Grass production provides Irish dairy farmers with a competitive advantage over many of their mainland European counterparts by providing a cheap feed source. The temperate climate in Ireland favours the production of grass, however production is highly seasonal with little growth over the...

We study the use of derivatives in the Spanish mutual fund industry. The picture that emerges from our analysis is rather negative. In general, the use of derivatives does not improve the performance of the funds. In only one out of eight categories we find some (very weak and not robust)...

The biological nature of agricultural production processes induce a higher degree of uncertainty surrounding the economic performance of farm enterprises. This has contributed to the development and acceptance of forms of public intervention aimed at reducing income variability that have no...

We specify a principal-agent marketing channel involving producers, wholesalers, retailers and a futures market. Our hedge ratio for producers appears to be much lower than the common price-risk minimising ones as we account for producers vertical contracts and, by using annual data, their...

The EU dairy industry faces an unprecedented level of change. The anticipated removal of milk quotas and the move to a less restricted global trade environment will provide the industry with both opportunities and challenges. The primary challenge will be the need for the industry to deal with...

Production and processing of genetically modified organisms (GMO) in line with the European food safety and labelling regulations lead to an elevated risk of unintentional GMO contamination in food producing and processing companies. For these companies GMO contamination can lead to extensive...

Increasing of population in some part of the world demands appropriate quantity and quality of food supply. It leads agri-food production to changes having many of the characteristics of manufacturing industries. So, together with the advantages we have to manage also different deficiencies. The...