Efficiencies of Agricultural Credit Associations of the US Farm Credit System are measured quarte... more Efficiencies of Agricultural Credit Associations of the US Farm Credit System are measured quarterly from 2005 through 2020. A slacks-based measure based on the directional distance function is used with non-performing loans included as an undesirable output. This permitted efficiency scores to be measured by type of defined input or output. Generally, most Associations were highly efficient, but there was deterioration in mean efficiency over the years 2008–2018, a period of financial difficulties in the US agriculture. Efficiencies of Associations that merged or consolidated were tracked before and after these activities. Mergers and consolidations often led to increased efficiencies.
We specify a two-tier stochastic frontier model to estimate a price equation for U.S. Rieslings a... more We specify a two-tier stochastic frontier model to estimate a price equation for U.S. Rieslings and determine overpricing and underpricing of specific wines. The data is for 2000–2016. Using tasting score and tasting score squared as sole independent variables, we found evidence of overpricing and underpricing of wines. When additional location variables were entered, empirical estimates for this two-tier model were infeasible, suggesting that both underpricing and overpricing did not occur simultaneously in this market. Separate one-sided stochastic frontier models were then specified and estimated to test for either under or overpricing in this market. Results showed that overpricing exists and not underpricing, but the extent of overpricing is minor, suggesting that wineries do an efficient job pricing their wines, given tasting scores, conditional on regional location premiums or discounts. We also investigated the effect of scale on pricing for a smaller set of wineries. (JEL C...
Reducing the incidence of listeriosis from contaminated food has significant social health benefi... more Reducing the incidence of listeriosis from contaminated food has significant social health benefits, but reduction requires the use of additional or higher quality inputs at higher costs. We estimate the impact of three inputs in a food processing plant on the prevalence of L. monocytogenes contaminated finished cold smoked salmon. These three inputs were non-contamination of the raw fish fillets, non-contamination of the plant environment, and rate of glove changes on workers. We then estimate the levels of these inputs to use such that the marginal cost of these inputs become equal to the increased social health benefit of reduction in human listeriosis. Since the costs of these inputs are borne by the food processing plant, which may not be able to secure a higher product price because of asymmetric information, we show how social sub-optimal use of these inputs may result.
Rural agricultural banks are similar in legal and operating structure to their urban counterparts... more Rural agricultural banks are similar in legal and operating structure to their urban counterparts yet they face several institutional and environmental conditions that are dissimilar from urban banks. Some of these are the rural banks relative inability to tap the national money markets with their financial instruments and their seasonal loan demand and liquidity requirement resulting from the seasonal agricultural crop production cycle. Because of seasonality of operations, the agricultural bank has normally found it necessary to remain more liquid by holding additional assets as investments, especially during the winter months. These investments, since they are short-term, usually yield a lower return than long-term investments. The lower yield can make many rural banks less profitable than similar-sized urban banks. Disciplines Agribusiness | Environmental Policy | Finance | Public Economics | Urban Studies This report is available at Iowa State University Digital Repository: htt...
Changes in state milk production per cow are analyzed as a time series to determine the form and ... more Changes in state milk production per cow are analyzed as a time series to determine the form and size of increase. Future milk yields are projected using parameter estimates. States are also grouped according to the correlation matrix of residuals to determine which states react similarly to exogenous shocks
Changes in state milk production per cow are analyzed as a time series to determine the form and ... more Changes in state milk production per cow are analyzed as a time series to determine the form and size of increase. Future milk yields are projected using parameter estimates. States are also grouped according to the correlation matrix of residuals to determine which states react similarly to exogenous shocks
A model is developed that shows the usefulness of dynamic optimization in deriving optimal equity... more A model is developed that shows the usefulness of dynamic optimization in deriving optimal equity recovery strategies for a cooperative lending institution. The objective is to minimize the cost of a member borrowing over time. An interest rate surcharge, above the cost of funds and operating cost, is the control variable to be determined. The financial position of the cooperative is described by equity and loan volume, which are the state variables. Applications show how the surcharge, loans, and equity change over time as model parameters are changed.
for additional information. This is an Open Access journal. This means that it uses a funding mod... more for additional information. This is an Open Access journal. This means that it uses a funding model that does not charge readers or their institutions for access. Readers may freely read, download, copy, distribute, print, search, or link to the full texts of articles. This journal is covered under the CC BY-NC-ND license.
In this key note paper, we discuss whether elimination of Mycobacterium avium subspecies paratube... more In this key note paper, we discuss whether elimination of Mycobacterium avium subspecies paratuberculosis (MAP) from dairy farms is a realistic option for modern dairy farms. Longitudinal observational studies have shown that farms may have low apparent prevalence of MAP for long periods of time. This is remarkable as it may be expected that a low prevalence would result in infection fade out from a substantial proportion of the farms. We present data that would indicate that the true MAP prevalence on dairy farms is much higher. Data from tissues collected at slaughter in cows from longitudinally studied herds show an apparent prevalence of infection in culled cows of approximately twenty-five percent. The reasons for this high prevalence are discussed. The impact of this high prevalence for control programs is evaluated using both mathematical, economical and molecular tools. We conclude that elimination of MAP for most dairy farms is more fiction than fact.
Efficiencies of Agricultural Credit Associations of the US Farm Credit System are measured quarte... more Efficiencies of Agricultural Credit Associations of the US Farm Credit System are measured quarterly from 2005 through 2020. A slacks-based measure based on the directional distance function is used with non-performing loans included as an undesirable output. This permitted efficiency scores to be measured by type of defined input or output. Generally, most Associations were highly efficient, but there was deterioration in mean efficiency over the years 2008–2018, a period of financial difficulties in the US agriculture. Efficiencies of Associations that merged or consolidated were tracked before and after these activities. Mergers and consolidations often led to increased efficiencies.
We specify a two-tier stochastic frontier model to estimate a price equation for U.S. Rieslings a... more We specify a two-tier stochastic frontier model to estimate a price equation for U.S. Rieslings and determine overpricing and underpricing of specific wines. The data is for 2000–2016. Using tasting score and tasting score squared as sole independent variables, we found evidence of overpricing and underpricing of wines. When additional location variables were entered, empirical estimates for this two-tier model were infeasible, suggesting that both underpricing and overpricing did not occur simultaneously in this market. Separate one-sided stochastic frontier models were then specified and estimated to test for either under or overpricing in this market. Results showed that overpricing exists and not underpricing, but the extent of overpricing is minor, suggesting that wineries do an efficient job pricing their wines, given tasting scores, conditional on regional location premiums or discounts. We also investigated the effect of scale on pricing for a smaller set of wineries. (JEL C...
Reducing the incidence of listeriosis from contaminated food has significant social health benefi... more Reducing the incidence of listeriosis from contaminated food has significant social health benefits, but reduction requires the use of additional or higher quality inputs at higher costs. We estimate the impact of three inputs in a food processing plant on the prevalence of L. monocytogenes contaminated finished cold smoked salmon. These three inputs were non-contamination of the raw fish fillets, non-contamination of the plant environment, and rate of glove changes on workers. We then estimate the levels of these inputs to use such that the marginal cost of these inputs become equal to the increased social health benefit of reduction in human listeriosis. Since the costs of these inputs are borne by the food processing plant, which may not be able to secure a higher product price because of asymmetric information, we show how social sub-optimal use of these inputs may result.
Rural agricultural banks are similar in legal and operating structure to their urban counterparts... more Rural agricultural banks are similar in legal and operating structure to their urban counterparts yet they face several institutional and environmental conditions that are dissimilar from urban banks. Some of these are the rural banks relative inability to tap the national money markets with their financial instruments and their seasonal loan demand and liquidity requirement resulting from the seasonal agricultural crop production cycle. Because of seasonality of operations, the agricultural bank has normally found it necessary to remain more liquid by holding additional assets as investments, especially during the winter months. These investments, since they are short-term, usually yield a lower return than long-term investments. The lower yield can make many rural banks less profitable than similar-sized urban banks. Disciplines Agribusiness | Environmental Policy | Finance | Public Economics | Urban Studies This report is available at Iowa State University Digital Repository: htt...
Changes in state milk production per cow are analyzed as a time series to determine the form and ... more Changes in state milk production per cow are analyzed as a time series to determine the form and size of increase. Future milk yields are projected using parameter estimates. States are also grouped according to the correlation matrix of residuals to determine which states react similarly to exogenous shocks
Changes in state milk production per cow are analyzed as a time series to determine the form and ... more Changes in state milk production per cow are analyzed as a time series to determine the form and size of increase. Future milk yields are projected using parameter estimates. States are also grouped according to the correlation matrix of residuals to determine which states react similarly to exogenous shocks
A model is developed that shows the usefulness of dynamic optimization in deriving optimal equity... more A model is developed that shows the usefulness of dynamic optimization in deriving optimal equity recovery strategies for a cooperative lending institution. The objective is to minimize the cost of a member borrowing over time. An interest rate surcharge, above the cost of funds and operating cost, is the control variable to be determined. The financial position of the cooperative is described by equity and loan volume, which are the state variables. Applications show how the surcharge, loans, and equity change over time as model parameters are changed.
for additional information. This is an Open Access journal. This means that it uses a funding mod... more for additional information. This is an Open Access journal. This means that it uses a funding model that does not charge readers or their institutions for access. Readers may freely read, download, copy, distribute, print, search, or link to the full texts of articles. This journal is covered under the CC BY-NC-ND license.
In this key note paper, we discuss whether elimination of Mycobacterium avium subspecies paratube... more In this key note paper, we discuss whether elimination of Mycobacterium avium subspecies paratuberculosis (MAP) from dairy farms is a realistic option for modern dairy farms. Longitudinal observational studies have shown that farms may have low apparent prevalence of MAP for long periods of time. This is remarkable as it may be expected that a low prevalence would result in infection fade out from a substantial proportion of the farms. We present data that would indicate that the true MAP prevalence on dairy farms is much higher. Data from tissues collected at slaughter in cows from longitudinally studied herds show an apparent prevalence of infection in culled cows of approximately twenty-five percent. The reasons for this high prevalence are discussed. The impact of this high prevalence for control programs is evaluated using both mathematical, economical and molecular tools. We conclude that elimination of MAP for most dairy farms is more fiction than fact.
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