ESTIMATING THE ECONOMIC GAINS FROM LARGER TOMATO TRANSPLANT CELL SIZES

This paper examines the costs and economic benefits of utilizing larger seedling transplant in commercial vegetable production. Larger transplants have been shown to mature earlier and yield more premium graded fruit. Offsetting these benefits is the increased cost of producing larger transplants, primarily from reducing the capacity of a transplant house.Crop Production/Industries,

MANURE VALUE AND LIVEWEIGHT SWINE DECISIONS

Produced as a joint product, economic theory suggests that manure value could influence livestock management decisions such as herd size and optimal market weights. This study examines the concept of manure and its connection with optimal replacement age or market weight. A model of a swine finishing operation representative of North Carolina conditions is developed. Over the range of conditions considered, manure value is negative and does not affect market weights. The marginal per head change in manure value is small relative to the marginal per head change in net returns from pork production. Further, economies of scale with respect to irrigation cause manure value to increase with herd size.Manure value, Market weight, Response surface, Swine, Livestock Production/Industries,

Harvest Cost and Value of Citrus Operations with Alternative Technology: Real Options Approach

The prospect of immigration policy reform has renewed growers’ concerns of serious labor shortages and cost increases. These concerns are more serious for specialty crop agriculture, not only because it is highly labor intensive, but also it requires labor in a very short period, particularly at harvest time. Two representative approaches of the investment valuation have been applied to the case of harvesting mechanization for the model citrus grower in Florida. Specifically, we applied the NPV approach and the real options approach (ROA) to processed-market Hamlin orange operations in Southwest Florida.Real options, NPV, mechanization, immigration policy, harvest cost, citrus operations, Agribusiness, Agricultural Finance, Farm Management, Labor and Human Capital, Risk and Uncertainty, Q14 – Agricultural Finance, J43 – Agricultural Labor Markets,

Optimal Harvest Time of Florida Valencia Oranges to Maximize Grower Returns

Research goals are to estimate the optimal harvest time of Florida Valencia oranges for Florida growers and calculate the economic consequences of harvesting inside or outside the optimal window. Determining the optimal fruit harvest time will help the industry anticipate how mechanical harvesting may affect deviations from this optimum.Crop Production/Industries,

Labor Cost and Value of Citrus Operations with Alternative Technology: Enterprise DCF Approach

The prospect of immigration policy reform has renewed growers’ concerns of serious labor shortages and cost increases given that a large portion of the workforce is unauthorized for U.S. employment. This concern of labor shortages and cost increases is more serious for specialty crop agriculture which is highly labor intensive. Specialty crop growers may address the problem in various ways, but likely options include adoption of mechanical harvesting. In the current paper we study the citrus industry case and estimate the value for two operational modes (hand and mechanical harvesting) using the enterprise discounted cash flow (DCF) approach. Further we implement a simulation to forecast how the value for each operational mode would change with a change in cost scenario.Value, Enterprise DCF approach, Labor cost, Citrus operations, Mechanization, Agricultural Finance, Labor and Human Capital, Q14, J43,

The "Phantom Costs" of Florida's Citrus Industry

Regulatory compliance, the "phantom costs of production," is an increasingly "fact-of-life" for U.S. agriculture. A survey was developed and implemented to enumerate regulatory compliance costs for Florida's 748,500 acres citrus industry. Complying with 61 production related regulations, 643,757 hours were expended at a total annual cost of over $24.3 million.Crop Production/Industries,

THE COSTS AND BENEFITS ASSOCIATED WITH ERADICATING CITRUS CANKER IN FLORIDA

A cost-benefit analysis of the on-going eradication of citrus canker in Florida is conducted. Costs include the losses incurred from eradicated groves. Benefits include elimination of the adverse effects of canker on citrus production and marketing.Crop Production/Industries,

Economic Analysis of Strategies to Combat HLB in Florida Citrus

citrus greening, huanglongbing, asian citrus psyllid, Crop Production/Industries, Resource /Energy Economics and Policy,

Lessons Learned Developing an Extension-Based Training Program for Farm Labor Supervisors

This article outlines a four-step model for developing a training program for farm labor supervisors. The model draws on key lessons learned during the development of the University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences Farm Labor Supervisor Training program. The program is designed to educate farm supervisors on farm labor laws and to support compliance with workplace regulations critical for the safety of farmworkers and the economic sustainability of agricultural industries. Attentive to building partnerships, assessing needs, tailoring the curriculum, and conducting evaluations, the model can be applied elsewhere to address the farm labor issues confronted by specialty crop growers in other states

Pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics of medication in asphyxiated newborns during controlled hypothermia. The PharmaCool multicenter study

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>In the Netherlands, perinatal asphyxia (severe perinatal oxygen shortage) necessitating newborn resuscitation occurs in at least 200 of the 180–185.000 newly born infants per year. International randomized controlled trials have demonstrated an improved neurological outcome with therapeutic hypothermia. During hypothermia neonates receive sedative, analgesic, anti-epileptic and antibiotic drugs. So far little information is available how the pharmacokinetics (PK) and pharmacodynamics (PD) of these drugs are influenced by post resuscitation multi organ failure and the metabolic effects of the cooling treatment itself. As a result, evidence based dosing guidelines are lacking. This multicenter observational cohort study was designed to answer the question how hypothermia influences the distribution, metabolism and elimination of commonly used drugs in neonatal intensive care.</p> <p>Methods/Design</p> <p>Multicenter cohort study. All term neonates treated with hypothermia for Hypoxic Ischemic Encephalopathy (HIE) resulting from perinatal asphyxia in all ten Dutch Neonatal Intensive Care Units (NICUs) will be eligible for this study. During hypothermia and rewarming blood samples will be taken from indwelling catheters to investigate blood concentrations of several antibiotics, analgesics, sedatives and anti-epileptic drugs. For each individual drug the population PK will be characterized using Nonlinear Mixed Effects Modelling (NONMEM). It will be investigated how clearance and volume of distribution are influenced by hypothermia also taking maturation of neonate into account. Similarly, integrated PK-PD models will be developed relating the time course of drug concentration to pharmacodynamic parameters such as successful seizure treatment; pain assessment and infection clearance.</p> <p>Discussion</p> <p>On basis of the derived population PK-PD models dosing guidelines will be developed for the application of drugs during neonatal hypothermia treatment. The results of this study will lead to an evidence based drug treatment of hypothermic neonatal patients. Results will be published in a national web based evidence based paediatric formulary, peer reviewed journals and international paediatric drug references.</p> <p>Trial registration</p> <p>NTR2529.</p