Factors affecting the level of farm indebtedness: the role of farming attitudes

Working paperUsing a nationally representative survey of farm operators in Ireland, this paper aims to provide a framework for better understanding the characteristics that influence the degree of indebtedness on farm businesses. This paper derives explanatory variables (based on a factor analysis of respondents mean ratings of 13 multiple value items) representing 3 different farming attitudes. An ordered logit model is then formulated to examine the effect of farming attitudes as well as personal characteristics and farm structural variables on the degree of indebtedness. Personal characteristics of the farmer such as age and education as well as farm structural variables such as farm size and farm system were all found to have a statistically significant impact. The presence of decoupled farm payments was also found to affect the degree of indebtedness. The study identified two distinct farming attitudes which were found to have important but opposite effects. These were attitudes strongly orientated to business related objectives which was positively associated with having farming debts and secondly positive attitudes relating to the benefits of farm relative to non-farm work which was negatively associated with the degree of indebtedness. Past research has focused on the effect of socio-demographic characteristics and farm structural variables in examining differences in farm indebtedness. This study extends this literature by specifically examining the role of farming attitudes. Obtaining a deeper understanding of the factors that affect the level of farming debt will be important as the degree of indebtedness has been found to affect farmers’ management decisions. Furthermore, outside of explaining farm credit use, farming attitudes and motivations may have an important impact on farmers’ behaviour in relation to a variety of farm activities

The role of non-pecuniary benefits in the labour allocation decision of farmers.

working paperPrevious research has primarily focused on the impact of economic variables in explaining the off farm labour allocation decisions of principal farm operators. This study finds attitudes regarding the non-pecuniary benefits associated with the farming lifestyle also significantly affect behaviour by acting as a strong disincentive to farmers towards working off farm. This may suggest that even if economic returns are greater in the offfarm labour market, farmers may not supply additional labour off farm. We also employed separate models of off-farm labour market participation and off-farm labour supply and found certain variables such as a farm operator’s age and the level of diversification undergone by the farm business affect off farm labour market participation and hours supplied differently

Cognitive and mood assessment tools for use in stroke

No abstract available

SUSTAINABLE AGRIBUSINESS: DEVELOPING LOCAL SOLUTIONS TO GLOBAL CHALLENGES IN THE REGIONAL AGRIBUSINESS SECTOR IN AUSTRALIA

The competitiveness of the agribusiness sector is critical to the social and economic sustainability of regional Australia, where agribusiness is directly responsible for one in five jobs (DNRE, 2002). Although it is recognised that environmental issues must be considered in order to 'sustain' the natural resources used to produce food, this paper focuses on the social and economic issues relating to sustainability (Cocklin et at., 2001). Social sustainability has only recently been upheld as an aim of agricultural and regional policy in Australia, however, it has typically been considered less important than economic and ecological sustainability (Cocklin et al., 2001). In rural Australia, social sustainability is typically reflected in the maintenance of social networks among residents of a rural area, the viability of the rural towns and the associated provision of infrastructure, facilities and services. The State Government of Victoria is actively encouraging the development and maintenance of sustainable networks of agribusiness-related entities in regional and rural Victoria. The Victoria Agribusiness Networks program is an example of how government is engaging agribusiness communities in regional Victoria.Agribusiness,

Eat more Fruit and Vegetables

This paper looks at the 'Eat more Fruit and Vegetables' unit of work as used with a class of 26 students in Year 2

The effect of the glycemic index of an evening meal on the metabolic responses to a standard high glycemic index breakfast and subsequent exercise in men

The study investigated the effect of the glycemic index of an evening meal on responses to a standard high glycemic index (HGI) breakfast the following morning. The metabolic responses to exercise 3 hours after breakfast were also investigated. 7 active males completed 2 trials. In each trial, participants were provided with an evening meal on day 1, either HGI or LGI (high or low glycemic index) carbohydrates. On day 2, participants were provided with a standard HGI breakfast, then performed a 60 minute run 3 hours later. Plasma glucose and serum insulin concentrates following breakfast were higher in the HGI trial compared to the LGI trial. During exercise there were no differences in substrate utilization. Results suggest that consuming a single LGI evening meal can improve glucose tolerance at breakfast but the metabolic responses to subsequent exercise were not affected

Assessing the impact of the New Student Support Arrangements (NSSA) on higher education institutions (BIS research paper no.12)

"The research explores the impact on the policies, planning and behaviours of universities nearly four years after the introduction of new arrangements for student support in higher education (known as NSSA). It is set within the context of continued policy focus on increasing and widening participation, rising importance of university performance indicators in student choices, and a challenging economic climate. The research uses qualitative evidence collected from over 120 staff in 15 case studies across England..." - exec. summary