Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Wyoming, 2006. / Title from PDF title page (viewed on April 16, 2008). Includes bibliographical references (p. 94-99).

Diss. (sammanfattning) Uppsala : Sveriges lantbruksuniv. / Härtill 4 uppsatser.

Diss. (sammanfattning) Uppsala : Sveriges lantbruksuniv., 2008. / Härtill 5 uppsatser.

Thesis (M.P.A.)--Kutztown University of Pennsylvania, 1995. / Source: Masters Abstracts International, Volume: 45-06, page: 2960. Typescript. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 93-94).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Oregon, 1970. / Typescript. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 119-129).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Wisconsin--Madison, 1969. / Typescript. Vita. eContent provider-neutral record in process. Description based on print version record. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 137-146).

No description available.

Master of Agribusiness / Department of Agricultural Economics / Allen M. Featherstone / The objective of this thesis is to determine if contract farming of fresh strawberries in Oceanside California is financially feasible. This is being considered as an alternative to managing the 185 acre fresh strawberry farm. The farming business is owned by a large fresh fruit marketing firm. As an independent custom grower I would not be subject to the same constraints as the marketing firm. No changes to management structure or product quality would be necessitated by this change. Assumptions for this study are specific to operating requirements for producing winter strawberries in North San Diego County in California. The cultural practices described and inputs used are considered to be usual for a well-managed commercial farm. The cost and returns are based upon actual historical data and representative of similar if not exact cultural practices and material inputs. The conceptual model used to guide the development of this study was taken from a generic feasibility study framework. It served as a controlled process to analyze the situation and determine the financial outcomes. The economic and financial viability analysis includes costs and returns per acre, monthly cash costs, sensitivity analysis, and overall profitability. The method used to assess the dimensions of viability was to weight them by evaluating key characteristics for relative strengths and weaknesses. The recommendation based upon this assessment is that the overall viability of the proposal is more than 80% and therefore merits the development of a comprehensive business plan.

Master of Agribusiness / Department of Agricultural Economics / Jason Bergtold / The dramatic changes that have taken place in the production agriculture industry in the last decade have the Long Family Partnership wanting to reassess their farm land management strategy. As land owners, they feel as though they might be missing out on profit opportunity by continuing their current lease agreements as status quo. The objective of this research is to determine the optimal land management strategy for the Partnership farm that maximizes net returns for crop production, but also taking into account input costs and risk. Three scenarios were built: (1) a Base Case of the current share-crop and cash lease Agreements; (2) the possibility of farming their own irrigated farm land and continuing to cash lease land used to produce dryland wheat; and (3) deciding to farm all the irrigated and dry land farm acreage themselves. In order to do this, a whole-farm budget spreadsheet model was generated to assess alternative land management scenarios. The difference in net returns between alternative land rental scenarios were then compared and followed by a sensitivity analysis and stochastic analysis using @RISK software. The findings concluded that there was greater potential to increase net farm income while still conservatively managing risk by investing into their own farm land, as not only owners but also as operators. The stochastic and sensitivity analysis confirmed that farming their own land was more sensitive to changes in yields, prices and input expenses. However, even in consideration of the additional risk, the probability of increasing net farm income was greater for the scenarios in which they farmed their own land.

Master of Agribusiness / Department of Agricultural Economics / Vincent Amanor-Boadu / Business plans are a necessity for new ventures. The plan helps to set goals for the business, establishes a good product and customer base, looks at competition, provides management strategies and develops a financial plan and succession/exit strategy. This thesis assesses the business plan that was developed for a 9,300 acre farm in Southwestern Wisconsin from an ex post perspective when assumptions about the future have been realized. It assesses the strategic direction, objectives and financial projections that were made and the assumptions that underlay the projections. The research provides a discussion of a family farming operation that ultimately became a banking investment at the cost of many family members’ lifestyles. The farm did continue on, but not with the same operators that had goals to build a new venture from the existing one. This research evaluates the financial information to determine whether the farm could have been a feasible proposition under the specified conditions. Also, the business plan is evaluated using hindsight information to assess the errors in assumptions and their effects on the projected cash flows, profitability and balance sheet situations. The research assesses the role that the template approach to the business planning process played in the results, and explored if the process model or the Cascade Approach® might have produced different recommendations. The entrepreneurial behaviors under uncertainty are discussed and evaluated, with the hubris being an underlying factor in the plan. It is concluded that the assumptions entrepreneurs make are often over-optimistic. There is, therefore, a need to temper entrepreneurs’ enthusiasm about their projects with reality to control their natural hubris.