The derivation of a meal whey production function for pigs : a thesis presented at Massey University College of Manawatu in part fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Agricultural Science in Victoria University of Wellington

Abstract

This chapter discusses in some detail, the usefullness of knowledge about technological relationships, in the form of a production function, in management processes associated with pigmeat production in New Zealand. 1.1 The Management Process In 1939 T.W. Schultz wrote a fundamental article(¹)"Theory of the Firm and Farm Management Research" T.W. Schults, J.Farm Econ., Vol.21, 1939, p.570. pointing out that the farm firm exists in a dynamic economy where production nay be adjusted and co-ordinated in response to changing conditions. The motivation for change at the farm level is generally the expectation of progress in the attainment of a set of objectives held by the entrepreneur. The whole process of making adjustments and changes within the framework of the firm has become known as the "Management Process". In the article referred to, Schultz pointed to the two main interests of Farm Management workers and Agricultural Economists, namely: (1) a desire to provide a basis for guiding entrepreneurial decisions under dynamic conditions; or, in more up-to-date terminology, to assist farmers in carrying out tho management process with the aim of maximising their objective functions, and (2) to provide results of use to policy makers in understanding the relationship between micro and macro adjustments in agriculture. [From Introduction]