摘要：In this paper we investigate optimal management decisions cow-calf producers cope with in acquiring replacement heifers for commercial beef operations. Optimal management of this problem is studied best in a capital theoretic framework, recognizing that cattle stocks are durable and costly to adjust (Clark 1990). This article follows Rosen (1987), Rosen, Murphy and Scheinkman (1994), and Hamilton and Kastens (2000) by formalizing the problem in a discrete time control framework. This facilitates solving the problem in a nonlinear programming framework (Canon, Cullum, and Polak), which allows the incorporation of complex biological processes in a dynamic optimization context (Standiford and Howitt).
