Effects of Livestock Enterprises, Farm Size, Crop Yields, and Prices on Optimal Organization and Net Returns on Farms, Western Central Kansas - Area III

Excerpts from the Summary: Our objectives were to: (1) estimate supply response for wheat and feed grains, resource use, and net returns for specified farm situations with various price relationships for wheat and feed grains; (2) aggregate the response for a representative farm to obtain an area supply response function; (3) compare and analyze the resource use, and net returns for the specified farm situations (including those with various combinations of livestock, three farm sizes, and three levels of crop yields.) Linear programming was used to determine the optimal organization of crop and livestock enterprises that would maximize net returns for each farm situation with no government acreage restrictions or price supports, but with specified constraints on livestock enterprises. Feed grain price levels (same as corn) were set at $.80, $.94, and $1.21 per bushel, with no support programs. Wheat prices, parametrically programmed, ranged from $.80 to $3.00 per bushel,--which recognized that the price of wheat can and often does move independently of feed grain and livestock prices. Prices of other crops and of livestock were held constant, except that for one farm situation beef cattle prices also were varied from $15.20 to $39.34 per cwt., with wheat and feed grain prices all parametrically programmed.