Comparison of Hedging Cost with Other Variable Input Costs

Recent spikes in commodity prices have led to higher margin amounts and option premiums. For the most part, producers have always attributed their lack of use in reducing risk via futures and options markets to the high cost associated with the use of these markets. This study determines the relative costs of hedging with futures and options and compares these with the costs of other variable inputs. We find that with the exception of hedging corn with both tools and soybeans with options the costs of hedging has only increased at roughly the same rate as all other inputs.Hedging costs, Costs of production, Risk management, Agribusiness, Agricultural Finance, Demand and Price Analysis, Farm Management, Marketing, Risk and Uncertainty,

Producer Perceptions of Corn, Soybean and Cotton Price Risk

Risk is an inevitable part of agricultural production and all producers face various forms of risk. This study used the subjective price expectations and price distributions of survey participants to determine how producer’s expectations compare with that of the market. Data used for this study were gathered through survey responses from Mississippi State University Extension meeting and workshop participants. Individual respondent’s discreet stated price and price distribution information was fitted to a continuous distribution and an implied mean and standard deviation was determined. This was compared to market price and price risk data. Participants largely over-estimated price. Individual volatilities resulting from each fitted distribution were lower than that implied by the market.price risk, price perception, subjective probability elicitation, Production Economics, Q13,

Uniqueness of Equilibrium in Sealed High-Bid Auctions

Sealed High-Bid Auctions, Equilibrium

On the Possibility of Credit Rationing in the Stiglitz-Weiss Model

Contrary to what is consistently assumed in the literature, the return function cannot be hump-shaped in the Stiglitz-Weiss (1981) model. This has important consequences for the possible occurrence of credit rationing and redlining. With a single class of borrowers, banks offer credit in two stages. Demand possibly exceeds supply in stage one, but not in stage two. With several observationally distinguishable borrower classes, the firms in a borrower class are redlined only under circumstances which imply that they would not get credit in a perfect capital market either. Die Rendite-Funktion kann im Stiglitz-Weiss- (1981) Modell nicht - so wie das in der Literatur durchgängig angenommen wird - hügelförmig sein. Das hat wichtige Implikationen für die Möglichkeit von Kreditrationierung einerseits und für die Möglichkeit des Ausschlusses ganzer Kreditnehmergruppen vom Kapitalmarkt andererseits. Mit nur einer Klasse von Kreditnehmern erfolgt die Kreditvergabe in zwei Stufen. Während auf der ersten Stufe eine Übernachfrage vorliegen kann, herrscht auf der zweiten Stufe Markträumung. Bei mehreren unterscheidbaren Kreditnehmerklassen wird eine Klasse nur unter den Bedingungen vom Kreditmarkt ausgeschlossen, bei deren Vorliegen sie auch in einem vollkommenen Kreditmarkt keinen Kredit erhalten würde

Factors Influencing Marketing Margins in Cattle and Beef Markets

Livestock Production/Industries,

REGIONAL GAINS AND LOSSES FOR CONSUMERS AND PRODUCERS FROM CHANGES IN FLUID MILK PRICES

Agribusiness,

Optimal Marketing Strategies for Southeastern Cattle Producers

Hedging, Cattle, Simulation, Expected Utility, Agribusiness, Farm Management, Livestock Production/Industries, Marketing, Q13,

Approaches to overcome flow cytometry limitations in the analysis of cells from veterinary relevant species

BACKGROUND: Flow cytometry is a powerful tool for the multiparameter analysis of leukocyte subsets on the single cell level. Recent advances have greatly increased the number of fluorochrome-labeled antibodies in flow cytometry. In particular, an increase in available fluorochromes with distinct excitation and emission spectra combined with novel multicolor flow cytometers with several lasers have enhanced the generation of multidimensional expression data for leukocytes and other cell types. However, these advances have mainly benefited the analysis of human or mouse cell samples given the lack of reagents for most animal species. The flow cytometric analysis of important veterinary, agricultural, wildlife, and other animal species is still hampered by several technical limitations, even though animal species other than the mouse can serve as more accurate models of specific human physiology and diseases. RESULTS: Here we present time-tested approaches that our laboratory regularly uses in the multiparameter flow cytometric analysis of ovine leukocytes. The discussed approaches will be applicable to the analysis of cells from most animal species and include direct modification of antibodies by covalent conjugation or Fc-directed labeling (Zenon™ technology), labeled secondary antibodies and other second step reagents, labeled receptor ligands, and antibodies with species cross-reactivity. CONCLUSIONS: Using refined technical approaches, the number of parameters analyzed by flow cytometry per cell sample can be greatly increased, enabling multidimensional analysis of rare samples and giving critical insight into veterinary and other less commonly analyzed species. By maximizing information from each cell sample, multicolor flow cytometry can reduce the required number of animals used in a study

Thermocline management of stratified tanks for heat storage

Stratified tanks are useful for maximising the thermal energy efficiency of non-continuous and semi-continuous processes. Liquid at two or more dissimilar temperatures is stored within the same tank to provide a buffer for variations in heating and cooling loads. Control of the thermocline between the hot and cold fluid regions is needed to minimise thermocline growth and maximise operation of the storage tank. An experimental programme using a scale model of an industrial stratified tank (aspect ratio 3.5) and Perspex tank (aspect ratio 8.2) is reported. The behaviour and growth of the hot-cold thermocline under various operating conditions is presented. A siphoning method to re-establish the thermocline without interrupting the use of the tank is tested. Siphoning of the thermocline region from either 20%, 50% or 80% of the tank height is an effective strategy for uninterrupted interface re-establishment. However, the rate and position of siphoning and the load balance of the exit streams are critical variables for minimising the time for effective re-establishment of the two temperature zones