This article tests the efficiency of the hog options market and assesses the impact of the 1996 contract redesign on efficiency. We find that the hog options market is efficient, but some options yielded excess returns during the live hogs period but not during the lean hogs period. Our findings...

The paper examines empirical returns from holding thirty- and ninety-day call and put positions,and the forecasting performance of implied volatility in the live and feeder cattle optionsmarkets. In both markets, implied volatility is an upwardly biased and inefficient predictor ofrealized...

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This report summarizes the financial and production records of 16 dairy farms across the Upper Peninsula (UP) of Michigan. To be included, the farms must have produced at least 50 percent of gross cash farm income from milk and dairy animal sales. The records came from Michigan State...

This paper investigates the effects of network based individual social capital on the access of rural households to services. In the context of development economics, an innovative data collection approach is used to determine network based social capital. The approach originates from the field...

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Farm profitability can be increased through the selection of genetically superior animals as future breeders. In genetic improvement programs, candidates for breeders are ranked by the profitability of their offspring, expressed as a weighted sum of the genetic gain from selection. Genetic...