Abstract Hoop house plasticulture has been promoted as a production technology that allows fruit and vegetable crops to be grown in the cool season months in early spring and late fall. At this time little information regarding the economics of hoop house plasticulture is available. Two fruit...

The parameters of yield response functions can vary by year. Past studies usually assume yield functions are nonstochastic or ‘limited’ stochastic. In this study, we estimate rye-ryegrass yield functions where all parameters are random. Optimal nitrogen rates are calculated for two yield...

The objective was to determine the expected net value of a no-till forage production and grazing system. Reduction in fuel and machinery costs offset the costs of herbicide application. The net value of the no-till system is $31 per acre, and is quite sensitive to relative differences in cattle...

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...

Switchgrass (panicum virgatum L.), a viable option for second-generation renewable fuels, has an extended harvest window with optimal harvest affected by yield, storage losses and nutrient uptake. This research shows that optimal harvest occurs later than maximum yield for Haskell, OK and...

A spreadsheet-based tool that tracks cow-calf producer net returns (NR) and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions was used to determine the impact of calving season for three typical farm sizes and four fertilization strategies in Arkansas. Economic and environmental changes were examined for spring,...

Concern over GHG emissions has producers analyzing cattle production alternatives. One way producers can modify emissions is by changing herd sire genetics. The ‘Bull Estimator’, part of a recently developed cow-calf profitability and GHG spreadsheet tool, shows that genetic change can...

U.S. agriculture has seen a decrease in of producers under the age of 35 entering agriculture for the past thirty years. This paper will explore the design and possible implementation of an innovative loan program designed give qualifying new young and beginning producers concessionary interest...

Replaced with revised version of paper 06/04/09.

The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) has determined that agricultural irrigation in Arkansas’ Delta is unsustainable with significant negative economic repercussions on producers net returns affected by the Alluvial aquifer. This study examines how irrigation restrictions in that region would...