Several recent papers have used annual changes and monthly data to estimate demand systems. Such use of overlapping data introduces a moving average error term. This paper shows how to obtain consistent and asymptotically efficient estimates of a demand system using seasonally differenced data....

Risk is an inevitable part of agricultural production and all producers face various forms of risk. This study used the subjective price expectations and price distributions of survey participants to determine how producer’s expectations compare with that of the market. Data used for this...

This research investigates the potential effects of the row crop provisions of the standing disaster assistance program (SURE) in the 2008 Farm Bill. Results suggest little impact on producer crop insurance purchase decisions, though the program does seem to provide an incentive for mid-level...

Beef producers must decide what to do with a cow that fails to conceive during the breeding season. Keeping the open cow results in a years expenses without any revenue. Replacing the open cow with a bred heifer provides immediate revenue although it will take a few years before the heifer...

This research investigates optimal price risk management strategies for fed cattle producers engaged in grid pricing. Stochastic simulation is used to determine optimal hedge ratios for fed cattle priced on a live weight basis or on a series of grids that vary in terms of premium/discount...

Federal budgetary pressures raise questions regarding the importance of public market information. This study assesses the impact of price discovery and production efficiency of reducing public price and quantity information. The amount and type of information provided to Fed Cattle Market...

Ultrasound data are used to sort heifers for immediate sale or for development as replacement stock. While ultrasound improves predictions about conception, the value of ultrasound the data is relatively small. This value is primarily influenced by heifer development costs and bred heifer...

Recent legislation has cleared the way for subsidized livestock price insurance. Such programs could increase production. Expected feeder cattle prices with and without subsidized insurance will be analyzed using E-V and Stochastic Dominance. Results will highlight the potential effects of the...

This research evaluates whether or not hedging strategies using call options on the New York Board of Trade cotton futures can be effectively used to protect the new counter-cyclical payment on cotton. Results indicate that some level of counter-cyclical payment hedging is optimal for risk...

Genetically modified (GM) cotton varieties have changed many aspects of cotton production in the United States. The advent of GM varieties has fueled the ongoing trend of increasing farm size and fewer farmers. Mississippi is no exception to this trend. The rapid adoption of GM cotton varieties...