English Course for rural region development

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English Course for rural region development

• Yunnan Agricultural university
• Zhao Junquan PhD

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Unit1 Agricultural Economics

• Agricultural economics may be defined as
  applied social science dealing. With how humans
  choose to use technical knowledge and scarce
  productive resources such as land, labor,
  capital, and management to produce food and fiber
  and to distribute it for consumption to various
  members of society over time.

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Like economics, agricultural economics seeks to
discover cause-effect relationships. It uses the
scientific method and economic theory to find
answers to problems in agriculture and
agribusiness.The following rapid growth in the
ranks of professional agricultural economists,
and the ever-increasing public use of their
special talents, bear testimony to the foresight
of those early pioneering theorists. Most
beginning students probably have only a vague
concept of agricultural economics.
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For the student, it is a blend of many subject
areas. An agricultural economics curriculum
ordinarily includes classes in technical
agriculture, science, statistics, mathematics,
business, general economics, and other social
sciences. Students taking a curriculum in
agricultural economics may major in such areas as
farm management, production economics,
agricultural marketing, agricultural policy,
finance, economic development, natural resources,
and community development or public affairs.
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Unit2 The Farm and Food System

• Agriculture is an integral part of the general
  economic system. We subdivide our national
  economy so that the fundamental structure can be
  seen. Producing firms and consumers are the
  central economic units in the system.
• Many people are concerned about corporate
  activity in agriculture because of the economic
  consequences that could occur with concentrated
  resource control.

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As a result, some states have attempted to limit
the growth of corporation farming. Laws passed in
several states prohibit corporate farming.
Statutes restricting corporate farming have been
enacted in several other states. Some states have
laws requiring corporations to report the land
that they own in the state. More than one-half of
the states also have laws restricting ownership
of real property by aliens, with a great deal of
variation in the restraints provided by these
laws as they are applied to alien ownership of
property. Many producers are concerned about
farming
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corporations because they think corporations are
more efficient and that their size gives them
market advantages, which may put the family-farm
operators at a competitive disadvantage. Farmers
believe capital markets, volume buying of
production inputs, and volumes selling of output
afford advantages to corporate farms that are not
available to them. However, most studies show
that moderate-sized family farms are as efficient
as most corporate farms. With this situation plus
the generally low returns to agricultural
investments, one would expect very little growth
in corporate agriculture.
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Unit3 Consumer Behavior and Demand

• This chapter concentrates only on households, or
  consumers, and the behavior of people in meeting
  their desire for goods and services. It is in the
  observed market behavior of people that the
  concept of demand rests. While demand will be
  specifically discussed later in the chapter,
  suffice it to say at this point that demand means
  the quantities of a product bought at alternative
  prices holding everything else constant.

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When consumer behavior is studied, certain
characteristics can be noted. One feature is that
consumers spend everything they earn on goods and
services, including savings. Another is that
consumers never seem to get enough of most
things. We can infer from this characteristic of
consumer behavior that human wants are insatiable
and that more is preferred to less.One of the
reasons consumers do not buy infinite quantities
of everything is that they have a limited amount
of money income. In economics, we assume that
consumers,
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with a given money income, will purchase
clothing, housing, food, haircuts, and all the
other things that they want in amounts that will
maximize utility or satisfaction for them. The
utility of a product or service is derived from
the inherent characteristics or qualities that
cause them to be desired. These may be objective
or subjective qualities. But it is unlikely
that two individuals would attain the same
utility or satisfaction from the consumption of
the same amount of a product.
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Unit4 Value Relationship

• We then are directed to comparing the values of
  products with the values of inputs used Lip in
  their production. As a first step, a couple of
  assumptions will be useful and even a bit
  realistic (1) There are so many firms producing
  this product that the actions of any one firm
  will have no influence whatsoever on either input
  or product prices and

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(2) that the market does not differentiate one
firm's product from that of another, that is, the
firms produce a homogeneous product. Thus if a
corn producer were to shut down completely or,
alternatively, to produce the last possible extra
bushel of corn, the market price of corn would
not be affected. And provided that the corn meets
certain quality standards, one producer's corn
will not be discriminated against or offered a
premium over that of other firms producing
corn.Our assumption about unchanging prices "vas
valid
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regarding individual firth decisions, but that
doesn't mean that we are unable to cope with
changing resource and product prices, or that we
even expect them to remain unchanged. Change is a
fact of life, in markets as in anything else.
Changing economic conditions, in total market
supply and demand cause frequent price
adjustments in both resource and product markets.
So our optimum is correct, not for all time, but
only until another price change occurs, then an
adjustment in X, use must again be made to find a
new optimum.
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Unit5 Producer Decision Making

• In the previous chapter, we discussed
  the simplest production functions, specifically
  (1) a single, composite, variable input function
  with nothing fixed, and its constant returns and
  (2) a single-variable input function with other
  resources held constant. This functional
  relationship between a variable factor and its
  product is sometimes referred to as the
  factor-product relationship.

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Agricultural production decisions are seldom so
simple that the operator can choose a single crop
or single livestock enterprise as the firm's only
product. Crop farms typically produce two or more
different types of grain crops stock ranches
frequently produce both livestock and grain or
forage crops, or even two or more types of
livestock. The relationship between enterprises
is referred to as the product-product
relationship. These two general problem
areas-factor factor
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and product-product-and the economic criteria for
making these choices, are dealt with in turn in
this chapter.An enterprise is a specific crop or
type of livestock from which products are
obtained, for example, cotton, wheat, beef
cattle, hogs, or onions. In which to use the
variable resources.
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Physical relationships and economic factors cause
producers to choose one particular set of
resources and not some other combination with
which to produce their products. Basic in this
choice is the interaction between inputs and
their effect on the productivity of the employed
resources as the input mix is changed.
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Unit6 Financial Picture of Agriculture

• This chapter discusses the financial position
  of agriculture, sources of farm credit, the
  banking system, and how to compute simple
  interest rates. The vitality of agriculture
  depends on managers who understand finance and
  can apply it to the farm and ranch business. A
  balance sheet gives you some idea of the present
  financial position of an individual or business.

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A balance sheet gives you some idea of the
present financial position of an individual or
business. It is the result of all past
transactions. A balance sheet is divided into
assets, liabilities, and net worth.Most farm
credit has been used to finance farm expansion
and higher production cost items such as farm
machinery and motor vehicles.
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The four major institutional farm lender
categories include commercial banks, the FCS, the
Farm Service Agency (FSA), and insurance
companies. In 1998, outstanding numeral estate
loans secured by farm assets totaled about 83
billion. Commercial banks supplied 52 percent,
the Farm Credit System 19 percent, the Farm
Service Agency 5 percent, and individuals and
others 24 percent.The Farm Credit System
supplied 32 percent of all outstanding real
estate debt, life insurance companies 11 percent,
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commercial banks 31 percent, the Farm Service
Agency 5 percent, and individuals 21 percent.
Historically, individuals have been the major
source of funds for land transfers. The Farm
Credit System is the largest lender involved in
the land mortgage field. The total real estate
debt outstanding as of December 31, 1998, was
87.6 billion.
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Unit7 Farmers Home Administration

• The Farmers Home Administration primarily
  provided two types of loans. One was a guaranteed
  loan handled by a private lender. Farmers Home
  Administration guaranteed to limit the loss on
  the loan to a specified percentage. The second
  type was a direct loan by the Farmers Home
  Administration. Loan funds were obtained from
  insured notes backed by the government.

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It is the result of all past transactions. A
balance sheet is divided into assets,
liabilities, and net worth. Most farm credit has
been used to finance farm expansion and higher
production cost items such as farm machinery and
motor vehicles. The four major institutional farm
lender categories include commercial banks, the
FCS, the Farm Service Agency (FSA), and insurance
companies. In 1998, outstanding numeral estate
loans secured by farm assets totaled about 83
billion.
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Commercial banks supplied 52 percent, the Farm
Credit System 19 percent, the Farm Service Agency
5 percent, and individuals and others 24
percent.The Farm Credit System supplied 32
percent of all outstanding real estate debt, life
insurance companies 11 percent, commercial banks
31 percent, the Farm Service Agency 5 percent,
and individuals 21 percent. Historically,
individuals have been the major source of funds
for land transfers.
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The Farm Credit System is the largest lender
involved in the land mortgage field. The total
real estate debt outstanding as of December 31,
1998, was 87.6 billion.
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Unit 8 The Banking System

• Agriculture and agricultural financial
  institutions do not operate in isolation from
  conditions in other sectors of the economy. The
  agricultural sector must compete for available
  funds with public and private borrowers from all
  segments of the economy. While both monetary and
  fiscal policies influence the availability of
  loanable funds to agriculture, monetary policy is
  of greater concern here.

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Fiscal policy is the government policy regarding
expenditures and taxation. Thus, the government
can increase expenditures of such agencies as the
Farm Service Agency and increase loanable funds,
or restrict credit by cutting budgets. Also, of
course, tax levels influence the amount of money
available to producers to invest in their
operations. Fiscal policy changes affect the flow
of funds to financial institutions and therefore
affect loanable funds.
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These changes also influence business activity
and savings. A tax decrease tends to stimulate
incomes, employment, and savings a tax increase
will have an opposite impact on the economic
system.The ability of banks to create or destroy
money as they perform their usual business has a
great deal to do with the performance of the
economy.Given their potential impact throughout
the system, the activities of the banking
industry must be coordinated so as to inhibit
wide swings in prices and employment levels.