Economic Analysis of the Changing Structure of the South Dakota Pork Industry

In 1979, 3,232,000 hogs were slaughtered in South Dakota. Only seven states in the nation exceeded this total. This places South Dakota in a position of prominence in the national pork industry. There is considerable physical potential for further growth of the South Dakota pork industry. With ample supplies of land, labor, and feed grain available, the number of hogs and pigs in the state could expand. For this expansion in production to occur, state swine growers would have to alter production plans. The decision to increase numbers of hogs and pigs is influenced by many factors at both the individual and industry level. If those limiting factors can be overcome, South Dakota can advance to an even higher ranking in the pork industry. The South Dakota pork industry has changed over time with fewer firms, larger inventories per farm, and more enterprise specialization. In 1969, 42 percent of South Dakota farms and ranches (19,366 of 45,729) sold hogs and pigs. By 1978, only 33 percent of South Dakota’s farms and ranches (12,999 of 39,600) sold hogs and pigs. Despite the 33 percent reduction in number of hog farms, total inventories of hogs and pigs remained nearly constant. Average inventory increased from 90.3 hogs and pigs per farm in 1969 to 142.3 hogs and pigs per farm in 1978. The only Census inventory category showing an increase in number of hog farms and number of hogs and pigs was the inventory category of farms with 500 or more hogs and pigs. The average number of feeder pigs sold per farm has increased from 115 feeder pigs in 1969 to 209 feeder pigs in 1978. Feeder pig cooperatives are gaining in importance in the state. The number of these specialized operations has increased to approximately 12 in recent years. These changes in pork production have led to the need for more diverse methods of marketing and a higher level of managerial ability for the individual producer. South Dakota\u27s role in the pork industry could change. This study was conducted, in part, to provide a means of gauging the direction in which the state pork industry is moving. Swine numbers could expand, but this decision lies with the producers and the production plans they advocate. This study begins the accumulation of information on this currently unaddressed issue

Swine Marketing in South Dakota: Results of a Producer Survey

South Dakota is one of the top 10 hog production states with about 3 m111ion hogs and pigs marketed and 3.2 million hogs slaughtered in the state each year. This totals 3-4 percent of the nation\u27s hog supply. With ample supplies of available land, labor, and feed grain there is considerable potential for further growth of the South Dakota pork industry if the expansion can be based on profitable production and marketing prospects for producers. In 1980, a pork marketing study was initiated by SDSU to obtain current infonnation on: 1) Organization of hog production and marketing in South Dakota, · 2) The relative importance of specific marketing methods and market channels used by South Dakota pork producers, 3) Market movements and transportation of hogs and pigs in South Dakota. 4} South Dakota pork producers, use of cash markets, forward contracts and futures markets and reasons for using or not using each method. 5} South Dakota pork producers assessments of major factors limiting expansion of hog production on their own farm and in their local area. The major source of data is a marketing survey completed by 587 South Dakota hog and pig producers. This study was aided by the South Dakota Pork Producers Council which printed and included the survey in a March, 1980 newsletter to hog and pig producers

WHOSE HISTORY?: EXPANDING PLACE-BASED INITIATIVES THROUGH OPEN COLLABORATION

This chapter is the case study of a collaboration between the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley’s Teaching & Learning Program and the University Library’s Special Collections. The collaboration, Whose History? uses place-based education (PBE) as the pedagogical underpinning of a multi-stage project of student-developed research, creation, and teaching. While PBE underpins the project, “openness” is the framework around which Whose History? is built. Teaching & Learning undergraduate students, referred to hereafter as teacher-candidates, use special collections resources to conduct research into regional history and culture, and then create open lesson plans from their findings. Select teacher-candidates teach their lesson plans in area classrooms, and exemplary lesson plans are published online as open educational resources, with project facilitators guiding Special Collections and Teaching & Learning student workers through the OER creation process

Geodesics in Heat

We introduce the heat method for computing the shortest geodesic distance to a specified subset (e.g., point or curve) of a given domain. The heat method is robust, efficient, and simple to implement since it is based on solving a pair of standard linear elliptic problems. The method represents a significant breakthrough in the practical computation of distance on a wide variety of geometric domains, since the resulting linear systems can be prefactored once and subsequently solved in near-linear time. In practice, distance can be updated via the heat method an order of magnitude faster than with state-of-the-art methods while maintaining a comparable level of accuracy. We provide numerical evidence that the method converges to the exact geodesic distance in the limit of refinement; we also explore smoothed approximations of distance suitable for applications where more regularity is required

Historical Crop / Climate Relationships in South Dakota

Crop performance and climatic records were collated for high production counties in South Dakota to evaluate the effects of temperature and precipitation on yields. The crops involved were corn, soybeans, sorghum, oats, spring wheat, and winter wheat. Records were compared for the period from 1965 to 1982. The computer data file for each county includes seven climatic parameters, dates of plant development, adjusted yield-and yield rank by year. The crop/climate record for the 17-year period was evaluated in sixteen counties per crop each year. Thus, 272 county x year observations were made for each crop, except for soybeans which involved 12 counties and 204 county x year observations. Multiple regression identify the significant factors influencing yield from a list of fourteen independent variables. The analysis was made on each crop within the designated counties over the 17-year period. In addition to results from multiple regression, salient climatic characteristics of years when yields were high or low for each crop are summarized in the attached report Historical Crop/Climate Relationships in South Dakota - 1965 to 1982 . Available county records in South Dakota identified significant climatic stress periods in the phenology of six crops and provides an excellent opportunity for improving yield prediction. A copy of the computer tape containing the data set (Copyrighted by D. G. Kenefick, 1984) has been provided to the sponsoring agency. Satellite imagery was gathered for seven crop stress situations in South Dakota. Scenes were dated and crops identified as having disease, freeze, or drought conditions. Climatic conditions leading to the stress situations and yield outcome was included in the analysis

Living Up to Expectations: Computing Expert Responses

In cooperative man-machine interaction, it is necessary but not sufficient for a system to respond truthfully and informatively to a user\u27s question. In particular, if the system has reason to believe that its planned response might mislead the user, then it must block that conclusion by modifying its response. This paper focuses on identifying and avoiding potentially misleading responses by acknowledging types of \u27informing behavior\u27 usually expected of an expert. We attempt to give a formal account of several types of assertions that should be included in response to questions concerning the achievement of some goal (in addition to the simple answer), lest the questioner otherwise be misled