IMPACTS OF THE FEDERAL AGRICULTURAL IMPROVEMENT AND REFORM ACT OF 1996 (FAIR ACT) ON THE NORTH DAKOTA AGRICULTURAL ECONOMY

The Federal Agriculture Improvement and Reform Act of 1996 (FAIR Act) decouples government farm subsidy payments from both price and production and provides farmers with nearly complete planting flexibility. Government spending under this act will be limited to $35.63 billion for 1996-2002 period. The net farm income for all six representative farms under the 1996 FAIR Act is projected to be higher than under the 1990 farm act early in the forecast period and lower after 1999 under the 1996 FAIR Act. Cropland prices are projected to fall 19.8% between 1996 and 2002 under the 1996 FAIR Act, while cropland prices are projected to fall 18.5% under the 1990 farm act. Cash rental rates are projected to follow cropland prices. Debt-to-asset ratios for most farms, although rising across the forecast period, do not reach levels that imperil credit- worthiness, but in the case of the low profit farm and small size farm the debt-to-asset ratios rise to a level that may imperil credit-worthiness on new borrowing. Note: Figures are not included in the machine readable file--contact the authors for copies.FAIR Act, net farm income, debt-to-asset ratio, cropland prices, land rental rates, farm operating expenses, capitalization rate, Agricultural and Food Policy,

Impacts of Alternative Farm Programs on the North Dakota Agricultural Economy

Agricultural and Food Policy,

New Generation of Massless Dirac Fermions in Graphene under External Periodic Potentials

We show that new massless Dirac fermions are generated when a slowly varying periodic potential is applied to graphene. These quasiparticles, generated near the supercell Brillouin zone boundaries with anisotropic group velocity, are different from the original massless Dirac fermions. The quasiparticle wavevector (measured from the new Dirac point), the generalized pseudospin vector, and the group velocity are not collinear. We further show that with an appropriate periodic potential of triangular symmetry, there exists an energy window over which the only available states are these quasiparticles, thus, providing a good system to probe experimentally the new massless Dirac fermions. The required parameters of external potentials are within the realm of laboratory conditions.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figure

An economic survey of New Zealand town milk producers 1976-77

This report is the fourth in an annual series of economic surveys of New Zealand town milk supply farms. These surveys have been undertaken by the Agricultural Economics Research Unit at Lincoln College on behalf of the New Zealand Milk Board and the Town Milk Producers Federation of New Zealand (Inc.) As in the past the major objective of this survey has been to estimate the average net farm income received by town milk producers in New Zealand. In addition, however, the opportunity provided by the surveys has been used to collect additional data so that a more comprehensive profile of the industry emerges

AN ECONOMIC ANALYSIS OF THE NORTH DAKOTA CATTLE INDUSTRY

The analysis was conducted to evaluate the impacts of both the Federal Agricultural Improvement and Reform Act of 1996 (FAIR) and the cattle cycle on the livestock enterprises. The North Dakota Representative Farm and Ranch Model, which uses the Food and Agricultural Policy Research Institute price projections as an input, was developed and used for this analysis. Net farm income and farm debt-to-asset ratios for the average and large beef cattle farms were analyzed. The U.S. cattle industry has been characterized by cyclical variations in production and prices. It appears that the current cattle cycle is in the final stages of expansion. Cattle numbers continued to increase during 1995, but at a slow rate. Industry estimates are that the bottom of cattle prices will occur in late 1996 or 1997. Price recovery is projected to start sometime in 1998 as inventory numbers decline. Prices are forecast to rise through 2002. Net farm income for the representative beef cattle farms is projected to follow the cattle cycle with the lowest net incomes during 1997- 1999. Net farm income for most representative beef cattle farms recovers by 2002-2003. The debt-to-asset ratios for the representative beef cattle farms will likely rise throughout the forecast period. FAPRI Note: Figures are not included in the machine readable copy--contact the authors for more information.livestock, representative farms, cattle cycle, Production Economics,

Pseudoephenamine: A Practical Chiral Auxiliary for Asymmetric Synthesis

Pseudoephenamine is shown to be a versatile chiral auxiliary for asymmetric synthesis. It is free from regulatory restrictions and exhibits remarkable stereocontrol in alkylation reactions, especially those that form quaternary carbon centers. Amides derived from pseudoephenamine exhibit a high propensity to be crystalline substances and provide sharp, well-defined peaks in NMR spectra.Chemistry and Chemical Biolog

Capacity of Second-Growth Douglas-fir and Western Hemlock Stump Anchors for Cable Logging

The use of small instead of large stumps for cable logging anchors will usually result in applied loads approaching the load capacity of the anchors more closely. The use of small stump anchors is then contingent on better means of assessing their capacity. The results of field load tests of Douglas-fir and western hemlock stump anchors are reported. Ultimate loads were modeled as power functions of DBH. In addition, the relation between load and movement relationships for the stumps are modeled using a hyperbolic function that also provides an estimate of ultimate load. Practical use of the model equations requires knowledge of failure statistics and the acceptance of a probabilistic anchor capacity. Probability is applied to the re-rigging required when an anchor fails to perform adequately and to total pull-out failure

Electrical Switching in Metallic Carbon Nanotubes

We present first-principles calculations of quantum transport which show that the resistance of metallic carbon nanotubes can be changed dramatically with homogeneous transverse electric fields if the nanotubes have impurities or defects. The change of the resistance is predicted to range over more than two orders of magnitude with experimentally attainable electric fields. This novel property has its origin that backscattering of conduction electrons by impurities or defects in the nanotubes is strongly dependent on the strength and/or direction of the applied electric fields. We expect this property to open a path to new device applications of metallic carbon nanotubes.Comment: 4 pages and 4 figure