Applications of location analysis in agriculture: a survey

This article presents a survey of applications of operations research-based techniques to location problems in agriculture. From the early work in the field to more recent applications, researchers have successfully applied, adapted, and improved theoretical location models to fulfil the field's specific needs. This article discusses earlier work in agricultural location theory starting with the seminal work by von Thünen. It then introduces diverse and innovative applications of location models from the 1950s and 1960s. The authors then identify distinguishing features of location problems in agriculture, and discuss their impact on the analysis. In order to illustrate these features and the variety of operations research-based applications to agricultural location, the article turns to six real-world examples. It then considers, in Conclusion, some of the directions that agricultural location theory may take in the future.

[1]  Elżbieta Jasińska,et al.  Location of depots in a sugar-beet distribution system , 1984 .

[2]  S. Fisher H. Banerji.  Hierarchical location analysis for integrated area planning in rural India , 1974 .

[3]  Timothy J. Lowe,et al.  Aggregation Error Bounds for a Class of Location Models , 2000, Oper. Res..

[4]  John C. Wyngaard,et al.  Structure of the PBL , 1988 .

[5]  Leo Polopolus.  Optimum Plant Numbers and Locations for Multiple Product Processing , 1965 .

[6]  G. Marenco,et al.  The location of agricultural production. , 1967 .

[7]  J. A. Seagraves,et al.  Economic Aspects of Broiler Production Density , 1960 .

[8]  Fred L. Olson.  Location Theory as Applied to Milk Processing Plants , 1959 .

[9]  Way Kuo,et al.  Application of Mathematical Programming to a Large-scale Agricultural Production and Distribution System , 1991 .

[10]  M. Greenhut,et al.  Location and Space Economy , 1958 .

[11]  Ludo Gelders,et al.  A large scale location-allocation problem in the natural rubber industry , 1981 .

[12]  H. A. Eiselt.  Location Modeling in Practice , 1992 .

[13]  Avijit Ghosh,et al.  Spatial analysis and location-allocation models , 1987 .

[14]  Darwin Klingman,et al.  Optimizing Subindustry Marketing Organizations: A Network Analysis Approach , 1976 .

[15]  Darwin Klingman,et al.  A Cotton Ginning Problem , 1976, Oper. Res..

[16]  A. Orden.  The Transhipment Problem , 1956 .

[17]  Carlos Romero,et al.  An optimum location and size model for a food-processing plant in continuous space , 1986 .

[18]  W. O. McCarthy,et al.  AN APPLICATION OF SPATIAL ANALYSIS TO BEEF SLAUGHTER PLANT LOCATION AND SIZE, QUEENSLAND , 1970 .

[19]  An Analysis of Alternative Grain Distribution Systems , 1975 .

[20]  H. Harrison,et al.  Product Assembly and Distribution Optimization in an Agribusiness Cooperative , 1983 .

[21]  A spatiotemporal analysis for fed beef in the southeastern United States , 1991 .

[22]  Song-ken Hsu.  The Agroindustry: A Neglected Aspect of the Location Theory of Manufacturing , 1997 .

[23]  L. V. Blakley,et al.  Optimum Dairy Plant Location with Economies of Size and Market-Share Restrictions , 1971 .

[24]  Donald Erlenkotter,et al.  A Dual-Based Procedure for Uncapacitated Facility Location , 1978, Oper. Res..

[25]  Verner G. Hurt,et al.  Alternative Formulations of the Transhipment Problem , 1965 .

[26]  George W. Ladd,et al.  Parametric Solutions to the Stollsteimer Model , 1970 .

[27]  A Successful Implementation of Locating Passive Cooling Facilities: The Case of Northern Thailand , 1989 .

[28]  Mathematical programming in subsistence agriculture , 1982 .

[30]  The Comparative Advantage Aspects , 1960 .

[31]  James E. Martin,et al.  The Transhipment Problem with Inequality Restraints , 1966 .

[32]  Murat Köksalan,et al.  A location-distribution application for a beer company , 1995 .

[33]  Johann Heinrich von Thünen.  Der isolierte Staat in Beziehung auf Landwirtschaft und Nationalökonomie , 1990 .

[34]  S. H. Logan,et al.  Size and location factors affecting California’s beef slaughtering plants , 1964 .

[35]  A Modification of the Modified Stollsteimer Location Moled , 1975, Journal of Agricultural and Applied Economics.

[36]  Colin G. Brown,et al.  PLANT LOCATION ANALYSIS USING DISCRETE STOCHASTIC PROGRAMMING1 , 1986 .

[37]  J. Krarup,et al.  The simple plant location problem: Survey and synthesis , 1983 .

[38]  A.P.H. Saedt.  The siting of green forage drying plants for use by a large number of farms — a location-allocation case study , 1981 .

[39]  Roger D. Norton,et al.  Operations research methods in agricultural policy analysis , 1982 .

[40]  R. Sridharan.  The capacitated plant location problem , 1995 .

[41]  Allan A. Warrack,et al.  Plant-Location Model Suboptimization for Large Problems , 1970 .

[42]  Jacques F. Benders,et al.  Partitioning procedures for solving mixed-variables programming problems , 2005, Comput. Manag. Sci..

[43]  D. Sweeney,et al.  An Improved Long-Run Model for Multiple Warehouse Location , 1976 .

[44]  Richard L. Kilmer,et al.  A Dynamic Plant Location Model: The East Florida Fresh Citrus Packing Industry , 1983 .

[45]  Murat Köksalan,et al.  Efes Beverage Group Makes Location and Distribution Decisions for Its Malt Plants , 1999, Interfaces.

[46]  John T. Scott,et al.  A Spatial Equilibrium Model for Plant Location and Interregional Trade , 1976 .

[47]  W. O. McCarthy,et al.  Sensitivity Testing and the Plant Location Problem , 1970 .

[48]  J. Jewkes,et al.  Theory of Location of Industries. , 1933 .

[49]  Samuel H. Logan,et al.  Optimum Location, Number and Size of Processing Plants with Raw Product and Final Product Shipments , 1964 .

[50]  B. French,et al.  Some Considerations in Estimating Assembly Cost Functions for Agricultural Processing Operations , 1960 .

[51]  C. Wright,et al.  A location model of grain production and transportation , 1992 .

[52]  R. Finley,et al.  Effects of Split-Demand and Slaughter-Capacity Assumptionson Optimal Locations of Cattle Feeding , 1971 .

[53]  E. Hoover,et al.  The location of economic activity , 1948 .

[54]  Optimum Number and Location of Manufacturing Milk Plants to Minimize Marketing Costs , 1980, Journal of Agricultural and Applied Economics.

[55]  F. Aldinger,et al.  The Theory of Spatial Equilibrium and Optimal Location in Agriculture: A Survey , 1969 .

[56]  Marc Goetschalckx,et al.  Strategic production-distribution models: A critical review with emphasis on global supply chain models , 1997 .

[57]  Ludo Gelders,et al.  A location-allocation problem in a large Belgian brewery , 1987 .

[58]  J. Stollsteimer.  A Working Model for Plant Numbers and Locations , 1963 .

[59]  W. Howard,et al.  Ultrafiltration in the Ontario dairy industry , 1993 .

[60]  Wen-Shyong Chern,et al.  Discontinuous Plant Cost Function and a Modification of the Stollsteimer Location Model , 1970 .

[61]  B. Ohlin,et al.  Interregional and International Trade. , 1936 .

[62]  Wendell Bell,et al.  Location and Space-Economy. , 1957 .

[63]  R. Tosterud,et al.  A Model for Rationalizing the Canadian Grain Transportation and Handling System on a Regional Basis , 1973 .

[64]  Paul van Beek,et al.  An OR contribution to the solution of the environmental problems in the Netherlands caused by manure , 1991 .

[65]  G. Clarke,et al.  Scheduling of Vehicles from a Central Depot to a Number of Delivery Points , 1964 .

[66]  Ludo Gelders,et al.  Plant location and vehicle routing in the Malaysian rubber smallholder sector: A case study , 1989 .

[67]  Mark S. Daskin,et al.  Strategic facility location: A review , 1998, Eur. J. Oper. Res..

[68]  Bruce A. McCarl,et al.  Facilities Location: The Case of Grain Subterminals , 1977 .

[69]  Peter Mark Pruzan.  The Bangladesh grain model , 1979 .

[70]  John Pooley,et al.  Integrated Production and Distribution Facility Planning at Ault Foods , 1994 .