POLICY FOR COMMERCIAL AGRICULTURE

Agribusiness,

The Farm Situation - Why and What Now?

Our farm economy is in trouble. Production has expanded more rapidly than demand for farm products. The result; a sharp decline in farm product prices and in earnings of labor and in capital invested in agriculture

Characteristics of operator entry into Iowa farming, 1959-60

The study of operator entry in Iowa farming reported in this bulletin had two primary objectives: ( 1) to establish a benchmark for analyzing posting, the conditions under which they achieved entry and the financial results experienced during the initial year of operation. A series of follow-up studies of the same group is planned for future years. Data for the current study were obtained by personal interview from a sample of farm operators who entered farming in 1959 and 1960. The sample of entrants was obtained from a state-wide sample survey involving nearly 7,000 farm operators. It was based on a self-weighting single-stage sample of area segments drawn at random from a universe defined as the open-country zone of Iowa by the current Master Sample materials. Entrants were classified into two groups: beginning entrants and other entrants. The beginning-entrant group consisted of persons who had never farmed before the year of entry and persons who had farmed before the year of entry but had disposed of their farming assets with the apparent intent of permanent withdrawal. Other entrants consisted of persons who had farmed during an earlier period but had temporarily withdrawn from farming (retained their farming assets) with the apparent intent of re-entering

What Happens When - New Industry Comes to a Rural Community?

Many rural areas are trying to attract new industries to provide more employment. Here are some findings about the effects on farming and farm living that resulted from new industrial employment in the Maquoketa area

What Effects on Farms - When Farm Operators Take Jobs in Town?

Often there\u27s an increase in part-time farming in the surrounding area when a new industry locates in a rural community and as some farm operators take jobs. What are the effects on farms, farm family incomes and farm output

Efficient organization of the farm industry in the north central region of the United States in 1959 and 1980

For the organization of the farm industry to be efficient in terms of income maximization would require that farm output be produced at minimum factor cost, that aggregate farm output clear the market at prices covering the factor opportunity costs and that the product mix be geared to the consumers’ wants. Meeting these requirements would mean that the income of individual farm operators would be maximized and that the farm industry would make its maximum contribution to national income. Implicit in conducting the research reported here was the hypothesis that existing resource and production characteristics of the farm industry were not approximations to the economic efficiency conditions. Specifically, we hypothesized that the farming industry contained two major types of resource imbalances

An exploratory study of expectations, uncertainty and farm plans in southern Iowa agriculture

Decision-making without complete knowledge is a problem of major significance in the agricultural economy. Because of uncertainty, production planning is frequently imperfect. This results in lower incomes for farm people and a mis-allocation of productive resources. Uncertainty may prevent production at minimum cost; it may interfere with the optimum adjustment of the composition of agricultural output to the pattern of market demand. Moreover, it can operate as a major obstacle in achieving the most efficient farm size

How Farm People Feel About A New Factory in the Community

In summary: They like new industry - for higher income, better living, jobs for sons and daughters, more progressive community. Some mention higher farm labor costs. Still 4 out of 5 want more manufacturing in the area studied

Occupational adjustment of Iowa farm operators who quit farming in 1959-1961

This bulletin reports the findings from a study of occupational adjustment by Iowa farm operators. Data for the study were obtained by personal interview from a statewide sample of farmers who quit farming and took nonfarm jobs during 1958-61. An initial survey, covering nearly 7,000 operators, was conducted in 1962 to identify and estimate the components of change in the number of Iowa farmers. Operators who had quit farming and who were working at nonfarm jobs in Iowa were surveyed in 1963 and again in 1970. These surveys provided most of the information for the study of occupational transfer.https://lib.dr.iastate.edu/specialreports/1072/thumbnail.jp