CUSTOM DAIRY HEIFER GROWING: SUMMARY AND ANALYSIS OF A 2001 GROWER SURVEY

While dairy farms have been increasing in size and specialization for decades, recent years have witnessed an acceleration of these trends. As a dairy farm specializes in milking cows, other enterprises are often curtailed. Management, labor, and capital constraints necessitate a movement towards outsourcing activities that were once a part of the smaller, but more diversified, dairy operation. One increasingly common example of outsourcing among dairy farmers is utilizing a custom replacement heifer grower. By outsourcing the replacement heifer enterprise, a dairy farmer may free up labor, management, feed, or facilities for use by the milking herd. As might be expected, an industry sub-sector has been created in response to the demand for custom heifer raising. However, little objective and comprehensive information is available about this sub-sector. This project was undertaken to begin to examine custom heifer growers, their management practices, operations size, and contracts. The survey results and analysis presented here may be useful for existing custom heifer growers, dairy farmers, dairy industry personnel, and others interested in the custom heifer sub-sector.Livestock Production/Industries,

ANALYZING REPRODUCTIVE MANAGEMENT STRATEGIES ON DAIRY FARMS

Milk sales are the largest source of revenue on dairy farms. Reproduction is necessary to generate a new lactation. However, a pregnancy also dictates when the previous lactation must end so that the cow can retain sufficient condition into her new lactation. Pregnancy rate and estrus detection rate determine reproductive success. From an economics point of view, we talk about calving interval or days open so that a dollar value can be easily associated with the reproductive management program.Livestock Production/Industries,

2004 Michigan Dairy Farm Business Analysis Summary

This report summarizes the financial and production records of 144 dairy farms from throughout Michigan. To be included, the farms must have produced at least 50 percent of gross cash farm income from milk and dairy animal sales. The farms in this report were located throughout Michigan. The records came from Michigan State University's Telfarm project, the Farm Credit Service system, or by AgriSolutions in Michigan. The values were pooled into averages for reporting purposes. The farms are larger than would be the average of all dairy farms in Michigan. While considerable variation in the data exist, average values are reported in the summary tables and discussion that follows.Livestock Production/Industries,

Low-temperature infrared dielectric function of hyperbolic α\alpha-quartz

We report the infrared dielectric properties of $\alpha$-quartz in the temperature range from $1.5\ \mathrm{K}$ to $200\ \mathrm{K}$. Using an infrared free-electron laser, far-infrared reflectivity spectra of a single crystal $y$-cut were acquired along both principal axes, under two different incidence angles, in S- and P-polarization. These experimental data have been fitted globally for each temperature with a multioscillator model, allowing to extract frequencies and damping rates of the ordinary and extraordinary, transverse and longitudinal optic phonon modes, and hence the temperature-dependent dispersion of the infrared dielectric function. The results are in line with previous high-temperature studies, allowing for a parametrized description of all temperature-dependent phonon parameters and the resulting dielectric function from $1.5\ \mathrm{K}$ up to the $\alpha$-$\beta$-phase transition temperature, $T_C = 846\ \mathrm{K}$. Using these data, we predict remarkably high quality factors for polaritons in $\alpha$-quartz's hyperbolic spectral region at low temperatures

Understanding Citizen Complaints Regarding Michigan Agricultural Operations

citizen complaints, environmental compliance, livestock farms, manure management, Environmental Economics and Policy, Farm Management, Q24, Q53, Q58,

THE ECONOMICS OF MANAGING WILDLIFE DISEASE

The spread of infectious disease among and between wild domesticated animals has become a major problem worldwide. Upon analyzing the dynamics of wildlife growth and infection when the disease animals cannot be identified separately from healthy wildlife prior to the kill, we find that harvest-based strategies alone have no impact on disease transmission. Other controls that directly influence disease transmission and/or mortality are required. Next, we analyze the socially optimal management of infectious wildlife. The model is applied to the problem of bovine tuberculosis among Michigan white-tailed deer, with non-selective harvests and supplemental feeding being the control variables. Using a two-state linear control model, we find a two-dimensional singular path is optimal (as opposed to a more conventional bang-bang solution) as part of a cycle that results in the disease remaining endemic in the wildlife. This result follows from non-selective harvesting and intermittent wildlife productivity gains from supplemental feeding.Resource /Energy Economics and Policy,

ECONOMICS OF HEIFER RAISING OPTIONS

As dairy farms grow and specialize in milking cows, one enterprise that may be removed from the dairy farm to allow for milk cow herd expansion is heifer raising. Custom heifer raising is increasingly common across the country and purchasing heifers may be preferred to raising heifers. However, these alternatives are not suitable for all dairy farmers. In this article, we examine heifer enterprise costs relative to using a custom raiser or purchasing heifers. We identify factors that should be considered in making the proper decision relative to the heifer enterprise.Livestock Production/Industries,

THE POTENTIAL OF DAIRY FUTURES CONTRACTS AS RISK MANAGEMENT TOOLS

We examine the young dairy futures market as a risk management tool. Using New York Board of Trade (NYBOT) data, we find that the BFP futures market is efficient and may potentially be a useful hedging tool. However, we also find that competition from Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) contracts has significant detrimental effects on the NYBOT dairy futures contracts. As a result NYBOT dairy futures contracts are likely to dry up.Financial Economics, Livestock Production/Industries,

Youth Violence Myths and Realities: A Tale of Three Cities

A study of media coverage of youth violence, actual crime data, and interviews with committed youth and the professionals that work with them

TECHNOLOGY VALUATION DISTRIBUTIONS WITH HETEROGENEOUS ADOPTERS

This paper examines technology benefit allocation between an innovating firm and heterogeneous technology adopters. Using a triangular distribution of adopter innovation value, we find that as the upper bound increases, optimal innovation price increases, but at a slower rate. Similarly, as the lower bound decreases, price decreases and producer benefits increase. Finally, greater producer heterogeneity leads to greater producer benefits from innovation in non-competitive markets. An empirical application of the model is considered, bovine somatotropin adoption on dairy farms. The model generates an intuitive explanation of the common finding that average adopters are making zero or negative profits.Research and Development/Tech Change/Emerging Technologies,