Excerpt from The Beef Cattle Industries of Central America and Panama The central American countries and Panama have enjoyed a rapid rate of economic growth during the past 10 years. Although in percentage terms industry has probably shown the greater increase, most of the growth in gross national product has been derived from expanded production of agricultural commodities. Nonetheless, the economies of these countries still suffer from the weakness of over dependence on one or two export products. They are particularly vulnerable when one considers that in almost every instance their leading dollar exchange earners (coffee and cotton in Guatemala and Nicaragua, coffee and bananas in Costa Rica and Honduras, and bananas in Panama) are products subject to surplus accumulation and severe price fluctuations in world markets. Aware of their vulnerable position, the governments and private sectors of these countries, assisted by technical missions from international organizations and the us. Agency for International Development (aid), among others, have for the past several years sought to bolster their economies by encouraging increased self-sufficiency in food production and the development of new export lines to provide the foreign exchange necessary to pay for essential imports. Much of their attention has been centered on the livestock industry, which has played a traditional, though relatively minor, role in Central America and Panama since the colonial period. The objective of this report is to examine the factors associated with the rising trend in beef produc tion in recent years and assess future prospects. Hopefully, answers or reasoned judgments can be made in response to some of the perplexing questions concerning the beef cattle industry in Central America and Panama. Has the gain in productivity in the industry been as rapid as the expansion in slaughter operations; or, has the increase in numbers of cattle slaughterings been achieved partly in response to the construction of excess slaughter capacity at the expense of future production? What has been-the effect of the campaign to expand beef exports on the availability of supplies for the domestic market? What are the prospects for production, domestic consumption, and exports over the next 7 years? About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.