The dissemination of information by extension agents on dairy management practices used to control mastitis and the reception and use of that information by producers are investigated. Producers are surveyed to determine current practices used. The relationship between milk yield, somatic cell count, management practices, and producer and production characteristics is estimated. Subjective probabilities are elicited from “experts,” extension agents, and producers concerning the impact and cost of various management practices. Subjective marginal value products and marginal input costs are computed and compared for the respondent groups. Stochastic dominance is used to rank the relative importance of the practices as perceived by the respondents.

Contract grazing feeder cattle is an arrangement where cattle owned by one party graze forage produced on land owned by another party. The forage producer is paid a fixed price per pound gained. Stochastic dominance analysis is used to compare contract grazing and the more traditional system in which the same individual owns both the cattle and land.

This article reports on analyses of the cost effectiveness of three soil erosion control policy alternatives, specifically 1) uniform-rate cost sharing, 2) variable-rate cost sharing, and 3) fixed subsidy payments per unit reduction in erosion. A brief discussion of the place of these alternative subsidy strategies within the context of the current policy environment is presented. Integer programming is employed to simulate adoption of “best management practices” (BMPs) on a set of representative farms in a case study water-shed in response to these alternative subsidy strategies. Conclusions and policy implications are outlined.

Using input-output tables for 1972 and 1977 we examine direct and indirect energy use in the production of fourteen U.S. agricultural products. We find that between 1972 and 1977 energy use increased in absolute terms but decreased in terms of Btus required per dollar of output.

Although this trend is encouraging in terms of the long-run ability of U.S. agriculture to adjust to higher energy prices, the following caveats should be mentioned; (1) a large part of the decrease in primary energy intensity is attributable to one sector, meat animals, (2) there was a substantial increase in electricity intensity in almost all sectors, and (3) there was an increase in the use of energy embodied in fertilizers and agricultural chemicals in the very important food grain and feed sectors.

Linear programming and regional input-output models were applied to estimate the impacts of increased pumping costs for irrigated agriculture due to groundwater depletion principally caused by the expanding urban area of San Antonio, Texas. A biophysical simulator was used to estimate linear programming coefficients of crop yield by irrigation level and timing. The results indicate significant local (county) economic impacts from groundwater mining but insignificant regional impacts. A major improvement in irrigation efficiency would be required to offset the increased pumping costs and reduced water availability associated with increased lifts due to urban expansion.

Macartney rose is a range management problem on 500,000 acres of rangeland in Texas. Roller chopping followed by burning is an effective method of improving infested rangeland. However, uncertainty associated with implementing effective burns adversely affects economic feasibility of the treatment sequence. Discrete stochastic programming is used to determine optimal burning schedules under uncertainty. Optimal schedules and expected net returns vary with changes in the probability of a successful burn.

A conceptual optimal control theory model which considers farm level decision making with respect to soil management is developed. A simplified version of the theoretical model is applied to the Piedmont area of Virginia. The model includes the productivity impacts of both soil erosion and technological progress. Both the theoretical model and its empirical application are improvements over previous efforts. Results suggest that farmers in the study area can achieve substantial reductions in soil erosion by adopting alternative farming practices.

This study explores the potential of routine preharvest cross-hedging of rough rice using wheat futures contract prices. A numerical simulation approach combined with risk efficiency analysis evaluates a wide range of cross-hedging alternatives. Results establish that farm-level cross-hedging can be considered a viable marketing alternative.

Dairy producers operating in the U.S. have been protected against market price variability by the federal price support program for over 35 years. During the late 1970s tax outlays to operate this program grew at a rapid rate. While many authors have addressed the economic implications of the existing dairy price support program, few have explicitly considered the relationship between risk aversion, capital investment, milk production, and support price policy in this process. This paper considers the role of uncertainty and risk-averse behavior and suggests that these elements are crucial to an economic analysis of the current program and future dairy policy issues.

Considering pest management in terms of a set of technology characteristics allows an investigation of various pest-management characteristics and how they relate to a total pest-management package. Employing restricted and unrestricted least squares in this investigation indicates the unique impact individual pest-management characteristics exert on net returns. A Stein-rule estimator is also employed in assessing this impact.