scholarly journals An Economic Analysis of Two Grafted Tomato Transplant Production Systems in the United States

2010 ◽  
Vol 20 (4) ◽  
pp. 794-803 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cary L. Rivard ◽  
Olha Sydorovych ◽  
Suzanne O'Connell ◽  
Mary M. Peet ◽  
Frank J. Louws

The grafting of herbaceous vegetables is an emerging development in the United States. This report provides an estimate of the variable costs of grafting within U.S. tomato (Solanum lycopersicum) transplant production systems. Grafted and nongrafted plants were propagated at two commercial farming operations in Ivanhoe, NC (NC) and Strasburg, PA (PA) and the farm in NC produced certified organic transplants. Detailed economic production sequences were generated for each site, and grafted and nongrafted transplant production costs were $0.59 and $0.13 in NC, and $1.25 and $0.51 in PA, respectively. Direct costs associated with grafting (e.g., grafting labor, clips, chamber, etc.) accounted for 37% to 38% of the added cost of grafting, and grafting labor was 11.1% to 14.4% of the cost of grafted transplant production. Seed costs represented 52% and 33% of the added cost of grafting at the two sites, and indirect costs (e.g., soil, trays, and heating) accounted for 10% and 30% of the added cost of grafting. Our findings suggest that under current seed prices and with similar production practices, the feasibility of grafting in the United States is not disproportionately affected by domestic labor costs. Additionally, the economic models presented in this report identify the cost of production at various transplant stages, and provide a valuable tool for growers interested in grafted tomato transplant production and utilization.

2020 ◽  
Vol 22 (Supplement_3) ◽  
pp. iii466-iii466
Author(s):  
Karina Black ◽  
Jackie Middleton ◽  
Sunita Ghosh ◽  
David Eisenstat ◽  
Samor Patel

Abstract BACKGROUND Proton therapy for benign and malignant tumors has dosimetric and clinical advantages over photon therapy. Patients in Alberta, Canada are referred to the United States for proton treatment. The Alberta Heath Care Insurance Plan (AHCIP) pays for the proton treatment and the cost of flights to and from the United States (direct costs). This study aimed to determine the out-of-pocket expenses incurred by patients or their families (indirect costs). METHODS Invitation letters linked to an electronic survey were mailed to patients treated with protons between 2008 and 2018. Expenses for flights for other family members, accommodations, transportation, food, passports, insurance, and opportunity costs including lost wages and productivity were measured. RESULTS Fifty-nine invitation letters were mailed. Seventeen surveys were completed (28.8% response rate). One paper survey was mailed at participant request. Nine respondents were from parent/guardian, 8 from patients. All patients were accompanied to the US by a family member/friend. Considerable variability in costs and reimbursements were reported. Many of the accompanying family/friends had to miss work; only 3 patients themselves reported missed work. Time away from work varied, and varied as to whether it was paid or unpaid time off. CONCLUSIONS Respondents incurred indirect monetary and opportunity costs which were not covered by AHCIP when traveling out of country for proton therapy. Prospective studies could help provide current data minimizing recall bias. These data may be helpful for administrators in assessing the societal cost of out-of-country referral of patients for proton therapy.


Animals ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (7) ◽  
pp. 473 ◽  
Author(s):  
Luuk S.M. Vissers ◽  
Ingrid C. de Jong ◽  
Peter L.M. van Horne ◽  
Helmut W. Saatkamp

In the 2000s, the idea of a so-called middle-segment arose in North-West Europe to address the criticism on intensive broiler production systems. Middle-segment systems being indoor housing of slower-growing broiler strains at a stocking density ≤38 kg/m2. Previous literature showed that Dutch middle-segment systems entail a relatively large gain in animal welfare at a relatively low increase in costs, i.e., have a high cost-efficiency. The question is to what extent these findings are applicable to other countries. Therefore, the aim of this study is to gain insight in the global prospects of middle-segment systems by exploring the cost-efficiency of these systems in other parts of the world. A set of representative countries, containing the Netherlands, United States and Brazil were selected. Cost-efficiency was defined as the ratio of the change in the level of animal welfare and the change in production costs. The level of animal welfare was measured by the Welfare Quality (WQ) index score. Data was collected from literature and consulting experts. Results show that in the Netherlands, United States and Brazil a change from conventional towards a middle-segment system improves animal welfare in a cost-efficient manner (the Netherlands 9.1, United States 24.2 and Brazil 12.1). Overall, it can be concluded that in general middle-segment production systems provide a considerable increase in animal welfare at a relatively small increase in production costs and therefore offer good prospects for a cost-efficient improvement of broiler welfare.


2020 ◽  
Vol 71 (6) ◽  
pp. 1568-1576
Author(s):  
Jamison Pike ◽  
Andrew J Leidner ◽  
Paul A Gastañaduy

Abstract Despite the elimination of measles in the United States (US) in the year 2000, cases continue to occur, with measles outbreaks having occurred in various jurisdictions in the US in 2018 and 2019. Understanding the cost associated with measles outbreaks can inform cost-of-illness and cost-effectiveness studies of measles and measles prevention. We performed a literature review and identified 10 published studies from 2001 through 2018 that presented cost estimates from 11 measles outbreaks. The median total cost per measles outbreak was $152 308 (range, $9862–$1 063 936); the median cost per case was $32 805 (range, $7396–$76 154) and the median cost per contact was $223 (range, $81–$746). There were limited data on direct and indirect costs associated with measles. These findings highlight how costly measles outbreaks can be, the value of this information for public health department budgeting, and the importance of more broadly documenting the cost of measles outbreaks.


2015 ◽  
Vol 25 (3) ◽  
pp. 330-334 ◽  
Author(s):  
Brian Ward ◽  
Powell Smith ◽  
Susan James ◽  
Zachary Stansell ◽  
Mark Farnham

Increased demand for fresh market crown-cut broccoli (Brassica oleracea var. italica) has led to increased production along the eastern seaboard of the United States. Maximizing broccoli yields is a primary concern for quickly expanding eastern markets. Thus, a plant density study was carried out in Fall 2012 and 2013 using the hybrid cultivar Emerald Crown on a commercial farm in Summerton, SC, and in Fall 2013 using ‘Emerald Crown’ and another hybrid, ‘Durapak 19’, on a research farm in Charleston, SC. The objective was to determine the effect of variable within-row spacings of 4, 6, and 8 inches (using a system with double rows spaced 12-inches apart) on marketable yields and quality in the three environments. Our results indicated that increasing plant density by reducing within-row spacing to 4 inches significantly increased overall yield per hectare over the 6- and 8-inch spacing treatments at two of three environments. Stem diameter and average head weight were unaffected by plant density; however, heads harvested from plots with the highest plant densities had significantly (P < 0.01) lower bead uniformity in the Summerton 2012 trial, and significantly (P < 0.05) larger bead size in the two trials conducted in 2013. In general, the highest total marketable yields were from the 4-inch within-row spacing, but increased competition at the highest density may increase the risk of plants producing heads with lower quality characteristics. With the increased risk of producing lower quality marketable heads along with the increased production costs associated with the 4-inch spacing, yield and head quality attributes may be optimized at the 6-inch within-row spacing.


Author(s):  
SAFITRI NURHIDAYATI ◽  
RIZKI AMELYA SYAM

This study aims to analyze whether the difference that occurs in the cost of raw materials, direct labor, and factory overhead costs between the standard costs and the actual costs in PLTU LATI is a difference that is favorable or unfavorable. Data collection techniques with field research and library research. The analytical tool used is the analysis of the difference in raw material costs, the difference in direct labor costs and the difference in factory overhead costs. The hypothesis in this study is that the difference allegedly occurs in the cost of raw materials, direct labor costs, and factory overhead costs at PT Indo Pusaka Berau Tanjung Redeb is a favorable difference. The results showed that the difference in the cost of producing MWh electricity at PT Indo Pusaka Berau Tanjung Redeb in 2018, namely the difference in the price of raw material costs Rp. 548,029.80, - is favorable, the difference in quantity of raw materials is Rp. 957,216,602, - is (favorable) , the difference in direct labor costs Rp 2,602,642,084, - is (unfavorable), and the difference in factory overhead costs Rp 8,807,051,422, - is (favorable) This shows that the difference in the overall production cost budget is favorable or profitable. This beneficial difference shows that the company is really able to reduce production costs optimally in 2018.  


Author(s):  
Peter Scott

From an international perspective, the inter-war car industry was a British success story. Britain ranked only second to the United States as the world’s leading producer of, and market for, automobiles, owing to a relatively strong domestic market by European standards. However, while consumers’ expenditure was high, it was not deep—car ownership per capita in 1938 being around a third of US levels. This chapter examines why the British automobile sector failed to take off into mass market diffusion. A number of important factors are highlighted, including lower British wages relative to the United States; punitive vehicle and petrol taxation; and the high unit production costs incurred in serving a market too small to justify Fordist mass production. However, a more fundamental reason was the low priority given to car ownership in a relatively small, densely populated, and highly urbanized island nation with well-developed public transport networks.


2008 ◽  
Vol 48 (7) ◽  
pp. 930 ◽  
Author(s):  
L. J. Cummins ◽  
C. A. Morris ◽  
B. W. Kirkpatrick

Long-term selection programs in the United States and New Zealand have developed twinning herds. In Nebraska, the United States Meat Animal Research Centre population had a calving rate of 1.56 per parturition in 2004. They have shown that the location of ovulation has an important effect on the success of pregnancy and that ovulations ≥3 are probably undesirable. These cattle have issues associated with calving difficulty and calf survival, which present challenges for commercial application. Intensive management using existing technology and/or future genetic improvement to address these traits are required to realise the potential benefits to beef production systems.


2010 ◽  
Vol 13 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
John F Cogan ◽  
R. Glenn Hubbard ◽  
Daniel Kessler

In this paper, we use publicly available data from the Medical Expenditure Panel Survey - Insurance Component (MEPS-IC) to investigate the effect of Massachusetts' health reform plan on employer-sponsored insurance premiums. We tabulate premium growth for private-sector employers in Massachusetts and the United States as a whole for 2004 - 2008. We estimate the effect of the plan as the difference in premium growth between Massachusetts and the United States between 2006 and 2008—that is, before versus after the plan—over and above the difference in premium growth for 2004 to 2006. We find that health reform in Massachusetts increased single-coverage employer-sponsored insurance premiums by about 6 percent, or $262. Although our research design has important limitations, it does suggest that policy makers should be concerned about the consequences of health reform for the cost of private insurance.


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