang, Andrew Anderson, Nicholas Pates and Eunchun Park. 

• "Wired for Growth: Broadband Utilization and Rural Economic Development in Arkansas" — Chet Hudgens and Nathan Kemper. 

• "Worker Preferences for Agricultural Training Credentials: Evidence From a Discrete Choice Experiment" — Nathan Kemper, Shijun Gao, Ryan Loy, Hunter Goodman, Ron Rainey, Andrew McKenzie and Kathryn Goodrich. 

The department's strong presence at this year's meeting highlights its continued leadership in advancing research, extension and teaching across agricultural economics and agribusiness. 

About the Dale Bumpers College of Agricultural, Food and Life Sciences: Bumpers College provides life-changing opportunities to position and prepare graduates who will be leaders in the businesses associated with foods, family, the environment, agriculture, sustainability and human quality of life; and who will be first-choice candidates of employers looking for leaders, innovators, policy makers and entrepreneurs. The college is named for Dale Bumpers, former Arkansas governor and longtime U.S. senator who made the state prominent in national and international agriculture. For more information about Bumpers College, visit our website, and follow us on Twitter at @BumpersCollege and Instagram at BumpersCollege. 

About the Division of Agriculture 

The University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture's mission is to strengthen agriculture, communities, and families by connecting trusted research to the adoption of best practices. Through the Agricultural Experiment Station and the Cooperative Extension Service, the Division of Agriculture conducts research and extension work within the nation's historic land grant education system. The Division of Agriculture is one of 20 entities within the University of Arkansas System. It has offices in all 75 counties in Arkansas and faculty on three campuses. Pursuant to 7 CFR § 15.3, the University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture offers all its Extension and Research programs and services (including employment) without regard to race, color, sex, national origin, religion, age, disability, marital or veteran status, genetic information, sexual preference, pregnancy or any other legally protected status, and is an equal opportunity institution.