The lesson of Middle East involvement

Despite the oft- used phrase, history does not repeat itself. What history does do, however, is offer us lessons. If we do not learn history’s lessons, we will repeat the mistakes of history thereby making it appear that history is indeed repeating itself. Nowhere is this more clear than in the Middle East. To find historical lessons in the Middle East, one should begin by studying the events of World War I. It was during World War I that the composition of the Middle East changed from the indirectly ruled Ottoman Empire, to the collection of nation states that we know today. It is quite fashionable to blame Britain for the outcome of, and all future problems with, this new Middle East. It has become more fashionable to transform the blame in the present age to the United States. In this paper, I will analyze British involvement in the Middle East; beginning with the contradictory wartime agreements that Britain made which would eventually change the shape of the Middle East. I will argue that the problems in the Middle East cannot be blamed solely, or even mostly, on the British or on the Western power who had inherited this blame, the United States. In conclusion, I will develop lessons of history from this period of British involvement in the Middle East; lessons that the United States has yet to learn. (author's abstract

COST OF ORGANIC PORK PRODUCTION: A SEASONAL ANALYSIS AND NEEDED PRICE PREMIUM FOR CONTINUOUS PRODUCTION

Niche markets of agricultural products are experiencing rapid growth. One such market is organic pork. Organic production typically demands specific production conditions that can be cost increasing. This study evaluates the cost of organic pork production, seasonal differences in costs, and premiums necessary to induce continuous organic pork production. In the past few years, niche marketing has been a rapidly growing phenomenon in agriculture. One area that has experienced dramatic growth is the production of organic products. Organic production typically brings with it specific conditions on how the product is produced. These can impact the cost structure of the business and in turn, needed premiums for economic production. One of these niche markets that are growing rapidly is the market for organic pork. A major issue in organic pork production is the differing cost structures across the seasons of the year which relates, in part, to the types of production systems allowed or disallowed. Studies have shown that consumers are very conscientious of product price, freshness, and availability. In the production of organic pork, we are able to demonstrate that there are cost savings to the producer by producing a seasonal product over a continuous product. While this allows for a lower cost for the producer, it causes an uneven pig flow problem throughout the vertical chain which affects packers, marketers, and consumers. The packers are affected by having their plants at full capacity only part of the year. For the consumer, there are certain times of the year when the product is in surplus and other times when it is in shortage causing prices to fluctuate greatly. This implies that both the consumer and the packer may have an incentive to induce the producer to provide a continuous supply of organic pork to the market. This study has two objectives. The first is to provide a detailed analysis of the producer's cost of producing organic pork in a seasonal and continuous production system. The second objective is to develop a premium structure that could induce a producer to adopt a continuous production system. The study addresses the issue by examining the increase of costs involved in expanding a seasonal (summer only farrowing) organic pork production system to continuous production of organic hogs. Production costs differ by production system and season of the year. Organic pork production cost per hundred pounds is projected to be $59.45 for the seasonal system. The seasonal system consists of farrowing in the summer time only. This cost can be compared to a continuous system of organic pork production with a cost of$63.88 per hundred pounds. The continuous system has farrowing occurring in both the winter and summer seasons. With the current premium structures for organic pork, there are more hogs being produced using summer farrowing than by winter farrowing. Consumers prefer a more uniform supply of fresh pork. To foster a more uniform supply of fresh organic pork throughout the year, premiums received by producers need to reflect the seasonal production costs differences. Our results show that if the producer is paid the continuous system's cost of production of $63.88, the producer would have an incentive to produce only seasonal hogs. To induce the producer to provide a continuous flow of hogs, a minimum premium of$7.47 beyond the seasonal price must be paid to the producer for producing hogs in the winter, and a premium of $1.66 must be paid in the summer. An alternative is that the producer would receive no premium for summer production and a premium of$9.13 per hundred pounds over the seasonal production costs to induce the producer to produce a continuous supply of hogs.Marketing,

Comparison of forest attributes derived from two terrestrial lidar systems.

Abstract Terrestrial lidar (TLS) is an emerging technology for deriving forest attributes, including conventional inventory and canopy characterizations. However, little is known about the influence of scanner specifications on derived forest parameters. We compared two TLS systems at two sites in British Columbia. Common scanning benchmarks and identical algorithms were used to obtain estimates of tree diameter, position, and canopy characteristics. Visualization of range images and point clouds showed clear differences, even though both scanners were relatively high-resolution instruments. These translated into quantifiable differences in impulse penetration, characterization of stems and crowns far from the scan location, and gap fraction. Differences between scanners in estimates of effective plant area index were greater than differences between sites. Both scanners provided a detailed digital model of forest structure, and gross structural characterizations (including crown dimensions and position) were relatively robust; but comparison of canopy density metrics may require consideration of scanner attributes

The Effect of Housing System and Physical Environment on Post-weaning Pig Performance

Many small independent pork producers have shown interest in low-cost alternative production systems for raising market pigs. One low-cost alternative production housing type that is gaining popularity is the bedded hoop structure. Hoop structures are primarily used as finishing facilities, but may also be used for gestation housing, breeding and isolation facilities, gilt development and bedding storage. Recently, a new concept called wean-to-finish has been adopted by the swine industry. This unique approach is the adaptation of technologies used in the nursery and grow/finish phase into a single-stage production system. Bedded hoop structures may work as a wean-to-finish housing system, if nursery pigs can efficiently grow throughout the various seasonal temperature extremes. The objectives of this study were to evaluate the growth performance of nursery pigs in hoop structures compared with those raised in confinement nurseries

Early Weaned Pig Performance in Hoop Structures During Early Summer

Four groups of early weaned pigs (19 days of age) from the ISU Southwest Swine Research Farm, Atlantic, IA were delivered to the Hoop Research Complex at the ISU Rhodes Research Farm, Rhodes, IA, in late May and early June 1998. Three groups of pigs (n=552) were placed in three (30–ft × 60 ft) deep bedded hoop structures. The fourth group (n=159) was placed in a mechanically ventilated modular confinement building with total slatted floors. Pig performance was good for both housing systems. During the 26-day trial, hoop pigs ate 14% more feed than the confinement pigs (P\u3c.004). The average daily gain (ADG) for the 26-day trial was (26%) more for the hoop pigs than those in confinement (P\u3c.004). The 0−14 day gain-to-feed ratio was higher for the hoop pigs (P\u3c.03) than the confinement pigs. Mortality was very low (3 of 711). By starting early weaned pigs in hoops during the spring and fall, weanto-finish production may be an acceptable strategy for producers with hoop structures

Performance of Pigs in a Swedish, Bedded Group Lactation and Nursery System

In the 1980s, Swedish swine producers were forced to develop several production models to remain profitable due to the strict legal policies facing the swine industry. By 1994, approximately 150 Swedish farms were using a sustainable model for pig production. This model, a deep-bedded, group housing system for pregnant, farrowing, and nursing sows and their litters, was known as the Västgömodel. Ljungström and Thorstensson are two versions of the Västgömodel system. In the Ljungström system, sows farrow in conventional pens and are moved with their litters to group nursing rooms after the pigs are 10 to 14 days old. In the Thorstensson system, sows farrow in group nursery rooms in temporary wooden farrowing boxes, which are removed after the pigs are 7 to 10 days old and have begun to climb out of the boxes. Group lactation ensues

Effect of Housing System and Physical Environment on Post-Weaning Pig Performance

A study was conducted to document the physical environment and growth performance of nursery pigs in hoop structures compared with pigs reared in confinement nurseries. A series of six trials involving a total of 1,440 nursery pigs were conducted at two Iowa State University research farms from December 1999 to August 2000. Regardless of season, the confinement pigs grew faster and consumed more feed than pigs in hoop structures for the first 2 weeks post-weaning. Both housing systems experienced similar growth rates for the last 3 weeks of the trial. Both housing systems experienced similar ADFI and feed efficiencies for weeks 4 and 5. Overall, the confinement pigs grew faster, consumed more feed and were less efficient than pigs in hoop structures (P\u3c.05) during the winter season. Overall the confinement pigs grew faster (P\u3c.05), consumed more feed (P\u3c.05), and experienced similar feed efficiencies as the pigs in hoop structures during the spring season. Overall, the confinement pigs experienced growth rates, consumed more feed and were less efficient than pigs in hoop structures (P\u3c.05) Hoop structures can be used as nursery facilities throughout the various seasons. The first 2 weeks postweaning proved to be a very critical time in getting the pigs acclimated to the hoop structures. After this period, they experienced growth rates similar to the pigs in confinement. Further trials with adjustments made for the bedding, heat source, hovers, feeders, and management may improve the growth performance over that seen in these trials

Evaluation of a Distillers Dried Grain Derivative Feedstuff on Performance of Nursery Pigs

The study evaluated two levels of distillers dried grain derivative (DDGD) (2 and 4% of the total diet) compared with a control diet (0%) on pig growth performances. Thirty-two nursery pigs (22 days of age) were individually housed in stainless steel pens. The pens were located in a clean, environmentally controlled room. The pigs were allowed to consume one of the three diets ad libitum during the 28-day trial. The pigs were fed a phase I diet for the first 14 days of the trial and phase II diet for the remaining 14 days. There were no major positive or negative cumulative effects on ADG, ADFI, and G:F when feeding DDGD at 2 and 4% during a 28-day trial. Additional Performance trials would help elucidate the optimal role of DDGD in nursery pig diets