Re: BST

Geoff Benson (BENSON@econbus2.econ.ncsu.edu)
16 Jul 93 08:21:52 EST5EDT

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I agree with the Economist magazine's assessment of BST. From my
reading on the subject I conclude that BST is scale neutral but
clearly it is not management neutral. If herd performance is already
limited say, by nutrition, then the effect of BST on milk production
is unlikely to be expressed. From farm business records data I
conclude that there is a positive but weak correlation between herd
size and the quality of management, with a heck of a lot of variation
at any particular herd size. I do not believe, therefore, that the
structural adjustments (a euphemism for fewer farms) that BST would
cause in the US would fall primarily on smaller farms, although there
may well be a tendency in that direction. Neither do I believe that
there would be dramatic regional effects, although here again there
would undoubtedly be some measurable regional differences.

Geoff Benson
Extension Economist
Dept. of Agric. and Resource Econ.
Box 7509
N.C. State University
Raleigh, NC 27695-7509
Tel: 919-515-5184
Fax: 919-515-3928
Internet: Geoff_Benson@ncsu.edu

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Previous message: Gabriel Hegyes: "President's Council on Sust. Dev."
Maybe in reply to: Alan Furchtenicht: "BST"