I’ve been writing A LOT lately. Yes I know not on my blog, but for school. Two of my classes required final term papers. I was a little rusty because I did zero… ziltch…squat…amount of writing last semester. So two papers due at the same time, was a stretch, but I got it done and now it’s time to share.
The first paper was for my International Trade & Ag Markets class. This was my first class ever on trade. We’d talked about it some in undergrad, but this class was devoted to it. Not only trade itself, but engulfed in theory…yeah! I know way more now than I need to. Trust me. When I think about trade markets now, I think of it all in calculus and numerical matrices. You can click on the title to read it if interested. Beef trade between the U.S. and Japan I put the most time on this paper as I had to narrow down the many intricate policies and ins & outs of Japanese bans on U.S. Beef. Here is a picture of Wagyu (also known as Kobe) beef produced in Japan. It has a lot of marbling and is supposed to be the “most tender” beef in the world. The prices shows for it at least, but I have not had the opportunity to try it…Mom and Dad did while in Japan two summers ago. So jealous!
The second paper was an accumulation of a project in which I collected data for last year, and a little bit of SAS modeling that I have learned, for my Ag Marketing class. I went to numerous grocery stores in CO, KS and NE and hand collected data on ribeye and strip steaks. Using this data collected (choice vs. select, tenderness label, natural label, unit per package, net weight, total price and unit price per pound, and the income areas the stores were located in) I ran a multiple regression model (first in Excel, then in SAS to make sure I wrote the right code!). I came up with some interesting findings, although it came down to wishing I had collected more data…but that wasn’t possible with only having a week to collect data in three states! Here’s the paper for reading and discussion: Factors influencing beef prices in different income areas.
There is more writing coming from me this summer…thesis time!
More beef of course!
I wrote a survey for cow-calf producers and actually sent it to the printers today to get printed so I can send it out. When I get back the data, I will match it with the economical data already gathered and compare risk preferences from these producers. I will have all of my data in less than a month…I can’t wait to play with it! My grad school friends that are in the same boat as me have just recently gotten data and have been “playing” with it instead of studying…again, I’m so jealous! I’m such a numbers nerd. :)
