Asymmetry and Nonstationarity in the Farm Size Distribution of Wisconsin Milk Producers: An Aggregate Analysis

Abstract A Markov model is developed to test the nonstationarity and asymmetry of factors affecting the evolution of Wisconsin dairy farms using aggregate data. The model is used to examine how prices, interest rates, debt, drought, and the dairy termination program affected farm growth and the entry and exit of Wisconsin dairy farms by size categories during 1972–92.