The “Cost” of Doing Research
Part I - The University
(Continued from Pago Al)
ducted includes developing
better industrial products, dis
covering new information tech
nologies, creating new materials
for a variety of fabrication pur
poses, developing the next gen
eration of computers and
software, improving nanofabri
cation technologies, identifying
ways of improving food safety,
enhancing food production and
food production efficiency, de
veloping a greater understand
ing of human, plant and animal
diseases, conducting cutting
edge biomedical and biotechno
logical research to produce new
machines, and contribute to a
more modern national defense
system.
The research conducted not
only benefits society but also
provides many opportunities for
students to be involved in the
knowledge-generation process.
Learning how to conduct research
is a process that requires a lot of
hands-on experiences and
practice For students in Graduate
School, this invariably leads to
the publication of a M.S or Ph.D.
thesis that describes the results of
their research. Importantly, many
undergraduate students get
opportunities to learn about and
conduct research in classes as
well as in professors’ laboratories.
This provides a wonderful
opportunity while helping
students identify future career
possibilities Many
undergraduate students work in
research labs over the summer
and have the opportunity to
become more proficient at
conducting research.
World-class
universities make many
discoveries each year that are of
commercial value This is an
important return on the
investment in research One
example of this is a new start-up
company, EIEICO, that was just
created to commercialize new
technological discoveries made m
the Departments of Poultry
Science and Dairy and Animal
Science Application of
discovery research leads to the
creation of jobs and enhances
activity in
Pennsylvania
economic
To conduct world-class
research that makes life better
costs a lot Of the more than
$393,000,000 spent annually at
Penn State, more than
$200,000,000 comes from the
federal government and includes
grants, contracts, cooperative
agreements and agricultural
research opportunities. About
$55,000,000 was provided by the
Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
in the form of grants, contracts
and both agricultural and general
research appropriations. The
private sector support was
approximately $69,000,000 for
industry-sponsored research; the
University provides the
research remainder
I have given you a small
glimpse of research at Penn State
Because of the scope of research
ongoing at Penn State, 1 will
discuss research activities m the
College of Agricultural Sciences
and the Department of Dairy and
Animal Science and how they
benefit Pennsylvania and the
world in my next article
See
Lancaster
Farming
Cow Cam
Visit our Website
at www.
lancasterfarming.com
Lancaster Farming, Saturday, September 9, 2000-A35
(Continued from Pago A 34)
• It is possible to establish
LDP at harvest and store a por
tion of the crop unpriced. This
strategy is more risky since a
price decline after establishing
LDP results in a price below
loan rate. The lower the harvest
price, the less risk. This strategy
is attractive if the expected price
increase exceeds the cost of stor
age and exceeds the premium
for later delivery.
• For those facing payment
limitations, the use of the certifi
cate program might be consid
ered. Crops are harvested,
stored, and placed under loan.
This program is similar to
taking LDP, except gains are not
subject to payment limitations.
• If a produced wants to spec
ulate on a price increase above
the loan rate, they can harvest
and store the crop unpriced
without establishing LDP. This
is a longer-term strategy that
uses the loan rate as the price
floor, since the crop can be
placed under loan or LDPs es
tablished any time prior to May
• Finally, if storage space is
limited, producers may establish
LDP at harvest and price the
crop for immediate delivery.
This can result in a price near
the loan. Based on current basis
and spreads, this strategy is
more favorable to soybeans than
corn. Current spreads suggest
using storage for corn.
Re-ownership of beans with
futures or options could be con
sidered if prices are extremely
low.
Livestock/dairy producers
take note: Has a portion of ex
pected feed useagc been con
tracted? Typically, ieed costs are
near the top of the list as a pere
centage of input expenses. Even
though it hurts to miss the abso
lute bottom of the feed cost
curve, current grain prices are at
historic lows. Now, using 1978-
1999 “end of July” data, wheat
is 22 percent below the 22-year
average, oats are 29 percent
below the 22-year average, corn
is 20 percent below the 22-year
average, and soybeans are 31
percent below the 22-year av.