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Impact of Commodity Prices on Agriculture Industry

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Cheryl Crispo Question 1(i). If there is a shortage in workers in the agricultural sector, wages will increase to attract and keep staff. This causes a shift in both the derived and primary supply curves occurs upward and to the left thereby decreasing quantity and increasing price. The change in prices on farm is reflected in both derived supply and primary supply curves are shown below in Figure 1. The margin is not significantly altered between the retailer and the farmer as it is shared between them (University of New England, 2014, pp. 10 – Annotated Notes). Figure 1 Change in Labour Costs The primary demand and derived demand curves are not affected by the change in labour (input) price. Question 1(ii) Retail margins should be considered to have a greater margin for a number of reasons. Firstly, retailers may have anticipated price changes and have already elevated their price so a small increase can be absorbed readily and menu costs would be low. Secondly, cost increases may immediately be passed on to consumers whilst cost decreases are not passed on for a period of time. Lastly, the buying power of the retailer is much stronger than an individual farmer (or possibly even an industry agent) this may force the farmer to accept a lower price increasing the retailers margin. Question 2 The AECL is a voluntary organisation for egg producers in Australia (Australian Egg Corporation Limited). The AECL is attempting to utilise its membership in a cartel arrangement by “encouraging” their members to decrease the supply of eggs to market. The Australian Consumer and Competition Commission frown on cartel type arrangements as they are anti-competitive and are attempting, illegally, to control supply. Non-members can still produce as many eggs as they wish without this restriction. This in turns encourages members of the cartel to produce more or break the rules to remain competitive in the market. Question 3 The article outlines a number of key issues in respect to future productivity of the Australian agricultural sector. Research and Development It has been noted that the level of publicly funded research and development into agricultural commodities has decreased over the past few decades. Research and development is paramount to the ever increasing demand for agricultural commodities to fuel an ever increasing population in the long run. Methods to improve technology to decrease production costs, increase yields, and possibly more importantly to improve the effect on the environment and manage the risk of climate change. This improvement may entail improving the efficiency of the farm: i.e. using the less inputs to obtain an equivalent volume of output or altering the size of the farm so that scale efficiecieces can be utilised. With scarcity of resources such as land, water and also crop choice, the choice of commodity being produced with limited resources needs to be researched and evaluated: drought resistant crops, irrigation or other methods that will produce high yields, do not provide excessive externalities to the environment but also cam stand up to the changing climate of Australia need to be considered. Research and development comes at a significant cost, but the returns on the investment can be up to 40%. This research comes also at a significant time cost: the time spent on finding new production methods can be very extensive, take a long time to implement (depending on the production life cycle) and even longer time to have the outcome truly realised. Resource competition As with all resources, there is a finite amount of resources for production: whether it be available land, labour or capital, there will always e competition to achieve the highest amount of utility from a resource. If an employee can receive better wages working in the mines, then agricultural labour will shift as more employees leave for other industries. The wages of the existing (and new) agricultural workers will increase and the number demanded will decrease. From the farmers point of view, if a particular commodity is receiving a higher net price, the decision will be made to produce the commodity that will provide the greater profit, whether it be wheat, beef or mining or a combination of all three to maximise the profit to the farmer. The higher prices received by mining is a significant factor in farmers choosing mining over agriculture. The mining resource boom has also led to the Australian dollar being valued more highly in foreign exchange markets. Other sectors have not faired so well with this boom: they may receive a decrease prices for domestic commodities in the international markets. The Environment and Climate Change Climate change, and the environment in general, is a very complex, misunderstood, controversial and political issue that will plague the agricultural industry for many years to come. Its true effects cannot be measured readly – for example, has the effect on agriculturall output been due to climate change, poor management or a cyclical or unexpected series of events naturally occurring in natire? As mentioned previously, research and developmemt can assist farmers to improve the technical efficiency of farms but is often not included in productivity calculations. The risk from the environment can be mitigated (i.e. floods, drought, pests etc.) but these risks need to be established before production begins. Is it noted that figures within the article were devoid of climate change effects: externalities both positive and negative were also excluded. It appears that even though the environment is pivotal to agricultural production the long term effects are not taken into consideration. Therefore standard productivity calculations appear to be biased towards production inputs and only partially represent the actual productivity of the farm in question. The Total Factor of Production (TFP) The TFP figure can be misleading if all factors of production are not considered as a whole. An individual farm may produce multiple commodities (i.e. wheat and cattle) to doversify their risk and maximise profit. The TFP measure does not segregate the factors of wheat production and the factors of cattle productin: the technology such as irrigation systems, skilled (or unskilled) labour, farm equipment (tractors), grain / feed storage may habe dual purposes. By isolating specific on-farm functions only a partial analysis can be formed: there may be significant interdependencies between the commodities (i.e. the land may be left fallow for 1 season to allow the cows to fertilise therefore the land is regenerated and fertilised and less chemicals are required once planting resumes on this land). The standard TFP equation does not indicate from where the productivity gains (losses) originate from: it is only a measure of how much is changed. There are a number of aspects to consider, as mentioned previously, including scale and technical inefficiencies. The farmer can review the output to establish whether with the same inputs, that outputs could increase. Secondly, the farmer could also research, ecoomtrically, that the same output could be achieved by having a smaller land size. Maximum output is not always best when the quality is not at an acceptable standard. As farmers are profit maximisers they need to look deeper into their production methods to improve their profits and efficiency. International Efficiency Productivity is undoubtedly of the most significant issues in internatopnal competitiveness. Resource usage both on the domestic and internatoomal stages, is to use inputs efficiently within the agricultural sector so as to maximise revenue, but also keep the resources in the hands of farmers not other industries. In comparison to other sectors in the economy, from 198-2011 agriculture has been the highest growth rate by far. It is interesting to note that the growth rate for all sectors has been steadily decreasing since 1986 with a few minor exceptions. Has the lack of Australian research and development in these sectors contributed to only 0.9% increase over 25 years? It is also clear that the methods of evaluating productivity need to be taken into consideration when reviewing or analysing productivity data. The two institutions mentioned, ABS and ABARES are using difference performance criteria and sectoral data. When analysing different domestic and international segments, the performance criteria should be the same to avoid potential analysis errors. Conclusion Commodity prices will always be volatile – it is the nature of agriculture. It is noted that government intervention, that has been prevalent in the past, may not be necessary to maintain adequate food supply. The future of Australian agriculture is healthy, however steps must be take to ensure that appropriate and targeted research and development is increased rather than removed to ensure an adequate food supply but also ensure that the resources required are not depleted through transferrance to another industry or through environmental degradation.
3-5 Page Paper MLA format.

Directions: Respond to the assignment below. Be as clear and concise as possible with responses. Offer specific illustrations to support your opinions, observations, and concept applications. Consider the following statement: It has often been said that the Greeks and Romans had more of a “here and now” view of life, whereas early Christianity focused on the “hereafter.” How is this reflected in Greco-Roman art as compared to early Christian art? Respond to this question in a 3 to 5 page essay. Cite at least two examples of painting, sculpture, or architecture from the Greco-Roman world and at least two examples of each from the early Christian world.Suggested Paper Length: 3 to 5 word-processed pages, double spaced
3-5 Page Paper MLA format

QSO500 SNHU Maruti Suzuki India: Defending Market Leadership

QSO500 SNHU Maruti Suzuki India: Defending Market Leadership.

Draft a preliminary description of the problem and a research question based on the problem identified. For this journal and the first final project milestone, you will not need to reference the data sets provided, but you may want to review the data briefly to help inform the development of your research question. Note: You will notice that there are both qualitative and quantitative data sets accompanying the case study. While both can be used to address a business problem, you will be using quantitative data sets for the purpose of the final project in this course. Use the questions posed in the summary of the case study on page 8 to inform your ideas for your research problem.
QSO500 SNHU Maruti Suzuki India: Defending Market Leadership

American Government Research, political science homework help

online homework help American Government Research, political science homework help.

Civil Rights Leaders – Research AssignmentWrite a research paper on a civil rights leader (excluding Dr. Martin Luther King Jr and Malcolm X). Your research paper must include the following: Description of the leaders early life and introduction into the civil rights movement; major contributions to the civil rights movement; how would the leader react to the pressing civil rights issues of today; any specific civil rights cases the leader was actively involved in; what specific methods/strategies were used/implemented by the leader; provide a detailed time line for the leaders activities in the civil rights movement. Consider the following civil rights leaders: Assata Shakur, W.E.B. Dubois, Thurgood Marshall, Stokely Carmichael, Elijah Muhammad, Louis Farrakhan, Ida B. Wells, Fannie Lou Hamer, Marcus Garvey, Huey P. Newton, Bobby Seale, Medgar Evers. You may select an individual not listed, the list is merely suggestive. Consider the following outline for the major three sections of your paper (intro, body, conclusion): Section One: What were this leader / organization’s goals?Explain the goals that your leader / organization fought for.Explain why these goals were important.Provide historical context for your leader / organization’s goals.You may use biographical details to explain why these goals were important to your leader.Section Two: What were the methods and strategies that this leader / organization used?Explain the methods and strategies that your leader / organization used.Provide specific examples of when, where and how these methods were used.Explain why these strategies were successful or unsuccessful.You may want to contrast their methods with the methods of competing groups. (ei: nonviolence vs. self-defense) Section Three: What were the results that this leader / movement achieved?Explain the changes or advancements that your leader / organization achieved.Discuss specific laws, political changes, accomplishments, awards, etc…Explain how they influenced future generations of Americans and activists.You may want to include information about how your leader was remembered after their death.The paper should be written in MLA and a minimum of four pages and a maximum of six pages. Be sure to review all the requirements for writing in MLA. The paper must include a minimum of 10 sources with five sources being scholarly articles (consider jstor).
American Government Research, political science homework help

Education homework help

Education homework help. REQUIREMENTS: Operating Profits and Semi-Fixed Expenses Step 1 First, using Tables 3?5, note the pattern of operating profits (or losses) over the five-year period. Then focus only on the semi-fixed expenses contained in Table 3. Do any amounts appear to be odd? Next, briefly comment on the five-year pattern or trend for operating profit/loss measures. You should be able to respond to this step in a few wellwritten sentences.Step 2 Focus only on the detailed semi-fixed expense contained in Table 4. Are there any unusual or odd patterns you might note in this detailed financial data? There are eight expense items. About five of the eight should immediately catch your attention. You should be able to respond to this requirement in a few well-written sentences. Briefly comment on only the most obvious or apparent measures or patterns, by expense item.Step 3 Identify the high and low measures in each column, just as you would in preparation for application of the high-low method or technique. For example, in Table 4 the high measure for the cost driver (NRVS) is 280 NRVS in month 13 and the low measure is 31 NRVS in month 12. Repeat this process for each of the eight separate semi-fixed expense columns and also for the total expense column. (You could transfer the figures to Excel to use the maximum and minimum functions to assist you in identifying the high and low measures [N=60] for each of the ten columns.) After the high and low measures have been identified in each column, try to match each expense column?s high and low measure, separately, to the highs and lows identified in the NRVS column. They won?t match. Don?t try to correct the data, but comment on the potential for application of the high-low technique. What happens when the high and low activity level doesn?t match the high and low expense measure? Does this prevent you from correctly applying the high-low technique? Don?t overanalyze this data, because there?s a problem with it and you don?t have sufficient information to correct it. Merely summarize your observations and unsuccessful attempts to match the high and low NRVS months (identified above), separately, with each of the high and low expense measure months. You should be able to do this in a very few well written sentences. Finally, summarize your findings with respect to the application of the high-low method to separate mixed costs into their fixed and variable components or the development of a cost equation.Step 4Use Table 6 to compute the cost equations and R-squared measures for each of the remaining eight expenses and total expenses. Notice that there?s a computed total requirement in the table. This just means that you must total these two columns and compare the computed totals to the Excel generated measures in the row below. In effect, you?re being asked to comment on whether the separate cost formulas are ?additive.? Complete the cost equations for the table. Use the R-squared as the single measure of ?goodness of fit.? Don?t attempt to improve your results with the elimination of ?outliers? or ?influential outliers.? As you complete Table 6, answer the following questions: 1. What problems did you encounter? 2. Are the R-squared measures high or low? 3. Are the slopes negative or positive? 4. Are your conclusions consistent with those from the high-low effort?Step 5 Summarize your findings on a single page (250 words or less, double-spaced). Can the Motomart data be used to prepare a reliable financial forecast? Why or why not? If Motomart is included in the very large database used to prepare the financial forecast that supports the relocation of Motomart closer to Existing Dealer, what concerns might present themselves with respect to the remainder of the database used for this forecast? Would you rely on this forecast? It?s common for businesses to keep poor financial records most of the year, because many are trying to reduce the cost of financial record keeping (e.g., the salary of a CPA is higher than that of a bookkeeper). Then, at the year?s end, these businesses employ a CPA or accounting firm to make adjusting journal entries to correct data for the twelfth months of the year, only to reverse the adjusting journal entries immediately after the annual financials are prepared. Examine your graphics to identify any seasonal (12-month) patterns. Do any exist? Is there evidence to suggest that the process described above was being employed by Motomart?Education homework help

Bowie State University Costco Wholesale Corp Management and Strategy Case Study

Bowie State University Costco Wholesale Corp Management and Strategy Case Study.

Costco Wholesale Corp. in 2020: Mission, Business
Model, and Strategy 1. What is Costco’s business model? Is the company’s business model appealing? Why or why
not?
2. What are the chief elements of Costco’s strategy? How good is the strategy? 3. Do you think Jim Sinegal was an effective CEO? What grade would you give him in leading
the process of crafting and executing Costco’s strategy? How well is Craig Jelinek
performing as Sinegal’s successor; what grade would you give him so far in leading the
process of crafting and executing strategy? What support can you offer for these grades?
Refer to Figure 2.1 in Chapter 2 in developing your answers. 4. What core values or business principles did Jim Sinegal stress at Costco? 5. (In the event you have covered Chapter 3) What is competition like in the North American
wholesale club industry? Which of the five competitive forces is strongest and why? Use the
information in Figures 3.4, 3.5, 3.6, 3.7, and 3.8 (and the related discussions) in Chapter 3 to
do a complete five-forces analysis of competition in the North American wholesale club
industry.
6. How well is Costco performing from a financial perspective? Do some number-crunching
using the data in case Exhibit 1 to support your answer. Use the financial ratios presented in
Table 4.1 of Chapter 4 to help you diagnose Costco’s financial performance. 7. Based on the data in case Exhibits 1, 5, and 6, is Costco’s financial performance superior to
that at Sam’s Club and BJ’s Wholesale? 8. Does the data in case Exhibit 4 indicate that Costco’s expansion outside the U.S. is
financially successful? Why or why not?
9. How well is Costco performing from a strategic perspective? Does Costco enjoy a
competitive advantage over Sam’s Club? Over BJ’s Wholesale? If so, what is the nature of
its competitive advantage? Does Costco have a winning strategy? Why or why not? 10. Are Costco’s prices too low? Why or why not? 11. What do you think of Costco’s compensation practices? Does it surprise you that Costco
employees apparently are rather well-compensated?12. What recommendations would you make to Costco top management regarding how best to
sustain the company’s growth and improve its financial performance?First, I
strongly suggest that you answer the case questions. These questions should assist you in proper
use of tools of strategic analysis. DO NOT USE THEM AS A CRUTCH. You are provided with
a series of questions that once properly addressed will allow you to provide an in-depth case
analysis. Note that I have made this a group assignment. Therefore, my expectation is that you
will provide a solid submission.Please use the format
below; 1. Major problems and issues 2. Analysis
3. RecommendationsYour approach should be to use the questions to expand your case analysis. In other words,
after you answer the questions you need to put them into the context of the outline above. As each
of you do your individual analyses, when you come together to combine your individual efforts
into a finalized single submission.
Bowie State University Costco Wholesale Corp Management and Strategy Case Study