One would expect to find differences in total factor productivity (TFP) associated with factor allocation, given the technological change m the dairy sector over time and the regional disparity of regulations affecting production The authors use a National Income and Product Accounting procedure...

Costs of seven methods of handling beef by retail firms are explored, considering number and size of stores per firm and distance from the packer. The least costly method is centralized cutting into retail cuts by retail firms. Larger store size reduced per unit costs significantly for all...

Among all economic cycles that alternately bring cheer and despair to their participants and continuously challenge the ingenuity of analysts, none presents so rhythmic a pattern as does the cycle in cattle numbers. Many studies of the cattle cycle have been attempted but few published. This...

Changes in productivity are usually associated With technology At the firm level, this is a natural way to think about productivity. However, in aggregate analysis, measures of productivity can change even when technology does not The measures change when the proportions of farms in stable...

Self-appraisal--serious self-appraisal--is often recommended, rarely practiced. But the following article is a serious effort to set down and appraise the process or methods by which the Bureau of Agricultural Economics does develop its appraisal of the general economic situation which plays so...

Realized net income of farm operators reached a postwar high of 16.8 billion dollars in .1947 and declined to a postwar low of 12.4 billion dollars in 1950. These estimates are for calendar years. On a quarterly basis, in terms of seasonally adjusted annual rates, the postwar high was 17.9...

This article reviews economic and accounting bases for costs-of-production (COP) calculations It finds that the problems of circularity of arguments, potential cost� price spirals, and escalating land values are Inherent m all full COP methods of setting support prices Inflation, Income tax...

A set of price-dependent demand equations explains the Interdependent nature of monthly demand relationships for 10 meat commodities The analysis uses a model with a mixed structural-time series approach. the model's forecasting capability is significantly better than that of the traditional...

Optimal hedging level, minimum-risk hedging level, and hedging effectiveness are defined in a manner consistent with portfolio theory and used to analyze hedging potential in cattle feeding. Estimated upper limits on optimal hedging levels ranged from 0.56 to 0.88 unit of short futures per unit...

Technological progress in animal production in the last 30 years has been substantial in some ways, negligible in others. On the one hand, livestock production per animal unit of breeding stock has shown gains of the same order as those in crop production per acre of land. But on the other hand,...