US Energy: An Interesting Decade
In 2006, when I started with MSU Extension, one of the hot economic issues was…
Author Joel Schumacher
Joel Schumacher
Joel Schumacher, an extension economics associate specialist in the Department of Agricultural Economics and Economics at Montana State University. Much of his research has focused on understanding the economics and public policy implications of small and community scale alternative energy projects. Joel also researches and provides extension training in retirement planning, saving and investing. Helping Montanans stay up to date on the ever changing laws and regulations affecting consumer issues is an interesting and challenging area.
CV-19 Is Changing Buying Habits
There is a limitless number of topics that we could explore the changes to as…
The Cobell Settlement: A $600 Million Land Purchase
Three years ago, I wrote a post about a $280 million dollar Agricultural Land Purchase…
What is the Role of Hutterite Communities in Montana Agriculture?
Recently, I had the opportunity to contribute to a study examining the economic contributions of…
Facts about Montana’s Individual Income Tax
Montana residents file a state tax return each year reporting various income sources, deductions and…
Changing Livestock Operation Sizes
In my last post, I took a first look at the 2017 Census of Ag…
Census of Agriculture: Information on Everything Agriculture
Once every five years the USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service conducts the Census of Agriculture. …
Who is Average?
A keynote speaker at a recent Risk Management Conference explored the question “What does the…
Thoughts from the Road
I recently spent a week in South Eastern Montana contributing to a series of two-day…
Growth Through Alcohol
Montana for better or worse has consumed alcohol, and thus supported businesses producing and selling…