Production budgets for dryland crop and crop/livestock systems are developed to estimate yields, costs and returns for dryland wheat and sorghum and for alternative dryland crop/livestock systems. A crop simulation model aids yield estimation. The yield and return distributions are used to...

Optimization models are developed to determine grazing alternatives for individual dryland producers. Models alternatives include wheat, sorghum-sudan, summer perennial grass, and native range. Precipitation risk and price risk are estimated for seasonal production alternatives, and options that...

This paper examined the cost and risk of three grazing systems to provide information on economically sustainable systems for cattle producers in the Texas Coastal Bend. Results indicate the medium input (over-seeded clover) grazing system displays first degree stochastic dominance relative to...

Native warm-season grasses (NWSGs) have demonstrated potential to reduce summer forage variability in the region, and there has been growing interest in the use of NWSGs as a lignocellulosic biomass crop. The objectives of this research were to determine if there was a difference in beef yield...

This paper examines the impact of sex-sorted semen adoption on dairy farm level economics. Representative dairies are used to simulate the financial impacts of moving to this new technology. Key economic, financial and herd dynamics will be compared among dairies to show how the uses of...

Beef cattle production in the southeastern United States differs in size, practice, and production type from other U.S. regions. Smaller, cow-calf type operations dominate in this region because the climate, forage availability, and other land use practices of farmers make this type of cattle...

Research on environmental regulation’s effects on economic activity has largely focused on manufacturing, ignoring one of the major polluters in the U.S. – commercial agriculture. As livestock production has become increasingly mobile, regulation has become an important criterion in firm...

A growing number of beef cattle producers in the US are using limited information to determine whether or not it would be economical for them to grow naturally produced cattle. The objective was to discover the attributes that marketing companies prefer for the naturally produced cattle they...

Small and limited resource farmers and landowners in the Alabama Black Belt region face many challenges as they seek to make their farms and forestlands profitable, productive and environmentally sustainable. A host of problems—farmland conversion, urbanization pressures, reductions in water...