Stocker cattle grazing warm season perennial grasses is an important economic activity in the southern Great Plains. Substantial increases in the price of nitrogen fertilizer is negatively affecting forage producers’ profitability. Two alternative nitrogen management systems that use annual...

Revised version of the paper submitted 2/11/2010

No-till (NT) has been shown to reduce fuel, labor, and machinery costs compared to conventional-till (CT) but very few rice producers in Arkansas practice NT. The low adoption rate is most likely due to difficulties in management but also limited information on the profitability and risk of NT....

Farmland and capital are an important and rapidly expanding component of the agricultural economy, and empirical evidence suggests that these assets are quasi-fixed in that adjustment costs are incurred when holdings are altered. Increased interest in the rate of return for investing in farmland...

Average producer practice reveals that the expected returns are greater from dual-purpose wheat grown for both forage and grain than for grain-only wheat. Variety trials report an 11 bushel per acre yield advantage and hence economic advantage for grain-only. Research was conducted to reconcile...

This phase of the research project involves developing a survey instrument to test the validity and predictive value of the variables identified in previous case studies. Given the importance of small farm viability, this research project focuses on identifying ways to further enhance successful...

With the goal of looking for the best fumigant substitute not only effective to production yield but more importantly to profitability and its excellent corresponding mulching option, this study used the complete factorial treatment analysis approach. Seven fumigant options and four mulching...

The objective of this study is to estimate the net effect of education on technology adoption for U.S. farmers. Using 2006 Agricultural Resource Management Survey data, this study develops a simultaneous equations model to integrate farmers’ labor allocation decision with adoption of both time...

A variable rate nitrogen applicator based on optical reflectance measurements was developed to increase profits in wheat production by reducing the cost of production or by increasing grain yield. This paper determines if yields and profits from the variable rate treatments are significantly...

This paper determined the optimal crop rotation in South Central Kansas. The model incorporated net return, risk, and water quality. In general, water quality improved as tillage was reduced within a rotation type and by adding an alfalfa rotation. The optimal crop rotation mixes included wheat,...