Growing farm size has generally been explained by technological advances that have allowed farmers to substitute capital for labor. Another possible factor in explaining recent farm size is the demographic shift: the age distribution of farmers has shifted to the right and older farmers...

This Discussion Paper summarizes (a) key elements of the competitive environment facing Ireland's dairy processors, (b) the overall dairy industry structure that has emerged in Ireland, and (c) the strategies of Ireland's dairy processing and exporting firms. The strategies employed by Ireland's...

This Discussion Paper is a case study of Kerry Group/PLC of Ireland. Kerry grew from a small dairy cooperative (annual sales of US $50 million) in the early 1970s into an international food ingredients and consumer food products company with sales of US $2.6 billion in 1998. Kerry Group/PLC...

This paper analyzes the capacity of Nicaragua's dairy industry to expand domestic dairy product sales and exports profitably. The paper (a) presents information on traits of Nicaragua's dairy industry that influence domestic and export market expansion capabilities, and (b) benchmarks...

A nonparametric analysis of technical, allocative, scale, and scope efficiency of agricultural production is presented based on a sample of Wisconsin farmers. The results indicate the existence of important economies of scale on very small farms, and of some diseconomies of scale for the larger...

There is growing evidence that many smallholder farmers can benefit from market-oriented agriculture. However, smallholders often face a number of barriers to accessing the markets. Smallholder market access is much cited as a factor that exacerbates the smallholder situation but little...

The study carried out in Menchum River valley, Northwest Region of Cameroon had as objective to analyze the profitability and establish the marketing channels of rice in this zone. The study interviewed a total of 126 respondents, selected purposively and using the snow ball sampling technique....

The study was conducted to evaluate hydraulic conductivity functions in relation to some soil chemical properties in an oxisols of the tropics. Field and laboratory studies were carried out and data collected, subjected to statistical analytical procedure for computing coefficient of variability...