Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-tf8b9 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-29T13:22:00.891Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

The Impact of Energy Prices on Optimum Machinery Size and the Structure of Agriculture: A Georgia Example

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  28 April 2015

Wesley N. Musser  and
Ulysses Marable Jr.
Wesley N. Musser
Affiliation:
University of Georgiaat Athens
Ulysses Marable Jr.
Affiliation:
University of Georgiaat Athens
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Extract

In analyzing the impact of recent energy price increases on agriculture, agricultural economists have suggested the possibility of substitution of labor for farm machinery inputs [3, pp. 881-833] [17, pp. 195-196]. Since large energy input is embodied in farm machinery [14, p. 195], energy-price increases not only raised costs of machinery fuel, but also provided a cost-push effect on other fixed and variable machinery cost components. However, these potential price incentives have not been sufficient to reverse aggregate historical trends towards larger equipment in current machinery purchases [11, 15]. Understanding the nature of recent shifts in optimum machinery size on different farm sizes is important for consideration of future farm size and labor-capital structure of agriculture.

Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of Agricultural and Applied Economics , Volume 8 , Issue 1 , July 1976 , pp. 205 - 211
Copyright
Copyright © Southern Agricultural Economics Association 1976

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

[1] Berry, Russell L. “Break-even Analysis: A Practical Tool in Farm Management,” American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Volume 54:1, February 1972.Google Scholar
[2] Carter, H. O., and Dean, G. W.. “Cost-Size Relationships for Cash Crop Farms in a Highly Commercialized Agriculture,” Journal of Farm Economics, Volume 43:2, May 1961.Google Scholar
[3] Carter, Harold O., and Youde, James G.. “Some Impacts of the Changing Energy Situation on U.S. Agriculture,” American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Volume 56:5, December 1974.Google Scholar
[4] David, Paul A. “The Mechanization of Reaping in the Ante-Bellum Midwest,” in Industrialization in Two Systems: Essays in Honor of Alexander Gerschenkran, Rosovsky, Henry, editor, New York: John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 1966.Google Scholar
[5] Debertin, David L., et. al. “Estimating the Returns to Information: A Gaming Approach,” American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Volume 57:2, May 1975.Google Scholar
[6] Givan, William, et. al. Farm Machinery Costs and Performance, 1975, University of Georgia, Department of Agricultural Economics Faculty Series 75-2, 1975. Google Scholar
[7] Hatch, Roy E., et. al. “Incorporating Multiple Goals into the Decision-Making Processing: A Simulation Approach to Firm Growth Analysis,” Southern Journal of Agricultural Economics, Volume 6:1, July 1974.Google Scholar
[8] Kletke, Darrel. “Selection of A Farm Machinery Replacement Criterion Using Simulation,” Southern Journal of Agricultural Economics, Volume 1, December 1969.Google Scholar
[9] Krause, Kenneth R., and Kyle, Leonard R.. “Economic Factors Underlying the Incidence of Large Farming Units: The Current Situation and Probable Trends,” American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Volume 52:5, December 1970.Google Scholar
[10] Lin, William, et. al. “An Empirical Test of Utility vs. Profit Maximization in Agricultural Production,” American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Volume 56:3, August 1974.Google Scholar
[11] McKee, Dean E. “Farm Machinery Market Prospect-1975,” in 1975 U.S. Agricultural Outlook, U.S. Senate Committee on Agriculture and Forestry, Committee Print, 93rd Congress, 2nd Session, Washington, D.C., U.S. Government Printing Office, 1974.Google Scholar
[12] Madden, J. Patrick. Economies of Size in Farming, U.S.D.A., E.R.S., Agricultural Economic Report Number 107, Washington, D.C., 1967.Google Scholar
[13] Marable, Ulysses Jr. “Current Farm Machinery Cost for Row Crop Enterprise on Different Farm Sizes in the Coastal Plain Area of Georgia,” unpublished M.S. thesis, Department of Agricultural Economics, University of Georgia, 1975.Google Scholar
[14] Raup, Phillip M. “Economies and Diseconomies of Large-Scale Agriculture,” American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Volume 51:5, December 1969.Google Scholar
[15] Rodewald, Gordon E. Jr. “The Economies of Size Available with Four-Wheel Drive 140 hp and Larger Tractors in the Eastern Washington Dryland Farming Areas,” Contributed paper presented at the AAEA Annual Meeting, Columbus, Ohio, August 1975.Google Scholar
[16] Saunders, F. B., et al. Farm Machinery Cost in Georgia, Georgia Agricultural Experiment Station Research Report 45, 1969.Google Scholar
[17] Schneeberger, K. C., and Breimyer, Harold F.. “Agriculture in an Energy-Hungry World,” Southern Journal of Agricultural Economics, Volume 6:1, July 1974.Google Scholar
[18] Van Arsdall, Roy N., and Elder., William A. Economies of Size of Illinois Cash-Grain and Hog Farms, University of Illinois Agricultural Experiment Station Bulletin 733, 1969.Google Scholar
[19] Walker, Odell L., and Nelson, A. Gene. “Designing Research and Education Programs Related to Decision-Making Under Uncertainty,” Paper presented at the Southern Agricultural Management Research Work Group, Athens, Georgia, January 13-14, 1976.Google Scholar
[20] Walker, Rodney L., and Kletke., Darrell D. The Application and Use of the Oklahoma State University Crop and Livestock Budget Generator, Oklahoma State Agricultural Experiment Station Report P-663, 1972.Google Scholar