Investment in Sustainable Development: A UK Perspective on the Business and Academic Challenges

There are many legislative, stakeholder and supply chain pressures on business to be more ‘sustainable’. Universities have recognised the need for graduate knowledge and understanding of sustainable development issues. Many businesses and universities have responded and introduced Sustainable Development models into their operations with much of the current effort directed at climate change. However, as the current worldwide financial crisis slowly improves, the expectations upon how businesses operate and behave are changing. It will require improved transparency and relationships with all stakeholders, which is the essence of sustainable development. The challenges and opportunities for both business and universities are to understand the requirements of sustainable development and the transformation that is required. They should ensure that knowledge is embedded within the culture of the organisation and wider society in order to achieve a sustainable future

An evaluation of targeting as a strategy for attaining objectives of conservation and water quality in the North Fork Forked Deer Watershed

Renewed concern regarding the problem of soil erosion from agricultural land has led to a serious re-evaluation of federal soil erosion control policy in the United States. The objective of reducing off-site water quality impacts of soil erosion has gained in prominence relative to that of maintaining on-site productivity. Recognition that most federal cost sharing supports implementation of best management practices (BMPs) on land with only slight to moderate erosion problems has led to proposals for targeting efforts to more highly erosive land. Cost effectiveness of soil erosion control efforts can be defined in terms of maximizing erosion reduction per dollar of federal expenditure when off-site water quality impact is considered the dominant objective. The purpose of this study was to evaluate (a) the extent to which the cost effectiveness of soil erosion control efforts was or could be increased by targeting to and within a critically eroding area, the North Fork Forked Deer (NFFD) Watershed of West Tennessee. The NFFD Watershed was an excellent case study area due to the severity of its erosion problem and an extensive base of collected data. A special Agricultural Conservation Program (ACP) water quality project on the NFFD provided 75% cost sharing for application of BMPs sufficient to bring every field\u27s erosion rate down to soil loss tolerance. In Chapter III summarization of the set of BMPs planned under this project was developed so as to be as comparable as possible with the findings of the National Summary Evaluation of the Agricultural Conservation Program, Phase I (NSE-ACP-I). BMPs included were establishment of permanent vegetative cover, improvement of permanent vegetative cover, terraces, diversions, winter cover, critical area treatment and conservation tillage. Comparison on the basis of the distribution of BMPs by pre-practice erosion rate class and cost per ton of erosion reduction indicated that targeting funds to a critical watershed increased cost effectiveness. This was apparently due primarily to the more highly erosive land base in the NFFD Watershed, rather than any targeting accomplished within the context of the project itself. This set of BMPs was viewed too in light of the pre-project situation in terms of acreage in various pre-practice erosion rate classes and compared to the recommended treatment goals in the project application. The conclusion was drawn that significant potential exists for targeting to highly erosive land within a watershed and more cost-effective BMPs in order to increase cost effectiveness. Based on the development of the equi-marginal principle of cost efficiency for application to the soil erosion control problem at hand in Chapter II, an LP model of the NFFD Watershed was constructed and employed as reported in Chapter IV. The basic LP model had as its objective maximization of erosion reduction subject to a constraint on available cost sharing funds. The activities in the LP model were BMPs applicable to fields on eight farms synthesized to represent the land and owner-operator characteristics in the NFFD Watershed. Deviation of an optimal BMP set from the LP model served to emphasize the conclusion regarding potential for targeting to land within watershed and particular BMPs to increase cost effectiveness. Policy implications outlined in Chapter V included support for further shifting of funds to critical watershed or areas but also the need to re-evaluate particular aspects of the current approach to include BMP implementation within a project or regular county program. The whole-farm requirement may limit cost effectiveness to the extent that treatment of slight erosive fields is mandated in addition to treatment of highly erosive fields. Possible modifications of the voluntary, first come-first served soil loss tolerance, and uniform cost-sharing aspects of the current approach merit consideration to allow for increased cost effectiveness. Of course, concern for the on-site productivity objective of soil erosion control may influence the advisability of some of these possible changes

An analysis of Production Credit Association borrowers in Middle Tennessee

The objectives of this study were: 1. To compare the farm and borrower characteristics for AB and C loan groups. Farm characteristics to be considered included type of enterprises and size of operation. Characteristics of the borrower to be considered included an analysis of age, tenure status, type of opera-tor, participation in credit life insurance program, number of children, years farming, and the number of years residing on the present farm. 2. To compare factors which influence risk-bearing ability of AB borrowers and C borrowers, such as: loan purpose, amount of loan, type of security, amount of security, financial condition, and other sources of credit. 3. To examine the C borrowers over a period of time with emphasis on the capital growth and changing risk status of this group of loans. In essence the first two objectives were concerned with patterns and/or characteristics common to C borrowers as compared to AB borrowers. Objective three was concerned only with C borrowers with no comparison to AB borrowers. No comparison was made due to the assumption that AB borrowers are typical, i.e., make capital progress; whereas a grey area exists concerning the progress and/or what happens to C borrowers. Authorities within the field indicate a lack of agreement concerning the role of C loans in farm lending

Economic alternatives and policy implications of a strategic commodity reserve for national security considerations

The maintenance of adequate food reserves for national security considerations is a relevant policy goal for society. Food supplies are a major link in our national security. However, the United States has never established a strategic commodity reserve program. The food stocks held by the Commodity Credit Corporation are primarily by-products of price stabilization policies, rather than results of a carefully-defined emergency food program. The basic postattack food problem is one of reducing the trans-portation problems or relocating the food supply to insure adequate emergency supplies of food. The storage of wheat in areas with relatively low food supplies represents one of the means to achieve an adequate emergency food supply. Objectives of this study were: (1) to determine the quantity, composition, and geographic distribution of the food resources in the continental United States; (2) to estimate the cost of acquiring and transporting wheat from production areas to areas with relatively low food supplies; (3) to estimate the cost of maintaining a strategic commodity reserve in the respective storage areas; and (4) to consider and analyze alternative institutional and administrative arrangements to achieve the program goals. Linear programming was used to determine the costs of alterna-tive programs and optimum sources of wheat. Estimated 1970-71 long run competitive rates for storing and handling grain in inland terminals were used throughout the storage cost analysis. In the maintenance operations of the program alternative consideration was given to the possibility of rotating the wheat back through normal channels of trade or into livestock feed. Model I which would provide for the purchase and relocation of a three month supply of wheat for the total population involved the purchase of 614 million bushels of wheat. Total acquisition and trans-portation costs for Model I were approximately $1 billion. An average expenditure of approximately$1.70 per bushel was required to establish the program envisioned in Model I. On a per capita basis it cost $5.17 per person to acquire and transfer the wheat for a program which pro-vided a three month food supply in addition to the normal food supply. Total annual maintenance costs which included rotating stocks and storage and handing costs for Model I were$119 million. The average maintenance costs were approximately $.19 per bushel. On a per capita basis, it cost approximately$ .59 to maintain the reserve. Model II provided for the purchase and relocation of enough wheat to bring the combined normal and reserve food supply in all states up to six months. Approximately 49 percent of the continental United States population living in 19 s-tates were included in Model II, and approximately 296 million bushels of wheat were required to bring their food supply up to six months. Total acquisition and transporta-tion costs for Model II were $534 million. Average acquisition and transfer charges for the people involved were$5.42 per capita. Annual maintenance costs for Model II for rotating, storing, and handling the stocks were $70 million or$ .71 per capita. On a per bushel basis, average annual maintenance costs were approximately $.24. Model III provided for the purchase and relocation of enough wheat to bring the combined reserve and normal food supply up to three months. The population in 11 states representing approximately 23 percent of the continental United States population was included in Model III. Total acquisition and transportation costs for approxi-mately 37 million bushels of wheat were$65 million. An average expenditure of $1.37 per person was required to acquire and transfer the wheat for this model. Approximately 75 percent of the wheat stocks in Model III were located in the South and East storage areas. When the wheat was rotated into livestock feed, annual maintenance costs were approxi-mately$8 million or $ .18 per capita. The policy implications of a strategic commodity reserve are interwoven with the other basic problems of agriculture. For a program to be successful, it must be designed and managed as a strategic reserve and not as a part of the price stabilization program. Provisions for release of the stocks should be established in terms of national emergency criteria rather than market prices

'New Light' thinking and non-subscription amongst Protestant dissenters in England and Ireland in the early 18th century and their relationship with Glasgow University and Scotland

In the early eighteenth century Scottish universities played a crucial role in the education of dissenters in both England and Ireland, particularly in the training of ministers. Glasgow University was predominant in this role throughout the first half of the century and was a central feature of the network of reformed churches across the British Isles. In the second and third decades of the eighteenth century Glasgow University was troubled by two particular problems. The first was student unrest, based on the students’ attempts to revive their ancient right to elect the rector, much of it led by students from England and Ireland. The second stemmed from accusations of heresy against the professor of divinity. Both of these processes were linked to the wider questions of non-subscription that animated so much dissenting thinking in both England and Ireland at the same time. They linked in too with a widespread fear of the transmission of Arian doctrine that some thought was being concealed by non-subscription. This thesis examines the development of New Light or non-subscribing views amongst dissenters in England and Ireland as part of a movement across the British Isles that was underpinned by the central relationship that many church leaders had with the University. Glasgow avoided the taking of sides in the subscription debates but neither did it exclude the non-subscribers and, after the initial debates had cooled towards the end of the 1720s, affirmed the permissibility of their approach by some of its actions