Blend Price Research Articles

A review study on sustainable utilisation of waste in bituminous layers of flexible pavement

The development of a new road has a variety of ramifications for the environment, using considerable quantity of materials and energy. Also, the cost of crude oil, which is the principal source of bituminous binder, has substantially grown in recent years. This has resulted to a rise in the overall price of bituminous blends. Developing innovative materials and technology to incorporate greener material, waste and recycled materials into the manufacturing cycle of bituminous mixes is a solution that enhances both sustainability and cost-efficiency of the bituminous pavement industries. Sustainable materials have increasingly been adopted in construction of roads nowadays because people are more concerned about its ramifications towards surroundings. However, people keep seeking to discover the most appropriate sustainable materials to be utilised in developing road pavement. In the current research, the two primary components of bituminous mixture i.e. bitumen and aggregates are focused and reviewed. Furthermore, the study presents a brief outline of several recycled materials which have been effectively used into bituminous layers of flexible pavement. Review findings suggest that the usage of secondary material not only offers an effective waste disposal approach but also minimise requirement for traditional material and lowers the total building cost. An effective and appropriate system of transportation is crucial for the development of any nation. The purpose of this review study is to establish the applicability and effectiveness of the waste material that has been used in the bituminous layers of flexible pavement.

THE EFFECTS OF GLOBAL, REGIONAL, AND LOCAL MACROECONOMIC EVENTS ON THE PRICE OF THE COLOMBIAN CASTILLA BLEND

The Castilla blend is a heavy crude produced in the plain fields of Colombia and is similar to the heavy crudes produced in other countries in the Western hemisphere. One characteristic of this type of crude is that it is sold at a discount rate that can oscillate between a 4- and 10-dollar discount from benchmark indices such as the Intercontinental Exchange (ICE) Index and the West Texas Intermediate (WTI) Index. In the present study, we used event study methodology to determine the impact of global, regional, and local macroeconomic news, as well as the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) announcements on the Castilla blend price. We found that even though OPEC announcements have a higher impact on prices, macroeconomic news that comes as a surprise from global and regional players had a significant impact on the Castilla blend price for the period under study from 2010 to 2019.Keywords: Oil, Colombia, macroeconomic events.JEL Classifications: G1, G14DOI: https://doi.org/10.32479/ijeep.8220

STUDI PENENTUAN KOMPOSISI OPTIMUM CAMPURAN BAHAN BAKAR BIODIESEL–PETRODIESEL

Biodiesel is a viable substitute for petroleum-based diesel fuel. Its advantages are improved lubricity, higher cetane number and cleaner emission. Biodiesel and its blends with petroleum-based diesel fuel can be used in diesel engines without any signifi cant modifi cations to the engines. Data from the numerous research reports and test programs showed that as the percent of biodiesel in blends increases, emission of hydrocarbons (HC), carbon monoxide (CO), and particulate matter (PM) all decrease, but the amount of oxides of nitrogen (NOx) and fuel consumption is tend to increase. The most signifi cant hurdle for broader commercialization of biodiesel is its cost. In current fuel price policy in Indonesia (especially fuel for transportation), the higher percent of biodiesel in blend will increase the price of blends fuel. The objective of this study is to assess the optimum blends of biodiesel with petroleum-based diesel fuel from the technically and economically consideration. The study result recommends that 20% biodiesel blend with 80% petroleum-based diesel fuel (B20) is the optimum blend for unmodifi ed diesel engine uses.Keywords: biodiesel, emission, optimum, blend

Impact of Spatial Price Discrimination within Florida Dairy Cooperatives

The trend toward deregulation and the relatively high prices in the Florida milk market have increased competition for milk supplies between the Florida dairy cooperatives (FDCs) and other cooperatives like Dairymen Incorporated and Southern Milk Sales. Because of the increased competition in the Florida markets, the FDCs may need to implement a discriminatory spatial pricing policy. The discriminatory pricing policy allows the FDCs to expand their membership by absorbing some of the transportation cost of producers in distant locations that would otherwise be independent producers or members of competing cooperatives. Spatial pricing policies are analyzed to determine the effects of discriminatory pricing on the blend price, average aggregate revenue of cooperative members, and total costs and quantity of milk imports. The results of this study show that a nondiscriminatory pricing policy maximizes the cooperative members’ blend price and average aggregate revenue. However, if the FDCs were able to increase the price by $0.50 as a result of using spatial price discrimination to gain market power, spatial price discrimination would maximize average revenue and blend price.

LAND VALUES AND PRODUCTION DEREGULATION OF THE SOUTH AFRICAN SUGAR INDUSTRY

Much uncertainty surrounds the direction of future land values in the South African Sugar Industry following agreement to abolish sucrose production quotas, pay growers a blend sucrose price and retain a (initially higher) tariff on raw sugar imports from 1 April 1998. An econometric model shows that expected real net realisation revenue/hectare and real interest rates drive real quota land values. Quotas will be worthlesson abolition, but some quota rents will be transferred into higher land rents at the new blend price, raising subsequent non-quota land values. This would offset to some extent an expected fall in current A-pool land values which reflect the combined value of land and quota. B-pooll and values will rise as the expected new blend price will be above the net export realisation price which currently determines the profitability of B-pool production. The prospect of asset value losses explains why quotas will only be phased out over four years, growers lobbied for a greater proceeds split to...

Economic Effects of U.S. Dairy Programs

Based on econometric analysis, this article estimates effects of terminating the milk order system and milk price support, singly and together, over the period 1966-90. Since 1980, milk orders have raised the national blend price by 1-2%; price support has raised the blend price to well above the market clearing price, by over 21% in 1983. Short- and long-run benefits and costs are estimated for various policy options under 1990 conditions.

The Efficiency of Alternative Policies for the EC's Common Agricultural Policy: Reply

Burrell argues that our welfare evaluations of alternative policy options considered by the European Community (EC) for the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) fail to recognize policy-induced shifts in the supply curve. Burrell concludes that our approach is therefore incapable of yielding a determinate ranking and hence invalidates our policy recommendations. Although we analyzed four policy mechanisms and showed both theoretically and empirically that a production quota, under some circumstances, is inferior to a two-price plan, Burrell determines unequivocably that a quota is an inferior instrument. Her conclusion is based on several arguments. First, nontransferable quotas induce economic inefficiency. This is true; but at no time in our original paper did we recommend that quotas, or any of the other three instruments for that matter, be implemented in an inefficient manner. We assumed transferable quotas. A comprehensive evaluation of alternative implementation methods for each of the four policy instruments was beyond the scope of our paper. Nevertheless, we question Burrell's assertion that quotas will necessarily be implemented in a more inefficient manner than, for example, a two-price plan. To motivate the problem, consider Canada's production quota scheme for milk and compare it to the two-price plan used in the United States. Nontransferability of quotas between provinces in Canada induces deadweight costs additional to those calculated in our paper. Similar costs are also incurred currently in the EC with nontransferable milk quotas between countries.' However, Class I minimum prices in the United States are set in relation to Eau Claire, Wisconsin, so that the most deficit region in the United States is selfsufficient in milk production. This induces additional social resource costs resulting from distorted regional production patterns akin to those induced by nontransferable quotas in Canada and the EC (Public Hearing on Federal Milk Marketing Orders).2 Indeed, the U.S. two-price plan has another inefficiency associated with it: farmers' production decisions are determined by the blend price rather than the lower Class II price. These inefficiencies of the U.S. program may well induce more additional social costs than a nontransferable quota scheme.3 Interestingly, a production quota scheme superimposed on a two-price plan can improve efficiency. The United Dairymen of Arizona, representing all dairy farmers in Arizona, unilaterally instituted production quotas for Class I milk in the 1970s (de Gorter and Schmitz). Any milk produced in excess of this quota received the Class II price. This effectively eliminated the blend pricing scheme facing Arizona's farmers and hence reduced output. Because the federal government of the United States fixes the Class I and II prices to consumers, the latter's welfare was unaffected. The welfare of Arizona farmers increased

Generic Fluid Milk Advertising, Demand Expansion, and Supply Response: The Case of New York City

AbstractA transfer function was used to estimate the fluid milk demand equation of New York City. The consumption effect of a generic fluid milk advertising program in the city was found to be positive and statistically significant. The resulting higher blend price of milk was found to have a negligible effect on the subsequent supply of milk. Though being successful in generating positive returns on advertising it was found that a 35% reduction in the advertising expenditures would have been optimal in the marginal sense.

A Nonlinear Programming Analysis of Production Response to Multiple Component Milk Pricing

AbstractThe problem of feeding Holstein cows so as to maximize revenue over feed costs was analyzed under various scenarios concerning milk component prices. Results suggested that production response of milk components to component price incentives was inflexible. When compared to baseline solutions generated under a standard federal order pricing system, fat production was within 3.5%, and solids nonfat and fluid carrier within 1.0% of baseline levels for a 100‐cow herd. Component pricing scenarios having blend prices equal to the blend price in the baseline scenario were associated with reductions in revenue over feed costs of less than 4%.

Determinants of Milk Advertising Effectiveness

AbstractAn analysis of the net returns to dairy farmers from generic fluid milk advertising is made in terms of the ability of advertising to increase the blend price of milk in excess of the cost of advertising. The evaluation of the economic effectiveness of generic fluid milk advertising programs extends beyond the measurement of the direct sales response to advertising. Specifically, the class I‐class II price differential and the class I utilization rate are found to be extremely important factors influencing the effectiveness of generic milk advertising programs, while the impact of the price elasticity of supply is relatively minor.

Milk Pricing with “B” Conversion–Uneven Class Use

A major problem facing the dairy industry is the continued and consistent conversion of manufacturing grade milk to grade A, and the disproportionate effect of this on Class I utilization and, hence, on farm milk blend prices in the parts of the country where most of the grade B is located. Potential supplies of grade A milk are so concentrated and likely to convert to grade A in such substantial quantities that the problem is serious–far more so than in the past. New broader based pooling and pricing procedures which will stabilize interorder blend price relationships and at the same time preserve orderly marketing and deter uneconomic milk movements are needed. The likely economic results of such programs including standby pool, regional pools, national pools, flat Class I pricing and increased Class II prices are analyzed in this paper.

Pricing Systems as Related to Milk Composition Variability

Milk pricing systems should be changed under Federal orders and in manufacturing markets so as to reflect variability in the protein as well as in the milk fat content of milk. The suggested method in fluid milk markets is: milk fat price – 11.5% of the Chicago price of butter for each .1% of fat, applicable to each class price and to the blend; protein price – 3 cents for each .1% of protein (with later adjustment upward), applicable to each class price and to the blend; fluid price – the residual value per hundredweight needed to give present class prices for milk of average test, and to “clear the pool” in the blend price.

Effect of Seventeen Milk Pricing Systems on Producer's Price of Milk

Seventeen milk pricing systems were applied to herd milk data to determine their effect on the price of milk received by producers. The systems included different values for fat, protein or solids-not-fat, and water. Each system was forced to distribute the same sum of money for the total pool of milk. The blend price equation of the Inland Empire Federal Milk Marketing Order, October 1969, was used to determine value of the pool. Maintaining the present fat differential (8.3 cents) and adding a value to either solids-not-fat or protein economically favored producers of milk with high fat test. Lowering the fat differential to either 6.5 cents or 4.5 cents and adding values for solids-not-fat economically favored producers of milk with low test. Placing a differential on protein and lowering the fat differential to 6.5 cents and in one system to 4.5 cents placed producers of milk with high fat test at an economic advantage. Systems with a fat differential of 4.5 cents and lower values for protein economically favored producers of milk with low fat test.

Discussion: Collective Bargaining for Agriculture, Marketing Boards, Marketing Orders, and Other Controls

dealers and others, establishing and protecting a reputation for fairness and integrity, researching problems so that directors will have sufficient facts for decisions, and putting the proper priorities on the allocation of management time. Managers in fluid milk markets should not be judged on the basis of profit or loss in their manufacturing plants; a profit may simply mean that the Class II price is too low. Nor should they be judged on the basis of profit or loss in their fluid sales division; a profit may simply mean that the Class I price is too low. The real objective should be as high a blend price for members as possible.

The Seasonal Pricing Plan for Milk

Seasonal pricing of milk is practiced in most fluid milk markets in the United States to provide producers with an incentive for keeping supplies in line with fluid needs. The effect of present seasonal pricing systems on producers' annual returns may be less than it is believed to be. An analysis in which Boston blend prices were used to price 12 New England seasonal patterns showed little variation in annual returns regardless of the production pattern. A new system is suggested for determining each producer's contribution to market imbalance. A graded deduction from payments to those who contribute the most to imbalance is used to make premium payments to those who more nearly conform to market needs. The suggested system goes far in separating seasonal pricing from other price changes, increases the incentive for a balanced supply, and rewards or penalizes individuals on the basis of their contribution to the market supply. T IS generally acknowledged that the farm price of milk per hundred pounds reaches an annual low in June and rises to a peak in November. Although a major factor in this price picture is the normal pattern of high production in June and low production in November, another factor is a deliberate attempt-through the machinery of pricing itself, acting as an income incentive-to achieve the stable production which is desirable to meet the needs of a fluid market. Currently there are in use at least four methods of seasonal pricing. The first one is based on use classification of milk. The blending of high Class I prices with low Class II prices results in a lower blend price in the spring when milk supplies are flush than in the fall when supplies are low. The second method accentuates the spring-fall difference by adding to the Class I price a seasonal differential-a reduction in the spring and an addition in the fall. The third is the Louisville take-out, pay-back plan whereby money is deducted from the blend price in the spring and added to the blend price in the fall. The fourth is the base-surplus plan, in which producers establish, generally in the short fall months, a base amount of milk for which they receive a Class I price. Throughout the year they are paid the Class I price for the base amount and the Class II price for any surplus.

Relative Economic Importance of Milk and Milk Fat Percentage in Selecting Artificially Inseminated Proven Dairy Sires

The relative economic importance of the genetic changes in milk yield and milk fat percentage attributed to individual sires was investigated for artificially inseminated (AI) proven sires of the five major dairy breeds in the United States, summarized with daughter-herdmate comparisons in 1965. Twenty groups of sires were studied with multiple regression techniques which took into consideration representative pricing systems, breed averages, and sire effects for milk yield and milk fat percentage expressed as differences from herdmates for their AI daughters. For the entire population of sires and a representative pricing system, variations in milk fat percentage were 30, 32, 43, 47, and 37% as important as were variations in milk yield for Ayrshires, Brown Swiss, Guernseys, Holsteins, and Jerseys, respectively. Within the top third of the sires on milk production only, variations in milk fat percentage were 54, 55, 89, 82, and 58% as important as were variations in milk yield for Ayrshires, Brown Swiss, Guernseys, Holsteins, and Jerseys, respectively. Sires of the Guernsey, Jersey, and Holstein breeds, summarized for the first time in 1965, were similar to the entire population of sires in the relative importance of milk yield and milk fat percentage. Interrelated factors which tended to make variations in milk fat percentage have a relatively high economic importance were 1) a high level of production, 2) low milk fat percentage, 3) low blend price paid for the milk, 4) high milk fat differential, and 5) basing the blend price on a high milk fat percentage.

Economic Effects of High-Level Grain Feeding

The most profitable levels of grain feeding, as measured by returns above cost of feed, were at rates 1,100 to 1,600lb higher for the high than the low response cows. Differences were the greatest when milk-feed price ratios were least favorable.The economic optima in grain feeding were attained at nearly the same levels for the Western and Pacific and the Midwestern areas when normal hay-grain price relationships existed, and milk was priced at $5 and $4 per hundredweight, respectively, for the two areas. These levels of grain feeding were at 5,300lb and 5,200lb for high response cows and 4,200lb and 4,300lb for low response cows, respectively, for the two areas. With more recent higher hay prices in the Western and Pacific area, it became profitable to feed 1,000lb extra grain to high response cows and 600lb extra grain to the lower response cows. Increased hay prices for localized areas in the Midwest resulted in the profitability of feeding 700lb and 600lb more grain, respectively, for the high and low response cows.Reducing the average price received for milk in the Western and Pacific area from $5 to $4.25 per hundredweight, but with no change in feed prices, suggested a reduction in level of grain feeding by 1,000lb for high response cows and 600lb for low response cows. For the Midwestern area, a change from a blend price of $4 to a maunfacturing price of $2.75 per hundredweight, reduced the most profitable feeding rate by 1,100lb for high response cows and by 1,550lb for low response cows.A knowledge of the magnitude of response of individual cows to variable quantities of grain and milk-feed price relationships can form the basis for economical feeding programs. Dairymen can and have in the past made reasonably good adjustments to milk-feed price relationships in their market areas. A 1960 study (7) showed a range of from 1,800lb to 5,500lb grain fed per cow for six milk production areas of California. The low rate was associated with a Northern low-milk price area distant from metropolitan markets. The high level was for the metropolitan Los Angeles area for which a high percentage of milk is contracted at Class I prices.There are some indications that some dairymen are feeding grain at uneconomical levels. A 1963 DHIA special tabulation for Michigan showed no difference in returns over cost of feed for Holstein herds fed 4,500 to 5,999lb grain per cow. Returns were reduced for cows fed more than 6,000lb grain (10).The lack of precise information on production responses of individual cows and the kind of feeding adjustments most profitable during different months of the lactation period makes it necessary for dairymen to do some experimenting and to use judgment in feeding grain to dairy cows.

Some Economic Aspects of Free-Choice Feeding of Dairy Cows

DURING the early 1950's, a series of articles appeared in this Journal concerning the nature of feed-milk relationships and their economic importance.' The articles focused on the following questions: (1) Are the marginal rates of substitution between hay and grain constant or changing? (2) Does the principle of diminishing returns apply to milk production? (3) What is the economic significance of the feed-milk relationships? Some previous estimates of feed-milk relationships are used in this study to compare net returns for optimum rations (rations giving maximum returns above feed costs) with most profitable stomach-capacity rations, after adjusting for body weight changes and the additional costs of limiting roughage intake. Four hay/grain price combinations40/80, 30/70, 25/75 and 45/55-were selected to approximate alternative price situations which could exist in North Carolina.2 Two milk prices, $5.75 and $5.00, were selected to represent, respectively, the North Carolina average blend price and a lower milk price. The hypothetical milk production function in Figure 1 provides the theoretical framework of the problem. If the marginal rates of substitution are changing (nonlinear isoquants), the expansion path (DE) may be as shown. However, if the marginal rates of substitution are constant (linear isoquants), the expansion path will coincide with either the