PRICE INCENTIVES FOR COMMERCIAL FRESH TOMATOES

Hedonic price models are estimated to determine if there are incentives to supply higher quality tomatoes. Price premiums are associated with extra-large tomatoes originating from shipping points located closer to consumption points. Price differences between mature-green and vine-ripe tomatoes are not significant. Vine-ripe tomatoes are favored by consumers in the summer while mature-green tomatoes are favored the rest of the year. The U.S. Department of Agriculture should consider changing the present tomato grading system, which is based on shape and smoothness, to include a flavor indicator based on harvest maturity.Tomato quality, Hedonic prices, Demand and Price Analysis,

EFFICIENT CASH AND HEDGED ENTERPRISE COMBINATIONS IN FEEDER CALF BACKGROUNDING OPERATIONS

Livestock Production/Industries,

FACTORS AFFECTING FEEDER CATTLE PRICE DIFFERENTIALS

Feeder cattle prices are determined by the interaction of many factors. This study uses 1986 and 1987 Kansas feeder cattle auction data to investigate the impact of a wide variety of physical characteristics, many of which have not been used in previous studies on feeder cattle prices. Unlike previous studies, this analysis explicitly incorporates changes in feeder cattle market fundamentals during the data collection period and also allows price differentials to vary by sex and weight. Weight, weight-squared, lot size, lot size-squared, health, muscling, frame size, condition, fill, breed, presence of horns, and time of sale are significant factors affecting feeder cattle prices on any given day. Several physical traits also exhibit different seasonal price impacts.Demand and Price Analysis, Livestock Production/Industries,

Biotechnology and Economic Development: The Economic Benefits of Maize Streak Virus Tolerant Maize in Kenya

For countries that could not benefit from the Green Revolution due to heterogeneous and unfavorable biophysical environments, agricultural biotechnology potentially provides a means of improving the quality and quantity of agricultural production. This paper analyses some of the major issues relating to the utilization of biotechnology in Kenya. A partial equilibrium trade model is applied to Kenya's corn market to study the potential of genetically modified maize that is tolerant to the Maize Streak Virus. The model accounts for home production and consumption; the positive results of the welfare estimation are disaggregated between consumers, large and small Kenyan corn farms.Community/Rural/Urban Development, Research and Development/Tech Change/Emerging Technologies,

Rural Residential Water Demand in Kentucky: An Econometric and Simulation Analysis

This study proposed that demand management through pricing policies can be used in conjunction with supply management to solve water supply problems in Kentucky. Economic principles were shown to apply to rural residential water use. From the economic model, a hyperbolic demand function was theorized. The mathematical form of this function used quantity of water as a function of price, income, value of residence, evaporation, and persons per residence. This function was estimated using ordinary least squares regression. A log-linear model was found to be a satisfactory representation of the demand function. Price was the only independent variable which was significant and had an elasticity of (-.92). As an application of pricing to demand management, the estimated regression equation was used in a simulation analysis. The simulation was used to determine the reservoir capacity necessary to supply the needs of 4,000 households given three different price levels for water. Reservoir size was determined by simulating reservoir size as a function of outflow as estimated from the demand function plus an assumed low flow rate and inflow from the Thomas-Fiering Model. This technique illustrated that price does affect the quantity of water demanded which in turn effects reservoir capacity requirements

Sources of Inefficiency in Kansas Farms

This paper uses two different techniques to measure efficiency in a panel of two hundred multi-product Kansas farms from the period 1984 to 2004. The non-parametric linear programming technique, Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA); and a parametric stochastic frontier approach, a translog production function, are used to calculate and then compare efficiencies measures including pure efficiency, technical, scale and allocative. Production, financial, and demographic variables are used to identify and quantify the causes of inefficiencies. We expect to find variables such as hours of family labor, owned versus rented farm, intensity of production, farmers´ risk attitudes and farmers´ age, significant in explaining farm inefficiency levels in Kansas farms

PRICE INCENTIVES FOR COMMERCIAL FRESH TOMATOES

Hedonic price models are estimated to determine if there are incentives to supply higher quality tomatoes. Price premiums are associated with extra-large tomatoes originating from shipping points located closer to consumption points. Price differences between mature-green and vine-ripe tomatoes are not significant. Vine-ripe tomatoes are favored by consumers in the summer while mature-green tomatoes are favored the rest of the year. The U.S. Department of Agriculture should consider changing the present tomato grading system, which is based on shape and smoothness, to include a flavor indicator based on harvest maturity

Sources of Inefficiency in Kansas Farms

This paper uses two different techniques to measure efficiency in a panel of two hundred multi-product Kansas farms from the period 1984 to 2004. The non-parametric linear programming technique, Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA); and a parametric stochastic frontier approach, a translog production function, are used to calculate and then compare efficiencies measures including pure efficiency, technical, scale and allocative. Production, financial, and demographic variables are used to identify and quantify the causes of inefficiencies. We expect to find variables such as hours of family labor, owned versus rented farm, intensity of production, farmers´ risk attitudes and farmers´ age, significant in explaining farm inefficiency levels in Kansas farms.Farm Management,

The Impact of Rural Residential Water Demand on Reservoir Sice Requirements: An Econometric and Simulation Analysis

This study suggests that demand management through pricing policies can be used to solve water supply problems. A demand function for water was developed using cross-sectional water data. The demand function was used in a simulation analysis to determine reservoir capacity needed to supply water for a rural community