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Long-Term Planning of a Livestock-Crop Farm Under Government Programs

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  28 April 2015

Pierre-Justin Kouka
Affiliation:
University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff
Patricia A. Duffy
Affiliation:
Department of Agricultural Economics and Rural Sociology at Auburn University, Alabama
C. Robert Taylor
Affiliation:
Department of Agricultural Economics and Rural Sociology at Auburn University, Alabama

Abstract

Optimal crop and livestock mix was determined for a representative Alabama farm using a dynamic programming model. Results indicate that decisions concerning livestock production are highly influenced by the amount of cotton base available on the farm. In most cases, increasing cotton base results in less cattle production. The triple base provisions of the 1990 Farm Bill, however, may give some cotton farmers an incentive to produce more stocker cattle during the winter months. Research results also indicate that the availability of farm programs can alter the optimal enterprise mix on a farm with no beginning base in cotton.

Type
Articles
Copyright
Copyright © Southern Agricultural Economics Association 1994

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