Physical Characteristics of Farm Equipment Crash Locations on Public Roads in Tennessee.

Safety of farm equipment on public roadways has been the topic of much research for several years. With more farm equipment traveling on roadways, it will continue to be an important topic. The objective of this research project was to locate areas with high crash rates involving farm equipment (excluding other slow-moving vehicles) and to identify similarities, if any, among those locations. Data collected from public crash report records obtained from the Tennessee Highway Patrol were entered into a geographic information system (GIS) database, so locations with high crash rates could be identified. Physical data, including number of lanes, presence and width of shoulders, presence of farm equipment warning signs, and other roadway information, were gathered for each location. Information contained within the public accident records was also considered, including time of day, weather conditions, and severity of the accident. This research revealed that most collisions involving farm equipment in Tennessee occur during the months of May, June, and October. More crashes occur on Mondays than other days of the week, with Sundays.having the fewest reported crashes. Typically, most collisions occur between 14:00 and 16:00 and when the weather is clear. Of 16 accident sites at locations with high crash frequencies in northwest Tennessee, 88% had grass shoulders that were 1.8 m wide or less. No sites had farm equipment warning signs posted, and 81% had no posted speed limits. Farm equipment collisions could be reduced through better driver education, proper sign posting, and wider shoulders.

Determinants of dairy farmers' participation in the Milk Income Loss Contract program.

The Milk Income Loss Contract (MILC) program is a counter-cyclical income support program that was designed to provide price support to dairy farmers. Since inception of MILC, it has been argued that the program is inefficient and rewards inefficiency by keeping high-cost, small dairy farms in business. Using farm-level data and the probit estimation method, we investigated the factors that affect a farmer's decision to participate in the MILC program. Participation in the MILC program was positively correlated with the farmer's educational attainment, participation in the organic certification cost share subsidy program, off-farm work by spouses, and financial recordkeeping. Consistent with theory, participation in the MILC program is negatively correlated with the price of milk. Finally, contrary to the established narrative of large dairy producers, medium-sized dairy farms are more likely than large farms to participate in the MILC program.