Reliability and Adequacy of Farm-Price Data (Classic Reprint)

Excerpt from Reliability and Adequacy of Farm-Price Data In combining the farm prices for all States into a United States monthly farm price for each product, as released each month by the department, the State prices have been weighted according to the latest estimate of the production of each crop, in the case of crops, and according to the number of head of each class of live stock on farms January 1, in the case of livestock. Census produc tion weights are used for livestock products and for such other products as can not be weighted as indicated above. With crops, the December estimates of production by States are used as weights as soon after the estimates are made as possible, usually with the January prices. Since the December 1 prices are used in determining the December value of crop production by States and for the United States, the average value per unit of the United States production of a given cr0p is also the United States average price for December 1. The December estimates of produc tion are used as constant weights for the ensuing year until the December estimates are again available unless there has been a marked shift in production, in which case a change in weights to the current year's estimated production is made at or about harvest time. When the January 1 estimates of livestock are used as weights, the new weights are used each year with the February monthly prices, as well as with the January 1 values of livestock per head. This method lends itself readily to determining an average 'price for the United States each month as the prices become available. It has the disadvantage of giving a State the same weight each month of the year whether there are many sales during that month or only a few. In case no prices are reported from a given State in any particular month, only the prices and weights of the States reporting are used in determining the United States average. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.