Aditya R. Khanal

Adoption of technology, management practices, and production systems in US milk production.

The introduction of new technology, management practices, and alternative production systems has resulted in rapid structural change in the US dairy industry. This paper examines adoption rates and adopter characteristics for the following dairy technologies, practices, and systems: holding pen with an udder washer, milking units with automatic take-offs, genetic selection technologies, recombinant bovine somatotropin, membership in the Dairy Herd Improvement Association, computerized feed delivery systems, computerized milking systems, use of a nutritionist to design feed rations, grazing, milking cows 3 times daily, and milking parlors. Four of these were used on a greater percentage of farms in 2005 than in 2000, but increased farm sizes and the interaction of farm size with adoption suggest a greater percentage of milk being produced under each, with the exception of grazing. Except for grazing, technologies were generally complementary.

Examining Labor Substitution: Does Family Matter for U.S. Cash Grain Farmers?

The substitution of capital for labor and new labor-saving technologies has reduced the labor required for farming, yet many farms today depend on hired labor in some form. Common in the literature is the assumption of perfectly substitutable farm labor. This has implications for the operator’s off-farm labor decision. Intuitively, different forms of farm labor have different impacts on production. We use the Agricultural and Resource Management Survey to estimate the elasticity of substitution between hired and family labor. The results provide little evidence to support the popular homogeneity assumption and find labor can be unitary and complimentary under certain scenarios.

Farmers’ Participation in Agritourism: Does It Affect the Bottom Line?

Agritourism is an alternative source of farm income. We examine farmers’ participation in agritourism activities to assess the impact of participation on farm household income and return to assets using a large farm-level survey. The results reveal that older, educated, and female operators are more likely to participate in agritourism. However, government subsidies and the population of the county are negatively correlated with agritourism. Of the types of farm operations examined, small-scale farms that involved agritourism generated the greatest household incomes and returns to assets. For operators of small farms, agritourism can boost the economic well-being of farm households.

Financial constraints and production efficiency: A case from rice growers in drought prone areas of Indonesia

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to study the production and efficiency of rice growers in drought prone areas with special attention given to economic and financial factors. Design/methodology/approach - The authors use a parametric stochastic frontier approach and a non-parametric data envelopment analysis. Findings - The study found that financial and liquidity constraints negatively influence production efficiency while off-farm work positively influences efficiency in drought prone areas. Originality/value - Many biotic and abiotic factors affect the production efficiency of rice growers. Among abiotic stress, drought is the strongest constraint affecting nearly one third of the total rice area in Asia and causing significant economic losses. Farmers’ economic conditions and financial constraints further exacerbate the situation. However, very few studies have analyzed the efficiency in drought prone areas and the influence of economic and financial factors. This study contributes to in this regard by augmenting economic and financial factors in the efficiency estimation of drought prone areas using parametric and non-parametric approach.

Effect of health insurance coverage on labor allocation: evidence from US farm households

In the past three decades, farm families have relied on government payments and off-farm income to reduce income risk and increase total household income. Many studies have analyzed the role of government payments; however, little is known about the impact of health insurance coverage on labor allocation. This study builds on previous literature by using copulas to test for dependence in the labor allocation, addressing the importance of fringe benefits to the farm household, and determining how these considerations affect our knowledge of the impact of fringe benefits on off-farm labor. The results indicate that the off-farm hours worked by the operator and spouse are jointly determined; health insurance coverage is an endogenous variable. Using the predicted probability of insurance coverage and joint estimation techniques, we find a positive and highly significant relationship with the hours worked off-farm. Further, we find that both coupled and decoupled payments are negatively correlated with the hours worked off-farm.Keywords: Health insurance coverage, Endogeneity, Copula, Off-farm labor supply, Dependence, Bivariate tobit, Coupled farm programs payments, Decoupled farm program payments.

Assessing the Impact of Weather Risk on Land Use Intensity: A Nonstationary and Dynamic Panel Modeling Approach

Climatic variation, or weather risk, plays an important role in production agriculture. Using district-level panels for 42 years from India and nonstationary and dynamic panel estimation procedures, we estimate the impact of weather risk on land use intensity. Our results suggest the impact of weather risk on land use intensity is negative in the short run. Additionally, we find a positive effect of share of high yielding varieties production and share of irrigated acreage on land use intensity. Our study also indicates that the impact of weather risk on land use intensity has diminished in the post–market reform period (after 1990). (JEL C33, Q15)

Access to the Internet and financial performance of small business households

With increased focus on survival strategies for small farm businesses, we investigate the impact of access to the Internet on household income and expenses of small farm businesses and households. Using a nationwide data from the U.S. and non-parametric matching estimators, the study finds a significant positive impact of access to the Internet on total household income and off-farm income. Our study suggests that small farm businesses benefit from Internet access as it increases business income, off-farm income and total household income. Also, access to the Internet reduces some input costs and household expenses.

Financial performance of small farm business households: the role of internet

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to investigate the impact of internet usage on financial performance of small farm business households in the USA. In particular, the authors want to assess the impact of internet usage on small farm businesses, where the owner’s main occupation is farming. Using a nationwide farm-level data in the USA and a non-parametric matching estimator, the study finds a significant positive impact of internet usage on gross cash income, total household income, off-farm income. The study further suggests that small farm businesses receive benefits from internet usage as it facilitates reduction in income risk through off-farm income sources, as well as a reduction in marketing and storage costs; households’ non-farm transportation and vehicle leasing expenses. Design/methodology/approach - In this study, the authors use the “nearest neighbors” matching method in treatment evaluation, developed by Abadie and Imbens (2002). In this method, a weighting index is applied to all observations and “nearest neighbors” are identified (Abadie Findings - The study suggests that small farm business households using the internet are better off in terms of total household income and off-farm income. As compared to the control group (which is counterfactual, representation of small farm businesses not using the internet), small farm businesses using the internet earn about

Is the ‘buying winners and selling losers’ trading strategy profitable in the New Economy?

24,000-

Consumption, habit formation, and savings: Evidence from a rural household panel survey

26,000 more in total household income and about