DEBT DEPRECIATION, CONGLOMERATION, AND CREDIT CONSTRAINTS: EVIDENCE FROM CATTLE CYCLES

We search for evidence consistent with the notion that endogenous credit constraints play a role in cattle cycles. Beef cow inventories are found to be more sensitive to credit constraints during periods of falling than rising asset values. Inventories of heifer replacements exhibit only weak sensitivity to credit constraints during periods of falling asset values.Financial Economics, Livestock Production/Industries,

IMPACTS OF FINANCIAL CHARACTERISTICS AND THE BOOM-BUST CYCLE ON THE FARM INVENTORY-CASH FLOW RELATIONSHIP

The sensitivity of farm inventory investment to movements in cash flow is tested. Inventories should be sensitive to shifts in cash flow because inventory investment is readily reversible and inventories are a significant portion of assets. Investment models estimated with Kansas farm panel data indicate that: (a) farms absorb internal finance shocks by adjusting inventories, (b) the inventory investment of livestock and high-debt farms are more sensitive to movements in cash flow than crop and low-debt farms, and (c) inventory investment is more sensitive to cash flow during the 1981-86 bust and the 1987-92 recovery than during the 1975-80 boom.Cash flow, Credit constraints, Farm cycles, Farm inventories, Investment, Investment models, Agricultural Finance,

ESTIMATING THE VALUE OF SEQUENTIAL UPDATING SOLUTIONS FOR INTRAYEAR CROP MANAGEMENT

Results of comparing updating versus nonupdating modeling assumptions call into question the use of models based on nonupdating strategies as valid representations of actual farmer actions. If farmers are sequential updaters, the results indicate that models assuming no updating are inaccurate. The degree of this inaccuracy ranges between 4% and 10% of profits for the study area. Further, the results indicate that updating appears to be important for both descriptive and prescriptive studies of farmer behavior.Crop Production/Industries,

Arkansas Landlord Selection of Land-Leasing Contract Type and Terms

Land leasing is a major source of the land input to production agriculture. Responses from a survey of landlords leasing crop land in Arkansas are analyzed to better understand those factors motivating landlords in the type of lease they select and the terms of those leases. Probit models are estimated to determine the relative importance of variables representing credit constraint, agency problem, and risk aversion factors. Regression models then estimate the impact of site, landlord, and tenant characteristics on contract terms – the percentage of crop and cost sharing arrangements between landlord and tenant. Probit results suggest credit constraint factors influence lease-type selection. Risk aversion, managerial ability, and social capital factors are also supported. Regression models show that land and crop characteristics are significant determinants of contract terms.Land leasing, Probit, Contract, Production agriculture, Land Economics/Use,

COMBINING ECONOMIC AND BIOLOGICAL DATA TO ESTIMATE THE IMPACT OF POLLUTION ON CROP PRODUCTION

Duality methods utilizing a profit function framework are employed to estimate the output elasticity of ambient ozone levels on cash grain farms in Illinois. While duality methods have been recommended as a cure to many of the statistical problems of direct estimation of production functions, multicollinearity may still be a problem. A method for utilizing stochastic information on parameters of a seemingly unrelated system of equations, which is implied by profit function estimation, is developed and applied to measuring the impact of ozone. Such an approach may be necessary in measuring other environmental effects because of a lack of regressor variability.Crop Production/Industries, Environmental Economics and Policy,

CONTRACT CHOICE SELECTION WITH LAND-LEASING AGREEMENTS

This study tests cropland contract hypotheses utilizing a landlord data set. Ordered probit and classical regression models are estimated and presented identifying factors that affect the contract type selection and terms. Results suggest credit constraints are a viable land-leasing hypothesis. Risk aversion, managerial ability, and social capital are also supported.Land Economics/Use,

Rapid Polymerase Chain Reaction–Based Test for the Detection of Female Urogenital Chlamydial Infections

Objective: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the Amplicor Chlamydia trachomatis Test (Roche Molecular Systems, Branchburg, NJ), a polymerase chain reaction (PCR)-based technique, as a screening test for the detection of female urogenital C. trachomatis infections, comparing it to an enzyme immunoassay method