Antimicrobial resistance, which decreases the efficacy of antibiotics and other antimicrobials, h... more Antimicrobial resistance, which decreases the efficacy of antibiotics and other antimicrobials, has led to concerns about the use of antibiotics in livestock production. Consumers play an important role in influencing producers’ decisions about the use of antimicrobials through their choices in the marketplace, which are driven by attitudes toward these practices. This study examines consumers’ levels of concern about (and acceptance of) the use of antibiotics in livestock production for four objectives: to treat, control, and prevent infections, and to promote growth. Results reveal that the majority of respondents were highly concerned about antibiotic use to promote growth in livestock production and considered this use to be unacceptable. Participants with higher objective knowledge of antibiotic resistance and antibiotic use in livestock production were more likely to accept antibiotic use to treat and control disease, but less likely to accept its use to prevent disease or to ...
This paper explores the tradeoffs that agricultural economists accept for current levels of infor... more This paper explores the tradeoffs that agricultural economists accept for current levels of information contained in two U.S. Department of Agriculture livestock reports. Our analysis compares the components of a report to its value in improving understanding of market dynamics, expense, substitutability, and priority to be maintained. Results indicate the importance of maintaining information regarding the placement weights of cattle in feedlots as well as the inventory and weight information for market hogs.
During extreme drought, grazing is unavailable and hay is expensive. Feed and labor costs in conf... more During extreme drought, grazing is unavailable and hay is expensive. Feed and labor costs in confinement cow-calf systems using concentrate diets are not well established. Cows were wintered in semi-confinement and costs determined. Results indicate that high concentrate confinement systems diets may provide alternatives to forage based cow-calf systems.
This working paper discusses preliminary ideas of a research project that explores the performanc... more This working paper discusses preliminary ideas of a research project that explores the performance of marketing strategies. In this first step only strategies using futures contracts for soybeans are examined. A set of 26 marketing strategies was simulated between 1997 and 2012 based on November futures prices and cash prices in Nebraska. Initial findings suggest that mean returns tend to be higher (lower) when larger (smaller) portions of crop are sold with futures contracts, and when those sales happen in the summer (spring and fall). However, those strategies that yield higher returns also bring larger dispersion of returns, which raises the need to discuss tradeoffs between risk and return. Finally, it was investigated whether a group of strategies could consistently outperform the others, but no evidence was found to support this idea.
This study tests whether information provided by the U.S. Drought Monitor impacted futures prices... more This study tests whether information provided by the U.S. Drought Monitor impacted futures prices for commodities between 2000 and 2012. Results based on the November futures prices for soybeans indicate that there is a statistically significant difference in mean and variance of absolute percentage price changes between days when the Drought Monitor is released and other days. Further analysis suggests that the effect of the Drought Monitor information varies during the year. In particular, absolute percentage price changes are generally smaller on report days than on non-report days during the winter and spring, but are larger on report days than on non-report days during the summer. Finally, focusing on the impact on prices of the magnitude of drought conditions, there is evidence that larger areas under extreme drought conditions lead to larger absolute price changes.
Consumers are becoming increasingly interested in how their food is produced. Many studies have f... more Consumers are becoming increasingly interested in how their food is produced. Many studies have focused on consumers’ preferences and willingness-to-pay for specific production method claims; however, few studies have asked consumers to prioritize (rank) the importance of different production method claims. In this study, we use a best-worst scaling approach to have consumers rank the importance of seven common production method claims across four product types: beef, milk, chicken, and eggs. Results of the study show that consumers often prefer specific individual claims (e.g., animals were not treated with growth hormones, no GMOs used in production) as opposed to broader, more encompassing claims (such as product is certified organic). Additionally, the majority of preference shares were captured by the top three claims, so livestock producers could utilize this information to optimize their current labeling schemes.
Purpose The purpose of this paper is to empirically examine the financial outcomes from forage pr... more Purpose The purpose of this paper is to empirically examine the financial outcomes from forage production and RI-PRF insurance interval for two locations in Nebraska. Both locations provide historical forage production and precipitation data, allowing the authors to examine the relation between RI-PRF net income and forage production. Design/methodology/approach The authors focus on evaluating the producer net income and risk (measured as variance of net income) by examining the relation between farm precipitation and production and comparing multiple insurance intervals to no insurance. Each insurance interval will likely have a different relation (basis risk) between observed production and return from insurance and, therefore, a different impact on the variance of net incomes. The impact on variance of net incomes identifies the risk-reducing aspects of RI-PRF insurance intervals. The authors then rank each scenario into four mutually exclusive zones that describe the risk-reduci...
Antimicrobial resistance, which decreases the efficacy of antibiotics and other antimicrobials, h... more Antimicrobial resistance, which decreases the efficacy of antibiotics and other antimicrobials, has led to concerns about the use of antibiotics in livestock production. Consumers play an important role in influencing producers’ decisions about the use of antimicrobials through their choices in the marketplace, which are driven by attitudes toward these practices. This study examines consumers’ levels of concern about (and acceptance of) the use of antibiotics in livestock production for four objectives: to treat, control, and prevent infections, and to promote growth. Results reveal that the majority of respondents were highly concerned about antibiotic use to promote growth in livestock production and considered this use to be unacceptable. Participants with higher objective knowledge of antibiotic resistance and antibiotic use in livestock production were more likely to accept antibiotic use to treat and control disease, but less likely to accept its use to prevent disease or to ...
This paper explores the tradeoffs that agricultural economists accept for current levels of infor... more This paper explores the tradeoffs that agricultural economists accept for current levels of information contained in two U.S. Department of Agriculture livestock reports. Our analysis compares the components of a report to its value in improving understanding of market dynamics, expense, substitutability, and priority to be maintained. Results indicate the importance of maintaining information regarding the placement weights of cattle in feedlots as well as the inventory and weight information for market hogs.
During extreme drought, grazing is unavailable and hay is expensive. Feed and labor costs in conf... more During extreme drought, grazing is unavailable and hay is expensive. Feed and labor costs in confinement cow-calf systems using concentrate diets are not well established. Cows were wintered in semi-confinement and costs determined. Results indicate that high concentrate confinement systems diets may provide alternatives to forage based cow-calf systems.
This working paper discusses preliminary ideas of a research project that explores the performanc... more This working paper discusses preliminary ideas of a research project that explores the performance of marketing strategies. In this first step only strategies using futures contracts for soybeans are examined. A set of 26 marketing strategies was simulated between 1997 and 2012 based on November futures prices and cash prices in Nebraska. Initial findings suggest that mean returns tend to be higher (lower) when larger (smaller) portions of crop are sold with futures contracts, and when those sales happen in the summer (spring and fall). However, those strategies that yield higher returns also bring larger dispersion of returns, which raises the need to discuss tradeoffs between risk and return. Finally, it was investigated whether a group of strategies could consistently outperform the others, but no evidence was found to support this idea.
This study tests whether information provided by the U.S. Drought Monitor impacted futures prices... more This study tests whether information provided by the U.S. Drought Monitor impacted futures prices for commodities between 2000 and 2012. Results based on the November futures prices for soybeans indicate that there is a statistically significant difference in mean and variance of absolute percentage price changes between days when the Drought Monitor is released and other days. Further analysis suggests that the effect of the Drought Monitor information varies during the year. In particular, absolute percentage price changes are generally smaller on report days than on non-report days during the winter and spring, but are larger on report days than on non-report days during the summer. Finally, focusing on the impact on prices of the magnitude of drought conditions, there is evidence that larger areas under extreme drought conditions lead to larger absolute price changes.
Consumers are becoming increasingly interested in how their food is produced. Many studies have f... more Consumers are becoming increasingly interested in how their food is produced. Many studies have focused on consumers’ preferences and willingness-to-pay for specific production method claims; however, few studies have asked consumers to prioritize (rank) the importance of different production method claims. In this study, we use a best-worst scaling approach to have consumers rank the importance of seven common production method claims across four product types: beef, milk, chicken, and eggs. Results of the study show that consumers often prefer specific individual claims (e.g., animals were not treated with growth hormones, no GMOs used in production) as opposed to broader, more encompassing claims (such as product is certified organic). Additionally, the majority of preference shares were captured by the top three claims, so livestock producers could utilize this information to optimize their current labeling schemes.
Purpose The purpose of this paper is to empirically examine the financial outcomes from forage pr... more Purpose The purpose of this paper is to empirically examine the financial outcomes from forage production and RI-PRF insurance interval for two locations in Nebraska. Both locations provide historical forage production and precipitation data, allowing the authors to examine the relation between RI-PRF net income and forage production. Design/methodology/approach The authors focus on evaluating the producer net income and risk (measured as variance of net income) by examining the relation between farm precipitation and production and comparing multiple insurance intervals to no insurance. Each insurance interval will likely have a different relation (basis risk) between observed production and return from insurance and, therefore, a different impact on the variance of net incomes. The impact on variance of net incomes identifies the risk-reducing aspects of RI-PRF insurance intervals. The authors then rank each scenario into four mutually exclusive zones that describe the risk-reduci...
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Papers by Kathleen Brooks