This paper computes Malmquist agricultural productivity indexes for 125 countries over the period 1961-2001. These are decomposed into efficiency change (i.e., pure technical efficiency and scale efficiency changes) and technical change (i.e., input bias and magnitude components). Results show...

The terms of grazing lease contracts potentially influence a tenant's incentive to preserve the vegetation resource. Annual stocking rate decisions dictate the degree of overgrazing, which can be cumulative over long periods of time. The objective of this study was to identify the impact the...

Data from a western Kansas feedlot were analyzed to estimate the quantitative impacts of price and performance variables on profits per head from finishing cattle. Sale prices, feeder prices, and corn prices had the most impact on profit variability over time. Differences in sale prices, feeder...

This study evaluates the economic competitiveness of a sample of Kansas farrow-to-finish operations by estimating relative firm efficiency using nonparametric mathematical programming techniques. Measures of technical, allocative, scale, economic, and overall efficiency are then related to farm...

This paper examined the relationship between cost efficiency and feed grain production in Kansas. Using data from 2002 to 2011, corn production was significant and positively related to cost efficiency in eastern and western Kansas; while grain sorghum production was significant and positively...

This paper examines the relationship between three expense ratios: total expense ratio; adjusted total expense ratio; and economic total expense ratio; and discusses economies of size for a sample of Kansas farms. The total expense ratio and the adjusted total expense ratios, though commonly...

This paper examined crop machinery investment and cost benchmarks for a sample of Kansas farms. Crop machinery benchmarks varied widely among the farms. On average, crop machinery investment and cost were $227 and $82, respectively. Crop machinery investment and cost were significantly...

Agriculture has seen several periods of both high and low farmer profitability. This has resulted in at least some farmers leaving agriculture because of financial difficulty. Other farmers, however, have managed to survive the bust periods of agriculture and are still farming today. This paper...

This study evaluates the Adjusted Gross Revenue-Lite (AGR-Lite) whole-farm adjusted gross revenue insurance program on net farm income risk using panel data from 49 southeast Kansas beef farms. On average for the group, but not each individual farm, AGR-Lite reduces the mean and standard...

The purpose of this paper is to examine the financial performance of a sample of crop/beef cow farms using the operating profit margin ratio and farm growth as relevant measures. Farms were divided into four performance categories: low profit/low growth; low profit/high growth; high profit/low...