The New Zealand feed grain industry : production, marketing and utilization : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Business Administration in Agriculture at Massey University

THE NEW ZEALAND FEED GRAIN INDUSTRY: PRODUCTION, MARKETING, AND UTILIZATION D. M. Booth The New Zealand feed grain industry has expanded considerably over the last decade yet to date very little is known about the influence of both the economic and non-economic factors on grain production. Even less has been written about the marketing and utilization of these grains. One objective of this study was to examine the functions and activities of the many participants in the feed grain industry. A secondary objective was to develop a model of feed grain supply for maize and barley crops which would reveal the reactions of producers to the changing economic and non-economic variables that were prevalent in the marketplace when actual production decisions were made. From a grain producer's point of view many decisions have to be made. Initially the producer has to decide on one or several production alternatives in which to invest his limited resources. "Will I produce maize this year or will I buy more breeding stock?" is a typical decision that has to be made. There are several non-economic factors influencing production decisions at the farm level such as: (1) constraints imposed by nature (delayed seeding, etc), (2) cultural constraints (crop rotations, etc.), (3) fixed factors involved in agricultural production, (4) institutional constraints (price for wheat set by the New Zealand Wheat Board), (5) uncertainty and imperfect knowledge (prices, etc.). All of the above factors influence production decisions at the farm level. The New Zealand feed grain industry is made up of many participants starting initially with the producer and his grain merchant. Grain merchants are involved in many activities such as: (1) the establishment of annual feed grain prices, (2) the management of the grain contracting system, (3) the marketing of agricultural inputs and other services to the primary producer, (4) marketing of feed grains to both the domestic and export markets. The majority of the feed grains produced in New Zealand are produced under contract to a grain merchant. Approximately 95% of the maize and 80% of the barley acreage is contracted each year at specified prices subject to certain grading standards. In New Zealand there is no "formal" marketplace (such as a commodity exchange) for the establishment of feed grain prices. Prices are negotiated by the producer and his grain merchant on an individual basis with generally the same price quoted for each producer. As acres are contracted and it seems that production will not be sufficient for the expected demand, then a higher contract price is offered which hopefully generates the necessary production that is needed. All contract prices are equalized within a region by the individual grain merchant. Competitive grain merchants set their own prices but again prices tend to equalize within a region. Price differentials between regions generally account for the differing transportation costs of moving the grain from producer to end user. Another participant in the grain industry is the grain broker. The grain broker brings buyers and sellers together. For example, somebody has grain they want to sell while another needs grain. The grain broker contacts both and without the buyer knowing who the seller is, the sale is negotiated at a mutually agreeable price. Prices fluctuate depending upon supply and demand and the position of the grain (i.e. is it readily deliverable? transportation costs, etc?") The grain broker handles grain sales between merchants and also between merchants and feed manufacturers. New Zealand grain has primarily two end sources - the domestic or the export market. The domestic market is divided into grain for stock feeding, industrial uses and for human consumption. A major participant at this stage is the feed manufacturer. He performs several important functions in the grain sector: (1) participates in the establishment of prices, (2) makes the necessary transport arrangements to move the grain from free-on-rail or ex-silo positions, (3) manufactures and retails feed grains in bulk and bag form, (4) provides technical and economic services for end users. An attempt to quantify some of the relationships within the feed industry was carried out in the form of a supply response model. A simple linear regression model was used. A generalized model took the following form: Q*t = ao + ai pgt/tct - a2 pLt +a3Zt + a4T + at where Q*t = acreage of grain in period t pgt = price of grain in period t pct = price of the major competitive grain in the specific region in period t pLt = price of major livestock alternatives in the specific region in period t Zt = non-economic factors in period t T = linear trend variable et = error term ao,a1,a2,a3,a4 = regression coefficients to be estimated. The analysis was divided into two parts, the North Island and the South Island regions. Each region was estimated for the major feed grains produced. Barley on the South Island and both barley and maize on the North Island. For example in the South Island barley analysis, the model explained 86% of the variations in production with all variables statistically significant at the 1% level. This particular model estimated that for a 10% increase in the price of wool, the area sown to barley would decrease by 5.4%. Similarily, a 10% increase in the barley to wheat price ratio would result in a 25% increase in the area sown to barley. For maize, one of the estimated equations explained 87% of the variation in maize acreage. The elasticity at the mean was estimated and for a 10% increase in the maize price, the acreage of maize increased by 15%. This was based on 15 years of data. Several grain marketing alternatives were discussed. These included grain cooperatives, feed grain marketing boards and also making better use of the services of the grain broker. All have merits and of course certain limitations but as the feed grain industry expands there will be increasing pressure for changes within the New Zealand feed grain industry. This study hopefully has shed some light onto the functions and activities of the major participants in the New Zealand feed grain trade. This is just a starting point. More accurate grain statistics are necessary before any extensive research can be conducted. Hopefully this is an area where government and industry can come together

Evaluating board effectiveness: A review and framework for evaluation of corporate boards

Board evaluations have emerged as an important tool in public policy and corporate practice for enhancing board effectiveness. This paper reviews the extensive literature on effectiveness and the emerging literature on evaluation to understand how the divide between two purposes of evaluation – improving board performance and creating accountability – interact with the two main methods of evaluation – internal and externally facilitated. It also integrates the literature of effectiveness and evaluation into an analytic framework for board evaluation. We believe this tool will contribute theoretical understanding of boards and their work, provide insights for the practice of boards and evaluators, and help policy formation by pointing out the limitations as well as benefits of various policy option

Self or other: Directors’ attitudes towards policy initiatives for external board evaluation

Recurrent crises in corporate governance have created policy pressure for greater attention to the effectiveness of boards. Since the 1990s there have been calls for boards to undertake regular self-evaluation. Since 2010, the UK Corporate Governance Code has urged large corporations to engage outside parties to conduct such appraisals at least every three years, a move other jurisdictions have copied. Despite its importance, little research has been conducted into processes or outcomes of board evaluation. This study explores the attitudes of directors on board evaluation, whether self-administered or facilitated by others. We interviewed 17 directors with some 50 listed-company board appointments between them. Even though their companies fall below the threshold specified in policy, all undertake board self-evaluations and evaluations using professional facilitators. We find broad acceptance of the principle and recognition of the value of board evaluation. We also find some acceptance amongst those directors who have implemented external evaluation of the benefits of using outside facilitators. Their evaluation of the evaluation process points towards a need to professionalise the practice of outside facilitation, and to conduct research into the skills and knowledge needed and the processes used

Give Me That Rose : Madame Pompadour

https://digitalcommons.library.umaine.edu/mmb-vp/1517/thumbnail.jp

DETECTION OF "TRILOBITE" AND "BUTTERFLY" RYDBERG MOLECULES IN CESIUM WITH KILODEBYE DIPOLE MOMENTS

The detection and characterization of two classes of ultralong-range Rydberg molecules known as "trilobite" and "butterfly" molecules is presented. These molecules are a subset of a class of Rydberg molecules which asymptotically consist of a Rydberg atom and a ground state atom. The trilobite and butterfly molecules have giant, body-fixed permanent dipole moments on the order of 1000 Debye. The two classes of molecules are distinguished by the relative dominance of the s-wave and p-wave electron scattering. Spectra for (nS_1/2 + 6S_1/2) ^3 Sigma molecules, where n = 37, 39 and 40 and measurements of the Stark broadenings of selected trilobite states in Cs due to the application of a constant external electric field are presented. Additionally, measurements of spectra and Stark splittings for p-wave dominated (nS_1/2 + 6S_1/2) ^3 Pi molecules, where n = 31 and 32 are presented. Computational work on Rydberg pair interactions is also discussed

Wave Kinematics at High Sea States

Measurements of currents close to the ocean surface and within the crests of large, steep waves have been acquired with an incoherent bistatic sonar mounted on the seafloor. The sonar uses a single narrow-beam transmitter/receiver and three fan-beam receivers set in a triangular configuration around the source. Acoustic pulses transmitted from the seafloor are scattered by bubble clouds and the sea surface to the four receivers and may be transformed into velocity components as a function of elevation. Individual estimates of the currents at, and close to, the surface are made with sufficient temporal resolution to identify kinematics in the crests of large waves. Observations acquired in the Danish sector of the North Sea are examined to evaluate both the potential merits and limitations of the measurement approach. At lower wind speeds, sidelobe scatter from the surface reaches the receiver simultaneously with the volume scattered signal arriving from a few meters beneath, contaminating the velocity measurement at this depth. At higher wind speeds, bubble clouds and increased roughness of the surface combine to suppress this effect, permitting reliable near-surface measurement. A numerical simulation has been implemented to explore some aspects of sonar performance including turbulent velocity fluctuations and bubble density gradients. Additional analysis is carried out to examine bubble suppression of sidelobe scatter. The observations lead to some conclusions regarding wave kinematics during a storm in which the wind speed reached ∼17 m s−1. At the ocean surface, the downwind velocity in the crests of large waves substantially exceeds that predicted by the second-order Stokes model, but in the wave troughs the current is close to the nonlinear prediction

The Cuyahoga Valley Resource and Development Center

Sustainable design is a growing movement in the industry. As interior designers, it is our obligation to be knowledgeable of how our designs, and therefore the construction, impact the environment around us. Cuyahoga Valley National Park is underdeveloped for a reason, and this section of nature should be preserved. The proposed Cuyahoga Valley Resource and Development Center will be located just outside of the national park boundaries and utilize sustainable design practices and principles. It will serve as a museum and educational resource for the surrounding community to learn more about The Valley

Rydberg Atom Sensors in Multichromatic Radio Frequency Fields

Rydberg atom-based sensors are a new type of radio frequency sensor that is inherently quantum mechanical. Several configurations of the sensor use a local oscillator to determine the properties of the target radio frequency field. We explain how the physics of Rydberg atom-based sensors in two or more radio frequency fields can be precisely described by a multiply dressed Jaynes-Cummings model. Studying Rydberg atom-based sensors in two or more near resonant radio frequency fields is important for understanding how interfering signals as well as the local oscillator can affect measurements. Studies, so far, focus on a simplified approximation for the local oscillator-target field interaction that uses an analogy to radio frequency heterodyning. The atom acts as a medium for exchanging electromagnetic field excitations of the field modes whose spectrum is a ladder. The Jaynes-Cummings states and their avoided crossings can be used to determine the properties of the radio frequency fields. Radio frequency field sensitivity enhancement for non-resonant radio frequencies is achieved and self-calibrated measurements are recovered under specific conditions described by the theory