The Corn/Soybean Rotation and Profitability

One of the most basic questions farmers must answer on an annual basis is what to plant. In some cases this is simply a choice among cultivars in others it is a choice among different crop types. In Nebraska the choice may vary considerably since many different crop types are grown. This discussion focuses on the factors that affect profitability, which are created by both biology and economics, and how that might be used to make the best crop rotation selection between corn and soybean cropping systems

Stabilizing Your Farm’s Financial Condition and Profitability

Nationwide farm net income has fallen for the last three years and appears to be on trend to keep falling. Interest rates are likely to increase, as the economy seems to be warming up, resulting in increased borrowing costs and tighter credit conditions. Cash rents fell by nearly 11% on average-quality farmland in 2016 and are on a trend to continue in the coming year. In addition many farms have decreasing amounts of working capital to make up for declining incomes and high costs of production. The decrease in working capital if unchecked can decrease the stability of an operation. With no real signs that commodity values will increase and the unpredictability of the future this situation, while not dire, warrants watching. Net farm income and working capital are vital to keep U.S. farms and ranches sustainable and healthy. While these two measures do not track the same thing, their measure of firm success and health are closely tied to each other. Net farm income (Profit) is the total earnings after expenses for the production year. This is reflected in the profit equation: profit = total revenue – total cost and is directly influenced by prices, productivity and costs. Working capital is the amount of capital an operation has remaining after subtracting the current 12- month liabilities from the current assets. Working capital is a way to measure an operation’s ability to meet its short-term obligations and handle risks

Three Key Factors to Balance when Choosing a Calving Season Based on Profitability

Cow producers base major decisions such as calving season on expected economic outcomes which include productivity, input costs, personal capability, individual preferences, markets, and so on. Calving systems are generally categorized into three seasons, spring, summer and fall. Many producers select the spring calving season to maximize the weaned calf weight at the end of the summer grass season. Unfortunately this increases feeding costs since extra nutrition is needed in the spring, prior to pastures being opened. Also due to the widespread adoption of this early spring calving, the mass marketing in late fall often results in depressed calf prices relative to the rest of the year. Given these observations, efforts to reduce costs and increase prices have prompted more detailed investigations and research focused on moving the calving season to later in the year, such as May or June. While moving the calving season may decrease labor costs and alter market timing, it also changes the matchup between available pasture nutrition and the cow’s needed nutrition level, i.e. during lactation and the breeding season. Choosing the best calving time depends on the producers’ ability to understand their own operation by recognizing both the biological and economic impacts on their production and profitability

Stabilizing Your Farm’s Financial Condition and Profitability

Nationwide farm net income has fallen for the last three years and appears to be on trend to keep falling. Interest rates are likely to increase, as the economy seems to be warming up, resulting in increased borrowing costs and tighter credit conditions. Cash rents fell by nearly 11% on average-quality farmland in 2016 and are on a trend to continue in the coming year. In addition many farms have decreasing amounts of working capital to make up for declining incomes and high costs of production. The decrease in working capital if unchecked can decrease the stability of an operation. With no real signs that commodity values will increase and the unpredictability of the future this situation, while not dire, warrants watching. Net farm income and working capital are vital to keep U.S. farms and ranches sustainable and healthy. While these two measures do not track the same thing, their measure of firm success and health are closely tied to each other. Net farm income (Profit) is the total earnings after expenses for the production year. This is reflected in the profit equation: profit = total revenue – total cost and is directly influenced by prices, productivity and costs. Working capital is the amount of capital an operation has remaining after subtracting the current 12- month liabilities from the current assets. Working capital is a way to measure an operation’s ability to meet its short-term obligations and handle risks

Payoff of Corn/Soybean Rotation in Western Nebraska

Corn and soybeans are the two most common crops grown in Nebraska. Some farmers in the western part of the state plant continuous corn with few that plant continuous soybeans. In most cases some type of corn/soybean rotation is practiced. Idealistically speaking crop rotations should be producer and site specific, matching physical geography, resource availability and management capability. This work focuses on the difference in profitability among four possible rotations

Growth of Inflaton Perturbations and the Post-Inflation Era in Supersymmetric Hybrid Inflation Models

It has been shown that hybrid inflation may end with the formation of non-topological solitons of inflaton field. As a first step towards a fully realistic picture of the post-inflation era and reheating in supersymmetric hybrid inflation models, we study the classical scalar field equations of a supersymmetric hybrid inflation model using a semi-analytical ansatz for the spatial dependence of the fields. Using the minimal D-term inflation model as an example, the inflaton field is evolved using the full 1-loop effective potential from the slow-rolling era to the U(1)_{FI} symmetry-breaking phase transition. Spatial perturbations of the inflaton corresponding to quantum fluctuations are introduced for the case where there is spatially coherent U(1)_{FI} symmetry breaking. The maximal growth of the dominant perturbation is found to depend only on the ratio of superpotential coupling \lambda to the gauge coupling g. The inflaton condensate fragments to non-topological solitons for \lambda/g > 0.09. Possible consequences of non-topological soliton formation in fully realistic SUSY hybrid inflation models are discussed.Comment: 27 pages LaTeX, 8 figures. Additional references and discussio

Two-field Q-ball solutions of supersymmetric hybrid inflation.

We demonstrate the existence of two-field Q-ball solutions of the scalar field equations of supersymmetric D- and F-term hybrid inflation. The solutions consist of a complex inflaton field together with a real symmetry breaking field. Such inflatonic Q-balls may play a fundamental role in reheating and the post-inflation era of supersymmetric hybrid inflation models

The Corn/Soybean Rotation and Profitability

One of the most basic questions farmers must answer on an annual basis is what to plant. In some cases this is simply a choice among cultivars in others it is a choice among different crop types. In Nebraska the choice may vary considerably since many different crop types are grown. This discussion focuses on the factors that affect profitability, which are created by both biology and economics, and how that might be used to make the best crop rotation selection between corn and soybean cropping systems

Three Key Factors to Balance when Choosing a Calving Season Based on Profitability

Cow producers base major decisions such as calving season on expected economic outcomes which include productivity, input costs, personal capability, individual preferences, markets, and so on. Calving systems are generally categorized into three seasons, spring, summer and fall. Many producers select the spring calving season to maximize the weaned calf weight at the end of the summer grass season. Unfortunately this increases feeding costs since extra nutrition is needed in the spring, prior to pastures being opened. Also due to the widespread adoption of this early spring calving, the mass marketing in late fall often results in depressed calf prices relative to the rest of the year. Given these observations, efforts to reduce costs and increase prices have prompted more detailed investigations and research focused on moving the calving season to later in the year, such as May or June. While moving the calving season may decrease labor costs and alter market timing, it also changes the matchup between available pasture nutrition and the cow’s needed nutrition level, i.e. during lactation and the breeding season. Choosing the best calving time depends on the producers’ ability to understand their own operation by recognizing both the biological and economic impacts on their production and profitability