In this paper, an indoor real-time location tracking system is proposed using ultra-high frequency passive radio frequency identification technology. A dynamic k nearest neighbor driven hidden Markov model is developed to track subsequent positions of moving objects by combining static localization with dynamic tracking. Statistically validated regression models are developed to relate the tags’ received signal strength indicator and distance, which are iteratively updated over time to accommodate environmental changes. These models are utilized to generate a fingerprint database, which is used by the dynamic k nearest neighbor to estimate the set of potential locations for targeted tagged objects. The probabilistic likelihoods of tags’ potential locations based on the current location and the received signal strength indicator(s) are used to construct the hidden Markov model’s transition and emission matrixes, respectively. Finally, the performance of the proposed framework is evaluated by a set of experiments given different factors, such as movement pattern and speed. Results reveal that our proposed framework can track objects with an average tracking error as low as 0.36m.

The depletion of freshwater supply is occurring at a faster rate than it is being replenished. The agriculture sector is the largest consumer of freshwater for irrigation and production-related processes. The use of reclaimed municipal water for the irrigation of crops offers a sustainable alternative solution for reducing the dependence of agriculture on freshwater. However, the long-term and continuous use of reclaimed water may contribute to soil salinity and sodicity limitations in agriculture production. The chemical and microbial properties of three different soil textures (all Alluvial soil with 60% clay: pH 8.6; 30% clay: pH 8.2; and 20% clay: pH 7.9) were evaluated in a vineyard irrigated using reclaimed water (126 mg/L Na⁺, 154 mg/L Cl⁻, 7.6 water pH, and 1.2 dS/m EC_w). The results indicate that the reclaimed irrigation water significantly (p < 0.05) increased the pH (by 0.4 to 18%), nitrate-N (over 100%), electrical conductivity (EC) (over 100%), and sodium absorption ratio (SAR) in these arid soils. A significant decline in microbial respiration (48 to 80%) was also documented in the three different soil textures that received reclaimed water. Although using reclaimed water for crop irrigation may be a substitute for using limited freshwater resources and offer a partial solution to increasing water security for wine grape production, the development of innovative technologies is needed for the long-term use of reclaimed water to counter its undesirable effects on soil quality.

US crop insurance is subsidized to encourage producers to participate and reduce their risk exposure. However, what has been the impact of these subsidies on insurance demand and crop acres planted? Using a simultaneous system of two equations, we quantify both insurance participation and acreage response to subsidized crop insurance for cotton-producing counties across the US at the national and regional levels. We also quantify the impact of both the realized rate of return and the expected subsidy per pound, plus the combined effects of expected yield and price while accounting for the adoption of Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) technology and other factors. Results show that both the rate of return and the expected subsidy per unit of production have a statistically significant and positive effect on the percentage of arable acres planted. Furthermore, the marginal effect of expected price on insurance participation is much more significant for low- than high-yield counties. Results indicate that not all regions respond the same to subsidized crop insurance and that subsidies should be based on dollars per expected unit of production rather than expected production to be less distorting. Overall, US cotton acreage response is estimated to be inelastic (0.58) to insurance participation.

Climate variabilities continue to hinder sustainable food production with an increasing need to use resources such as water and soil efficiently. The quest for these efficiencies in agriculture systems drives innovations among farmers. However, limited data on farm practices, such as irrigating with fishpond water and their effects on soil health, hinder their adoption as climate-smart innovations. In a nearly twenty-year-old vineyard with two distinct irrigation practices (irrigation with recycled fishpond water and irrigation with ditch water), this study was carried out as an exploratory study to investigate the influence of recycling fishpond water on soil health parameters and yield. Soil samples were taken from two different irrigation fields in summer and winter for lab analysis on soil health parameters (organic matter and carbon, nitrogen, phosphorus, microbial biomass, and microbial respiration). Averages over the two seasons of field measurements indicate that long-term irrigation using recycling fishpond water increased the measured soil health parameters (organic matter (13%), organic carbon (30%), nitrogen (17%), phosphorus (46%), microbial biomass (18%), and microbial respiration (56%)) in both summer and winter months when compared to fields receiving just ditchwater irrigation. Using water in a way that can improve soil health increases biodiversity and improves the efficiency of our limited water resources in semi-arid agricultural lands, and this strategy is a climate-smart tool that can help reduce water risks in dry agricultural regions such as Arizona.

Education grants often target audiences that have limited-resources relative to their peers, such as beginning farmers, who arguably have the most to gain from more education. Yet, charging even modest fees to these participants is discouraged, creating a challenge for funding entities that desire to have a dollar value for the education provided. To measure this value, we conducted an experiment using a willingness-to-accept (WTA) approach. Participants chose a minimum cash payout from seven different options to voluntarily leave a training session before receiving any instruction or educational materials. The design is constructed so that each option has an equal expected payout. Cash payouts were not advertised or known to any participants before the training. Results show that average WTA values are $277.44 per training (about 4 hours of instruction), which is 2.11 to 4.74 times more than participants’ self-reported willingness to pay (WTP), depending on how travel costs and time of participants are valued. WTP consistently and significantly explains much of the variation in WTA. In sharp contrast, detailed travel cost estimates in various forms were consistently insignificant for explaining WTA values. Beginning farmers and ranchers, our targeted limited-resource audience, reported WTA and WTP values that were $81.18 and $22.73 more per training, respectively, than those of non-beginning farmers.