Three graduate students named Farm Foundation Agricultural Scholars
Three K-State Agricultural Economics graduate students were named Agricultural Scholars by the Farm Foundation, an accelerator of practical solutions for agriculture. Nominated by their college dean or department head, up to 15 applied or agricultural economics students are selected for this exclusive program, with at least five to be chosen from 1890 land-grant institutions. Micah Cameron-Harp, Ph.D. graduate; Ashling Murphy, master’s degree graduate; and Amber Oerly, master’s degree graduate, were selected for the 2022 program.
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| Micah Cameron-Harp | Ashling Murphy | Amber Oerly |
The Ag Scholars program seeks to actively engage graduate students working in agricultural economics or related agricultural policy work with a year-long series of learning experiences, focused on gaining a deeper understanding of production agriculture, agribusiness, and government, in hopes of inspiring and training the next generation of agricultural economists interested agricultural policy, commodity market analysis, agricultural finance, and other applied fields of economics. This annual program is sponsored in partnership with the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Economic Research Service (ERS).
“The Agricultural Scholars Fellowship Program with the Farm Foundation has provided me with a unique and inspiring experience. Not only has the program allowed me to do professional networking with industry leaders and peers in other graduate school across the country, it has also allowed me to further develop my technical skills in agricultural economics through engagement with USDA ERS economists and staff,” Oerly said. “The program is intentionally focused on preparing future agricultural economists, and I am so grateful for the opportunity to be involved in with their group!”
Events and projects conducted throughout the year include a mentorship with an ERS senior analyst, a research project and ag-focused forums and meetings, such as a World Agricultural Supply and Demand Estimates (WASDE) “lock-up” session and Farm Foundation Round Table meetings. Scholars also meet with and learn from senior executives with agribusinesses and local trade associations.
“One week before the Farm Foundation’s June Round Table meeting, I was in Florida for the Association of Environmental and Resource Economists’ (AERE) annual meeting. Looking back, I think those two weeks at AERE and the Round Table are a perfect example of the incredible opportunities afforded by the Farm Foundation’s Agricultural Scholars program. The Farm Foundation continually supports the academic efforts and research pursuits of the Scholars, while also giving us opportunities to network with stakeholders throughout the agricultural sector,” Cameron-Harp said.
When Cameron-Harp was notified the paper he submitted was selected for the summer AERE summer conference, the Farm Foundation sponsored his trip to Miami so he could present the paper. From that experience he gained more than a trip; he was able to present his paper and receive feedback.
“The paper I presented there is co-authored with my thesis advisor, Dr. Nathan Hendricks, and it’s titled: ‘Dynamic effects of irrigation technology: When increasing irrigation efficiency reduces groundwater use.’ In our paper, we investigate whether improvements in irrigation efficiency reduced irrigators’ groundwater withdrawals in Kansas, and we find markedly different changes in groundwater use over time depending on the type of technology adopted,” he said.
“As our paper was part of a session on water resources, the feedback and discussion we had afterwards was fantastic. To then have water be one of the main topics at the Round Table meeting just one week later was too good to be true,” Cameron-Harp said. “At the Round Table meeting, I had the chance to discuss the very same results with producers and providers of irrigation technology. As I saw the challenges they face in maintaining, installing, and operating irrigation systems, it helped me contextualize my research and understand my results in new ways.”
