Deriving acceptable farm plans where input-output coefficients are stochastic is a complex problem. Previous formulations have required many simplifying assumptions about the stochastic variables in the analysis. This paper presents an alternative approach based on the mean absolute deviation,...

Some notes prove something ; others disprove something. This one does neither. It merely sketches a simple model of the grazing complex. Of itself, the model is no more than an attempt to specify the more important economic relationships of the grazing complex in an explicit, orderly fashion....

A simple utility-based model of risky wool production is presented. Evaluation of the model indicates the effect on optimal stocking rate of changes in the degree of risk aversion, farm area, variable cost, fixed cost, wool cut, wool price, variance of wool price, climatic variability and tax...

It is argued in this article that over the period from 1948 to 1963, lending to the rural sector by both trading banks and pastoral houses was characterized by an unsatisfied fringe of potential borrowers. Estimates are presented of the effects on rural lending by these agencies of changes in...

While the role of technical change in agriculture is seen differently by protagonists of different theories of development, the processes of technology generation and uptake are widely seen as progressive. In this vein, agricultural technology assessment is seen as contributing to research...

The present article relates to pastoral firms in a drought-prone environment. For such firms, it explores the economic relationship between stocking rates, drought possibilities and fodder reserves. (1) The analysis shows that an optimal stocking rate can be ascertained for any given pattern of...

Game theory - aptly described as the scientific approach to poker, business, women and war - has proved to be no cure-all for the conflict situations studied by agricultural economists. Like Marshall, it has had its day. Still, just as in general economics, game theory has provided an...