The Louisiana broiler production region is located in North Central and Northwestern Louisiana. The region consists of twelve parishes in Northwestern and North Central Louisiana. The broiler production region is a significant contributor of nonpoint source (NPS) pollution to nearby waterways. This pollution is a consequence of sediment, nitrogen and phosphorus runoff caused by agricultural production. NPS pollution is difficult to mitigate due to uncertainties in its point of origin as well as a host of other factors ranging from rainfall to topographical parameters. Best Management Practices (BMPS) have been shown to be a reliable method for reducing nonpoint source pollution emanating from agricultural production. To reduce pollutants, several BMPs have been recommended, specific to crops and regions, by the Natural Resource Conservation Service of the United States Department of Agriculture, (NRCS/USDA) and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Successful implementation of best management practices for water quality improvement requires careful study of both nonpoint pollution sources and their effectiveness in a given spatial situation. These assessments are being conducted for several watersheds throughout the United States; however, many watersheds in Louisiana remain unexamined. This study focuses on two watersheds in the broiler production region of Louisiana and utilizes a GIS based simulation program to determine the best least cost solution for the application of BMPs in the study region. Analyses were conducted under alternative climate change and BMP effectiveness scenarios. Results indicate that it is cost-effective to implement nutrient management to reduce phosphorus pollution.

This overall goal of this research is to examine and update U.S. at-home household demand estimates for seafood (including species and generic products) that can be used in policy formulation (by both the private and public sector). As such, this study estimated quantity-based household demand functions for seafood in aggregate, by generic product form (fresh, frozen, and prepared), and primary species. Given that the role of quality has been shown to significantly influence expenditures and seafood demand, this paper also seeks to incorporate the household quality choice into the demand model. In order to help to tailor the market strategy, this study also estimates household seafood demand in a complete demand system framework to track the substitution and complementation between seafood product forms and other protein sources. Emphasis is also given to the influence of socioeconomic factors on the demand for quantity. This study uses 2005-2006 NOAA Fisheries Seafood Consumption Survey data which consisted of 10798 completed interviews. In the complete demand system analyses, comparison of model results with a quality proxy, without a quality proxy, and with a quality adjusted price were examined to determine a preferable means for incorporating household quality choice. Results suggest that quality does play an important role in seafood demand. As for the quantity-based demand equations, a bivariate model was applied to simultaneously investigate the quality variation and consumer preference. As an outcome of this model, and based on the hypothesis that demand for quality is proportional to the level of aggregation, the study examines whether the demand for quality diminishes in relation to the level of disaggregation. The bivariate model utilized the maximum likelihood method to successfully deal with a truncation problem as well as difficulties of unobserved unit price values.

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The purpose of this study was to determine the important benefits of Cal Poly Veterinary Clinic (CPVC) and establish areas of interest for the students at the CPVC. The CPVC is a student run veterinary clinic that exposes students to teachable hands-on veterinary experiences by addressing the needs of animals on campus as well as animals in the San Luis Obispo. This study thoroughly investigated the student who have taken or are currently taking any of the five courses taught at the CPVC. The research was accomplished through a survey questionnaire. The student questionnaire was conducted by the researcher at Cal Poly-SLO and was administered during the spring quarter of 2014. The analysis identified that hands-on learning experiences were most valued by students at the CPVC. A mission statement for the CPVC was also development for a better understanding of the clinic as a whole for the Cal Poly students, faculty, and San Luis Obispo community. The survey results have determined the preferences of the students with regards to interest in certain clinical experiences which included anesthetic surgery along with students preferred interest in animal species- small animals. The survey results also provided the CPVC with data regarding the importance of difference benefits of the CPVC offered to student and the student satisfaction level of different factors of the CPVC. This information will help the Animal Science Department at Cal Poly by enhancing the needs of the students in the program and preparing future veterinary medical students with necessary skill sets.

A presente tese objetivou analisar a questão do financiamento da produção agrícola à luz dos preceitos da Nova Economia Institucional, por meio do entendimento de que os contratos de crédito agrícola são formas híbridas de governança em resposta à complexidade das relações que ocorrem na cadeia agroindustrial e ao ambiente institucional vigente (regras do jogo). As pesquisas conduzidas para esta tese diferem da abordagem da economia tradicional que analisa a transação de crédito de forma isolada, focalizando aspectos da precificação do crédito e considerando um mundo em que os custos de transação são nulos. Este estudo inova ao oferecer uma ampla discussão sobre o funcionamento do mercado de crédito agrícola no Brasil por meio de 3 estudos com destaque para a análise da evolução dos contratos, o mapeamento dos arranjos contratuais existentes e de seus mecanismos de mitigação de risco, a análise comparada com um mercado desenvolvido e por fim, a verificação da relação causal entre alguns elementos da transação de crédito agrícola e o tipo de arranjo adotado pelo agricultor. As informações e análises apresentadas nesta tese trazem à tona a discussão por mudanças institucionais no sistema de financiamento agrícola brasileiro, podendo servir como inputs para políticas públicas e estratégias empresariais. / This dissertation outlines a New Institutional Economics approach of rural credit and analyses it through three articles. The mainstream of this research relies in the understanding that the rural credit contracts are hybrid forms in response to the agrichain´s complexity. The object of the research was operational credit contract for soybeans farms. The first two articles consist on qualitative researches in the extent that they sought to comprehend in a more profound level the rules of game for the rural financing contracting environment based on the economic agents perceptions. The third article sought to analyze the causality between the transaction elements to access rural credit and contractual arrangements. The results indicated that size of the farms may be an important determinant of the transactions with trade credit agents. The body of the three articles shed light to the prevalent rules of the games in the Brazilian rural market and might serve as input for public policies and private strategies seeking to enhance the institutional environment.

O presente trabalho teve como objetivo identificar determinadas características produtivas e econômicas de algumas criações de búfalos no Brasil desenvolvendo um estudo sobre as dificuldades, facilidades e potencialidade da bubalinocultura envolvendo as ferramentas de marketing aplicadas ao agronegócio bubalino. Foi realizada uma pesquisa de campo utilizando formulário eletrônico para preenchimento on line por criadores de búfalos com questões estratégicas e disponibilizado na página da Faculdade de Zootecnia e Engenharia de Alimentos da Universidade de São Paulo. O mesmo questionário impresso foi encaminhado, via correio, à 184 criadores de búfalos com endereços cadastrados na página da Associação Brasileira de Criadores de Búfalos. Foram avaliadas 50 propriedades com atividade em bubalinocultura rurais distribuídas em 12 Estados brasileiros. O presente estudo identificou que a bubalinocultura representa uma atividade promissora junto ao agronegócio brasileiro com bom nicho de mercado para a produção de leite, porém com barreiras no posicionamento do mercado da carne de búfalo. Há um desafio a ser vencido a partir da articulação dos componentes de toda a estrutura no agronegócio bubalino envolvendo cadeia produtiva de leite e de carne para produção em escala visando atender adequadamente a demanda do mercado interno e do mercado externo. / This study aimed to identify certain characteristics of some productive and economical of buffalo production in Brazil developing a study on the difficulties, advantages and potential of buffalo production involving the tools of marketing applied to buffalo agribusiness. We performed a field research using electronic form to fill on line by buffalo raisers with strategic questions available on the website of Faculty of Food Engineering and Animal Science from University of Sao Paulo. The same form was sent via mail to the 184 buffalo raisers with addresses registered on the website of the Brazilian Buffalo Raisers Association. We evaluated 50 rural farms with activity in buffalo production distributed in 12 Brazilian states. This study identified that buffalo production represents a promising activity to the Brazilian agribusiness with a good special market for milk production, but with barriers in the market positioning of buffalo meat. There is a challenge to be achievement from the articulation of the components of the entire structure in the agribusiness production chain involving buffalo milk and meat production scale to adequately meet the demand of the internal and external markets.

Resumo: Propor um índice de mercado para o agronegócio brasileiro, a partir da proposta de uma carteira de mercado que reflita o setor do agronegócio brasileiro e sirva como parâmetro para análise de investimento nos principais ramos de atividades agropecuárias. A hipótese que norteou esse estudo é que o Ibovespa, enquanto proxy para uma carteira de mercado, não reflete adequadamente o risco sistemático para análise de investimentos no agronegócio. Desta forma, o índice proposto deriva da criação de uma carteira de mercado para o setor do agronegócio, sendo está calculada com base nas principais culturas agropecuárias que compõem o Valor Bruto de Produção (VBP) do Ministério de Agricultura, Pecuária e Abastecimento (MAPA). As culturas selecionadas foram: soja, bovinos, cana-de-açúcar, frango, milho, leite, café, algodão herbáceo, suínos, laranja, banana, arroz, tomate, batata, uva, trigo e maçã. A composição da carteira foi embasada na participação individual no VBP e teve sua série histórica computada a partir de dados mensais de 2012 a 2018. Os preços das culturas foram extraídos do Centro de Estudos Avançados em Economia Aplicada (CEPEA) e da União Nacional da Bioenergia (UDOP). Adicionalmente, foi criada uma carteira, a partir das ações negociadas na Bolsa de Valores de São Paulo [B³] que estão inseridas nas cadeias do agronegócio, como forma de avaliar se essa carteira com ativos financeiros negociados no mercado poderia ser eficiente para representar o risco sistemático do merc... (Resumo completo, clicar acesso eletrônico abaixo) / Abstract: To propose a market index for Brazilian agribusiness based on the proposal of a market portfolio that reflects the Brazilian agribusiness sector and serves as a parameter for investment analysis in the main fields of agricultural activities. The hypothesis that guided this study is that Ibovespa, as a proxy for a market portfolio, does not adequately reflect the systematic risk for analyzing agribusiness investments. Thus, the proposed index derives from the creation of a market portfolio for the agribusiness sector, which is calculated based on the main agricultural crops that make up the Gross Production Value (GPV) of the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Supply (MAPA). The selected crops were: soybean, cattle, sugar cane, chicken, corn, milk, coffee, herbaceous cotton, swine, orange, banana, rice, tomato, potato, grape, wheat and apple. The portfolio composition was based on individual participation in VBP and its historical series was computed from monthly data from 2012 to 2018. Crop prices were extracted from the Center for Advanced Studies on Applied Economics (CEPEA) and the National Union of Bioenergy (UDOP). Additionally, a portfolio was created from the shares traded on the São Paulo Stock Exchange [B³] that are part of the agribusiness chains as a way to assess whether this portfolio with financial assets traded in the market could be efficient to represent the risk. agricultural market. The data from these companies were obtained from the Economática® Syste... (Complete abstract click electronic access below) / Mestre

A presente tese objetivou analisar a questão do financiamento da produção agrícola à luz dos preceitos da Nova Economia Institucional, por meio do entendimento de que os contratos de crédito agrícola são formas híbridas de governança em resposta à complexidade das relações que ocorrem na cadeia agroindustrial e ao ambiente institucional vigente (regras do jogo). As pesquisas conduzidas para esta tese diferem da abordagem da economia tradicional que analisa a transação de crédito de forma isolada, focalizando aspectos da precificação do crédito e considerando um mundo em que os custos de transação são nulos. Este estudo inova ao oferecer uma ampla discussão sobre o funcionamento do mercado de crédito agrícola no Brasil por meio de 3 estudos com destaque para a análise da evolução dos contratos, o mapeamento dos arranjos contratuais existentes e de seus mecanismos de mitigação de risco, a análise comparada com um mercado desenvolvido e por fim, a verificação da relação causal entre alguns elementos da transação de crédito agrícola e o tipo de arranjo adotado pelo agricultor. As informações e análises apresentadas nesta tese trazem à tona a discussão por mudanças institucionais no sistema de financiamento agrícola brasileiro, podendo servir como inputs para políticas públicas e estratégias empresariais. / This dissertation outlines a New Institutional Economics approach of rural credit and analyses it through three articles. The mainstream of this research relies in the understanding that the rural credit contracts are hybrid forms in response to the agrichain´s complexity. The object of the research was operational credit contract for soybeans farms. The first two articles consist on qualitative researches in the extent that they sought to comprehend in a more profound level the rules of game for the rural financing contracting environment based on the economic agents perceptions. The third article sought to analyze the causality between the transaction elements to access rural credit and contractual arrangements. The results indicated that size of the farms may be an important determinant of the transactions with trade credit agents. The body of the three articles shed light to the prevalent rules of the games in the Brazilian rural market and might serve as input for public policies and private strategies seeking to enhance the institutional environment.

O presente trabalho teve como objetivo identificar determinadas características produtivas e econômicas de algumas criações de búfalos no Brasil desenvolvendo um estudo sobre as dificuldades, facilidades e potencialidade da bubalinocultura envolvendo as ferramentas de marketing aplicadas ao agronegócio bubalino. Foi realizada uma pesquisa de campo utilizando formulário eletrônico para preenchimento on line por criadores de búfalos com questões estratégicas e disponibilizado na página da Faculdade de Zootecnia e Engenharia de Alimentos da Universidade de São Paulo. O mesmo questionário impresso foi encaminhado, via correio, à 184 criadores de búfalos com endereços cadastrados na página da Associação Brasileira de Criadores de Búfalos. Foram avaliadas 50 propriedades com atividade em bubalinocultura rurais distribuídas em 12 Estados brasileiros. O presente estudo identificou que a bubalinocultura representa uma atividade promissora junto ao agronegócio brasileiro com bom nicho de mercado para a produção de leite, porém com barreiras no posicionamento do mercado da carne de búfalo. Há um desafio a ser vencido a partir da articulação dos componentes de toda a estrutura no agronegócio bubalino envolvendo cadeia produtiva de leite e de carne para produção em escala visando atender adequadamente a demanda do mercado interno e do mercado externo. / This study aimed to identify certain characteristics of some productive and economical of buffalo production in Brazil developing a study on the difficulties, advantages and potential of buffalo production involving the tools of marketing applied to buffalo agribusiness. We performed a field research using electronic form to fill on line by buffalo raisers with strategic questions available on the website of Faculty of Food Engineering and Animal Science from University of Sao Paulo. The same form was sent via mail to the 184 buffalo raisers with addresses registered on the website of the Brazilian Buffalo Raisers Association. We evaluated 50 rural farms with activity in buffalo production distributed in 12 Brazilian states. This study identified that buffalo production represents a promising activity to the Brazilian agribusiness with a good special market for milk production, but with barriers in the market positioning of buffalo meat. There is a challenge to be achievement from the articulation of the components of the entire structure in the agribusiness production chain involving buffalo milk and meat production scale to adequately meet the demand of the internal and external markets.