A structural probit model is estimated to determine the change in the probability of selecting a milk handler. Cooperatives are thought to have lower prices and higher deductions than independent milk handlers and these factors reduce the probability that a farmer will select a cooperative by...

Much of the increase use of vertical coordination in the U.S. swine industry has taken place through contract production. While the incidence of contracting is much higher in nontraditional hog production areas, a growing number of Midwestern producers are being faced with contract options. A...

This paper determines the effects of cattle feeders' risk aversion on feeder cattle prices using pen data of Kansas feedlots. Higher profit risk results in lower feeder cattle prices. The elasticity of feeder cattle price with respect to profit risk was small (-0.013). The risk elasticity...

The study examines Louisiana small farmers' reasons for not participating in the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP), their awareness of the program, and their willingness to participate in the program. The results suggest that: farmers do not participate in the CRP if revenues from cropland are...

A dynamic model is developed to analyze farmers' irrigation investment and crop choice decisions under alternative water quality protection policies. The model is applied to an empirical example in the Oklahoma High Plains. The choices of crops and irrigation systems and the resulting levels of...

A multinomial logit model was estimated and used to analyze the impact of various producer characteristics on the adoption of flow-through and recirculating technology in soft-shelled crab production. Because of the industry's geographic isolation and high turnover rate, data was collected by...

The rice stink bug is a major pest of rice in Texas, causing quality related damage. The previous threshold used for assisting in rice stink bug spray decisions lacked flexibility in economic and production decision variables and neglected the dynamics of the pest population. Using stochastic...