Facing Up to the Cost-Price Squeeze

The fact of the cost-price squeeze is already with us. Can we face up to the real causes and possible answers? Some are hard to face and not easy to solve. Can we face up to the squeeze in both fact and thought

What Agriculture Is Up Against

Has agriculture itself built all of its present predicament? With so many proposals being made and the time for action coming closer, here\u27s a review of some of the outside forces and their impact on farming

Behind the Cost-Price Squeeze

This article is intended to aid in understanding the present farm situation in relation to the rest of our national economy. It\u27s difficult to solve a problem without understanding underlying factors behind it

Egg production functions

This study estimates egg production functions from experimental data The experimental feed variables were com and soybean meal. The experiment included the four protein levels of 12, 14, 16, and 18 percent and was initiated with 566 birds in 288 cages. Bird density per cage initially was included as a variable, but results were not significant and were dropped from the analysis. Several algebraic forms were evaluated. For the overall data, a quadratic equation without an interaction term seemed most appropriate. It was used in estimating egg production, in both numbers and weights for the entire period of the experiment, as a function of com and soybean meal intake. This estimated egg production function then was used in deriving egg isoquants, marginal rates of substitution between feeds, and other quantities that relate to optimizing feed costs

Regional changes in grain production

The study reported in this bulletin is the second in a series dealing with the apparent over-capacity of agriculture and the relative competitive advantages of different producing regions of the United States. Like the previous study, analysis is restricted to wheat and feed grains. Initial research was reported in United States Department of Agriculture Technical Bulletin No 1241(.1)· Interpretation and summary of this initial study, especially to provide background information for the research reported in this bulletin, is given in a following section.https://lib.dr.iastate.edu/card_reports/1015/thumbnail.jp

What Approach to Watershed Management?

A study of one Iowa watershed by USDA and Iowa State University economists points up the need for examining alternative methods for watershed management in controlling soil erosion and damage-producing runoff

Agricultural Development Planning in Thailand: Some Supporting Analysis

This report summarizes several alternatives analyzed relative to Thailand\u27s Fourth Five-Year Development Plan. The alternatives are analyzed relative to the agricultural sector. The research summarized has been conducted in the Division of Agricultural Economics, Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives, Royal Thai Government under Director Somnuk Sriplung. It is a cooperative project on agricultural sector planning between the Division of Agricultural Economics, Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives, and the Center for Agricultural and Rural Development of Iowa State University. Earl 0. Heady serves as project director for Iowa State University. The cooperative project is financed by the Agency for International Development and the Royal Thai Government. The report summarizes the alternatives analyzed and the results forthcoming from them for the year BE 2524 (1981). It does not provide documentation of the national and interregional linear programming model used in the analysis since the latter is being detailed in a separate publication. The national programming model, being used for various sector planning projects and policy analyses, is under continuing development. This manuscript is written in cooperation with the following staff members of the Division of Agricultural Economics, Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives, and the Iowa State University Sector Analysis team. Major responsibility for writing fell on Charles F. Framingham while model development and application and data analysis were largely the responsibility of Arthur L. Stoecker and Kanak Khatikorn assisted by others of the DAE-ISU staff.https://lib.dr.iastate.edu/dae-card_sectoranalysis/1003/thumbnail.jp