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Abstract
Excerpts from the report: Economic literature on the efficiency of large sized farms is in very short supply. Numerous empirical and analytical studies have been made but virtually none of these studies have been carried out to large farm sizes. Neither have previous studies considered pecuniary economies which exploratory research into the efficiency of large sized wheat farms has found to be of major economic consequence. The purpose of this preliminary study was to analyze the economies of large sized dryland wheat farms typical of the Northern Great Plains. The main objective of this preliminary study was to determine the approximate shape of the long-run cost curves in dryland wheat farming, taking into account four factors associated with large sized farming: (1) Technological efficiencies, (2) Pricing advantages, (3) Quantity discounts on input purchases, and (4) Internal diseconomies accounted for by costs not common to small unincorporated farms.