Farm management skills can affect farm managers' performance. In this article, farm management performance is analyzed based on yearly Illinois Farm Business Farm Management (FBFM) panel data across 6,760 farms from 1996 through 2011. Two out-of-sample measures of skill are used to analyze the...

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...

We theoretically examine a farmer’s coverage demand with area and individual insurance plans as either separate or integrated options. The individual and area losses are assumed to be imperfectly and positively correlated. With actuarially fair rates, the farmer will fully insure with the...

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No-till (NT) has been shown to reduce fuel, labor, and machinery costs compared to conventional-till (CT) but very few rice producers in Arkansas practice NT. The low adoption rate is most likely due to difficulties in management but also limited information on the profitability and risk of NT....

Farmland and capital are an important and rapidly expanding component of the agriculturaleconomy, and empirical evidence suggests that these assets are quasi-fixed in that adjustment costs are incurred when holdings are altered. Increased interest in the rate of return for investing in farmland...

Machinery-sharing provides an alternative for smaller producers to obtain the efficiencies of large farming operations and remain competitive in an increasingly concentrated agricultural industry. This research uses a multiple case study design to examine the motivations for sharing equipment...

This report summarizes the 2007 financial and production records of 77 Michigan cash grain farms. To be included, the farms must have produced at least 50 percent of gross cash farm income from one or a combination of these items: corn, soybeans, wheat, navy beans, oats, sugar beets and other...

This report summarizes the financial and production records of 24 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 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...