Agribusiness Commons^™

Opolo Vineyards Sip Certification Analysis, Brett Champlin, Ashley Edwards, Megan Jonson, Sebastian Silveira

Case Studies in Agribusiness

The case explores what led Opolo Winery to become a Sustainability in Practice winery.

Opolo Vineyards Sip Certification Analysis, Brett Champlin, Ashley Edwards, Megan Jonson, Sebastian Silveira

Case Studies in Agribusiness

Opolo Vineyard decided to pursue a "Sustainability in Practice" certification for their winery operation. The process is discussed along with how Opolo plans to communicate what the certification means.

Feasibility Analysis Of A Hop Farm In Edna Valley, Ca, Brandon James Spreafico

Agribusiness

No abstract provided.

Agribusiness Department Recruitment Study, Zoe Alyssa Sanchez

Agribusiness

The Agribusiness (AGB) Department within the College of Agriculture, Food, and Environmental Sciences (CAFES) of California Polytechnic State University (Cal Poly) is interested in understanding why AGB freshmen are motivated to choose AGB as their major. Consequently, this recruitment study was undertaken to assist the Department in determining why freshmen chose AGB as their major. This study also attempts to assist the Department in understanding freshmen’s overall experience applying to Cal Poly and their perceptions related to agricultural business.

Two surveys were created and used to collect data on freshmen’s overall application experience and perceptions surrounding agricultural business. The collected …

Survey Research Of The Canned Craft Beer Industry, Scott Taylor Hogland

Agribusiness

This study on the canned craft beer industry was done to see whether or not a significant correlation between one’s age and their willingness to purchase craft beers in cans exists. Furthermore, it sets out to test how creating further consumer awareness highlighting the beneficial aspects of cans versus bottles could affect one’s purchasing decisions.

In order to test the hypothesis that millennials are more open to purchasing canned craft beer, the statistical analysis software SPSS has been utilized. Frequencies have been run on every survey question to obtain an analysis of the entire population. Chi-square variance tests and independence …

State Bred Event Days Effect On Attendance And On-Track Wagering In Comparison To Open Race Day Counterparts, Cynthia C. Gumber

Master's Theses

Since 1978 casino and gaming facilities in the United States have grown substantially. Drawing outside customers has helped to improve the local communities surrounding the gaming facilities. In a similar fashion, United States horse racing aims at increasing traffic and wagering at race tracks throughout the United States (but unlike casinos little expansion). Along with the fiscal impact to the United States, the horse racing industry has created thousands of jobs, and the industry is experiencing continual growth in nominal gross wagering. Many state’s have breeder programs that enhance purses and horses bred and raced in- state. The goal of …

The History Of Trial Gardens, Hallie Schmidt

Horticulture and Crop Science

Essay explores the history of home gardening and seed industry in America and the conditions that led to the development of the All-America Selections.

Feasibility Study For A Brewpub, John Galante, Daniel Price

Agribusiness

No abstract provided.

A Study To Determine The Agricultural Perceptions Of High School Students For The "I Love Farmers…They Feed My Soul!" Organization, Mindy N. Burris

Master's Theses

The purpose of this study is to identify a target market of the “I Love Farmers…They Feed My Soul!” (ILF) organization and establish marketing techniques for the organization. ILF is a non-profit organization committed to connecting the younger generations with information about agriculture and how food is produced.

This study thoroughly investigated the markets in three geographic areas throughout California. Surveys were administered to three high school’s English classes to gather data for analysis. The analysis identified the target market of the ILF organization and the associations between each target market and responses to questions regarding their agricultural knowledge, social …

A Cost Analysis Of The Addition Of An Onion Processing Line To Taylor Farms: Salinas, California, Garett Sabaska

Agribusiness

Taylor Farms has been one of the leading foodservice companies for the past 17 years. It is looking to expand its operations to include a line that would process red and yellow onions. To determine if this expansion would prove to be profitable, a projected budget for three scenarios was created. The scenarios were formulated to account for the “normal” base period, a “worst” case scenario, and a “best” case scenario. These three scenarios would account for periods where revenues and expenses were either higher or lower than the expected averages. The initial start-up costs as well as expenses of …

Grass-Fed Dairy Steer Enterprise Analysis For Alexandre Family Ecodairy Farms, Joseph Jackson Alexandre

Agribusiness

Alexandre Family EcoDairy Farms (AFEF) is a family dairy farm, producing organic milk in northern California. In the last decade, AFEF has been expanding in value added natural food enterprises, including pastured free-range eggs, pastured pork and grass-fed beef.

This study focuses on the analysis of an organic grass-fed ground beef from dairy-beef cross steers coming from AFEF. The grass fed beef enterprise was analyzed by adopting a UC Davis cost and returns study, modifying it to AFEF production limitations and conditions. Through partial budgeting analysis, opportunity costs were discovered leading to breakeven prices for the final grass fed ground …

Design And Cost Analysis Of A Wetland Project, Matthew Rolen

BioResource and Agricultural Engineering

This senior project discusses the cost and design of a thirty acre wetland habitat project. This project demonstrates the importance that wetlands play for waterfowl as well as wildlife. The project will also discuss the changes made to the habitat and the importance of that. Also the unique design of the habitat will be explained. The main purpose of the project is the cost analysis of it. The budget of the project and the funding it takes to develop or preserve such a project.

Business Strategy For A Newly Designed Husk Fly Trap, Taylor Denney

BioResource and Agricultural Engineering

This senior project discusses the analysis, evaluation and business strategy for a newly designed Husk Fly Trap from Ag Chem Wholesalers located in Yuba City, California. This prototype is designed to hold 2 to 3 weeks’ worth of Ammonium Carbonate and alleviate the hassle of monitoring the Walnut Husk Fly. This system is cost affective, able to hold the same amount, or 2 – 3 weeks, of Ammonium Carbonate as a “supercharged” trap. The Prototype Trap is easier to handle by not having to replace blown away traps or ruined sticky cards saving Pest Control Advisors time and allowing them …

A Feasibility Study Of Agricultural Production Of Brussel Sprouts, Cabbage, And Kale For San Ysidro Farms, Roy Orion Killgore

Agribusiness

The purpose of this study was to determine whether it is more profitable for San Ysidro Farms to establish a new commodity mix and grow brussel sprouts, cabbage, and kale in replace of broccoli and cauliflower or continue its current commodity mix for production. The goal is to determine whether the new commodity mix will bring greater profits during the months of January, February, and March.

The project represents a basic comparison technique of the different commodities grown for San Ysidro. Using the current 2013 cash flow statement and others from the previous production years, a comparison amongst the different …

Agricultural Credit Analysis, Tyler Culp

Agribusiness

This project was a case study completed to find a specific time where an agricultural borrower’s credit began to have problems, and to find new measures agricultural lenders can utilize as a way to predict future defaults and better analyze credit risk.

These calculations were used on actual borrower information generously provided by Farm Credit West. All information that could divulge the identity of the borrower and any private business measures taken by Farm Credit West have been purposefully omitted from this report. This project used common credit risk ratios and values: Current Ratio, Debt-to-Equity, Loan-to-Value, and Debt Coverage Ratio. …

Effects Of Sample Taste-Testing On Gluten Free Awareness And The Likelihood To Purchase Udi’S Gluten Free Products On Cal Poly San Luis Obispo’S Campus, Kylee Anne Gibson

Agribusiness

Celiac disease is becoming an increasingly recognized autoimmune pathology of the intestine caused by permanent intolerance to gluten (Niewinski 2008). For those with Celiac disease, or gluten intolerance, gluten-free foods are hard to come by, especially on college campuses. Eating gluten free products has positive health effects on numerous diseases. It has been shown that eating gluten free foods can help alleviate symptoms of numerous diseases such as ADHD, autism, and type 2 diabetes (UDI’s Gluten Free website 2012). Throughout the past few years, more gluten free companies have been advocating to promote their products on college campuses for people …

The Preferences In Wine Of Various Aged Consumers, Jacob Clinite

Agribusiness

No abstract provided.

U.S. Multinationals Abroad: Fdi Determinants In The Global Food Sector, Brandon Charles Banner

Master's Theses

The following study assesses economic and political determinants of foreign direct investment by U.S. firms. Data from the Bureau of Economic Analysis at the U.S. Department of Commerce was used for total and food sector FDI for 35 countries from the years 2001-2008. Using these data in three econometric models, the paper examines the effect on FDI of regional trade blocs as well as political factors such as labor and credit market regulations, and transfers and subsidies. Finally, the thesis provides a comparison of each model on two dependent variables: food sector and total FDI. The study finds that management …

Consumer Perception Of Organic Milk, Christina Puetz

Dairy Science

The objective of this study was to determine the potential factors, reasons and beliefs that contribute to college aged consumers’ choice to purchase organic milk. The data were from survey of students using questions that were modeled after consumer issues and concerns over conventional milk as discussed in the literature review. This study was particularly interested in exploring differences between students in agriculture classes and non-agriculture classes. The literature referenced came from a variety of sources, including scientific journals, online articles, milk advisory boards, and governmental agencies. According to the literature review, consumer concerns and reasons for purchase of organic …

Feasibility Test Of San Vicente Cellar's Expansion, Taylor Lew

Agribusiness

San Vicente Cellars is a small tasting room and production facility in Ventura County. As of now, the winery’s revenue just barely covers the cost of production and other expenses. It is believed that due to their poor location the tasting room is not receiving maximum customers in reflection to the quality of the wines. San Vicente’s owner has a vision of opening an additional tasting room in a higher trafficking location. This project is based on this vision and tests whether or not this new location is financially feasible. After all costs are factored in, the breakeven point of …

Assessing A Pumpkin Butter Enterprise For Bishop's Pumpkin Farm, Meghan Bishop

Agribusiness

Bishop’s Pumpkin Farm is a 40-year-old agriculture tourism destination looking to expand their brand name. One way to do this is through value-added products and in the case of this study, by producing pumpkin butter. To determine if this would be a revenue enhancing enterprise for the business, expenses were analyzed for the ingredients in the product and the processing at an offsite processor. A break-even analysis was performed to determine a minimum price required to cover variable production prices and a minimum required price to cover total costs which would include establishment costs. The numbers were based on a …

A Business Plan For A Custom Dry Cow Transition Facility And A Calf Ranch, Landon Joseph Fernandes

Dairy Science

In recent economic times the dairy industry has witnessed historic lows in milk price and historic highs in feed prices. As a result many dairies have been forced out of business or have found other ways to diversify in order to offset the accumulated debt from dairying. One possible way a dairy can minimize debt is by sending its transition cows to custom transition cow management facility from dry-off through freshening. This management facility would give optimal care and attention to these cows to ensure metabolic and post calving health issues are minimal and that cows are returned to the …

A Business Model For The Small-Scale, Start-Up, Organic Jersey Dairy, Jim Moreda

Dairy Science

To determine the financial feasibility and stability of starting a small-scale organic jersey dairy in Northern California, given the changes and restrictions that must take place in all aspects of production while operating organically. Using a unique combination of ownership and borrowing, I have created a business model made to appropriately fit the organic dairy system, addressing every area of the operation whether it be business or animal related. Through experience, reviews, and research of organic techniques allowable to apply, I was able to reveal and identify specific areas of husbandry and financing in which I would need to excel …

Increasing California Dairy Exports To Japan And South Korea, Kristina Soper

Dairy Science

The opportunities for increasing exports of California dairy products to the Japanese and South Korean markets were determined by identifying current obstacles in the California dairy industry and determining the characteristics of consumers in the Japanese and South Korean markets. As the largest milk-producing state and the supplier of 7.5% of total U.S. dairy exports, California’s economic activity greatly affects the rest of the nation and the world. The trends in the California dairy industry include increasing total milk production and per-cow milk production, a diminishing number of total dairy operations, and a rising number of large dairy operations. These …

Artisan® Romaine Proof Of Concept: Impact Of Packaging Materials On The Shelf Life Of Romaine Lettuce, John Pessagno

Industrial Technology and Packaging

The purpose of this project is a proof of theory that analyzes different packaging materials, substrates, and package designs to analyze the effects they have on romaine lettuce. Analysis was performed on materials including bulrush, PET, PS, PE-PP shrink film, and a specially engineered film from Dow Chemicals. There are two rounds of testing that dive into the impacts of headspace, moisture content, and distribution on sensory analysis from a six-person panel.

It was shown that the packaging materials used had a strong impact on shelf life and the sensory qualities of the romaine lettuce. Even though the trays that …

A Business Plan For The Production Of Artisanal Cheese, Caitlin Curren

Dairy Science

The objective of this study was to determine how an artisan cheese producer could be successful in California’s current economy. The significance of location, product type, and pro forma financials were examined in order to construct a complete business plan. A business plan was created using an outline of financial proposals, desired terms, use of funds and equity contributions. A company description was originated with a brief history, description of products, description of customers, business location, key strengths, mission statement, goals and objectives. Lastly, an analysis of the industry was made, focusing on main characteristics, the size of the market, …

Strategic Risk Management And Agribusiness, Steven Slezak

Agribusiness

No abstract provided.

Agribusiness Strategy Formulation: What Is Strategy?, Steven Slezak

Agribusiness

No abstract provided.

Feasibility Study Of Solar Energy Utilized In An Agricultural Setting, Tyler J. Flavell

BioResource and Agricultural Engineering

This BRAE 462 senior project entails a mock feasibility and engineering report on implementing solar power to Cal Poly’s poultry unit. The report is to see whether or not solar power would excel and save electrical costs for one of Cal Poly’s agricultural centers. The report must include research into what type of solar system to be installed, economic costs, and engineering calculations to determine whether or not the system will be feasible. The system must be realistic and able to be built onto the poultry unit with accurate space requirements and up to building codes.

A Margin Risk Approach To Risk Analysis And Risk Management In Agriculture, Jay Noel, Steven Slezak

Agribusiness

No abstract provided.