Kelly D. Zering

Case Study Research Methods for Firm and Market Research

Case studies are a useful analytical tool for researching firms and industries in transition, so as to gain insights that may not be found in historical time series. However, it is incumbent on researchers to show process rigor in using this tool for theory-building and theory-testing. The article makes prescriptions for case study research design and execution.

Relationships Between Industrialized Agriculture and Environmental Consequences: the Case of Vertical Coordination in Broilers and Hogs

This paper examines the relationship between industrialized production in the pork and broiler industries and the natural environment. Historical perspectives are presented regarding the movement toward increasingly concentrated and coordinated pork and broiler production units in the South. The relationships between animal byproduct management and environmental quality, both at the farm level and within a geographic region, are addressed. Using the North Carolina pork industry as a background, current regulations and potential policy implications to protect environmental quality are discussed.

Optimal Dynamic Hedging Decisions for Grain Producers

The application of an optimal dynamic hedging model was explored for a county in North Carolina. Corn yield, harvest corn basis, and December corn futures prices were forecast. The forecasts were used to calculate optimal dynamic hedge positions. When the hedge position was updated infrequently, commissions were only slightly higher than commissions from a fixed hedge. Gains from updating the hedge position over the corn growing season were not substantial compared to a fixed hedge position.

Applying Target Costing in the Development of Marketable and Environmentally Friendly Products from Swine Waste

Management of swine waste generated in the United States is a challenging problem facing engineers, farmers, scientists, regulators, and policy-makers. Technologies for processing and storing swine waste have not been fully developed and refined in a manner acceptable to the public and environmental regulators. The primary concerns with improperly disposed swine waste are the effects on human and livestock health, surface and groundwater quality, air quality, and conservation of nitrogen fertilizers (Hagenstein 2003). The purpose of this study is to demonstrate the concept of target costing by applying it to a very specific example: the production of biomethanol from swine manure. This study summarizes the analyses that outline a design and calculate a preliminary cost estimate for a proposed system for producing biomethanol from swine manure (initial process). In this study the target costing process is demonstrated with calculation of a target cost. This article also demonstrates an application of value engineering as a systematic, interdisciplinary examination of factors affecting the cost of a product so as to find means to fulfill the products specified purpose at the required standards of quality and reliability and at an acceptable cost. The article is organized as follows. First, the purpose of applying target costing methodology to the development of marketable by-products from swine manure is outlined. Next, target cost is calculated for biomethanol made from swine manure based on current methanol prices and currently available subsidies for biomethanol made from swine manure. A system for producing biomethanol from swine manure is described. The current cost is calculated for producing biomethanol. Concepts of value engineering are employed to reduce a significant cost component of the initial process resulting in Process II. Finally, value engineering is employed the second time to further reduce the cost of Process II yielding Process III.

Evaluation of non-sampling errors in the US National Swine Survey

Abstract On-farm data collection consists of a dynamic interaction between the interviewer and respondent via a questionnaire. Non-sampling errors introduced by these sources during the measurement process often account for a greater proportion of the total survey error than sampling error alone. A two pronged approach was used to evaluate non-sampling errors in the National Animal Health Monitoring Systems National Swine Survey. First, results from two supplemental questionnaires, administered to field coordinators and interviewers of the National Swine Survey, were used to assess correlates of non-sampling errors. Second, since questionnaires contained multiple indicators of the same underlying concept, an index of inconsistency was used to quantify the level of response error for several variables. Bias due to the ecologic fallacy was shown by elevated estimates of response error for several indicators of preventive practices. Correlates of respondent error included the presence of multiple respondents for at least one interview for more than half of the interviewers. Correlates of interviewer error included demographic characteristics of interviewers and variations in question administration. Evidence corroborates the idea that survey questions should be unambiguous in wording and simple in structure. Results led to specific recommendations for future questionnaire design and interviewer training. The manifestation of many correlates of non-sampling error support the need for assessment of total survey error in large surveys.

Phosphorus Recovery from Covered Digester Effluent with a Continuous-Flow Struvite Crystallizer

Lab tests for phosphorus reduction by increasing magnesium and pH to form struvite were conducted using effluent from a covered earthen digester for swine manure. A cone-shaped crystallizer system was constructed in the field and operated with direct pumping of covered digester liquid at a flow rate of 5.4 L/min. Using the field system, twenty-four combinations of pH increase (0 to 1.5 pH units) and magnesium (Mg) addition (0, 20, 40 and 60 mg/L) were tested in short-term (30 min.) tests. Up to 80 % of the total phosphorus (TP) could be removed with the highest increases in pH and Mg. About 65 % of TP was removed with the combination of 0.5 pH unit increase and addition of 40 mg/L of Mg. To test performance over longer periods, this combination was utilized in 23 tests each of 2-hr duration during the period of September 2007 through January 2008. Reductions were consistently about 60 % removal of TP and about 65 % removal of orthophosphate phosphorus (OP). Costs and returns were estimated for a commercial scale system and estimated chemical costs were compared to TP removal at selected levels of Mg addition and increase in pH.

Engineering and Economic Approaches to Technology Evaluations: A Call for a New Approach

Environmental regulations related to manure management in large confined animal feeding operations have increased costs and focused producer interest in treatment or processing options that will help reduce the need for additional land used for nutrient uptake. Engineering and economic analyses have been used to evaluate various treatment options at the farm level but have not yet addressed the impact of emissions at larger spatial scales or the optimization of resource utilization from societys perspective. The purpose of this paper is to describe the short comings of past and present approaches to the development and evaluation of manure management systems, to suggest a new way of looking at environmental issues in food animal production, and to invite a discussion of new metrics of the problem and the solution. Some alternative ways of looking at confined animal feeding operations include 1) the ecological footprint of the industry or each individual animal species; 2) the equivalent solar energy, embodied energy or emergy, required to produce our food animal; 3), and the life-cycle assessment of our food animal production systems. Whatever tools are used or developed, the important insight is that we find ways to produce food and manage waste so that we make the most of what we have as a society, that we protect our natural resources for ecological stability and that we do not disrupt the income of producers of our food animals.

Empirical similarity of responses of two random samples of North Carolina swine producers to a management questionnaire used in the US National Swine Survey

Abstract The United States Department of Agricultures (USDA) National Animal Health Monitoring System (NAHMS) National Swine Survey (NSS), implemented in 1990, represents the first national effort to collect on-farm data using a statistically valid method. The purpose of the North Carolina Swine Survey (NCSS) was to evaluate the reliability of the NSS by assessing the similarity of responses between the North Carolina portion of the NSS and the NCSS using identical questions. Responses from the North Carolina portion of the NSS ( n = 40 farms) and from the NCSS ( n = 139 farms) were compared for a subset of the first three questionnaires used in the NSS. Chi-square analysis was used to test for significant differences between estimated proportions from the two studies. Plots of component chi-square values and frequency distribution of differences between point estimates were used to evaluate the similarity between sections of the questionnaires. Approximately 75% of the 446 point estimates were within 15% of each other. The majority of significant discrepancies occurred for the biosecurity section of the second questionnaire, specifically for response categories of ‘No’ and ‘ N A ’ (not applicable). Percent of farms responding ‘Yes’ showed greater comparability between the two studies. While most questions from the first and third questionnaires (General Swine Farm Report and the Facilities and Feed Report) proved to be similar, questions regarding disease problems, vaccination and preventive practices were less similar between the two studies.