Factors associated with output on a sample of light land farms

Abstract

The immediate purpose of this study was to ascertain whether output on a group of light lands farms was associated with certain farm management practices, particularly with the practices which are currently recommended for the light lands by farm advisory workers. The present study does not attempt to define the precise production relationships between inputs and outputs on these farms or to measure the productivity of any of the factors which are associated with income earning capacity. These relationships are complex in nature and despite recent developments in statistical technique the fundamental problem of determining the independent effects of inter-related variables is still a serious obstacle to research in this field. It is true that the degree of association between inputs and outputs cannot be accurately measured unless a mathematical model which adequately describes the production relationships is fitted to the data. However the approach in this study has been to examine farm data in the first instance by using a simple linear model. Although only an approximation of the underlying structural relationships the linear model provides further evidence for postulating a more exact model. The results of the study to date arc therefore only tentative and arc summarised as a basis for discussion. It will be necessary therefore throughout the paper to emphasise the limitations of the present findings.