A MARKOV CHAIN ANALYSIS OF PORK FARM SIZE DISTRIBUTIONS IN THE SOUTH

Concerns over declining farm numbers, shifts in farm size distribution, and associated infrastructural problems have led to a heightened awareness of structural considerations within policy making circles. Future policy decisions will have substantial structural consequences for the agricultural industry. Often, however, the indirect effects of grain pricing policies on the livestock sector have been overlooked in these policy decisions. The incorporation of price effects into a Markov chain analysis of pork farm size distributions and the simulation of those projections to the year 2000 under various price scenarios should provide some insight into the future structure of livestock farming in the South.