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Hog Producers (hog + producers)

Distribution by Scientific Domains
Business, Economics, Finance and Accounting75%

Selected Abstracts

Developing Hedging Strategies for Québec Hog Producers under Revenue Insurance

CANADIAN JOURNAL OF AGRICULTURAL ECONOMICS, Issue 1 2004
Jean-Philippe Gervais
The paper investigates the optimal hedging strategies of Québec hog producers when they participate in a publicly funded revenue insurance program known as ASRA (Régime d'assurance-stabilisation des revenus agricoles). A forecast model of local cash and futures prices is built and Monte Carlo methods are used to derive the optimal futures and option positions of Québec hog producers. The positive correlation between forecasts of futures and cash spot prices induces positive sales of futures and put options to hedge price risk. ASRA provides put options to hog producers at actuarially advantageous terms. Producers can increase the expected utility of profits by selling back a portion of these put options using financial markets. Options are attractive to manage price risk given the nonlinearity in the profit function induced by the revenue insurance scheme. Speculative incentives to use futures and options are also discussed in the context of ASRA. Les auteurs ont examiné les meilleures stratégies de régulation pour les producteurs de porc québécois adhérant au programme d'assurance-revenu financeé par l'administration publique (ASRA). Ils ont bâti un modéle de prévision pour les prix au comptant et les prix à terme locaux puis appliquéé les méthodes de Monte Carlo pour voir comment les éleveurs de porcs québécois peuvent obtenir les prix d'option etles prix â terme optimaux. La corrélation positive entre les prix é terme et les prix au comptant favorise les ventes â terme et les options de vente pour une meilleure régulation des risques associés aux prix. L'ASRA permet aux producteurs de prendre des options â des termes avantageux sur le plan actuariel. Les éleveurs peuvent accroître la valeur prévue de leurs bénéfices en cédant une partie de ces options sur les marchés financiers. Les options sont intéressantes pour gérer les risques liés aux prix â cause de la non-linéarité que le programme d'assurance-revenu induit dans la fonction «bénéfices ». Les auteurs abordent aussi le probléme de la spéculation sur le marchéâ terme et le marché des options dans le contexte de l'ASRA. [source]

A Review of Molecular Contrasts Between Arresting and Viable Porcine Attachment Sites

AMERICAN JOURNAL OF REPRODUCTIVE IMMUNOLOGY, Issue 6 2007
Jocelyn M. Wessels
Significant spontaneous fetal loss of unknown cause occurs in North American commercial swine. About 30% of conceptuses, thought to be genetically normal, are lost during the peri-attachment period. An additional 20% are lost at mid-pregnancy. Littermate endometrial and trophoblast biopsies were studied by quantitative real-time PCR for gene expression, and immunohistochemistry for protein expression at gestation day (gd)15,23 and 50. RNA analyses were also conducted on endometrial lymphocytes and arterial endothelial cells removed from biopsies by laser capture microdissection. Genes were selected for study from human literature and cloned as required. As in humans, angiogenic, cytokine, chemokine and chemokine decoy receptor gene expression occurs at the porcine maternal,fetal interface. In each tissue studied, distinct patterns of expression are found between early and mid-pregnancy, as well as between viable and arresting conceptus attachment sites. These changes involve both endometrial lymphocytes and dendritic cells. Restriction in endometrial angiogenesis, reduction in expression of the chemokine decoy receptor D6, and reduction in dendritic cell numbers contribute to fetal arrest. In peri-attachment loss, interferon-, is more abundantly transcribed than tumor necrosis factor-,, but this ratio is reversed during midgestation failure. Further characterization of spontaneous fetal loss in pigs will identify targets for modification by hog producers and may provide a model for identification of antecedents to fetal loss in humans. [source]

Backyard Hog Production Efficiency: Evidence from the Philippines,

ASIAN ECONOMIC JOURNAL, Issue 3 2008
Amin W. Mugera
D13; O13; Q12; R30 This article investigates the economic efficiency and the factors associated with efficiency for a sample of 126 hog producers in the Philippines. The input-oriented efficiency indices are computed and bootstrapped using data envelopment analysis. Econometric analysis of the factors influencing the efficiency indices are conducted using the Tobit model. Fixed capital does not influence the efficiency scores, whereas labor does negatively influence the efficiency indices. On average, technical efficiency is low, an indication that most households are not using the most efficient technology. Scale efficiency is fairly high but constrained by lack of operating capital and managerial skills. Technical efficiency is constrained by lack of access to credit and limited experience in hog production. [source]

Developing Hedging Strategies for Québec Hog Producers under Revenue Insurance

CANADIAN JOURNAL OF AGRICULTURAL ECONOMICS, Issue 1 2004
Jean-Philippe Gervais
The paper investigates the optimal hedging strategies of Québec hog producers when they participate in a publicly funded revenue insurance program known as ASRA (Régime d'assurance-stabilisation des revenus agricoles). A forecast model of local cash and futures prices is built and Monte Carlo methods are used to derive the optimal futures and option positions of Québec hog producers. The positive correlation between forecasts of futures and cash spot prices induces positive sales of futures and put options to hedge price risk. ASRA provides put options to hog producers at actuarially advantageous terms. Producers can increase the expected utility of profits by selling back a portion of these put options using financial markets. Options are attractive to manage price risk given the nonlinearity in the profit function induced by the revenue insurance scheme. Speculative incentives to use futures and options are also discussed in the context of ASRA. Les auteurs ont examiné les meilleures stratégies de régulation pour les producteurs de porc québécois adhérant au programme d'assurance-revenu financeé par l'administration publique (ASRA). Ils ont bâti un modéle de prévision pour les prix au comptant et les prix à terme locaux puis appliquéé les méthodes de Monte Carlo pour voir comment les éleveurs de porcs québécois peuvent obtenir les prix d'option etles prix â terme optimaux. La corrélation positive entre les prix é terme et les prix au comptant favorise les ventes â terme et les options de vente pour une meilleure régulation des risques associés aux prix. L'ASRA permet aux producteurs de prendre des options â des termes avantageux sur le plan actuariel. Les éleveurs peuvent accroître la valeur prévue de leurs bénéfices en cédant une partie de ces options sur les marchés financiers. Les options sont intéressantes pour gérer les risques liés aux prix â cause de la non-linéarité que le programme d'assurance-revenu induit dans la fonction «bénéfices ». Les auteurs abordent aussi le probléme de la spéculation sur le marchéâ terme et le marché des options dans le contexte de l'ASRA. [source]