This paper examines two interrelated issues in commodity markets, namely, the cyclical relationship between stocks and commodities and the function of commodity and agribusiness indexes in portfolios. A high negative correlation has existed between stock and commodity prices over the past 140...

We develop testable hypotheses for utility maximization given risk averse producers based on a general specification of the utility function. This is a direct expansion of the model posed by Pope (1978). Empirical tests using production data with a translog specification indicate that utility...

This research investigates the potential of investments in publicly traded value adding firms in the meat industry as a strategy for livestock producers to diversify risk and capture value-added profits, while allowing the producer to maintain management authority and minimize costs. The...

This essay is one of 23 featured authors from around the world discussing the challenges and solutions to filling the global talent gap in agribusiness. www.ifama.org

This case study uses current dynamics in the U.S. beef cattle industry to illustrate the use of financial analysis tools such as net present value in making investment decisions. Two problems face the livestock producer in this case study: 1) should the producer purchase replacement females or...

Purpose – The aim of this study is to use a financial approach based on the Du Pont expansion to investigate the impact of demographics, specialization, tenure, vertical integration, farm type, and regional location on the three levers of performance (ROE) – namely, net profit margins, asset...

The principal goal of this research is to determine why university students, part of the Millennial Generation, choose to purchase produce from a farmers market. Students who cook multiple meals and use produce in these meals at their place of residence are more likely to shop at a farmers...

During the financial downturn of 2008, asset classes that investors traditionally found to have low correlation with U.S. stocks became more highly correlated at the most inopportune time. Post-downturn, investors increasingly looked for alternative assets that offer diversification benefits,...

On March 7, 2012, ABC News aired a report on the use of lean, finely textured beef (LFTB), or “pink slime” as its reporters dubbed it. Although this was not the first time LFTB had been the subject of negative criticism on a national scale, the attention is no longer just coming from...