33 research outputs found
A Whole-Farm Profitability Analysis of Organic and Conventional Cropping Systems
Replaced with revised version of paper 05/26/11.Organic Farming, Profitability, Farm Size, Machinery Cost, Crop Production/Industries, Farm Management, Risk and Uncertainty,
Genome sequence of an Australian kangaroo, Macropus eugenii, provides insight into the evolution of mammalian reproduction and development.
BACKGROUND: We present the genome sequence of the tammar wallaby, Macropus eugenii, which is a member of the kangaroo family and the first representative of the iconic hopping mammals that symbolize Australia to be sequenced. The tammar has many unusual biological characteristics, including the longest period of embryonic diapause of any mammal, extremely synchronized seasonal breeding and prolonged and sophisticated lactation within a well-defined pouch. Like other marsupials, it gives birth to highly altricial young, and has a small number of very large chromosomes, making it a valuable model for genomics, reproduction and development. RESULTS: The genome has been sequenced to 2 Ă— coverage using Sanger sequencing, enhanced with additional next generation sequencing and the integration of extensive physical and linkage maps to build the genome assembly. We also sequenced the tammar transcriptome across many tissues and developmental time points. Our analyses of these data shed light on mammalian reproduction, development and genome evolution: there is innovation in reproductive and lactational genes, rapid evolution of germ cell genes, and incomplete, locus-specific X inactivation. We also observe novel retrotransposons and a highly rearranged major histocompatibility complex, with many class I genes located outside the complex. Novel microRNAs in the tammar HOX clusters uncover new potential mammalian HOX regulatory elements. CONCLUSIONS: Analyses of these resources enhance our understanding of marsupial gene evolution, identify marsupial-specific conserved non-coding elements and critical genes across a range of biological systems, including reproduction, development and immunity, and provide new insight into marsupial and mammalian biology and genome evolution
Threshold Effects in Transition to Organic Dairy Production
Despite dramatic increases in retail demand for organic milk and steadily increasing organic
milk prices over the past 15 years, transition from conventional to organic dairy
production has been unsteady. In some years supply has not met demand, leading to
shortages of organic milk, and in other years organic dairy processors have been forced
to sell organic milk in the conventional market. Following the theory of investment under
uncertainty we estimate the organic transition response of dairy producers to feed and
milk prices while allowing for distinct regimes of investment, disinvestment, and inaction.
Using a threshold estimation technique developed for panel data we estimate the
threshold values that define these regimes. We find some support for a discontinuity in
the organic transition response, though a double threshold model, including a sluggish
transition regime, is rejected
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Agribusiness Study Abroad Programs and Their Potential for Fostering a More Inclusive Climate
Comparative Profitability of Organic and Conventional Cropping Systems: An Update to Per-Hectare and Whole-Farm Analysis
Introduction : Two recent papers, Delbridge et al. (2011) and Delbridge et al. (2013), have used agricultural trial data from Southwestern Minnesota to compare the profitability of organic and conventional cropping systems. These analyses found that organic cropping systems can earn more on a per-hectare basis (Delbridge et al., 2011) and a whole-farm basis (Delbridge et al., 2013) than a conventional cropping system, given the same machinery and labor endowments. However, in the years since the collection of the agricultural trial data on which these analyses are based, conventional grain prices have reached record levels and some organic crop producers have begun to abandon their organic certification and return to conventional production. The strong performance of conventional crop producers in 2011-2012 raises the question: would the results of these analyses hold if they included more recent data? This paper answers this question by updating the analyses performed by Delbridge et al. (2011) and Delbridge et al. (2013) with 2011 and 2012 yield and management data from the Variable Input Crop Management Systems (VICMS) trial and more recent input and output price information
The Neighbor Effect: The Nature of Spatial Externalities in the Decision to Adopt Organic Production Systems
Transitioning to Organic Crop Production: A Dynamic Programming Approach
Despite evidence that organic cropping systems in the Midwest can be more profitable than
conventional systems, only a small percentage of cropland has been certified as organic. This
paper models the decision to transition to organic crop production as a dynamic programming
problem in which investment is reversible but includes sunk costs. Results indicate that the risk
and unrecoverable costs associated with organic transition lead to a significant option value, and
this provides a partial explanation for low transition rates in the baseline scenario. Sensitivity to
expected organic yield and price levels is explored, as are the costliness of reverse transition and
the short-term effect of high conventional return levels
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