Agribusiness Commons^™

Farm Management Memo - Advice To Help Farming Through The Rural Downturn, Department Of Agriculture, Western Australia

Farm Systems and Economics published reports

Historically, commodity prices cycle between a "boom and a bust" every few years. Farmers are often able to adjust their operations to reduce the impact of a downturn in commodity prices by:

• Increasing efficiency through reducing or maintaining input costs while maintaining or increasing production levels.

• Maximising returns through seeking price premiums on commodities (protein, noodle quality, finer wool, increased clean wool yield).

• Reducing overhead costs

• Seeking cheaper finance or refinancing costly loans

• Careful planning and management with a high degree of attention to detail.

• Seeking advice

Lupin Logic Number 6, Peter Nelson

Lupin Logic

Contents

The lupin breeders of Western Australia

Lupin varieties for 1991 by John Gladstones

Prospects for the next few years

Cucumber Mosaic Virus (CMV) testing

Prospects brighten for Koreanmarket by Rory Coffey, Grain Pool of W.A.

1989/90 Pool payments

Lupin Logic Number 5, Peter Nelson

Lupin Logic

Contents

The 1991 lupincrop starts now with high quality seed

- Why test the seed

- Are farmers using the tests?

- Sample size and cost

Currency fluctuations - efffect on equity by Trevor Lovelle, Grain Pool of WA

Australian Co-Operation With The National Agricultural Research Project - Project Completion Report 1990, John M. Schiller, David Chatel, Barrie T. Steer

All other publications

This Project Completion Report (PCR) has been written to meet the project monitoring requirements of AIDAB.

Because the ACNARP Project was part of a larger joint WB/IFAD project known as the National Agricultural Research Project (NARP), a summary of ACNARP and its progress and achievements, cannot be divorced from NARP. The report should therefore be read within the context that ACNARP alone has not been responsible for all the developments and achievements listed. Achievements in relation to some of the project objectives have been the result of Thai inputs, often with advice from ACNARP, rather than being able to be …

Lupin Logic Number 4, Peter Nelson

Lupin Logic

Contents

Lupin harvesting

- Seed for 1991

- Green radish

- Calculating harvest losses

Deacreasing lupin harvesting losses by Edward Blanchard

- Cutterbar modifications

- Improving crop flow

Stubble survey by Wes Horwood

Seminar

Production and price outlook -1990

Food for thought

The Australian Lupin Collection - Passport Data For Wild And Semi-Domesticated Accessions Introduced Into Australia To 1990, J. C. Clements, W. A. Cowling

Grain and other field crops published reports

This report contains passport (including collection site) data and Commonwealth Plant Introduction (CPI) numbers for all wild and semi-domesticated Lupinus accessions introduced into Australia to 1990 (a total of 1071 accessions with CPI numbers between 10650 and 122692). Scientists or plant breeders with an interest in the characteristics of wild lupins from certain natural environments, such as high soil pH or low rainfall, will find this information invaluable when they select accessions for their experiments. The majority of the accessions were introduced by Western Australian scientists following collecting missions in the Mediterranean region, and the remainder were donated from institutions …

Lupin Logic Number 3, Peter Nelson

Lupin Logic

Contents

Heliothis by Kevin Walden

- Life cycle

- Research

- Walden's prediction for 1990

- Monitoring

- When to spray

- Heliothis - what to spray with

Superphosphate - Not just how much, but how much? where? and with what by Ron Jarvis

- Machinery modification

1989/90 Pool payments

Lupin Logic Number 2, Peter Nelson

Lupin Logic

Contents

Aphids

- Population increase

- Population decrease

- Aphid species

- Time of attack

- Damage to crop

Stubble handling seeders by Glen Riethmuller

Lupin Marketing by Rory Coffey

- Saudi Arabia

- Japan

- Lupin vs protien by-products

1989/90 Lupin Pool payments

Lupin Logic Number 1, Peter Nelson

Lupin Logic

Contents

Welcome to the first issue of Lupin Logic

- What's it all about?

- Your help is needed

- Lupin Logic mailing list

Post-mortem on seeding

Grass weed control

Market outlook: Global: supply/demand

Market development: Human consumption update

Economic Characteristics Of The Nursery-Greenhouse Sector In Connecticut, Wayne Gineo, Manda Rao

Storrs Agricultural Experiment Station

No abstract provided.

Bulletin No 4187 - Choosing Commercial Beef Bulls, David Barker

Bulletins 4000 -

This bulletin provides a method of placing realistic differences in value on young bulls offered for sale.

The prices paid for young bulls are often based on superficial appearance alone, and this has important financial implications for the purchaser. Different characteristics have either large or small effects on the net value of progeny produced. They are dependent on such factors as: the variability of different characteristics in cattle; differences in reliability of the assessment; the extent to which the characteristic is passed on to the progeny; the effect of the characteristic on realized net value of the progeny; the effect …

Miscellaneous Publication 23/90 - The Economic Implications Of Btec Destocking Part Of The West Kimberley Cattle Herd, Bruce Howard

Biosecurity published reports

Economic implications of destocking infected breeding cows from the West Kimberley region, as part of the Brucellosis and Tuberculosis Eradication Campaign (BTEC) programme, were studied to evaluate effects on herd size, turn-off, cash surpluses and herd asset value.

Regional Adjustment Response In The U.S. Dairy Sector To Changes In Milk Support Price, Alfons Weersink, Wayne H. Howard

Agribusiness

Milk production supply response at the regional level for the U.S. dairy sector is estimated through the use of dynamic dual models. Adjustment rates and elasticity measures are presented, and then the estimated parameter coefficients are used to stimulate shifts in production resulting from price changes. A drop in milk price designed to realign market conditions is projected to be borne largely by the Corn Belt and, to a lesser extent, the western states.

Animal Welfare, Animal Rights And Agriculture, Bernard E. Rollin

Animal Welfare Collection

The past decade has witnessed a major revolution in social concern with animals. Philosophically, this revolution entails a significant revision in traditional ways of conceiving our mod obligations to other creatures. Therefore, it is necessary to understand the social and conceptual basis for what is widely termed “animal rights.” The agricultural community has mistakenly tended to dismiss this new thinking as tkinge and emotionally based. In actuality, it is a natural extension of earlier social thought. The case of new laws regulating biomedical research illustrates the rapidity of social change in this area, as do recent developments in European regulation …

Bulletin No 4172 - Using Gross Margins, Peter Eckersley

Bulletins 4000 -

The gross margin of a farm activity is the difference Variable or direct costs are those which change according between the gross income earned and the variable costs to the size of the activity, for example, drenches, dips and incurred.

Gross margins are useful for comparing similar farm activities. They are best expressed in terms of that farm resource which is most limiting (for example, per hectare, per dollar invested or per labour unit). Gross margins can be used to compare the performance of current activities or to predict the performance of a potential alternative activity.

They should not be …

Employment Decline In The Douglas-Fir Region's Lumber And Plywood Industries: An Analysis Of Structural And Cyclical Factors, Majid Rasoolzadeh

Dissertations and Theses

Over the years a significant decline in employment had occurred in the Douglas-fir region’s lumber and wood products industry. High levels of unemployment can lead to undesirable economic and social effects. An understanding of the nature of unemployment can facilitate future planning as well as mitigating current problems. This study has attempted to examine the underlying causes of employment decline in the region’s softwood lumber and plywood industries, specifically over the period 1979-86. This time span is of particular importance since there was a rapid decline in employment levels after 1979. There has been much controversy over the causes of …

Plantscan, Ted Lefroy, Fritz Droge

Natural resources published reports

PLANTSCAN is a network of schools and landholders throughout the wheatbelt of Western Australia. It aims to speed up the process of testing plants for their suitability to this environment.

This kit contains seed of various trees and shrubs and notes on how to grow them, plant them out into a small plot and record their progress.

Schools and landholders throughout the wheatbelt who have purchased this kit become part of a research network aimed at selecting plants that will:

* overcome soil erosion;

* overcome soil salinity;

* and provide a source of income for farmers.

The following sheets …

Human Resource Management: A Review With Applications To Agriculture, Wayne H. Howard, Kenneth A. Mcewan

Agribusiness

For years the major management concern of farm managers was farm production. In the 1970s and 1980s, the importance of finance and marketing emerged as two additional critical success factors in production agriculture. A fourth management area of growing importance to successful farming is managing labor (Thomas and Erven 1989). Total employment in farming has been steadily decreasing to less than 4% of Canada's labor force in 1984 from close to 20% in 1950 (Agriculture Canada 1984). However, the labor remaining in agriculture has been changing structure, with a greater proportion of hired labor. Hired labor accounted for 30% of …

Pressuring Perdue, Barnaby J. Feder

Profiles

Henry Spira, a moderate among animal-rights activists, aims now at the barnyard.

Bulletin No 4167 - Futures Markets, Roderick Grieve

Bulletins 4000 -

Most people have heard of futures but many are unsure of what they are or how they work. The primary purpose of futures is to reduce the risks associated with selling or buying commodities whose price fluctuates. The futures market operates by bringing buyers and sellers together in one place where they negotiate prices at which certain specified commodities will change hands at given future dates. Users of the futures market include producers or users of the commodity, traders in the commodity and speculators.

Futures contracts differ in several respects from typical contracts for cash sales. The futures contract standardizes …

North Mullewa Research Station "Daisy Downs" Field Day, Peter Nelson

All other publications

NMRS (165 ha) was leased from "Daisy Downs" (Manager Mr Ken Thompson) in 1985. NMRS was established in response to famer and local goverment demand for more research on the shallow, heavy soils in a low rainfall area. It is run along similar lines to the East Chapman Research Station (ECRS), with large rotation paddocks (42 ha) set up to study farming systems the remainder of the leased area being used for general experimental purposes.

Technical Change And Applications Of Dynamic Duality To Agriculture: Reply, Wayne H. Howard, Richard C. Shumway

Agribusiness

No abstract provided.

Lethargy And Low Water Intake By Sows During Early Lactation: A Cause Of Low Piglet Weight Gains And Survival?, David Fraser, P. A. Phillips

Farm Animal Husbandry Collection

Daily water intake was monitored for 40 sows during 5 days before and 14 days after farrowing. Intake averaged 9-12 l day^‒1 before farrowing, dropped to a mean of 6 l on the day of farrowing and increased gradually over 4 days to a plateau of ~14 l day^‒1. Sows varied greatly in the degree of reduction in intake during the day of farrowing and the first 3 days of lactation, and those sows with low water intake on these days had low average weight gains by the piglets in the same period. Most of the piglet …

Bulletin Ma 3/89 - Broccoli Growing In The South West, J. Burt, M. Hegney, H Gratte

Horticulture published reports

Manjimup Regional Office

Agdex No. 254/11

Broccoli (Brassica oleracae, variety italica) is closely related to cabbage, cauliflowers, brussel sprouts and kohl rabi. This group of plants may be referred to as crucifers, brassicas or cole crops.

Broccoli originated in Italy. The head consists of well developed green flower buds on a fleshy flower stalk. It is high in protein, calcium, fibre and vitamins A and C.

Broccoli are produced throughout the year for Western Australian markets, but mainly from January to August as there is more competition from Perth producers in spring. There is potential to export broccoli to South …

Bulletin No 4158 - Western Australian Beef Industry - Economic Constraints And Future Market Outlook, Alan Peggs

Bulletins 4000 -

Since the mid 1970s there has been a substantial decline in cattle numbers in Western Australia. Most of this decline has occurred in the agricultural areas.

Much of the decline in cattle numbers can be attributed to low real cattle prices.

As a result of the fall in cattle numbers beef production has also fallen. However, the percentage fall in production has been somewhat less than the percentage decline in numbers due to a rise in the average carcass weight of animals slaughtered.

With declining beef production the amount of beef available for export has also declined. Similarly domestic consumption …

What Our Students Should Know: Perspectives From Business And Academia, Wayne H. Howard

Agribusiness

Perspectives from business and academia on the relative importance of various skills and attributes were compared. The perspective from academia came from the University of Guelph learning objectives and the AEB simple and complex skills required for undergraduate majors. A survey of Canadian agribusiness firms, including governmental agencies, provided the business perspective. Different types and sizes of businesses were consistent in ranking the relative importance of the various skills and attributes. The rankings by business were also consistent with the hierachial learning objectives from the University of Guelph and the disciplinary skills from the AEB. The hypothesis that business and …

The Arguments Of Agriculture: A Casebook In Contemporary Agricultural Controversy, Jan Wojcik

Purdue University Press Books

The Arguments of Agriculture presents the major issues, questions, and conflicting opinions of influential policymakers and critics concerning the role and future of modern agriculture. The author urges the reader to weight and consider all positions and supplies a primer in the basic arguments of agriculture. Each chapter begins with a series of hypothetical cases that illustrate the range of theoretical issues discussed in the chapter. The next section analyzes the basic issues, and the section entitled "Review" summarizes and contrasts the opinions of a number of prominent critics. Each chapter concludes with a list of recommended readings.

The Benefits Of Weaning Cattle In The Kimberley, David Pratchett, Stuart Young

Animal production and livestock research reports

The Kimberley region was populated with Shorthorn cattle from Queensland and New Sonth Wales in the 1880's. The descendants of these cattle known as Kimberley Shorthorn are still the predominant breed in the region. The relatively poor performance of these cattle under the harsh Kimberley conditions and the fact that changing the genotype can improve productivity was recently published (Pratchett D. WADA Journal No. 4 1988)

While the adoption of Bos indicus breeds is the correct move, improved husbandry can also increase the productivity of the Kimberley Shorthorn cow. The majority of cattle in the Kimberley are not weaned. Sometimes …

Increasing Profit On Dairy Farms, G R. Olney, Warren Standing

Journal of the Department of Agriculture, Western Australia, Series 4

Farmers continually make decisions on all aspects of their farms that influence profit. For dairy farmers these include the number of cows, calving pattern, level and type of supplementary feeding, area of each pasture type and fodder crop, and the areas for hay or silage, or both. The extent and type of the beef sideline operations also influence the overall profitability of the farm.

The WesternAustralian Dairy Farm Model (WADFM) is a whole farm model developed by the Western Australian Department of Agriculture to help farmers maximise profits by considering all effects of such decisions on the farm.

The Hidden Costs Of Beef, Michael W. Fox, Nancy E. Wiswall

eBooks

No abstract provided.