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Olga Isengildina Massa

John B. and Kristi L. Rowsell Professor, Undergraduate Director, and lead advisor for Commodity Investing by Students (COINS)
Isengildina-Massa
303-A Hutcheson Hall
250 Drillfield Drive
Blacksburg, VA
24061
oimassa@vt.edu
540-231-0891
Click here to view Google Scholar

Dr. Massa’s research program examines commodity market price dynamics, evaluates forecasting performance of USDA and private firms, develops innovative forecasting approaches, and proposes effective price risk management strategies in order to increase profitability and income stability for agribusiness firms. She is a recognized leader in her field, serving as a co-editor of a Journal of Agricultural and Applied Economics and co-chairing a NCCC-134 committee on applied commodity price analysis, forecasting and market risk management. 

She uses innovative teaching methods in her classes and though the experimental learning program Commodity Investing by Students (COINS), which enables students to gain hands-on experience in trading and investing in commodity markets.  She engages her students in research projects that generate valuable commodity marketing information for Virginia agribusiness.

Expertise:

Expertise: Agribusiness; commodity market price dynamics; forecasting performance and forecasting approaches; and price risk management strategies

Education

  • Ph.D., Mississippi State University, Agricultural Economics, Finance minor, 2000
  • M.S., Mississippi State University, Agricultural Economics, 1996
  • B.A., Tashkent State University, English Philology, 1993

Reports:

What Do We Know About the Accuracy and Impact of USDA Reports in the Corn Market?
https://aaec.vt.edu/USDAreports.html

Current research projects include:

  1. Collins, W., O. Isengildina Massa, and K. Boys. ‘Incorporating Uncertainty into USDA Farm Income Forecasts.”
  2. Adkins, H., O. Isengildina Massa, S. Stewart. “The Impact of USDA Reports on U.S. Dairy Market Volatility.”
  3. McWilliams, W., Stewart, S. and O. Isengildina Massa. “Annual Food Price Inflation Forecasting: An Auto-Regressive Random Forest Approach.”
  4. Karali, B., O. Isengildina Massa and S. Irwin. “Do Markets Correct for Cognitive Biases in Industry Expectations of USDA Reports?”
  5. Allen Quaye, L. S. Stewart, O. Isengildina Massa. “An Analysis of Corn Basis Volatility Along the Mississippi.”
  6. Isengildina Massa, O., B. Karali, and S. Irwin. “How Accurate are USDA’s South American Corn and Soybean Production Forecasts?”

Class of 2023 student, B.S. in Agribusiness Management 

"I wanted to express how much your AgYield project has helped me through my internship interview process. I recently applied for a trainee commodity trader internship for Louis Dreyfus.

I was hesitant for my first interviews as I have never had "real-life experience." I had both my first behavioral and technical interviews recently and wanted to let you know that without the experience the AgYield simulator gave me I would not have been confident in my responses. When I explained the project to them they let me know that many trainees they hire actually have no experience, and they were very interested in learning about the simulator. I wanted to let you know how much this has helped me and piqued my interest in the field!"

Courses taught at Virginia Tech

  • AAEC 4434 Commodity Investing by Students
  • AAEC 4504/5504 Commodity Price Analysis
  • AAEC 3514 Agricultural Futures and Options
  • AAEC 4424 Agricultural Financial Management

Courses taught elsewhere

  • Managerial Economics
  • Economics for Managers
  • Principles of Microeconomics
  • Commodity Price Analysis
  • Financial Economics
  • Commodity Futures
  • Futures and Options Markets

Experience

  • Professor in the Department of Agricultural and Applied Economics, Virginia Tech, 2021 - present
  • Associate Professor in the Department of Agricultural and Applied Economics, Virginia Tech, 2015 - 2021
  • Adjunct Associate Professor in the School of Agricultural, Forest and Environmental Sciences, Clemson University, 2013 - Present
  • Associate Clinical Professor in the Department of Economics, University of Texas at Arlington, 2012 - 2015
  • Associate Professor in the John E. Walker Department of Economics, Clemson University, 2012 - 2013
  • Assistant Professor in the John E. Walker Department of Economics, Clemson University, 2011 - 2012
  • Assistant Professor in the Department of Applied Economics and Statistics, Clemson University, 2006 - 2011
  • Visiting Scholar in the Department of Agricultural and Consumer Economics, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 2001 - 2006
  • Post-Doctoral Research Associate in the Department of Agricultural and Applied Economics, University of Georgia, 2000 - 2001

Selected Awards

Virginia Tech Excellence in Career Advising, 2019-2020

Third Place, Southern Economics Association Poster Competition, February 2013.

Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics, Outstanding Reviewer Award, 2012.

Clemson University College of Business and Behavioral Science, Graduate Teaching Excellence Award, 2011-2012.

Karali, B., O. Isengildina-Massa, and S.H. Irwin. "Is Being Bold Better? Industry Expectations of USDA Corn and Soybean Production Estimates" Agricultural Economics, in press.

Poghosyan, A.*, O. Isengildina-Massa, and S. Stewart. “Futures-Based Forecasts of Cotton Prices: Beyond Historical Averages.”  Journal of Agricultural and Applied Economics, https://doi.org/10.1017/aae.2024.36.

Isengildina Massa, O., B. Karali, S. Irwin. 2024. “Are USDA forecasts optimal? A systematic review.” Journal of Agricultural and Applied Economics, 2024;56(3):496-527. doi:10.1017/aae.2024.18.

Wang, Y.*, O. Isengildina Massa, and S. Stewart. 2024. “Time-Varying Reaction of U.S. Meat Demand to Animal Disease Outbreaks.” Applied Economic Perspectives and Policy, (https://doi.org/10.1002/aepp.13431)

Isengildina Massa, O., B. Karali, S. Irwin. 2023. “What do we know about the value and market impact of USDA reports.” Applied Economic Perspectives and Policy, 46(2): 698-736 (https://doi.org/10.1002/aepp.13409).

Stewart, S., O. Isengildina-Massa, Hassman*, C., M. de Leon. 2023. “ETP tracking of U.S. agricultural and energy markets.” Journal of Commodity Markets, 31: 100344 (doi.org/10.1016/j.jcomm.2023.100344.)

Wang, Y*., O. Isengildina Massa, and S. Stewart. 2022. “US grass-fed beef premiums.” Agribusiness: An International Journal. http://doi.org/10.1002/agr.21790

Shi, R.* and O. Isengildina Massa 2021 “Costs of Futures Hedging in Corn and Soybean Markets.” Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics, in press, ISSN: 1068-5502 (Print); 2327-8285 (Online) doi: 10.22004/ag.econ.313311.

Ramsey, A.F. and O. Isengildina Massa. 2020 “Evaluation of Learning Outcomes from Participation in a Student-Managed Commodity Investment Fund.” Applied Economics Teaching Resources. (in press)

Isengildina-Massa, O., B. Karali, S.H. Irwin. 2020. “Can Private Analysts Beat USDA? Analysis of Relative Accuracy of Crop Acreage and Production Forecasts.” Journal of Agricultural and Applied Economics 52(4):545-561.

Isengildina Massa, O., B. Karali, T. Kuethe and A. Katchova. 2021.“Joint Evaluation of the System of USDA’s Farm Income Forecasts.”  Applied Economic Perspectives and Policy 43(3): 1140-1160 (https://doi.org/10.1002/aepp.13064).

Isengildina-Massa, O., Cao*, X., B. Karali, S.H. Irwin, M. Adjemian and R. Johansson. 2020. “When Does USDA Information Have the Most Impact on Crop and Livestock Markets?” Journal of Commodity Markets (https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jcomm.2020.100137).

Karali, B., S.H. Irwin, and Olga Isengildina-Massa. 2020. “Supply Fundamentals and Grain Futures Price Movements.” American Journal of Agricultural Economics 102(2):548-568.

Isengildina-Massa, O. and A.F. Ramsey. 2020. “Student-Managed Commodity Fund.  A New Frontier in Experiential Learning.” Journal of Agricultural and Applied Economics, 52(1):64-77. doi:10.1017/aae.2019.33.

Olga Isengildina-Massa Vitae