Wheat problems and programs in the United States

Agricultural Experiment Stations of Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, South Dakota, and Wisconsin, cooperating.Includes bibliographical references (pages 73-75).Includes bibliographical references (pages 73-75)

Milk production functions, hay/grain substitution rates and economic optima in dairy cow rations

Interest in possibilities of forage-grain substitution in the dairy cow ration has been increased by recent agricultural developments. One development is acreage control which allows farmers to grow forage as a replacement crop for grain. Another is the continuing interest in conservation: Erosion control plans ordinarily require an increased acreage of grasses and legumes and fewer acres of grains and row crops. Both of these developments increase the supply of forages relative to grains and give rise to questions of using forage profitably. One possibility is the substitution of forage for grain in rations of ruminants. The feasibility of this adjustment depends, however, on the rate at which the various classes of feeds substitute for each other. Recent changes in price structures, with dairy product prices depressed relative to feed and labor costs, also have caused farmers to examine substitution possibilities as a means of lowering costs and increasing profits. Then, too, yearly and geographic differentials in the costs of concentrates relative to forages and to the price of milk give rise to questions of the most profitable ration under particular economic circumstances. To what extent should the grain-forage ration be varied as the price of grain changes relative to the price of forage at particular locations? To what extent should the most profitable ration differ between grain surplus and grain deficit areas or other areas where concentrates are priced at different levels? These questions can be answered only if information is available on substitution ratios. The optimum ration, in terms of profit maximization, can be determined only by relating substitution ratios to price ratios. Finally, determining the nature of the milk production surface with its expression of feed/milk transformation ratios and feed substitution coefficients is a central problem in dairy cow nutrition

Price and income policies

Discussion and objective debate is an important and necessary ingredient of social decision-making in a democracy. Only thus can the public, legislators, administrators and special interest groups inventory and understand the complete range of phenomena relevant for public decision. Discussion and analysis is a method of measurement, for a more complete inventory of goals and sub-goals of public policy and for expression of hypotheses and predictions in respect to outcomes of various policy means. Discussion is the most ancient and universal process for reasoned calculation in social policy, whether this be at the program committee of the 4-H Club or in presidential elections.https://lib.dr.iastate.edu/card_reports/1006/thumbnail.jp

Determinants and impact of role-related time use allocation on self-reported health among married men and women: a cross-national comparative study

Background Research on the effects of marriage on health maintains that there is a gender-specific gradient, with men deriving far greater benefits than women. One reason provided for this difference is the disproportionate amount of time spent by women on housework and childcare. However, this hypothesis has yet to be explicitly tested for these role-related time use activities. This study provides empirical evidence on the association between role-related time use activities (i.e. housework, childcare and paid work) and self-reported health among married men and women. Methods Data from the Multinational Time Use Study (MTUS) on 32,881 men and 26,915 women from Germany, Italy, Spain, the UK and the US were analyzed. Seemingly unrelated regression (SUR) models and multivariable logistic regression were used to estimate the association between role-related time use activities and self-reported health among married men and women. Results The findings showed that education, occupation and number of children under 18 years old in the household were the most consistent predictors of time allocation among married men and women. Significant gender differences were also found in time allocation, with women sacrificing paid working time or reducing time devoted to housework for childcare. Men, in contrast, were less likely to reduce paid working hours to increase time spent on childcare, but instead reduced time allocation to housework. Allocating more time to paid work and childcare was associated with good health, whereas time spent on housework was associated with poor health, especially among women. Conclusions Time allocation to role-related activities have differential associations on health, and the effects vary by gender and across countries. To reduce the gender health gap among married men and women, public policies need to take social and gender roles into account