This study examines the systematic risk present in major crops for the United States andthree corn-belt states. An index of commodities is used in conjunction with cash receiptsto generate dynamic estimates of the systematic risk for each crop and state. In our study,we find that beta estimates...

Grain prices have risen sharply since 2005 and 2006 affecting livestock markets by increasingfeed prices and leading to significant volatility shocks. The high price levels and magnitude ofsustained high volatilities has raised concerns for many sectors of the economy, in particularthose with...

Taken together, studies that examine how well commodity futures marketsperform find that risk premiums are common—and so unbiasedness is not—and marketsare not uniformly efficient across commodities or forecast horizons. This large body ofresearch sheds important light on whether and to what...

Hedging effectiveness is the proportion of price risk removed through hedging. Empiricalhedging studies typically estimate a set of risk minimizing hedge ratios, estimate the hedgingeffectiveness statistic, apply the estimated hedge ratios to a second group of data, and examinethe robustness of...

The commodity bull cycle of 2006-2008 and subsequent dramatic price decline have been asource of hardship for traditional commodity market participants such as producers andmerchant/shippers. The usefulness of futures markets has been called into question, especiallygiven that some market...

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The termination of Australia's Domestic Market Support scheme for manufacturing milk producers and the end of state market milk (fluid milk) pricing regulations on June 30, 2000 made Australia's dairy industry arguably the most deregulated in the world. Australia's milk production will become...

Feeder calf prices are examined from a national video auction sales from 2004-2006. Many cattle, lot, and market characteristics significantly impact feeder cattle basis. Auction prices were adjusted for quality differences and for transportation costs and compared across regions. Basis was...

New Zealand and Australia comprise the largest dairy exporting block in world markets and the dairy industries of both countries have geared up in recent years to expand production of dairy products. The report synthesizes observations and insights from a site visit by the authors in February...

In this fourth Babcock Institute country study, Ireland's dairy industry was selected because (a) it reveals advantages and challenges associated with a pasture-based production system that is unique in the EU, (b) the country's dairy industry provides an excellent case study of the effects of...