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...

This study examines the dynamic effects of grain prices and energy prices on catfish feed prices and the price of food-sized catfish at the farm level. Using the autoregressive distributed lag model and bounds testing procedure, a long-run relationship between feed and farm prices and their...

Agricultural industries in small geographical areas with limited acreage tend to be overlooked by those not associated with the growing region or industry. Sugarbeets continue to be produced in a relatively small geographic area and with relatively limited acreage in North Dakota and Minnesota....

The commercial bison industry is relatively new to North Dakota. There were an estimated 23,000 head of bison in North Dakota in 1998, and these animals were found in 47 of 53 counties. The purpose of this study was to estimate the economic contribution of the bison industry to the North Dakota...

The commercial bison industry is relatively new to North Dakota. Therewere an estimated 23,000 head of bison in North Dakota in 1998, and theseanimals were found in 47 of 53 counties. The purpose of this study was toestimate the economic contribution of the bison industry to the NorthDakota...

In the era of a global economy, farmers face increasing pressure in developing a portfolio of various marketing channels. However, the literature on direct marketing strategies has mainly focused on consumers. Using farm-level data this study investigates factors associated with the choice of...

The measurement of productivity fluctuations has been the focus of decades-long interest. In addition to broad structural forces driving productivity changes, there is more recent interest in measuring and identifying the heterogeneous forces driving these changes. A major force is...

This report sets out some broad ideas about how poverty evaluation could be conducted for ACIAR research projects. As with good benefit–cost analysis, there are good practices that need to be observed when undertaking poverty analysis. While poverty is a broad concept, and can be addressed...

Cattle feeding enterprises operate amid variability originating in prices and production. Thisresearch explicitly models yield risks related to cattle feeding by relating the mean and varianceof yield performance factors to observable conditioning variables. The results demonstratethat pen...

This study uses a unique firm-level dataset to examine how falling trade costs from 1993-2001 affected entry, exit, productivity, and exporting in the Korean manufacturing sector. We verify many of the predictions of recent heterogeneous-firm models of international trade. For example, falling...