bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
The Effect of Resource Investment Programs on Agricultural Labor Employment and Farm Numbers
Authors: Cato James C. , Eddleman B. R.
Published: July 2016

Investments in natural resources usually are for the expressed purposes of conserving, developing, or managing the nation's supply of soil, water, timber, minerals, and marine resources. Many public investment programs in natural resources have also contained explicit development objectives. Any explanation of employment and income changes occurring within a region requires analysis of many interacting variables because the effects of natural resource investments may be masked by counteractions.
Estimating Comparative Costs of Producing Milk Among the Southern States
Authors: Smith Blair J.
Published: July 2016

The farm price of much of the milk produced in the South has been under government regulation for a long time. Two principal economic criteria have been used as bases for setting minimum producer prices: (1) costs of production in the regulated area, and (2) the costs of obtaining milk from sources outside the area. Which of these criteria was paramount at any particular time and location was related to the effectiveness with which barriers to the inflow of milk could be maintained, and the political power of milk producer groups relative to other interests.
Analysis of Innovations: Dairy and Exotic Crossbreeds for Beef Production
Authors: Shumway C. R. , Bentley Ernest
Published: July 2016

Crossing of breeds traditionally has been viewed skeptically by cattle producers. Although there has been some crossbreeding between traditional beef breeds, little use of dairy-beef crosses in commercial beef herds has been made. Often such calves have been inferior in quality and have yielded a lower return than the standard beef breeds.

Recently, however, considerable research attention has focused on crossbreeds – crossing standard beef breeds, dairy and beef, and standard and exotic (or new) beef breeds. When all three genetic types are crossed, several positive features have been identified: (1) quality is good – few animals grade prime but most finish at satisfactory weights as high good or choice; (2) greater milking capacity of the part-dairy cow increases the potential for rapid gains, thus permitting more beef to be raised per cow, and (3) genetic growth capability of some exotic breeds is greater so such crosses can take advantage of additional milk.
Regional Gains and Losses for Consumers and Producers from Changes in Fluid Milk Prices
Authors: Blakley Leo V. , Riley John B.
Published: July 2016

Equilibrium in a free market can result in prices and quantities which maximize society welfare for a given resource distribution. Departures from equilibrium of the competitive model will involve changes in net social gains and losses not only for the national economy as an aggregate, but also for particular groups or regions. The trade-offs between groups or regions, in fact, may be much larger than the aggregate changes averaged over all groups.

Departures from equilibrium under restricted pricing conditions, such as exist with the federal order marketing system in the fluid milk industry, also will involve social gains and losses on national, regional, and local levels. Given the rapid decline in Grade B or manufacturing grade milk production, the concern about equity, and the evolution of new institutions in the milk market, conditions affecting equilibrium in the fluid milk industry also must change. The nature of these changes can have marked effects on the benefits received by the participants in the industry.
Production Theory and Community Services Planning: Application to Solid Waste Disposal
Authors: Knutson Marlys , Boehlje Michael , Schreiner Dean
Published: July 2016

A basic management responsibility in community service planning is to evaluate alternative methods of providing various public goods and services such as transportation services, sewage and solid waste disposal, and water for home and industry. These alternative methods frequently involve new or different technologies and various combinations of inputs such as capital and labor.

For example, in the disposal of solid waste, the use of different sizes and types of bulldozers, compactors and cranes may lead to significantly different combinations of capital and labor resources. For accurate analysis, the quality and quantity of the service that can be provided with limited amounts of the various resources or inputs must be considered. Thus, the basic concepts that have been used in private business to allocate limited resources to obtain the desired output are equally applicable to the management and planning of community services.
An Analysis of Nutrient Intake for Selected Families in Florida's Expanded Nutrition Program
Authors: Gorham J. Michael , Prato Anthony A.
Published: July 2016

Since spring 1967 when the late Sen. Robert Kennedy and former Sen. Joseph Clark ‘officially” discovered hunger in less-visited areas of the South, hundreds of newspaper and magazine articles, several books, a television documentary and numerous committees conferences, and agencies have focused on the incidence and consequences of inadequate nutrition in America. Several private and public programs have been created to help alleviate food and nutrition problems of the poor. Among the nutrition education programs, the expanded Food and Nutrition Education Program (ENP) is perhaps the most notable. The major aim of ENP is to improve the diets of low-income families by offering homemakers free instruction in food budgeting and shopping, choice and preparation of nutritious meals and in other topics. Instruction is given by aides who personally visit the homes of participating lamilies to discuss these topics with the homemaker.
Allocation of Agricultural Production Capacity Among Commercial Markets, Food Aid, and Production Control
Authors: White Fred , Tweeten Luther , Pinstrup-Andersen Per
Published: July 2016

Intermittent periods of excess supply as well as excess demand are likely to characterize American agriculture in the years ahead. Government again may choose to intervene to clear the market at acceptable prices during periods of excess supply. The principal means of removing excess capacity has been to restrain output through voluntary programs which pay farmers to divert cropland to soil-conserving uses and through aid programs which dispose of surpluses in needy countries, presumably in ways that do not interfere with commercial exports. But have these programs provided (a) maximum net farm income, (b) maximum real foreign aid, or (c) minimum U.S. Treasury Cost?

This study reports a model to estimate the most efficient allocation of agricultural capacity with a domestic general land retirement program and food aid to foreign nations.
On Part-Time Farming
Authors: Bateman W. Lanny , Walker Odell L. , Jobes Raleigh A.
Published: July 2016

Economic logic and empirical observation suggest that increasing numbers of part-time farms can have important implications for organization of agricultural production and development of rural areas. Production relationships on part-time farms may differ because:

1) Farm operators working off the farm may organize resources and respond to price changes differently than full-time operators;

2) Part-time operators may have different demand functions for production inputs, particularly land and labor, and

3) Part-time operators may achieve different levels of efficiency than their full-time counterparts.
A Quarter Century of Agricultural Economics in Retrospect and in Prospect
Authors: Halvorson Lloyd C.
Published: July 2016

A philosopher once said that history should be studied because the past repeats itself, but I prefer the statement that those who do not sudy history are condemned to repeating it. I also like the quote at the National Archives: The past is “prologue.” When a tourist asked what this meant, a Washington taxi driver said, “It means you ain't seen nothing yet.” That was in 1950. He was right. Who in 1950 expected to see sputniks, satellites, and men walking on the moon?

We entered the 1950–1975 era thinking that agricultural economics consisted of: (1) production economics, (2) marketing, (3) price analysis, (4) agricultural policy, and (5) land economics. We are leaving it thinking that it covers: (1) commercial agriculture, (2) natural resources development, and (3) human and community development.
The USDA Firm Enterprise Data System: Capabilities and Applications
Authors: Krenz Ronald D.
Published: July 2016

The Economic Research Service of USDA has initiated a systematic approach to the development and maintenance of farm enterprise budgets. This paper will describe this system, our expectations for it, and planned uses of the data.

Many are familiar with regional adjustment studies such as S-42 or GP-5, where the objective was to estimate supply functions using linear programming on representative farms. Those who worked on these projects recall the tremendous effort needed to develop enterprise budget data.

Many are also familiar with the National Model work during the 1960s in ERS. In that project, estimates were made of year to year changes in crop production, using an LP model.
An Agricultural Value Tax as an Alternative to Land Use Tax or Market Value Tax on Land
Authors: White Fred C. , Miller Bill R. , Logan Charles A.
Published: July 2016

A use-value assessment tax requires a system by which agricultural land values may be established. Land value in agricultural use can in principle be determined from the land's income-generating ability. The value of agricultural land can be based upon the capitalized income stream, which implies that net income attributable to land resource, or more theoretically, its value of the marginal product, can be capitalized into economic value. A major weakness in the process of determining net returns to land is the requirement that returns to other production inputs can be determined accurately. To be exact, the marginal productivity of every input must be known.
The Influence of Farm Mortgage Loan Terms on Farm Real Estate Values
Authors: Herr William McD.
Published: July 2016

The influence of credit terms on farm real estate values is a subject on which there are divergent views. Some suggest that readily available credit and liberal terms contributed to the strong gain in farm real estate values in recent years. Credit terms frequently cited as contributing to this situation are increases in Federal Land Bank loan limits from 65 percent of normal agricultural value to a maximum of 85 percent of appraised value of real estate and FHA loan participations with up to 100 percent financing.

A number of analysts support the view that financing terms affect farmland values. For example, Gale indicates that low equity financing increases effective demand for farmland, Atkinson includes new regulations permitting increased lending by Federal Land Banks as one of the factors causing “recent big increases in land values”, and Francl commenting on the same regulation says, “A farmer with a given amount of investment capital, therefore, can bid more for farmland and still finance the loan under the revised downpayment provisions”.
Using Business Management Games as Research Tools in Food Retailing — A Case Study
Authors: Jones Larry D.
Published: July 2016

Performance in the food retailing industry varies over time, among competitive markets, and among different organizational affiliations. This paper reports the results of a recent study which examined variation in firm behavior and performance which could be attributed to three phenomena: differences in organizational affiliation, differences among managers within an organizational affiliation, and differences in the competitive environment under which retailers operate. This study differed from some previous behavioral studies in that an experimental business management game was used as the data generator. A central thrust of this study was to evaluate business gaming as a tool which allowed testing of hypotheses concerning economic behavior.
Food Stamp Participation Among Low-Income Households: Theoretical Considerations of the Impact on the Demand for Food
Authors: Mittelhammer Ron , West Donald A.
Published: July 2016

The USDA's Food Stamp Program (FSP) is a major item in the department's budget. In effect from 1939 to 1943 and revived as a pilot program in 1961, FSP has grown until, in 1973, it provided nearly $4 billion in food stamps to an average of 12 million persons per month. About 55 percent of the $4 billion is federal subsidy. The program is continuing to expand as a result of a congressional mandate that FSP be in effect nationwide after June 30, 1974. Because of the FSP's growth, questions are now being asked about the program's impact on demand for food in the United States.

In its pre-World War II inception, FSP was developed as an alternative to direct distribution of commodities to relief families. Although the objective of improving food consumption among needy households was recognized, FSP was viewed primarily as a method for stimulating demand for farm products.
The Impact of the Direct Peanut Price Support Program on Farm Income and Government Cost
Authors: Song Inbum , Franzmann John R. , Mead John F.
Published: July 2016

Two major programs — allotment-quota and price support — have been in force to support peanut farming since 1952. The purpose is to restrict production of peanuts while supporting the price of peanuts produced. Production is restricted through the allotment-quota program, determined by the Secretary of Agriculture, and converted to a national acreage allotment. However, minimum national acreage allotment has been fixed at 1.61 million acres. The price support program provided that price be supported no lower than 75 percent of the parity price of peanuts. Under the programs, peanuts produced by the grower are sold on the market at the support price for edible uses and excess quantities are sold to the government at the support price. Peanuts purchased by the government are stored and later sold for crushing at the going market price. Because peanuts for crushing command a much lower price than the government acquisition price, the purchase-and-resale operation results in a net loss representing public cost of the peanut price support program.
Discussion of Financing State and Local Government Services in a Cyclical Economy
Authors: Anschel Kurt R.
Published: July 2016

Drs. White and Musser bring an important new insight: given recent and prospective variations in inflation and income growth, stability must become an important criterion for assessing alternative local and state government fiscal systems. The 1960s was an expansionary period for U.S. and world economies. Equity, growth and efficiency appeared to be appropriate and sufficient criteria for evaluating local and state tax and expenditure systems. The economic turmoil of the 70s, however, makes it obvious we were a bit over-optimistic. Stability must be added to our list.
Discussion of a Sequential Link Approach to Evaluating Transportation Facility Adjustments
Authors: Gerald John O.
Published: July 2016

Dr. Johnson has presented a useful description of the process by which judgments are reached, with regard to impacts of transportation infrastructural changes. I will make only a few suggestions for your consideration that relate specifically to his paper, and then devote some comments to the nature of future changes in transportation likely to be most important in the South.
The Potential Labor Supply: A Cross-Sectional Estimation Method
Authors: Stoll John R.
Published: July 2016

This paper addresses conceptual inadequacies of standard labor force and unemployment statistics for the purpose of representing relative stocks of available labor among regions. It attempts to rectify some of these inadequacies by applying relatively simple statistical adjustments. These are based on secondary data relating to local population characteristics and national participation rate norms.

Current criteria used to determine labor force participation depend on solicited statements regarding attempts of an individual to secure employment, or his current status as a gainfully employed person. Using labor force participation as defined by these criteria, it has been observed that labor-force size varies directly with level of economic activity and demand for labor over time. During periods in which unemployment rises, the size of the labor force normally declines.
Estimating the Differential Change in Land Use Associated With Reservoir Construction
Authors: Vandeveer Lonnie R. , Drummond H. Evan
Published: July 2016

Much attention has been focused recently on the need for land use planning in this country. With federal land use legislation pending, it seems imperative that resource economists develop quantitative methods for evaluating and predicting land use change. The need to develop appropriate estimation techniques is most apparent for land use change in areas which have received substantial investment in a relatively short period of time. Construction of multi-purpose reservoirs is the most important type of public investment that has impacted land use patterns in Oklahoma since the “dust bowl” days.
A Solid Waste Plan for Southeastern Oklahoma
Authors: Salkin Michael S. , Just Richard E.
Published: July 2016

Several Southeastern Oklahoma towns located in the Kiamichi Economic Development District (KEDDO) are not currently in compliance with the Oklahoma Solid Waste Management Act of 1970. The act requires that all incorporated cities and towns adequately dispose of solid wastes generated within incorporated limits. Most areas of the state were granted extensions until July 1975, to operate landfill facilities in accordance with state requirements. Some large towns have collection and disposal systems, but many smaller towns have no service or partial service. A few are not in compliance with the law.
Estimation of Employment Multipliers for Planning in Ozarks Nonmetropolitan Counties
Authors: Braschler Curtis , Kuehn John A.
Published: July 2016

Planning for regional growth and development must necessarily be contingent upon population growth or decline expected for the region in question. Ultimately, all decisions regarding allocation of resources to the process of developing the infrastructure of fixed capital assets to serve a region's population depends upon the number of people to be served. The purpose of this article is to present employment multipliers calculated by regression analysis and to describe their usage for planning in nonmetropolitan counties of the Ozarks region. Many technical questions concerning the statistical procedure have been discussed elsewhere. Thus, these questions will be only briefly reviewed herein.
Establishing Priorities Among Multiple Management Goals
Authors: Smith Donnie , Capstick Daniel F.
Published: July 2016

If inferences from research are to be correct, economists, research workers and extension specialists should distinguish between adjustment recommendations for an individual farmer with his unique set of values as opposed to recommendations for a hypothetical group of farmers. Too often, economic analyses are based on the implied assumption that all individuals fit a general definition of the economic man whose one objective is to maximize profits. A single goal, such as profit maximization, is often used to derive the “otpimum” plan because the planning model is operational and is assumed to provide an analytical approximation of firm behavior. Other goals may be relevant to the firm's decision-maker, and economists generally recognize that multiple goals are important in making business decisions. Consequently, single goal models are not always a realistic approach to the decision process and may not provide the farmer with an acceptable solution.
Income Effects of Reducing Agricultural Pollution
Authors: Wade James C. , Nicol Kenneth J. , Heady Earl O.
Published: July 2016

The value and quantity of agricultural commodity production in various regions of the United States determines farmers' income in each region. Many farmers, businessmen, policy makers and administrators are concerned with the problem of change in farm income resulting from water quality restraints placed on cropland agriculture. This study evaluates the income change from a series of hypothetical national water quality policies by examining the changes in national and regional gross farm income. Long-run changes in total national income of controlling water pollution from farmland by soil loss restraints are relatively small, as aggregate gross income increases by four to six percent depending on the level of control studied.

The changes in regional gross farm income are more extreme since various regions of the country, including the southern states, are affected differently by potential water quality control. This study utilizes a national modeling system to examine these variables and reports an analysis of potential changes in gross farm income caused by environmental restraints placed on agriculture. Environmental goals analyzed are national soil conservation ones, with implications for national and regional farm incomes.
An Analysis of Producers' Year-to-Year Changes in Slaughter Hog Marketings
Authors: Raikes Ronald , Trampel Michael
Published: July 2016

Much effort is devoted to explaining and forecasting changes in marketings of agricultural commodities. The usual procedure involves formulating hypotheses about behavior of individual producers, then testing them and quantifying relationships by using aggregate data. The purpose of this paper is to suggest and illustrate a procedure that may provide a foundation for improved explanation and prediction of period-to-period changes in marketings.

The procedure uses data obtained from individual producers to test hypotheses about period-to-period changes. Results obtained from an application of this procedure (to analysis of year-to-year changes in hog marketings) suggest that expected profitability alone is unlikely to provide either a very complete explanation or accurate predictions of year-to-year changes.
Economies of Size in Processing Manufactured Dairy Products and Implications for the Southern Dairy Industry
Authors: Conner M. C. , Boehm W. T. , Pardue T. A.
Published: July 2016

Fluid milk marketing is characterized by daily and seasonally fluctuating raw milk production, variable fluid processing schedules and seasonally fluctuating consumption patterns. These conditions, plus the perishable nature of the product and a relatively low short-run elasticity of demand for fluid milk, are generally considered to be factors requiring volume of Grade A milk available to an area at any given time to exceed the amount actually consumed in the fluid form—if the market is to be characterized by a reasonable degree of price stability. This excess is often referred to as the minimum or “necessary” reserve. The volume of excess milk available may be greater than this minimum, however, as a result of other factors such as classified pricing or producer prices above equilibrium levels.
Combining Regression and Factor Analysis for Use in Agricultural Economics Research
Authors: Scott John T.
Published: July 2016

While ordinary least squares regression has become a standard statistical technique, there are problems frequently overlooked or ignored by researchers in applying this statistical method. Two basic assumptions of the OLS regression model—(1) that the explanatory variables are independent of each other and (2) that the explanatory variables are known, fixed numbers—do not hold for most economic data, particularly time series data. This has been a consternation for econometricians, if not for the general researcher, for many years.

In the case of nonindependence of explanatory variables (multicollinearity), signs of the regression coefficients often are inconsistent with economic theory and with correlation coefficients calculated from the data. Also, variances of the estimated regression coefficients are inconsistent. In practice for prediction equations, multicollinearity can usually be sufficiently reduced by either dropping one or more multicollinear variables or by indexing them and using the index as a regressor, thus circumventing the assumption regarding independence of the explanatory variables. A chi-square test for multicollinearity is available, and can be used as a guide to alert a researcher to the problem.
Cost-Size Relationships and Traditional Farmers' Economic Behavior
Authors: Soltani G. R.
Published: July 2016

The degree of peasant response to innovations and prices has been a point of controversy among development economists. Some writers suggest that cultural and institutional factors restrain appropriate production adjustments. Others maintain that peasants in traditional agriculture respond rapidly to market incentives and are fairly efficient in allocating their resources among production altneratives. The approach and kind of data employed in testing these hypotheses have, to a large extent, contributed to this controversy.

Most empirical works relate variations in output and acreage to changing prices without considering climatic conditions as a contributing factor. It should be noted that for most crops, variation in output depends mainly on climatic conditions and fixed factors such as operator's labor and other traditional inputs.
An Analysis of Factors Influencing Regional Labor Force Migration, 1960–1970
Authors: Pfeiffer Robert , Braschler Curtis
Published: July 2016

The migration of labor is an important mechanism through which an efficient spatial allocation of resources is achieved and maintained. Many studies were designed to determine the efficacy of the market as an allocator of labor between various regions of the economy. However, most of these have concentrated on the allocation mechanism between major metropolitan labor markets or major sub-regions in the general economy. This study was designed to ascertain the effectiveness of labor allocation between rural and metro regions and between different rural regions in the three-state area of Missouri, Kansas and Illinois.
Prediction of Dry-Land Crop Yields Using Rainfall
Authors: Talpaz Hovav , Chun Chang Hao , Taylor C. Robert
Published: July 2016

A significant component of risk in agricultural production systems is yield variability. The ability to predict yield and thus reduce risk would have many potential benefits to both individual decision makers and society. For example, in farm planning, quality crop yield forecasts could be crucial in making decisions on optimal crop combinations. At the aggregate level, an example where a yield forecast would have obvious benefits would be cases in which government manages a grain buffer stock.
Maximum Economic Yield and Resource Allocation in the Spiny Lobster Industry
Authors: Williams Joel S. , Prochaska Fred J.
Published: July 2016

Spiny lobster (Panulirus argus) is produced in the warmer ocean waters and is distinguished from the northern American lobster (Homarus americanus) by its lack of claws and relatively smaller size. Florida lobstermen currently account for 98 percent of the U.S. spiny lobster landings. This industry has grown from annual landings of less than a million pounds prior to the 1950s to 11 million pounds in 1974, with a value of over $13 million [5, 6]. Although no formal demand analysis has been completed, it appears that U.S. demand for this luxury seafood has increased considerably faster than domestic production. In current dollars, prices at dockside increased 251 percent from 39 cents per pound in 1960 to over $1.36 per pound at dockside in 1975 (an increase of 73 percent in constant dollars). Increased demand in the U.S. is further suggested by the fact that U.S. consumption of total world production increased from 53 to slightly over 80 percent in this same period.
An Analysis of Delivery-Period Basis Determination for Live Cattle
Authors: Vollink William , Raikes Ronald
Published: July 2016

Because level and variability of the basis at the time a hedge is lifted affects level and variability of returns from hedging [1, 4], an understanding of the determination of basis values is important both to hedgers and to those with regulatory responsibilities. This analysis focuses on the determination of par-delivery-point basis values during the delivery period of a live-cattle futures contract; i.e., on determination of the difference between futures price and cash price for a lot of live cattle that meets all futures contract specifications (including place and time of delivery). Results of the analysis suggest that, during the delivery period, par-delivery-point basis values for live cattle frequently differ from zero by more than the transaction costs associated with arbitrage, and that fluctuations in basis values may be partly explained by trader expectations and by risk associated with returns to arbitrage.
Developing Comprehensive Economic Information for Regional Planning: A Case Study
Authors: Pendse Dilip , Conner M. C.
Published: July 2016

In recent years, many communities have used regional planning in their quest for economic and social development. Several factors have prompted them to do so. First, community leaders have recognized that a larger geographic area gives a community a larger economic base for planning purposes and offers access to services and institutions that would be impossible in each and every town, thus enhancing potential for development. Second, a greater emphasis is now placed upon identification and use of regions for planning and development purposes under state and federal laws. Third, importance of regional planning has grown because of such factors as growing urbanization, increased demands for community services, pressure to reduce disparities among urban-rural areas, growing environmental concerns, and “spillover” effects of unplanned growth.
Fuel-Insulation Tradeoffs for Arkansas Broiler Houses
Authors: Riley William B. , Redfern J. Martin
Published: July 2016

Production of broilers requires very large quantities of heating energy. Optimum growth of broilers requires that the broiler house temperature be maintained within a narrow range. In Arkansas, chicks are normally started at a house temperature of 75°F with a 3°F per week reduction until a temperature of no less than 60° F is reached and maintained. Feed represents about sixty percent of total production cost, and most studies indicate that feed consumption increases rapidly as the temperature around the birds drops below 65° F. Most grower contracts contain an efficiency clause in which part of their payment depends on how efficient they are in converting feed to meat. They must maintain a certain minimum degree of efficiency to continue growing for their contractor. House temperatures can thus be lowered somewhat, but must be maintained within rather narrow limits for growers to continue to produce. This is mentioned to point out just how vulnerable growers are to rising fuel prices. Approximately 80 percent of Arkansas broiler growers use propane. The retail price of propane ranged from $0.18 to $0.41 per gallon in Arkansas from January 1973, to September 1977.
Agricultural Economics: A Critical Review of the State of the Science
Authors: Martin James E.
Published: July 2016

The title of this paper provides almost unlimited latitude for discussions of the contributions, or lack thereof, of the scientists engaged in the application of a body of knowledge commonly referred to as agricultural economics. Because a complete review of the field of agricultural economics would exceed the scope of a paper, this discussion will be oriented to selected issues. The issues discussed are related primarily to empirical analyses. Selected definitions are used to provide a basis for the arguments presented.
Impact of Risk Averse Behavior on Fertilizer Demand for Tame Forages
Authors: Shumway C. Richard , Gebremeskel Tesfaye
Published: July 2016

The importance of risk in affecting production decisions is amply attested in the economics literature. Recent investigation of the influence of risky alternatives on supply relations has included both econometric analyses and programming studies. Hazell and Scandizzo suggest that when risk aversion is present, the slope of the supply schedule (i.e., with price plotted on the vertical axis) is expected to be greater than that for a risk-neutral supply schedule.

In spite of considerable interest in the supply implications of risk aversion, little empirical attention has been given to its effects on factor demand. The authors attempt to do so, and examine the applicability of Hazell and Scandizzo's supply assertion to factor demand.
An Analysis of Rates of Change in Community Per Capita Income by Discriminant Analysis
Authors: Murray Steve
Published: July 2016

Statistical methods for estimation, hypothesis testing, and confidence statements are based typically on exact specification of the response variates. In the applied sciences another kind of multivariate problem is common in which an observation must be assigned in some optimal fashion to one of several populations. Classification rules based on an index called the linear discriminant function provide a method for such assignment.

Use of the linear discriminant function is relatively new to regional economics. Previously it has been used in such disciplines as botany to classify a new specimen as belonging to one of several recognized species of a flower, in educational psychology to develop rules for admitting applicants to college programs, in routine banking to aid credit officers in evaluating loan applications, and in agricultural economics to determine producer plans for changes in hog marketings and to identify factors associated with watershed development.
An Analysis of the Impact of Alternative Peanut Marketing Quotas and Support Prices
Authors: Trapp James M.
Published: July 2016

The first significant changes in the peanut program in more than 20 years are contained in the Food and Agricultural Act of 1977. The new program retains the use of acreage allotments, marketing quotas, and support prices but changes the procedure used to establish the size of the allotments and quotas given. The new program provides for two support prices versus one under the old program and no longer relates the support price level to a “parity price” concept.

In anticipation of the changes expected to be forthcoming from the new program during 1978 and future years, an analysis was undertaken to determine the effect of changing peanut marketing quotas and support prices on producer income, peanut consumer surplus, and peanut program costs. The analysis does not focus on changes generated by the new program because specific aspects of the program were not known when the research was conducted. Rather, the effect of a change or combination of changes in marketing quotas and support prices is analyzed in a general manner. Generalizations about the new program can be made on the basis of the analysis.
Prices, Marketing Margins, and Structural Change in the King Mackerel Marketing System
Authors: Prochaska Fred J.
Published: July 2016

The age-old conflict between producers and market middlemen in the food industry has surfaced in the finfish industry with respect to market prices, producer prices, and marketing margins. Unrest among fishermen (producers) about the performance of the marketing system for various species of finfish has sparked numerous protests in the United States. Some protests have ended in lawsuits; in other cases, marketing cooperatives and/or marketing associations have been formed to integrate several steps in the marketing process. These events have been common in the Florida Atlantic Coast marketing system.
Economic Values Attributable to Virginia's Coastal Wetlands as Inputs in Oyster Production
Authors: Batie Sandra S. , Wilson James R.
Published: July 2016

Coastal marine wetlands, in their natural state, are important biological and hydrological resources. Wetlands yield numerous valuable services such as provision of nursery and feeding habitat for fish and wildlife, and the assimilation of wastes. Wetlands, when filled or otherwise altered, also provide valuable sites for residences, marinas, or ports. Because well defined and vendable property rights are lacking for natural unaltered wetland services but are available for development services, the unregulated market will tend to reflect only the benefits of development. The result has been a rate of conversion of tidal wetlands that has been unsatisfactory to many individuals.
Bioeconomic Modeling of the Gulf Shrimp Fishery: An Application to Galveston Bay and Adjacent Offshore Areas
Authors: Blomo Vito , Stokes Kenneth , Griffin Wade , Grant William , Nichols John
Published: July 2016

The concept of laissez-faire is widely recognized in capitalistic economies. At the core of this operating philosophy is the belief that individualistic competition will result in an economic improvement, not only for the individual but also for society. However, when this approach is tied to the exploitation of a common property resource, the outcome is just the opposite—in terms of economic efficiency the common property resource is overexploited because the factor cost to the firm does not equal the opportunity cost to society. That is, although a common property resource is a scarce good to society, it is a free good to individuals. The usual result is a level of exploitation which may endanger the future biological viability of the resource. With shrimp, however, this concern is not critical because shrimp is an annual crop; fishing will cease as a result of economic, and not biological, considerations.
Systematic and Unsystematic Risk of Rates of Return Associated with Selected Forest Products Companies
Authors: Hotvedt James E. , Tedder Philip L.
Published: July 2016

The objective of most investors in stocks or other assets is to maximize the expected returns in a given risk class; in other words, to minimize risk for a given level of expected returns. Although “risk” may connote the chance of injury or loss, the term is not defined so narrowly in this article. Rather, it is used to reflect volatility in stock or other assets' rates of return and should not be confused with risk and uncertainty in the production process. Risk, as approached herein, equals the variance of historical rates of return about the average rate of return.
Some Impacts of Inflation on Farm Firm Growth
Authors: Patrick George F.
Published: July 2016

During the 1970s, many changes have influenced U.S. agriculture. Researchers have devoted considerable attention to analyzing the effects of greater variability of agricultural product prices and means of coping with imperfect knowledge. Questions related to energy and the environment are receiving increased research emphasis. Hathaway has written on inflation and food prices and Tweeten has analyzed the real price effects of inflation on agriculture and total net farm income. Agricultural lenders, farmers, and others have expressed concern about higher land prices and capital requirements, but little research has been directed toward analyzing the effects of inflation at the firm level.
Taxation and the Issue of Equity in Perceived Sacrifice
Authors: Harper Wilmer M.
Published: July 2016

Tax reform, the incidence of taxation, and any implied restructuring of the rates at which individuals are taxed are recurrent issues which public policymakers must address. The advocation of reform or restructuring may be couched in various terms or approaches, but ultimately it must be concerned with the incidence of taxation and the rate of taxation in relation to income level. Arguments for changes in a tax structure may range from unsubstantiated value judgments to comparisons of taxes paid in relation to income but, regardless of the justification, each proposal is based on implicit or explicit evaluation criteria. An approach based solely on a comparison of tax paid in relation to income does not address one of the central issues—the sacrifice which the taxpayer perceives as he/she gives up income.
Factors Influencing Energy Consumption and Costs in Broiler Processing Plants in The South
Authors: Jones Harold B. , Lee Steve R.
Published: July 2016

In the United States. 146.5 trillion Btu's of energy were used in the production and marketing of poultry products in 1974, at a cost of $550 million [4, p. 261. Processing plant operations accounted for about $130 million or 24 percent of these costs. Because of increased mechanization and higher sanitation standards, the poultry processing industry has become more energy intensive over time. Expanding volume and increased emphasis on further processed products also have contributed to greater energy use.
Economic Analysis of Broiler Litter as a Feed for steers
Authors: Thompson C. Stessen , Cross D. L.
Published: July 2016

Approximately 50 million metric tons of poultry wastes are produced annually in the United States. Production of this byproduct is not without costs. Cost incurred for handling and disposal of broiler litter, for example, has been estimated to be .26c per kg of liveweight salable bird [1].

Although costs are associated with this byproduct, it is not a source of revenue for many producers. The traditional use of litter has been as a fertilizer. However, for many poultry producers, land is a limiting factor. In some cases, the value of the plant nutrient content of the wastes does not justify their use instead of commercial fertilizers when handling costs are considered. Thus in many instances these wastes create a pollution problem and may be negatively priced.
Measurement of Allocative Biases of Production Control Policies
Authors: Weaver Robert D.
Published: July 2016

Because of growing stocks of grain and the reinstitution of production controls, the question of what allocative impacts such controls imply is once again relevant. The prospect that restrictions on land use may initiate an intensification in the use of substitute inputs such as fertilizer, which are already high in price, is discouraging. Although the issue is an old one, empirical evidence on the extent of these effects is incomplete.1 The purpose of this article is to derive a convenient means of measuring the allocative effects of changes in input restrictions. As an example of empirical application, results are presented which indicate the impact of acreage restrictions during the marketing quota years in North and South Dakota.
A Modified Lockset Approach for Enhancing Routing Effectiveness
Authors: Robbins Lynn W.
Published: July 2016

In a recent attempt to emulate by simulation and then to improve upon a farm supply cooperative's distribution system, a lockset algorithm that included a backhaul routing capacity was constructed. The author describes the problem that motivated that modification, the modification itself, and a possible methodological improvement for applying routing models to firm-level distribution problems. The modified lockset's simulation capability is discussed with respect to capacity control and “load size/loading time” trade-off. Finally, the potential for determining visit frequency within a distribution routing analysis rather than accepting it as a given is discussed.
Capacity Decisions for an Emergency Service
Authors: Dunn James W. , Doeksen Gerald A.
Published: July 2016

Decision makers face two opposing forces in the provision of emergency services. Their constituency wants more and better services, but financial considerations limit the quantity and quality of services provided. This classic economic confrontation requires a decision based on the trade-offs between the benefits of protection provided by additional services and the cost of providing these services. Such a decision is needed for ambulance service, fire protection, and law enforcement.
The Pricing Efficiency of Corn in a Minor Surplus Production Area
Authors: Riggins Steven K.
Published: July 2016

The U.S. grain marketing system frequently is cited as a fairly good working example of the perfect market concept. In general, research has shown that prices change as predicted, to account for the changes in the time, place, and form of the commodity. Much of the research done on grain prices over space has concentrated on the major grain producing states and/or has been cast in the Judge and Wallace general equilibrium framework. The author reports the results of an analysis of corn pricing efficiency in a minor surplus area (western New York) located in a much larger deficit area (the northeastern U.S.).
Financing Agricultural Economics Research and Extension in the Southern Region
Authors: Toussaint W. D.
Published: July 2016

Each year, heads of agricultural economics departments meet to discuss mutual issues related to our teaching, extension, and research programs. A major continuing issue is our portion of research and extension funds— with a natural suspicion that we are not being allocated our “fair share.” An additional, and perhaps larger, concern has arisen in the last few years as we recognize the apparent movement toward increasing use of competitive grants for funding agricultural research. It is not the grants idea that concerns us as much as it is the research areas which have been developed and/or may be developed within which we must make our proposals.

Each department in a university draws its sustenance from the same pie. Each is concerned with the size of the pieces devoured by animal science, crop science, and the others. The following comments relate to both share and “pie enlargement.”
Oscillators As Decision Guides in Hedging Feeder Cattle: An Economic Evaluation
Authors: Russell James R. , Franzmann John R.
Published: July 2016

In recent years, extremely variable price movements have caused a high degree of price risk in the cattle industry. Cattle producers who chose to accept this price risk at the correct time had extraordinary gains, whereas those who accepted this risk at the improper time had returns below cost of production. Hedging offers the cattle producer an excellent opportunity to transfer a portion of the price risk to another party. Selective transfer of the risk can both increase the magnitude of returns and decrease their variance [1, 2, 4]. The family of technical tools called oscillators, one of the most useful tools employed by commodity traders [6, p. 34], was used to develop hedging strategies for feeder cattle.
Determinants of Lender Response to Short-Term Credit Needs of Small Commercial Farmers
Authors: Sonka Steven T. , Dixon Bruce L.
Published: July 2016

Credit availability and use have been identified as crucial factors affecting success or failure for many farm operations [1, 2]. The increased level of uncertainty affecting agriculture in the 1970s has intensified the importance of credit use by farmers. Indeed, maintaining financial liquidity often is cited as a strategy to counter increasing farm risks [6, 12]. Farmers view credit as a crucial variable and, as shown by Barry and Baker [3], farmer borrowing patterns can be related to the level of unused credit those farmers maintain.
Impacts of Price Changes on Optimal Feeding Periods for Slaughter Yearlings
Authors: McLemore D. L. , Butts W. T.
Published: July 2016

The economic theory to be applied in optimizing feeding periods for finishing slaughter cattle is well developed both for cases in which only one group of cattle is finished and for cases in which each group of finished animals sold is replaced in the feedlot by another group of feeder animals [3, pp. 71–76; 4]. According to received theory the operator who plans to replace the finished animal with another feeder should feed to the point in time at which marginal net revenue equals average net revenue (maximizes returns to time). The operator who does not intend to replace the finished animal with another should continue feeding until marginal net revenue is zero (maximizes returns to the animal).