Multidemensional goals of farmers in the beef cattle an dairy industries

Farm firm decision making processes have long been of concern to agricultural economists. The concept of maximizing utility rather than profit is an important concept in multidimensional goal research. The prevalence of low or negative net returns in Louisiana beef and dairy production leads to the hypothesis that goals other than profit maximization compete strongly in producers\u27 decisions. The objective of this study is to determine the hierarchy of goals that motivate beef and dairy producers and evaluate them in a multi-dimensional framework. Seven goals were evaluated in producer decision making: Maintain and Conserve Land, Maximize Profit, Increase Farm Size, Avoid Years of Loss / Low Profit, Increase Net Worth, Have Time for Other Activities, and Have Family Involved in Agriculture. Each goal\u27s weight is its importance in the measurement of the farmer\u27s utility. Weights were elicited using the fuzzy pair-wise comparison and simple rank ordering procedures. Using the fuzzy pair-wise comparison method, the goal weight ranged between 0 and 1 and the errors for each of the goal equations were contemporaneously correlated. Thus, logistic seemingly unrelated regression was appropriate to use in regressing the weights of goals on explanatory variables such as production characteristics, risk preference, social capital, environmental attitudes and others. Goal hierarchies of producers were elicited via mail survey. Of 13,100 Louisiana beef producers, 1,472 were surveyed. For producers with less than 100 animals, Maintain and Conserve Land and Increase Farm Size were the most and least important goals, respectively. Producers with more than 100 animals weighted Avoid Years of Loss / Low Profit as the most important goal and Increase Farm Size as the least important goal. The entire population of dairy producers (428) was surveyed. Avoid Years of Loss / Low Profit was slightly more important than Maximize Profit. Increase Farm Size was the least important goal. Overall, dairy producers placed more emphasis on profit related goals such as Maximize Profit, Avoid Years of Loss / Low Profit, and Increase Net Worth. The most important goal of beef producers was Maintain and Conserve Land

GOALS OF BEEF CATTLE AND DAIRY PRODUCERS: A COMPARISON OF THE FUZZY PAIR-WISE METHOD AND SIMPLE RANKING PROCEDURE

Beef and dairy producers' goal hierarchies over seven goals are compared using fuzzy pair-wise comparison and simple ranking methods. Results show the two methods do not provide similar goal rankings. Producers place greater importance on some goals than others, but are not in agreement as to the relative importance of goals.Livestock Production/Industries,

Beef Producer Choice in Cattle Marketing

In addition to the conventional auction method of cattle marketing, some alternative marketing arrangements include sale by private treaty, video auction, retained ownership, and use of strategic alliances. This study finds that 91% of Louisiana producers use conventional auctions, while 39% use other types of marketing arrangements. The most heavily used alternative marketing arrangement is private treaty, at 26%. Those producers using alternative marketing arrangements tend to be larger, have heavier weaning weights, have more diverse farming operations, be younger, have greater contact with their county extension agents, and depend less on income from off-farm sources.cattle marketing, conventional auction, private treaty, strategic alliance, video auction, Livestock Production/Industries, Marketing,

BEEF PRODUCER CHOICE IN CATTLE MARKETING

In addition to the conventional auction method of cattle marketing, alternative marketing arrangements include sale by private treaty, video auction, retained ownership, and use of strategic alliances. This study examines use of alternative marketing arrangements and types of producers using each. Thirty-nine percent of producers used alternative arrangements.Marketing,

Promoting Alternative Enterprises: Assessing Farmers\u27 Needs in Research, Education, and Extension

Small farms represent a significant proportion of the total U.S farms, and current trends in agriculture pose new challenges for their viability and survival. To meet such challenges, there is a need for introducing high-value non-traditional alternative enterprises. The study reported here explored goat, organic, and mushroom farming as potential alternative enterprises. Several focus group meetings were conducted in Tennessee and North Carolina to identify priority areas for future research, education, and outreach activities. The results from the study should contribute significantly to promoting and creating niche markets for proposed alternative enterprises among small farmers

A Comparative Analysis of the Evolution of the Three Major U.S. Meat Industries: With Implications for the Future Direction of the U.S Beef Industry (Bulletin #877)

The objectives of this study are to: (1) use an appropriate model of structural change in agricultural industries to critically examine the evolutionary paths of the three major U.S. meat industries to date, and to (2) provide insight as to the future challenges faced by the beef industry in progressing toward a more efficient consumer-oriented industry.https://digitalcommons.lsu.edu/agcenter_bulletins/1036/thumbnail.jp

An Evaluation of Turkish Agricultural Production Performance

ABSTRACT In this study, productivity growth and technical changes in Turkish agriculture is measured for 1961 -2001 period using Cobb-Douglas production function. Ridge regression estimating technique is used. The results indicate that the annual output growth rates ranged from 1.30% to 3.40% for the Turkish agricultural production in each of the 10-years period. Farm output growth is mainly due to the use of tractors, labor, irrigation and fertilizer, which shows that most of the growth rate in output has been driven by continued increases in inputs. According to the results of analysis, technical change growth rates ranged from -0.15% to 5.53% over the 40-years period. Although the change has been low, there is a potential to achieve higher growth rates in agricultural production in the future if resources are used efficiently

Use of Social Media to Enhance Consumers’ Options for Food Quality in the United Arab Emirates (UAE)

The objective of this research was to study the behavior and attitudes of consumers from the United Arab Emirates towards using the World Wide Web (WWW) for ordering food online, as well as their perception of social media’s (e.g., Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and WhatsApp) impact on increasing their knowledge about their food quality options. This research question targets social media’s role in aiding consumer decision-making with regard to enhanced food quality choices and thus enhanced food security. The results of this study showed that about 50% of the respondents frequently use a website to order food online in the study area. The analysis of the survey results showed a strong correlation between the frequency of food ordered online by consumers and the number of consumers who sought specific information about food quality, such as those who wished to obtain information about special diets for both medical and non-medical purposes. A strong correlation was also found to exist between the frequency of ordering food online and consumers who often inquired about buying organic food. Furthermore, the authors found the potential and the need for more transparency and enhancement when exchanging information between online food providers and consumers, in order to achieve the country’s food security goal of better consumer access to food quality information

GOALS OF BEEF CATTLE AND DAIRY PRODUCERS: A COMPARISON OF THE FUZZY PAIR-WISE METHOD AND SIMPLE RANKING PROCEDURE

Beef and dairy producers' goal hierarchies over seven goals are compared using fuzzy pair-wise comparison and simple ranking methods. Results show the two methods do not provide similar goal rankings. Producers place greater importance on some goals than others, but are not in agreement as to the relative importance of goals