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...

Four strategies for farm growth are analyzed and compared on the basis of ownership, equity, and productive capacity achieved, and on the basis of resistance to adversity. The primary tool of analysis was a model utilizing a stochastic simulator interfaced with both ex ante and ex post linear...

Labor productivity is measured for each of 4 selected years for each of four components of personal consumption expenditures for food: food purchased for off-premises consumption, purchased meals and beverages, food furnished Government and commercial employees, and food produced and consumed on...

This article examines the role of agriculture in economic development in three Asian countries Japan, Korea, and Taiwan Agricultural output increased substantially and agricultural exports were achieved at the initial stage of economic development on Japan and Taiwan In Korea, however,...

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...

As part of its expanded research program, the Agricultural Estimates Division of AMS is exploring the possibilities of objective forecasts of yield for several crops. This paper summarizes results obtained from the first year's work on soybeans. Although these results must be regarded as...

This article investigates the possibilities of including policy choices directly into a sector model that simulates an economic equilibrium It uses a mathematical programming framework because these models have wide applicability in agricultural sector analysis The objective function is...

U S wheat exports have fallen nearly 20 percent since 1981. Major contributing factors appear to be the strong U S dollar, debt problems m many gram-Importing countries, and mandated support levels providing an umbrella under which U S competitors can produce and sell their grams US subsidies...

Variations in individual fann characteristics and behavior of farm operators are taken into account in a procedure for estimating production potentials of agricultural areas. The procedure combines sampling and programming techniques. It differs from the purely synthetic approach, or the...

Changes in the distribution of an agricultural commodity among quality classes may affect the total revenue obtained from a given quantity of product. Growers and marketing firms need to consider the best mix of qualities as well as the best level of output. This paper describes an approach to...