EFFECTS OF ALTERNATIVE ACREAGE RESTRICTION PROVISIONS ON ALABAMA COTTON FARMS

The 1985 Farm Bill departs from recent farm bills in moving toward more restrictive acreage control. The change from a two- to a five-year average in calculating base acreage and enforcement of limited cross-compliance appear to significantly alter crop mix decisions on representative Alabama cotton farms.Political Economy,

INCORPORATING THE 1990 FARM BILL INTO FARM-LEVEL DECISION MODELS: AN APPLICATION TO COTTON FARMS

A five-year, 0.1, mixed integer programming model was developed to analyze the effects of 1990 Farm Bill legislation on the crop-mix decisions made on cotton farms. Results showed that, when compared to the 1985 Farm Bill, the 1990 Farm Bill can result in higher whole-farm income despite new "triple base" provisions limiting payment acres. The increase in income results from elimination of limited cross-compliance provisions and the change to a three-year base calculation. The model was also used to assess the likely impact of possible changes in the current legislation.Cotton farms, Farm programs, Programming models, Agricultural and Food Policy, Crop Production/Industries,

X-ray observations of the galaxy cluster PKS 0745-191: To the virial radius, and beyond

We measure X-ray emission from the outskirts of the cluster of galaxies PKS 0745-191 with Suzaku, determining radial profiles of density, temperature, entropy, gas fraction, and mass. These measurements extend beyond the virial radius for the first time, providing new information about cluster assembly and the diffuse intracluster medium out to ~1.5 r_200, (r_200 ~ 1.7 Mpc ~ 15'). The temperature is found to decrease by roughly 70 per cent from 0.3-1 r_200. We also see a flattening of the entropy profile near the virial radius and consider the implications this has for the assumption of hydrostatic equilibrium when deriving mass estimates. We place these observations in the context of simulations and analytical models to develop a better understanding of non-gravitational physics in the outskirts of the cluster.Comment: 10 pages, 11 figures, accepted to MNRAS; expanded discussion of analysis and uncertainties, results qualitatively unchange

Examining Variability in Superintendent Community Involvement

This study examined the extent to which four independent variables (age, gender, education level, and district type) accounted for variability in superintendent community involvement. Two covariates associated with levels of community involvement (disposition toward community involvement and district enrollment) were infused to assess the impact of the independent variables. Analysis revealed that the model accounted for 8% of the variance as indicated both by R2 and by adjusted R2. Given the number of respondents (1,867), this is considered a medium effect having practical implications in the applied setting. Among the four independent variables, only a single main effect (district type) was found

RISK PERCEPTIONS AND MANAGEMENT RESPONSES: PRODUCER-GENERATED HYPOTHESES FOR RISK MODELING

Farm level risk analyses have used price and yield variability almost exclusively to represent risk. Results from a survey of 149 agricultural producers in 12 states indicate that producers consider a broader range of sources of variability in their operations. Significant differences exist among categories with respect to the importance of the sources of variability in crop and livestock production. Producers also used a variety of management responses to variability. There were significant difference among categories in the importance given to particular responses and their use of them. These results have implications for research, extension, and policy programs.Risk and Uncertainty,

THE ANALYSIS OF OVER-DISPERSED COUNT DATA FROM A SINGLE FACTOR STUDY

Methods for analyzing over-dispersed count data in a one-way layout were compared using a Monte Carlo study. Several variance stabilizing transformations were examined as alternatives to analyzing the raw data using a general linear model. Additionally, generalized linear models were fit using a log link. For the generalized linear model, three approaches to account for over-dispersion were investigated: (1) a negative binomial distribution with known k, (2) a Poisson distribution with Pearson\u27s X2 as an estimate of the scale parameter, and (3) a Poisson distribution with over-dispersion estimated using the deviance. The analysis of the raw data and log transformed data controlled the size of the tests better than the generalized linear models in the region of the sample space studied