Instructor:     Charles B. Moss
Office:         1130B McCarty Hall
Phone:          392-1845 Ext 404
Email:          cbmoss@mail.ifas.ufl.edu
Office Hours:   M-W-F 9:30-12:00

Purpose:  This course is intended to introduce the student to optimization 
techniques and modeling in agricultural economics.  Completion of the course should enable 
the student to solve numerical optimization problems with and without computer support.  
Further, the student will be introduced to how these optimization models have been used in
agricultural economics.

Text - Required:

Taha, Handy A. Operations Research: An Introduction Fourth edition
     (New York: Macmillan Publishing Co., Inc.).

Text - Suggested:

Dorfman, Robert, Paul A. Samuelson, and Robert M. Solow. Linear Programming and 
     Economic Analysis (New York: Dover Publications, Inc., 1987).

Ecker, Joseph G. and Michael Kupferschmid. Introduction to Operations Research 
     (New York: John Wiley and Sons, 1988).

Grading: Grades will be assigned based on the following weights:

Test 2*100          200          50%
Homework            100          25%
Research Proposal   100          25%
                    400	

The research proposal is not intended to be a completed research product.  Instead, I would like
the student to propose an interesting problem which could be solved using of the techniques from
this course.

Course Outline

Linear Programming

Solution to the Basic Problem: Taha Chapters 2 and 3.

Lecture I-Overview of Mathematical Programming: pdf Notes
Lecture II-A Basic Graphical Approach to Mathematical Programming: pdf Notes
Lecture III-Graphical Approach with Sensitivity: pdf Notes
Lecture IV-Basic Simplex: pdf Notes

Canonical Forms of Linear Systems: pdf Notes

Lecture V-Equalities and Greater than or Equal to Constraints: Part I pdf Notes

Duality and Sensitivity: Taha Chapter 4.
Transportation Models: Taha Chapter 5.
Advanced Topics in Linear Programming: Taha Chapter 7.
Integer Programming: Taha Chapter 8.
Dynamic Programming: Taha Chapter 9.

Nonlinear Programming: Taha Chapter 18.
Computer Algorithms for Solving Mathematical Programming Problems

LINDO
Minos 5.4
GAMS

Applications in Agricultural Economics.

Agribusiness/Farm Planning Models.
Food and Diet Models.
Farm Firm Development Models.
Interregional Trade and Spatial Equilibrium Models.
Natural Resource Models.
Estimation Models.
Models of Risk.

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