Agricultural and Resource Economics Commons^™

Nursery Production Of Selected Actinorhizal Species, Taun D. Beddes

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

An important aspect of sustainable landscaping includes utilization of plants requiring few to no inputs once installed. Limited research exists for many of these species. For this research, we chose four with potential for use: Mexican cliffrose (Purshia mexicana), silver buffaloberry (Shepherdia argentea), roundleaf buffaloberry (Shepherdia rotundifolia), and seaside alder (Alnus maritima). All are actinorhizal, meaning they form a symbiotic relationship with soil-borne Frankia bacteria that fix atmospheric N₂ for plant use. Many actinorhizal species are also native to arid environments where soils have low organic matter (OM) content. We suspect …

The Impact Of Twelve-Mile Canyon Mudslides On Downstream Water Users In Sanpete County, Utah, Danny L. Boore

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The objective of this study was to evaluate the impact of major landslides during 1983-84 in Twelve-Mile Canyon, Sanpete County, Utah on agricultural water users in the Gunnison Irrigation System. Sediment content and stream flow data were gathered from Twelve-Mile Creek during the irrigation season of 1984. This information was used to estimate the sediment load of Twelve-Mile Creek and to compare historical averages. A survey of Gunnison Irrigation System Water Users was conducted to obtain information defining the damage and production losses caused by an increase in sediment carried by irrigation water. This information was tabulated and used as …

A Study Of Drought Effects On Livestock Feeds And Products In The Western United States, Robert E. Blakeslee

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Through the use of a regionalized Linear Programming model, a profit maximized optimal solution was obtained for livestock feed and product production for a selected base year (1979). Production data, seasonality, transfer activities, and herd liquidation are developed for ten feeds and seven livestock products and incorporated within the model. Two drought induced simulations were imposed affecting feed production and feed prices, procuring new optimal results. Drought is simulated by the use of crop-weather indexes and range response equations.

Results are discussed and presented in tables for the base year and drought simulations. Results include profits, costs, feed and livestock …

Spatial Impact Of Factor Payments: A Case Study Of Turkey Production And Processing In Utah, Chesley T. Blackham

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The purpose of this paper is to examine the importance of the spatial origin of capital or investment funds and its influence on local community incomes within the context of agricultural production and processing in a rural area in Utah.

A careful identification of the sources of capital investment can be used to determine the spatial source and flow of returns from it, and, hence, provides some indication of the extent to which local community income could be expected to change with changes in the level and mix of factors employed locally.

Economic And Agronomic Analysis Of Silage And Grain Corn Production In 15 Counties Of Utah 1972, Juan Zenteno

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

This study estimated the 1972 costs and returns, and analyzed the physical response and economic relationships of corn hybrids for silage and grain production in some counties of Utah.

Average size of enterprise, land value and equipment value were estimated for silage and grain corn production in Utah.

Labor requirements for land preparation, growing and harvesting of silage and grain corn production were averaged. Net returns and costs (variable and fixed) for silage and grain corn production were computed in 30 farms of 15 counties of Utah to find the total production cost.

Yields, total cost, total revenue and economic …

Relative Rates Of Return To Controlled Irrigation Among Classes Of Summer Paddy In The Guayas Basin, Ecuador, Percy G. Aitken

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The primary objective of this study was to examine rice production methods with special emphasis on farm and water irrigation management practices in the different rice farm types of the Guayas Basin of Ecuador. To do this, farmers were divided into eight categories on the basis of farm practices, seasonal farming, irrigation facilities and level of mechanization. Profits per hectare ranged from 4,807 to 762.10 sucres per hectare. Mechanization varied from totally mechanized to total absence of machinery. Year round farming varied to seasonal farming. Average production varied from 110 quintals of hulled rice to 20 quintals per hectare.

The …

Factors Affecting Quality And Location Values For Resident Deer Hunting In Utah, Jim C. Wrigley

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Application was made of the economic rent method of resource valuation for the resident deer hunt in Utah. Total economic, location and quality rent values were estimated for all hunting units. These values incorporate the relationship existing between the variable use cost and the units of activity associated with the site.

Data were collected by mail survey from hunters following the 1970 season. Approximately 2033 questionnaires were used in the analysis. Additional data were collected from the Utah Division of Natural Resources.

The total rent value estimated from the model was approximately $3,326,238.00. Eighty-five percent of the total was attributed …

Economic Development: Diagnosis Of The High Andean Valleys Of Venezuela (Tuñame And Burbusay), Eloy Davila-Spinetti

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The primary objective of this study was to set development policies applicable for the high Andean valleys of Tuñame and Burbusay (Venezuela); and secondly to develop a quick and inexpensive way to assess development prospects of high Andean valleys similar to the ones studied here.

The methodology employed was to classify various agricultural regions with specific development phases using the Thorbecke's classification and policy scheme. Production functions were estimated, fitted and analyzed to determine the parameters pertinent to such a classification for the two valleys where data was available.

The analyses and classifications permitted a limited enumeration of policies for …

An Economic Analysis Of Inter-County Variation In Residence Patterns Of Farm Families In Utah, Kansas, California, Iowa, And Texas 1964, Leroy V. Clifford

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

This study was undertaken to determine which factors, if any, are responsible for inter-county variation in the percent of farm operators residing off the farm in California, Iowa, Kansas, Texas, and Utah.

These states were selected for this study because of their wide representation of the various types of agricultural and sectional differences. These states vary significantly in type of farm, tenure conditions, off-farm employment opportunities, cultural patterns, remoteness of farms from town, and other variables.

Forward step-wise regression analysis was utilized in each of the states to correlate percent of farm operators residing off the farm with type of …

Impact On Rural Incomes Of Improved Water Management Practices In Milagro County, Ecuador, Phillip H. Lloyd

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Farm budgets based on survey data a reused to calculate the net revenue for average irrigated and unirrigated farms for four tenure classes on the Milagro irrigation project, Ecuador. Differences in net revenues between irrigated and unirrigated farms within each tenure class are assumed to be the return to investment in irrigation capital, assuming homogeneity of all other production factors.

The internal rate of return is calculated on investment in irrigation capital assuming returns to such an investment are the difference in net revenues between irrigated and unirrigated farms. Investment in such capital is found to be highly profitable assuming …

An Economic Analysis Of The Cisco Fisheries Of Bear Lake, Utah And Idaho, John E. Keith

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The willingness to pay of participants in cisco fishing was studied for 1970. Opportunity cost of time, calculated from foregone income, was examined as part of the total costs of fishing. The opportunity cost of time was found to be a significant factor in the consumers' decision to participate, and therefore effected the valuation of the recreation considerably.

Additionally, the coefficients of income and opportunity costs of time were compared and found to be of different sign for rural counties indicating a difference between the two variables.

Linear Programming As A Decision Tool In Cheese Manufacturing Plants, Mark S. Huber

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

This thesis considered the potential benefits of employing linear programming in cheese manufacturing plants as a decision tool for management. Its potential has been enhanced by the recent approval of acid orange 12 as a chemical for testing the percent protein in milk; therefore, a practical test is now available for monitoring protein as well as milk fat in milk manufacturing and fluid milk plants.

Seven models, each one differing only in the milk fat and protein percentages or means of standardizing the cheese milk, were manipulated individually and simultaneously to test the managerial benefits of linear programming under various …

Economic Impact Of Meeting Environmental Standards On Utah Cattle Feeders, P. Parry Olson

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

This thesis is an analysis and description of pollution problems caused by large feedlots in Utah. A description of pollution caused by cattle feedlots is undertaken as part of the study.

The 26 feedlots analyzed had a capacity to/or did feed over 1,000 head. They were broken down into four groups on the basis of their pollution problems: those having no apparent pollution problem, those having minor problems, those having major problems, and those requiring relocation.

The cost impact of meeting environmental standards with regard to runoff control was found to be very slight for the cattle feeding industry as …

Production And Marketing Of Sheep On The Bolivian Altiplano: An Economic Analysis, Robert Scott Sly

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

A study was undertaken to evaluate the general sheep marketing process in Bolivia, to determine the present economic structure of farm units belonging to Altiplano sheep producers, to analyze the economics of marketing Altiplano sheep at an earlier age, and to analyze the economics of using various local products as a supplemental sheep feed in Bolivia.

In general the Bolivian sheep marketing process is inadequate and inefficient because of lack of marketing information, poor producer-buyer contact, lack of commercial sheep transportation, slaughterhouses lacking in facilities and hygienic conditions, and apparently unattractive retail methods.

By selling their relatively unproductive male sheep …

Patterns Of Dairy Farm Exit And Growth In The Great Basin Milk Marketing Area January 1, 1960-June 1, 1965, R. Carlyle Bradshaw

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

This study was undertaken to determine which characteristics, if any, distinguish exit from active milk producers; why producers exit from the industry; what happens to those resources formerly used in the dairy industry; the predictability of a producer either increasing or decreasing in size.

This study encompassed the milk producers in the Great Basin Federal Milk Market Area which is the central and northern part of Utah.

It was not possible to determine any characteristics which would distinguish the exit from the active producers. All of the sample producers sold most of their cows. A large percentage kept their land …

Cost And Net Return From The Milking Enterprise On Selected D.H.I.A. Farms In Northern Utah, 1965, Charles J. Palmer

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

A study was made of cost and net return of the milking enterprise of selected D.H.I.A. members of Northern Utah.

Production cost for market milk ranged from $6.37 to $3.74 per 100 pounds of milk with the weighted average for all enterprises being $4.71 per 100 pounds of milk. Production cost amounted to an average of $538.24 per cow. Total receipts amounted to $4.64 per 100 pounds of milk or $531.18 per cow per year. Net return was calculated by deducting total cost from total receipts and amounted to minus $335 per enterprise or minus $7.23 per cow per year. …

Some Methodological Problems In The Economic Appraisal Of Increments Of Irrigation Water, David L. Wilson

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The primary objective of this study was to establish a production function for alfalfa grown in the Sevier Valley using farm survey data. A secondary objective was to point out the analytical difficulties in establishing a production function for alfalfa.

A multiple regression model using 12 linear, 12 nonlinear, and 7 interaction terms was employed. A coefficient of determination of .70 was obtained for the model. Intercorrelation problems associated with the model limit its usefulness for economic and predictive purposes. The predictive value of the model was greatly increased by reducing the number of correlated variables included in the model. …

Selecting Optimum Conversion Practices In The Pinyon-Juniper Type, Richard J. Marasco

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

A profit criterion which will make possible the selection of optimum conversion practices in the Pinyon-Juniper woodlands can be made operational if: (a) it is possible to predict eradication costs and resulting total costs (eradication costs, seed costs, and seed application costs), and (b) it is possible to determine for age production resulting from initial eradication, as well as when it reaches absolute minimum allowable limit due to tree re-growth. Knowledge of the above relationships makes it possible to determine the optimum practice.

The Economics Of Controlling Tall Larkspur With Selective Herbicides, Reed W. Willis

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The state of Utah is located in a semi-arid climatic zone and contains about 52.7 million acres of land which varies topographically from smooth desert plains and valleys to steep mountain ranges (8).

Factors Affecting The Supply Of Grade A Milk In The Great Basin Milk Marketing Area, Thomas L. Williams

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The supply of market milk in the Great Basin marketing area has been increasing more rapidly than the demand for fluid milk and cream. During the last four years, supply of market milk increased 35 million pounds, while fluid use increased only 15 million pounds.

Economic Evaluation Of Stockwater Development Practices On Mountain Cattle Ranches In Utah, Robert Max Nielson

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The state of Utah is comprised of 52.7 million acres of land of which 86 percent is covered by range vegetation. This rangeland provides part or all of the feed for approximately 430,000 head of cattle and 1,300,000 sheep. Rangeland products constitute from 33 to 40 percent of the agriculture income within the Intermountain Region. Utah's vast rangeland area represents a basic resource of considerable importance to her economy.

An Economic Study Of Adjustment Possibilities In Farm Organization And Resource Allocation In The Sevier River Valley In Piute County, Utah, 1961, Gordon L. Langford

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Problems that confront the farmer are varied, but one of the most important is the combination of his possible enterprises so that maximum financial return from farming is obtained. This problem has been made more important in the last decade by the severity of the agricultural price-cost squeeze.

Farmers' total net income, on a national basis, has declined from more than 16 billion dollars to about 13 billion dollars. In Utah, total net farm income has dropped from 91.3 million dollars in 1951 to 36.5 million dollars in 1961. Average net income of Utah farm operators dropped from $5.89 per …

An Economic Study Of Grain Corn, Sweet Corn, And Silage Corn In Northern Utah, 1962, Guy A. Erikson

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

In 1959 there were 49,006 acres of corn grown in the state of Utah. Included in this were 4,232 acres of grain corn, 38,770 acres of silage corn , and 4,470 acres of sweet corn. The remaining acres of corn were used for pasture, cut as fodder, or any miscellaneous use.

A Price Analysis Of The Ogden And Los Angeles Livestock Markets For Slaughter And Feeder Cattle, 1956-1960, Jerald R. Barnard

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

One of the major objectives of every farmer, rancher, or feedlot operator is that of trying to maximize profits by marketing their cattle for greatest net returns. For this reason, it is very important at which market the producer decides to sell his cattle. Local supply and demand conditions are constantly causing prices and price differentials between markets to fluctuate, making the decision of choosing the market which will yield the greatest net return rather difficult.

The Use Of Objective Physical Measurements And Specific Selling Methods As A Basis Of Marketing Wool Through Pools, Don A. Huber

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Wool has been an important product in Utah since the pioneers arrived. The Mormon pioneers had with them 358 head of sheep upon entering the Salt Lake Valley. At that time there were also 12 head of sheep near Ogden, Utah belonging to Miles Goodyear, a trading post operator. These early people were very dependent upon wool for their clothing and numerous other products.

Economics Of Wool Marketing In Utah, E. Jay Berry

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Since the beginning of history the wool of sheep has been used by the human race. Its chief use has been and still is for clothing. Also, it is widely used for blankets, upholstery, carpets, and numerous other products.

The wool industry is important to the state of Utah, which was the sixth largest producing state in the United States in 1958. Wool growers in Utah received approximately $7,897,000 in sales proceeds and government payments for wool sold during the 1958 marketing year (12).¹

An Economic Analysis Of Finishing Beef Cattle In The Major Feeding Areas Of Utah In The 1953-54 Season, Ross K. Clements

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Cattle finishing is an enterprise involving the feeding of cattle to improve their slaughter condition. This can be accomplished by gazing cattle on pasture alone, by supplementing pasture with concentrated feeds, and by feeding harvested crops to cattle in yards. The latter method is one commonly used in Utah.

Cost Of Producing Broilers In Utah, 1951-1952, Thomas I. Gunn

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Broiler production in the United States and in Utah has become increasingly important in the last few years. It has developed from virtual nonexistence in 1930 to the point where it now produces more than half of the total chicken meat production. Growth has been especially rapid since 1934, when separate statistics on broiler production became available. In 1951, production was about 6 times that of 1940 and for the first time the number of broilers raised exceeded the number of chickens raised from farm production.