Sign in

Jared Hutchins

@pablohutch.bsky.social
6K followers 1K following 316 posts

Assistant professor in Agricultural Economics at University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign Research interests: agriculture/livestock/productivity/institutions/economic history/data viz

PostsRepliesMedia
Jared Hutchins @pablohutch.bsky.social · 31/03/2026
Not to be too nitpicky here, but given the hours they work and the profit margins, most dairy farmers almost certainly do this work for an effective wage less than that amount. I think most farmers are quite aware how little money there is to be made in farming.
000
Jared Hutchins @pablohutch.bsky.social · 31/03/2026
Ah no sorry for the scare quotes. Was just meaning to link it what you are saying. it is physically demanding, but worse is LONG hours (and early hours, milking starts at 5). I think whats also bad about the way they are employed now is that US ag doesn’t have upward mobility (promotion to manage)
010
Jared Hutchins @pablohutch.bsky.social · 31/03/2026
I was more just pointing out that, thankfully, the people employed in this story weren't being grossly mistreated. Personally, I have worked on a dairy farm for that wage, plus done the "backbreaking labor" required. I would be happy for someone to be paid more than that!
100
Jared Hutchins @pablohutch.bsky.social · 30/03/2026
The reason why we only let immigrant workers in for a temporary time is a bigger question. I assign my students to read a chapter from this book, "Sweet Tyranny," which discusses its origins. It seems mostly to be a compromise between the eugenics-loving progressives and farms that needed labor.
Cover of the book "Sweet Tyranny" by Kathleen Mapes
023
Jared Hutchins @pablohutch.bsky.social · 30/03/2026
In the article I think it tries to explain it here but doesn't do the best job. There really is no legal way to hire year-round agricultural labor, as the only legal pathway is the H2A program (which doesn't allow year round work). This is basically the "fix" most ag wants: a legal way to hire.
The dairy industry is one of the most dependent on undocumented workers, according to David Bier, an immigration expert at the Cato Institute. Visas are available for farm work, but only if it is seasonal. Rank-and-file dairy workers do not qualify because of the year-round demands, despite the industry’s efforts to get them included.
110
Jared Hutchins @pablohutch.bsky.social · 30/03/2026
Not to imply that ag workers aren't mistreated, but this article does not indicate the workers were underpaid for their work. $14-$20/hour is typical for ag work, and far above the minimum wage for Wisconsin.
Workers can make in an hour what they made in an day in Mexico. The O’Harrows pay between $14 and $20 an hour. The minimum wage in Mexico is about $17 a day.
300
Reposted by Jared Hutchins
Ash vs the Evil Dead @ashflanagan.bsky.social · 30/03/2026
IMO one of the most useful ways to think about LLM use-cases is "Would someone in Star Trek use the ship's computer to do this? If they did, would the episode be about how that's a lame thing to do?"
718940
Jared Hutchins @pablohutch.bsky.social · 26/03/2026
also the beautiful train is almost completely empty.
Photo from the train which is empty
000
Jared Hutchins @pablohutch.bsky.social · 26/03/2026
Shout out to TexRail. I’m in Fort Worth for a conference and I almost took a 60 dollar Uber to sit in DFW traffic, instead of this lovely train that picks up in the airport and goes downtown for 2 DOLLARS.
Picture of my TexRail ticket (2 DOLLARS) out the window from my seat (which has a table)
10130
Jared Hutchins @pablohutch.bsky.social · 26/03/2026
This visual always stuck with me
media.tenor.com
a man riding a horse in a field in front of a huge balloon
Alt: a man riding a horse in a field in front of a huge balloon
070
Jared Hutchins @pablohutch.bsky.social · 23/03/2026
Ha, what a fun job! I get the sense that most of their default beliefs are "farmers are doing important work and they should be protected" and don't examine the nuances beyond that. I expect this is the case for many people in the US.
000
Jared Hutchins @pablohutch.bsky.social · 23/03/2026
What I find most surprising is that this does not really depend on ag background. I see the suburban kids from Chicagoland area be just as ardent in their support for protecting ag interests as the ones from farming backgrounds.
100
Jared Hutchins @pablohutch.bsky.social · 23/03/2026
Very few of them brought up the cost of food, which I thought was very interesting.
120
Jared Hutchins @pablohutch.bsky.social · 23/03/2026
At least with my undergrads, I find that a portion of them are not swayed even when they see the evidence. For those, it seems that work requirements is a moral position.
020
Jared Hutchins @pablohutch.bsky.social · 23/03/2026
The students also didn't seem to appreciate that farmers would almost certainly still stay in business. The government support programs would make sure of that.
130
Jared Hutchins @pablohutch.bsky.social · 23/03/2026
One of their other worries is the impact on the biofuel industry, which employs a lot people here in Illinois. My guess is also that there's probably a difficulty imagining a Midwest that does not grow this much corn.
290
Jared Hutchins @pablohutch.bsky.social · 23/03/2026
Note that I frame this by citing Lark et al (2022), which I mention in lecture as a study showing negative environmental effects of RFS. In their own readings of more evidence, they mostly don't contest this. They also bring up that they want to protect biofuels in general, including cellulosic.
150
Jared Hutchins @pablohutch.bsky.social · 23/03/2026
@mikegrunwald.bsky.social you have your work cut out for you.
000
Jared Hutchins @pablohutch.bsky.social · 23/03/2026
Another note on something students mostly wont condemn: the Renewable Fuel Standard. Just graded their midterms where they were asked to evaluate the effect of taking away RFS, and most of the answers were "yes this hurts the environment, but it helps farmers and gas prices so it should stay."
5344
Reposted by Jared Hutchins
Chloe N East (she/her) @chloeneast.bsky.social · 23/03/2026
Agree. I’ve had proponents of work requirements deliberately misinterpret my work to support their claims. It’s not from lack of evidence or knowledge about evidence, it’s twisting evidence in favor of policies they want to support anyway. donmoynihan.substack.com/p/what-aei-g...
donmoynihan.substack.com
What AEI Gets Wrong about SNAP Work Requirements
They cited my research, so let me respond!
3147
Jared Hutchins @pablohutch.bsky.social · 23/03/2026
I think this is particular disheartening to see among students who will eventually be the next generation of voters and policymakers.
060
Jared Hutchins @pablohutch.bsky.social · 23/03/2026
... They end up saying something like "I know this doesn't increase employment, but people should still have to work to get SNAP." In other words, it is a MORAL argument they are making, not an economic one. They don't care if it fails its purpose, because it enforces a moral objective.
2311
Jared Hutchins @pablohutch.bsky.social · 23/03/2026
I teach an undergraduate course on agricultural and food policy. In recent years, their assignment has been assessing the impacts of work requirements on employment. What is a bsolutely fascinating: a certain portion STILL support work requirements, even when they see research like this. Why? ...
4325
Jared Hutchins @pablohutch.bsky.social · 17/03/2026
I’m pretty uninformed here, but isnt the massive training data what makes Claude and ChatGPT so useful? taking away that corpus and running it locally, how would it ever compete?
000
Jared Hutchins @pablohutch.bsky.social · 17/03/2026
So im not sure I completely understand, as I thought the whole deal was that these models are good because of their massive training data. How are they going to be as good as the mainstream products being only a local install without this massive corpus?
100
Jared Hutchins @pablohutch.bsky.social · 16/03/2026
* generally right. I suppose and LLM would have caught that if I had been using one :p
030
Jared Hutchins @pablohutch.bsky.social · 16/03/2026
Again, not trying to be too abrasive to @paulgp.com, as I think he is generally write that the tech is useful. I'm just not convinced it's net positive just yet.
220
Jared Hutchins @pablohutch.bsky.social · 16/03/2026
Note that this is not theoretical. We already have work showing us that this is the case: www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
sciencedirect.com
Learners' AI dependence and critical thinking: The psychological mechanism of fatigue and the social buffering role of AI literacy
With the growing integration of artificial intelligence (AI) in education, understanding its cognitive implications has become increasingly important.…
143
Jared Hutchins @pablohutch.bsky.social · 16/03/2026
4) Offloading writing is NOT automatically a net positive. I see this with my students constantly. The "banging your head against the wall" process is essential to connecting concepts. Bypassing it with LLMs cheats everyone of this essential learning process.
forbes.com
How Cognitive Offloading to AI Is Weakening Our Critical Thinking
Explore how generative AI is reshaping our thinking, increasing cognitive offloading, and eroding critical judgment—and what leaders must do to stay mentally sharp.
1103
Jared Hutchins @pablohutch.bsky.social · 16/03/2026
3) on the point of using it to do reviews: is this really going to align with journal's privacy positions? Did I, as a reviewer, sign up to have my words used as training data for Anthropic or OpenAI? Given, I think the tech is useful for this kind of task, but the frameworks have not caught up.
261
Jared Hutchins @pablohutch.bsky.social · 16/03/2026
The no AI team collaborated on the task, and could explain their logic. Downside, of course, was they could not produce as much code as the AI teams (the main disadvantage). I would guess there's going to be clear examples of where LLMs actually IMPEDE the creative, ideation process, not help it.
160
Jared Hutchins @pablohutch.bsky.social · 16/03/2026
2) The effect of LLMs on the "ideation" stage is not clearly net positive to me. As an experiment, I had my class code in three teams to solve a problem: 2 could use AI, 1 could not. The difference? BOTH AI teams had the same solution that they could not explain and did not collab AT ALL
292
Jared Hutchins @pablohutch.bsky.social · 16/03/2026
Respectfully disagree with some of the points here. I think LLMs are going to be in research, but they have some real downsides (currently). 1) Data privacy is a real impediment. I simply cannot feed an LLM proprietary data to ask for help, would def breach many data sharing agreements.
4154
Jared Hutchins @pablohutch.bsky.social · 12/03/2026
This is a very significant increase in support.
From the report, shows that the loan rate for the sugar program increased about 20%
000
Jared Hutchins @pablohutch.bsky.social · 12/03/2026
Fun fact: we still HEAVILY protect the sugar industry through 1) non-recourse loans white set a price floor and 2) the most generous tariff protection of all the agricultural commodities. I didn't know about OBBBA, here is a source: sweetenerusers.org/wp-content/u...
sweetenerusers.org
152
Reposted by Jared Hutchins
Nicolas Mouquet @nmouquet.bsky.social · 09/03/2026
‪ 🌳 Do you want to contribute to research on how humans perceive forests? Take this quick, anonymous 10-min survey 🌲 👉 www.biodiful.org#/forest This will help us explore how people experience forest biodiversity! Please share on 🦋 & tag @biodiful.bsky.social to reach more participants 🙏💚 🌐🌍🦤🦑🪴🍁🧪
40552633
Jared Hutchins @pablohutch.bsky.social · 11/03/2026
To summarize the summary of the summary: people are a problem
091
Reposted by Jared Hutchins
Robert Hutton @roberthutton.co.uk · 03/03/2026
Oh now I get it. Dubai is Golgafrinchan Ark B.
1971804409
Reposted by Jared Hutchins
Ryan Cordell @ryancordell.org · 23/02/2026
Hey, look at that—you can embed Bandcamp songs right in Bluesky now I’ll try not to be too annoying about that but hey, listen to our song "Dive"!!
theanxiousbench.bandcamp.com
Dive, by The Anxious Bench
from the album Exhalation EP
062
Jared Hutchins @pablohutch.bsky.social · 16/02/2026
media.tenor.com
a philips voice recorder says you are bugs on the screen
Alt: a philips voice recorder says "you are bugs" on the screen. This is from the Netflix show "3 Body Problem" based on the book series by Cixin Liu
010
Jared Hutchins @pablohutch.bsky.social · 02/02/2026
I don't know how they must have goosed the verified reviews but the "all audience" reviews are full of bad reviews. www.rottentomatoes.com/m/melania/re...
rottentomatoes.com
Melania | Audience Reviews
See what audiences are saying about Melania. Read user reviews, reactions, and ratings on Rotten Tomatoes. Join the conversation today.
100
Jared Hutchins @pablohutch.bsky.social · 02/02/2026
Totally real, 5 star reviews reflecting the totally full theater which was also diverse!
5 star audience review of "Melania":

I attended a screening of "Melania" and it proved to be a surprisingly nuanced portrayal of Melania Trump. The theater was about two-thirds full, with a diverse audience, reflecting a widespread curiosity about her story. What struck me most about the film was its emphasis on her personal life rather than the typical political discourse. Each frame felt deliberate and artfully crafted, making the film not only a visual treat but also an engaging experience that complemented the exploration of her journey. Overall, I felt the film is a worthwhile viewing experience for those seeking to understand her life beyond the headlines.
170
Reposted by Jared Hutchins
G Elliott Morris @gelliottmorris.com · 22/01/2026
Today I am publishing what I believe to be the most detailed available map of Trump's job approval rating. Powered by over 12,000 interviews for our Strength In Numbers/Verasight poll. I hope this generates many stories, and hours wasted exploring data! www.gelliottmorris.com/p/a-very-det...
gelliottmorris.com
A very detailed map of Trump's job approval
Explore our new interactive map of Trump's job approval, powered by 12,000 survey interviews conducted in 2025 and 2026
37608192
Reposted by Jared Hutchins
Olúfẹ́mi O. Táíwò @olufemiotaiwo.bsky.social · 22/01/2026
my Blackest opinion is that the presumption of conflict between "America has a long and deeply rooted history of violence" and "we can and should fight against today's version of that, as did those who came before us" is less a philosophical debate about how to treat the past and more a skill issue
584794774
Reposted by Jared Hutchins
Marisa Kabas @marisakabas.bsky.social · 19/01/2026
ICE ended up returning the man, Saly, after realizing he’s a fucking US citizen with no criminal record, per his sister-in-law. These fucking animals.
400180408079
Reposted by Jared Hutchins
Ben Paulos @paulosanalysis.com · 15/01/2026
"Made in China" has been synonymous with "cheap crap." But that's changing, especially in solar, batteries and consumer electronics, where they lead the world. This report from a trade show found Chinese companies were "light-years ahead" of US companies. www.pcmag.com/opinions/chi...
pcmag.com
I Came to CES to Check Out Energy and Solar Power Innovations and Found That China Is Running Laps Around Us
In Las Vegas, I saw a tale of two nations’ energy priorities. The US needs to get its act together.
032
Jared Hutchins @pablohutch.bsky.social · 15/01/2026
This was always the goal. Source: www.reuters.com/world/us/fiv...
MANAGING MIDTERM EXPECTATIONS
The president expressed frustration that his Republican Party could lose control of the U.S. House of Representatives or the Senate in this year’s midterm elections, citing historical trends that have seen the party in power lose seats in the second year of a presidency.
“It's some deep psychological thing, but when you win the presidency, you don't win the midterms,” Trump said. He boasted that he had accomplished so much that “when you think of it, we shouldn't even have an election.”
030
Jared Hutchins @pablohutch.bsky.social · 07/01/2026
Yet more ad-hoc payments revealing that crops like cotton get generous payments... despite being not impacted by any of the trade disruptions. Plug for my colleague's work on this topic, who found that cotton and sorghum also got generous payouts in MFP: onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10....
onlinelibrary.wiley.com
010
Jared Hutchins @pablohutch.bsky.social · 07/01/2026
Silicon Valley rediscovers phrenology
0130
Jared Hutchins @pablohutch.bsky.social · 07/01/2026
The veer into eugenics was the least surprising part of this article.
1563