Farm size economies size measure the relationship between the size of operation and the average cost of production. Along with increasing farm size, the average cost of production per unit may decline. One reason farms have been growing in size is that larger sized farms tend to have more recent and advanced machines capable of covering more land with less labor. However, it is still questionable how farm size affects on input costs and field operation costs in Saskatchewan.
The major objective of this study was to examine the issues related to size economies in larger crop farms in Saskatchewan. The project has taken a different approach than is traditionally done in economies of size research where various forms of statistical data are analyzed. <p>First, the study analyzed several different operating and investment costs to see whether they are decreasing or staying the same as a result of increasing farm size. Next the study determined the probabilities of available field workdays using conditional probability equations derived from the Markov Chain method. The analysis was carried out for the West central and East central Saskatchewan regions to determine spring and fall field workability. Based on the field workdays estimation, the optimal area of combine for larger farms were analysed using a least-cost machinery size approach. The last part of this study analysed farm operational costs per unit for larger crop farms in order to determine how machinery efficiency and farm size have an effect on the farm production costs. <p>The study found that however there were certain combine costs that increase with farm size in Saskatchewan. In addition, soil types, weather conditions and field efficiency can strongly affect combine cost per acre. <p>The results of this research provide a reference for policy makers in designing policy recommendations. In addition, the results may offer useful information for farmers in designing management plans to control farm operation costs.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:LACETR/oai:collectionscanada.gc.ca:SSU.etd-06262007-130759 |
| Date | 28 June 2007 |
| Creators | Dashnyam, Byambatseren |
| Contributors | Jackson, Clayton, Gray, Richard S., Brown, William J. |
| Publisher | University of Saskatchewan |
| Source Sets | Library and Archives Canada ETDs Repository / Centre d'archives des thèses électroniques de Bibliothèque et Archives Canada |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | text |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Source | http://library.usask.ca/theses/available/etd-06262007-130759/ |
| Rights | unrestricted, I hereby certify that, if appropriate, I have obtained and attached hereto a written permission statement from the owner(s) of each third party copyrighted matter to be included in my thesis, dissertation, or project report, allowing distribution as specified below. I certify that the version I submitted is the same as that approved by my advisory committee. I hereby grant to University of Saskatchewan or its agents the non-exclusive license to archive and make accessible, under the conditions specified below, my thesis, dissertation, or project report in whole or in part in all forms of media, now or hereafter known. I retain all other ownership rights to the copyright of the thesis, dissertation or project report. I also retain the right to use in future works (such as articles or books) all or part of this thesis, dissertation, or project report. |
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