In September 2016, the annual meeting of the International Union for Quaternary Research’s Loess and Pedostratigraphy Focus Group, traditionally referred to as a LoessFest, met in Eau Claire, Wisconsin, USA. The 2016 LoessFest focused on “thin” loess deposits and loess transportation surfaces. This LoessFest included 75 registered participants from 10 countries. Almost half of the participants were from outside the United States, and 18 of the participants were students. This review is the introduction to the special issue for Quaternary Research that originated from presentations and discussions at the 2016 LoessFest. This introduction highlights current understanding and ongoing work on loess in various regions of the world and provides brief summaries of some of the current approaches/strategies used to study loess deposits.

A Just-Pope model was developed to assess tillage, nitrogen, weather, and pest effects on risk for cotton grown after alternative winter cover crops. Yield risk for cotton after hairy vetch was less than for cotton with no winter cover when no nitrogen fertilizer was used to Supplement the vetch nitrogen. However, because cotton after vetch has a higher production cost, farmers growing conventionally tilled cotton may be slow to adopt because risk-return tradeoffs may be unacceptable under risk neutrality and risk aversion. For risk-averse farmers who have already adopted no tillage, cotton grown after hairy vetch is risk efficient.

Farmers are interested in knowing whether applying inputs at variable rates across a field is economically viable. The answer depends on the crop, the input, their prices, the cost of variable rate technology (VRT) versus uniform rate technology (URT), and the spatial and yield response variability within each field. Methods were investigated for determining the range of spatial variability over which the return to VRT covers its additional cost compared with URT in fields with multiple management zones. Models developed in this article, or variants thereof, could be used to help farmers make the VRT adoption decision.

Returns to land, management, and risk were compared where glyphosate and four graminicides (quizalofop-P, fluazifop-P, sethoxydim, and clethodim) were used for johnsongrass control in glyphosate-tolerant soybean. In 1994 and 1995, returns to land, management, and risk for glyphosate-tolerant soybean were highest using glyphosate and lowest using sethoxydim. Break-even analysis showed that yields needed for equivalent returns with any nontransgenic soybean cultivar treated with any of the graminicides could range from 67 kg/ha less to 202 kg/ha more than the yields achieved with glyphosate. Based on this methodology, farmers would increase their return to land, management, and risk by planting glyphosate-tolerant soybean if expected yield from a standard cultivar treated with a standard herbicide program were less than the break-even yield.

A decision criterion is presented for postemergence johnsongrass control in soybeans. Models derived from actual data describing the relationship between johnsongrass density (X) and soybean yield loss are used to develop the decision criterion for soybeans planted in 0.25- and 1-m row spacings. The yield loss equations are L1 = 424–424 exp (-0.023X2) for 0.25-m row spacing and L2 = 643-643 exp (−0.004X2) for 1-m row spacing. When combined with the cost of control (Px) and the expected price of soybeans (Py), these equations can be used to find the density thresholds where johnsongrass control becomes profitable. For the 0.25-m row spacing, this relationship was Px = Py [424–424 exp (−0.023X2) or more simply Px = Py L1, which equates the cost of control to the value of the soybean yield increase from control. The johnsongrass density (X) that satisfies this equality is the threshold (X*) above which control is profitable.

Forest carbon sequestration plays an important role in reducing the build-up of greenhouse gases that are known to contribute to global climate change. However, private landowners will supply less carbon sequestration than would be socially desirable if they are unable to capture the economic value of sequestration. We examine the viability of offering landowners property tax subsidies for forest carbon sequestration (referred to as a ‘tax-based subsidy approach’). Waiving property taxes on forestland provides incentives for landowners to afforest non-forested land and/or sustain forests that are at risk of deforestation. We focus on 17 Tennessee counties and one Kentucky county, constituting one of 179 Bureau of Economic Analysis areas in the United States, as a case study. Higher forestland net return from waiving property taxes increases the share of forestland in the 18 counties, which in turn increases the accumulation of carbon in the forest ecosystem, suggesting that this is a viable approach. The annualized county-level cost of supplying forest carbon sequestration using a tax-based subsidy ranges between US$15.56 and US$563.58 per carbon tonne across the 18 counties. Relevant government agencies can use these estimates to target selected counties for more cost-effective adoption of the county-level tax-based subsidy approach.

The objective of this research was to describe proportional differences across time and region in management practices among southern cotton farmers who experienced glyphosate-resistant (GR) weeds on their farms earlier than those who experienced them later and among farmers who were closest to one of four historical outbreak epicenters: Lauderdale County, TN; Macon County, GA; Edgecombe County, NC; and Terry County, TX. A mail survey was conducted with cotton farmers in 2012 from 13 southern, cotton-producing states. Survey responses on practices used by farmers were classified into three broad categories of labor, mechanical/tillage/chemical (MTC), and cultural. Proportions of respondents using practices from each category were identified by time and region; across which, proportional-difference tests were conducted. Results indicated respondents encountering GR weeds earlier were more likely than farmers who experienced them later to use the three broad-category practices (labor, 98 vs. 92%; MTC, 95 vs. 89%; and cultural, 86 vs. 76%) and specific practices, including hooded sprayers (76 vs. 58%), in-season herbicide change (83 vs. 60%), and field-border management (60 vs. 35%). Also, respondents closest to Lauderdale County were more likely than farmers closest to Edgecombe County to use broad-labor practices (99 vs. 91%) and specific practices, including hand hoeing (96 vs. 84%), hand spraying (49 vs. 31%), spot spraying (76 vs. 59%), wick applicator (13 vs. 11%), and field-border management (58 vs. 39%). Education programs on weed management can be developed and tailored according to the time and regional differences to provide effective information and communication channels to farmers.

Communities in most states are under pressure to reduce the amount of solid waste going into landfills. Many are making efforts to encourage their citizens to practice backyard composting. A logit regression analysis was conducted to identify factors associated with backyard composting of yard and food wastes in a case study area. Sample data were obtained through a September 1997 telephone survey of 865 households residing in single-family dwellings in Knox County, Tennessee. Findings indicate that a number of variables reflecting complementary behavior, attitudes, knowledge, and peer influence were significantly related to composting behavior. Policy implications of these findings are outlined.

Many studies on the adoption of precision technologies have generally used logit models to explain the adoption behavior of individuals. This study investigates factors affecting the intensity of precision agriculture technologies adopted by cotton farmers. Particular attention is given to the role of spatial yield variability on the number of precision farming technologies adopted, using a count data estimation procedure and farm-level data. Results indicate that farmers with more within-field yield variability adopted a higher number of precision agriculture technologies. Younger and better educated producers and the number of precision agriculture technologies used were significantly correlated. Finally, farmers using computers for management decisions also adopted a higher number of precision agriculture technologies.

Precision farming information demanded by cotton producers is provided by various suppliers, including consultants, farm input dealerships, University Extension systems, and media sources. Factors associated with the decisions to select among information sources to search for precision farming information are analyzed using a multivariate probit regression accounting for correlation among the different selection decisions. Factors influencing these decisions are age, education, and income. These findings should be valuable to precision farming information providers who may be able to better meet their target clientele needs.

Several studies have estimated plant nutrient demand functions for nitrogen, phosphate, and potash. All included own-price effects but excluded prices of jointly applied nutrients. In this study, nutrient demand functions, which include prices of all three nutrients, are estimated for Tennessee by seemingly unrelated regression. Results suggest that cross-price eflfects are important in determining plant nutrient demand, at least in the case of Tennessee, and that multicollinearity need not be a hindrance in all cases to including cross-price eflfects in plant nutrient demand models.

When obtaining nitrogen (N), phosphate (P) and potash (K), purchasing decisions concerning the quantity and the form of each plant nutrient must be made. Logit models are estimated for the choice-of-form decision by considering those variables influencing the probability that plant nutrients will be purchased in Tennessee as part of a mixed fertilizer or as direct application materials. Parameter and elasticity estimates can be used by fertilizer manufacturers and distributors to anticipate changes in the composition of demand for plant nutrients in Tennessee.

Interest has grown in analyzing the impact of national imports of foreign beef on state agricultural sectors. In this study, an interfaced Hawaiian-national model is simulated for a change in national beef imports. Hawaiian and national impacts demonstrate wide variation in both sign and magnitude. Usefulness of state models is emphasized for situations where state impacts of national policies are of interest.

Much of the solid waste stream in the United States is generated by metropolitan areas, while associated landfills are often located in adjacent rural communities. Landfill disposal of municipal solid waste often creates external costs to nearby residents. Contingent valuation was used to estimate external costs of siting a landfill in the Carter community of Knox County, Tennessee. Estimates of annual external costs were $227 per household. Household income, size, years in the community, and distance from the proposed landfill and the respondent's education, sex, and perception of health risks were important in determining a household's willingness to pay to avoid having a landfill in the Carter community. Also, households whose (drinking water supplies were at risk of contamination were willing to pay $141 more than those who used piped city water or bottled water.

This study identified the factors that influenced whether farmers in the Southeastern United States perceived an improvement in environmental quality from adopting precision farming technologies (PFTs). Farmers with larger farms or higher yields were more likely to believe that they observed positive externalities associated with PFTs. Farmers who found PFTs profitable or who believed input reduction was important had higher probabilities whereas those with higher incomes or who were more dependent on farm income were less likely to perceive such benefits. Interestingly, the importance of environmental quality and length of time using PFTs were not found to affect the probability of perceiving an improvement in environmental quality.