seventeen forage-producing activities (X25_39) ^nd (X40-41) offering 

 selections of com silage at two fertilizer rates, alfalfa hay at two lengths 

 of stand and two fertilizer rates, clover grass at two fertilizer rates, 

 mixed grass at two fertilizer rates, and two lengths of stand and perm- 

 inent pasture at two fertilizer rates. 



Altogether, the model offers numerous possibilities of different 

 combinations of inputs and outputs that Area 3 dairy farmers typically 

 would face under the intermediate run conditions of this study. 



Linear Programming Solutions for a Representative Farm 



A representative farm from Area 3, in this case one in the Group 

 5 category, with resources such that winter labor is the most effective 

 constraint, can illustrate the model. As surveyed, the dairy herd had 58 

 cows which made it about 20 cows above average size for Area 3. 

 The major resources of the farm are shown in Table 6. The variable- 

 price programming resulted in a range of optimal annual milk out- 

 puts from 386,600 to 1,012,000 pounds (Table 7). In general, milk 

 prices below $3.40 per hundredweight have optimized solutions in- 

 volving less than 50 cows, the lowest grain feeding level, the sale of 



24 



