The grain/oilseed industry is undergoing considerable structural change through mergers and new value-added businesses, which raises price-related questions. We analyze the level of price integration prior to and following a merger between two grain firms and the start-up of a producer-owned...

This paper provides a survey of contract design structures in identity-preserved soybean production. Drawing from economic theories of contract and organizational design, we document the allocation of value and decision rights associated with the transaction and the resulting allocation of risk...

This paper provides a survey of contract design structures in identity-preserved soybean production. Drawing from economic theories of contract and organizational design, we document the allocation of value and decision rights associated with the transaction and the resulting allocation of risk...

Interest in agri-entrepreneurship is increasingly rapidly. While rural communities believe economic growth can come for entrepreneurship, little is being done within colleges of agriculture to prepare students to become entrepreneurs. We report the results of an undergraduate student survey of...

Multiple-objective decision making (MODEM) provides an effective framework for integrated resource assessment of agroecosystems. Two elements of integrated assessment are discussed and illustrated: (1) adding noneconomic objectives as constraints in an optimization problem; and (2) evaluating...

This study examines vertical coordination in the wine industry emerging in Illinois. We find that quality matters as temporal issues related to grape perishability increase the probability of written contracts being used to procure grapes. Holdup concerns related to sourcing adequate quality...

Previous studies that analyzed multiple imputation using survey data did not take into account the survey sampling design. The objective of the current study is to analyze the impact of survey sampling design missing data imputation, using multivariate multiple imputation method. The results of...

An increase in corn prices of the local area tend to occur when an ethanol plant begins operation. The objective of this research is to evaluate the impact of a corn processing ethanol plant on corn price levels. Results indicate that farmers in the nine-county area surrounding Macon, Missouri...

Adopting technologies such as artificial insemination, and the associated improvements in beef herd genetics better position livestock producers to meet anticipated demand increases for high-quality beef. If we examine the factors that influence technology adoption, then we will be better able...

This research used stochastic dominance with respect to a function to evaluate producer preference for cropping systems under uncertainty. Six alternative cropping systems were compared for seven different crops. Many times a producer is familiar a developing market opportunity for a specialty...