Technology Adoption and Its Impact on Production Performance of Dairy Operations

Data from the 1993 Agricultural Resource Management Study were used to examine the impact of technology adoption on production performance of a sample of dairy farms. Findings showed that the adoption of a capital- or a management-intense technology would measurably lower the likelihood of a farmer being in the lowest quartile of production performance. The economic costs of milk production by the top-performance group were estimated to be 53% lower than those by the low-performance group, providing evidence of the importance of improved production practices to the viability of many dairy operations.     

Determinants of economic well-being among U.S. farm operator households

Participation in government programs has a mild impact on the economic well‐being of U.S. farm households. Major factors that determine farm household prosperity are the primary operator's education level and ethnicity, education level of the spouse, and other characteristics such as forward purchasing of inputs, use of contract shipping of products, having a succession plan, farm ownership, and location in a metro area. This article uses the 2001 Agricultural Resource Management Survey (ARMS) as well as relative and an absolute measure to assess U.S. farm households' economic well‐being. The relative measure compares the income and wealth position of farm households relative to median income and median wealth of the general population. The absolute measure adds annualized wealth to a farm household's income.     

Off-Farm Labor Participation Decisions of Married Farm Couples and the Role of Government Payments

The determinants of off-farm work by married farm couples are examined using data from the 2004 Agricultural Resource Management Survey and multinomial logistic regression. Expected government payment is found important in decreasing the likelihood of off-farm work strategies involving work by the husband only or by both husband and wife relative to a strategy of no work by either husband or wife. The marginal impact of government payments on the probability of the wife working off farm alone is found positive suggesting the possibility of nonpecuniary motives for off-farm employment for 21% of farm households in the selected weighted sample.     

The Impact of Coupled and Decoupled Government Subsidies on Off-Farm Labor Participation of U.S. Farm Operators

With the 1996 Farm Act, the United States introduced payments that were designed to be "decoupled." Labor allocation choices are likely to be affected by receipt of payments, and income from off-farm jobs has been the major source of income for most farm households for sometime. This article examines whether the 1996 change has affected the off-farm labor participation of farm households. We conclude that the observed increase in off-farm participation of farm operators who received payments was not the result of the 1996 policy change. Government payments, whether coupled or decoupled, have a negative effect on off-farm labor participation.     

The Adoption and Impact of Bovine Somatotropin on U.S. Dairy Farms

Data from a national survey representative of U.S. dairy operations were used to assess adoption and the production and financial impacts of recombinant bovine somatotropin (rbST). Adoption rates of rbST varied significantly across the nation, but were higher among larger diary operations in all regions. However, the scale bias of rbST adoption was substantially diminished when the influence of location and the use of related technologies were measured. An increase in milk production per cow was associated with rbST adoption, but estimated financial impacts were not statistically significant due to substantial variation in the net returns of rbST adopters.