Purpose: The purpose of this study is to estimate the amount of cash flow deficit, if any, needed to maintain the operating costs and service debt of a startup cow–calf enterprise. The study compares long-term profitability and risk between starting small and building a herd to full carrying...

Purpose: The objective of this research was to determine the optimal age and pregnancy status for buying and selling replacement of beef females for risk-neutral and risk-averse producers. Design/methodology/approach: A hedonic pricing model was estimated to measure how age, pregnancy status,...

Two primary potable water-treatment technologies used in South Texas include conventional surface-water and reverse-osmosis (RO) desalination of brackish-groundwater. As the region's population continues to grow, municipalities are searching for economical means to expand their water supplies....

Accumulation of nitrates in hay can be toxic to cattle, and managing nitrate levels in hay production could be costly. We determine the price premium a hay producer needs to receive for cattle-safe, low-nitrate hay to continued managing nitrate levels. Profit-maximizing nitrogen rates were...

Precision agriculture has the capability to reduce excess nitrogen (N) from crop production being released into the environment. This research evaluates the profitability and N use efficiency of utilizing real-time optical sensing with variable-rate technologies (VRT) to manage spatial...

Native warm-season grasses (NWSGs) have demonstrated potential to reduce summer forage variability in the region, and there has been growing interest in the use of NWSGs as a lignocellulosic biomass crop. The objectives of this research were to determine if there was a difference in beef yield...

Livestock Risk Protection Insurance (LRP) is a risk management tool available to cattle producers protecting against price declines. It can be used to establish a price floor much like a put option. The primary difference between put options and LRP is LRP can be purchased for as few as one...