COMMODITY POLICY, PRICE INCENTIVES, AND THE GROWTH IN PER-ACRE YIELDS

We estimate the influence of policy-induced price changes and of technology supply on North Carolina flue-cured tobacco yields. The decline in land rent and effective output price that accompanied a 1965 policy change from acreage allotments to poundage quotas caused a 12 percent decrease in yields. Farmer yields were more responsive to yield-increasing technologies under acreage allotments than under poundage quotas. Annual yield growth was 0.5 percent under poundage quotas and 4.32 percent under acreage allotments. The growth rate decline is attributable to changes in relative prices and to a slowdown in the supply of available technologies.Commodity policy, Endogenous yield growth, Flue-cured tobacco, Technical change, Agricultural and Food Policy, Demand and Price Analysis, Research and Development/Tech Change/Emerging Technologies,

Stochastic Dominance in Wheat Variety Development and Release Strategies

Variety development and release decisions involve tradeoffs between yields and characteristics valued by end-users, as well as uncertainties about agronomic, quality, and economic variables. In this study, methods are developed to determine the value of varieties to growers and end-users including the effects of variability in economic, agronomic, and quality variables. The application is to hard red spring (HRS) wheat, a class of wheat for which these tradeoffs and risks are particularly apparent. Results indicate two experimental varieties provide improvements in grower and end-user value, relative to incumbents. Stochastic dominance techniques and statistical tests are applied to determine efficient sets and robustness of the results. A risk-adjusted portfolio model, which simultaneously incorporates correlations between grower and end-use characteristics, is also developed to compare the portfolio value of varieties.end-user value, grower value, portfolio value, stochastic dominance, tradeoffs, variety development, wheat, Crop Production/Industries,

Total Resource Management: A Successful Professional Development Program

The Total Resource Management Program provides an example of how professional development programs can implement participatory approaches to professional development. The pilot project of the Texas Cooperative Extension and collaborators provides opportunity for natural resource management professionals to participate in training exercises relating the principles of strategic management to natural resource management while interacting in a multi-disciplinary training workshop that allows for not only learning from the instructors, but also from their colleagues and peers. The Total Resource Management program is one of the Natural Resource Education & Management Flagship Programs for the state of Texas

EC82-1738 Tree Planting Guide

Site Preparation Proper site preparation is essential to your tree planting operation, and varies with the different climates and soil types. Chemical Control: On sandy soils, rough terrain, or other highly erodible sites, tillage is not recommended. Chemical weed and/or grass killers may be applied to the site in the fall or before planting in the spring. Summer Fallow: This practice is recommended on heavy soil in western Nebraska to conserve soil moisture. This may be accomplished with the aid of occasional disking, subsurface tillage, or chemicals to control weeds. Fall Tillage: In the eastern areas of the state fall plowing is recommended for grassland sites. Cropland may need no fall tillage. All sites should then be disked before spring planting

EXERT and TEAM 21: Partnership for Professional Development

Superintendents and principals need a location and time for professional development. EXERT and TEAM 21 are examples of cooperative school/business/university partnerships which have provided new ways to meet these needs

Communication Limits Due to Photon-Detector Jitter

A theoretical and experimental study was conducted of the limit imposed by photon-detector jitter on the capacity of a pulse-position-modulated optical communication system in which the receiver operates in a photon-counting (weak-signal) regime. Photon-detector jitter is a random delay between impingement of a photon and generation of an electrical pulse by the detector. In the study, jitter statistics were computed from jitter measurements made on several photon detectors. The probability density of jitter was mathematically modeled by use of a weighted sum of Gaussian functions. Parameters of the model were adjusted to fit histograms representing the measured-jitter statistics. Likelihoods of assigning detector-output pulses to correct pulse time slots in the presence of jitter were derived and used to compute channel capacities and corresponding losses due to jitter. It was found that the loss, expressed as the ratio between the signal power needed to achieve a specified capacity in the presence of jitter and that needed to obtain the same capacity in the absence of jitter, is well approximated as a quadratic function of the standard deviation of the jitter in units of pulse-time-slot duration

SOL PROBE AND METHOD OF OBTAINING MOISTURE,TEMPERATURE AND ROOT DISTRIBUTION OF A SOIL PROFILE

To provide a profile of simultaneous moisture, temperature and root density characteristics at different depths of soil, a soil probe is inserted in the soil with a viewing and camera section extending above the soil. Similarly, the probe provides a profile of simultaneous moisture, temperature and presence of molds, insects or other foreign matter in grain or similar media including liquid as well as solid granulated material. The portion of the probe that is in the soil or other media includes a source of light or light conveyance and windows which transmit an image of the soil at various depths along the length of the probe through light conductors for further transmission to the viewing and camera section. Liquid crystals sense the temperature of the soil at different locations and light conductors transmit color changes of the liquid crystals to the surface so that a profile may be compiled of moisture, temperature and root patterns by observation of the transmitted images in the viewing section. Viewed and photographic images can be com pared with known color calibration standards to ascertain in situ moisture and temperature conditions of the soil profile