| dc.description.abstract | Agricultural producers across a diverse set of enterprises face significant risk each year
when planting begins, livestock are purchased, or a new investment is made in machinery or
facilities. Participants in other industries face risk from financial markets, global trends, and the
preferences of customers. Unique to agriculture is risk from biologically-induced time-lags in
production, climate variability, invasive species and pests, and disease in addition to the risks
faced by other industries. Where some industries are able to spread risk over dozens, hundreds,
even thousands of shareholders, the risk from working in production agricultural commonly
accrues to a single nuclear family, or a small number of relatives.
Farm managers face different decisions daily, and a single choice can significantly
impact profitability. The collection of research in the following essay models under widely
different circumstances in which management must choose between options that represent
significantly different levels of profitability.
The first essay included in this research estimates the cost of a Cattle Fever Tick
eradication procedure in South Texas to an individual ranch and government agencies. The
second essay estimates average daily gain in stocker enterprises based on different levels of days
on pasture, stocking rate, and supplementation, and determines whether days on pasture are
significantly impacted by changing temperature and precipitation. The third essay determines the
value of a theoretical mix of the agricultural revenue coverage (ARC) and price loss coverage
(PLC) programs. | en |
