Economic Analysis of Long-Term Management Strategies for Two Sizes of Utah Cattle Ranches

Utah cattle ranchers realize relatively little profit from ranch ownership and management. This study represents an attempt to identify ranch management strategies that produce more profit over time than do conventional strategies. To identify optimum management strategies for the long term, analyses of ranches under both normal and adverse ranch operation conditions using the COPLAN linear programming model were made for strategy comparison. To depict these ranch business environmental conditions, production levels were estimated from available biological data and price levels were estimated by indexing 1977 ranch product prices (the most current budget data available for Utah). The variability of strategy expected net returns above variable costs over a defined array of ranch operation conditions was estimated to evaluate income stability for each strategy. Overall profitability comparisons were made among strategies for evaluation in the context of ranch ownership and management. Percent returns on owned ranch capital were estimated as the basis for this comparison. Optimum strategies based on various ranch operation conditions for a large Utah cattle ranch were similar, as were optimum strategies based on the same conditions for a small Utah cattle ranch. Availability of winter/spring forage should be the principal constraint limiting cow-herd size based on the analyses. Range improvement practices that reduce the winter/spring range forage bottleneck are economically feasible in general, however, such practices must be evaluated on a site-specific basis. Optimum strategies for both large and small ranches focused on: 1) intensively managed cow/yearling enterprises at herd levels corresponding to levels of available winter/spring forage, 2) intensively managed crop production enterprises based on sale of crops, and 3) yearling stocker steer enterprises based on seasonal forage surplus. The economic analyses showed that alternative (optimum) management strategies could increase profit over conventional strategies dramatically. Optimum strategies for the large ranch produced net returns above variable costs many times greater than those produced by the strategy employed in 1977. Expected net returns above variable costs that resulted from small ranch optimum strategies were vastly superior to those produced by the 1977 strategy. Working capital requirement increased approximately 50 percent over levels required by strategies employed in 1977 for both large and small ranch optimum strategies. Expected income variances and standard deviations were greater for both large and small ranch optimum strategies than for strategies practiced in 1977; however, income standard deviations expressed as percentages of strategy expected values (relative income variabilities) were much less. Percent returns on owned ranch capital expected from the practice of optimum strategies were eight times greater than percent returns from practice of the 1977 strategy for the large Utah cattle ranch and six times greater than those resulting from employment of the 1977 small ranch strategy

Preliminary Results of Aerodynamic Heating Studies on the X-15 Airplane

Aerodynamic heating analysis of X-15 aircraft in fligh

Rangelands, ranchers, and drought

Drought results in overgrazing and deterioration of rangelands. To alleviate these effects it is recommended that ranchers should practise early weaning (to increase conception rate), distribute salt and water wisely, and resort to planned cutting along with early financial aid when drought occurs. If breeding animals constitute 67-75% of the herd, sale of yearlings in drought yr will ensure little reduction in the breeding herd

Myasthenia Gravis in pregnancy: Systematic review and case series

Background: Myasthenia gravis is an autoimmune disease which can impact pregnancy. Methods: Six databases were systematically searched for studies with at least five subjects reporting pregnancy outcomes for women with myasthenia gravis in pregnancy. Assessment of bias was performed for all included studies. Forty-eight cases from our own centre were also included in the analysis. Results: In total, 32 publications met inclusion criteria for systematic review, for a total of 33 unique data sets including 48 cases from our institution. Outcome data was available for 824 pregnancies. Spontaneous vaginal delivery occurred in 56.3% of pregnancies. Overall risk of myasthenia gravis exacerbation was 33.8% with a 6.4% risk of myasthenic crisis in pregnancy and 8.2% postpartum. The incidence risk of transient neonatal myasthenia gravis was 13.0%. Conclusions: The current systematic review provides the best estimates of risk currently available to aid in counselling women with myasthenia gravis in pregnancy

Is rejection a diffuse or localized process in small-bowel transplantation?

Utilization of endoscopy to both visualize and selectively biopsy an intestinal allograft has become the standard for early recognition and treatment of intestinal allograft rejection. Despite the widespread acceptance of the need for selective mucosal biopsies, it has not been shown that the histological features of intestinal allograft rejection are either localized or occur as part of a more diffuse phenomenon within a tubular allograft. To resolve these issues, 88 ileoscopies were performed in 12 small-bowel allograft recipients and mucosal biopsy samples were obtained at 5, 10, and 15 cm, respectively, from the ileal stoma. Each mucosal biopsy was labeled, processed, and evaluated individually for the presence and severity of any evidence for allograft rejection. The data obtained suggest that intestinal allograft rejection is a diffuse process, and biopsies obtained randomly from an ileal graft are likely to demonstrate evidence of allograft rejection when such is present. © 1994 Springer-Verlag New York Inc