Farming Practices Correctness Indicator for Family Farms in Poland

The aim of the paper is to examine the state of affairs in farming practices in the sector of commercial farms in Polish Agriculture. Analysis of farming practices and farmers opinions on their appropriateness was based on the results of the survey in the sample of 721 farms from different regions of the country. Farming practices related to crop production, animal husbandry, farm management and environment were measured against the ideal model drawn from the Integrated Farming System guidelines.farming practices, Integrated Farming System, Farming Practices Correctness Indicator, Farm Management,

Farming on the Edge in Poland. Options for Improving Farm Incomes for the Main Types of Farms after Joining the EU

The aim of the paper is to examine the financial impacts of introducing the Common Agricultural Policy into the Polish farming sector after the accession to the EU. Aggregated results from farm level modelling using linear programming for 210 farm types representing the variety of Polish farms, and 90% of the agricultural sector are presented. The benefits of the negotiated subsidy arrangements are unequally distributed and only a partial solution to low farm family incomes.EU accession, Polish Agriculture, direct payments, typical farms, farm model., Farm Management,

Polish Agriculture under Different Policy Scenarios: Impacts on Production and Farm Income

The aim of the paper is to examine impacts of different rates of direct payments on production structures and farm incomes of Polish family farms after the accession to the EU. Analyses have been made for 2004, the assumed year of accession, with the use of a linear programming farm optimisation model. 15 farm types, further differentiated by soil quality, have been selected for the study. The modelling results show, that depending on the respective policy scenario (i.e. the rate of direct payments) the introduction of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) in Poland may cause some shifts in farm production. Under the conditions of Agenda 2000 and with 25 % of direct payments, as proposed by the European Commission, farm incomes would in 2004 approximately equate the 2001/2002 base level. However, not all types of farms would benefit from the accession.EU accession, Polish Agriculture, direct payments, typical farms, farm model, Agricultural and Food Policy,

Facing the future: strategies and investment behaviour of polish farmers

This paper analyses farm-household strategies and investment behaviour of Polish farmers with a particular focus on the perceived effects of CAP. The paper is based on a survey of Polish farmers carried out in 2006 on a sample of 63 farms. Farmers where selected in order to fit in the intersection of the following categories: different altitudes (plain/mountain); different specialisation (arable crops, livestock, fruit trees), different technology (conventional, organic). The survey includes information about farm and household structure, expectations, reaction to planned and intended investment, as well as about potential reforms such as decoupling of EU payments. Results show multifaceted expectations toward the future. The main objectives expressed by farmers are to reduce income uncertainty and to increase household worth. CAP payments are normally used on farm and concentrated on covering current costs and investment expenditure. The perspective of decoupling is expected to produce either no change or an increase of on farm investment.Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), Single Farm Payment (SFP), decoupling, impact analysis, Poland, investment behaviour., Agricultural Finance, Farm Management,

Web Pages Content Analysis Using Browser-Based Volunteer Computing

Existing solutions to the problem of finding valuable information on the Websuffers from several limitations like simplified query languages, out-of-date in-formation or arbitrary results sorting. In this paper a different approach to thisproblem is described. It is based on the idea of distributed processing of Webpages content. To provide sufficient performance, the idea of browser-basedvolunteer computing is utilized, which requires the implementation of text pro-cessing algorithms in JavaScript. In this paper the architecture of Web pagescontent analysis system is presented, details concerning the implementation ofthe system and the text processing algorithms are described and test resultsare provided

Usporedna analiza namjera sveučilišnih studenata u pogledu samozaposlenja u četiri zemlje srednje i istočne Europe

It is of high interest of a society to explore and support self-employment which is a prerequisite for development of entrepreneurship and, consequently, the growth of economy. Keeping in mind political and economic differences in Croatia, Poland, Serbia and Slovakia, the level of self-employment intentions was investigated among students at agricultural or life science universities in these countries. The self-employment intention level (SEINT) was measured on a scale of 1 to 5. The total sample of 1,156 respondents involved students from Nitra, Warsaw, Zagreb and Novi Sad. The average SEINT value was 2.97, with students located in Novi Sad expressing significantly higher scores than the other three universities. It was found that some of socio-demographic factors are significantly related to the SEINT. However, the main reasons for significant difference in SEINT for Novi Sad students are believed to be due to the differences in macroeconomic conditions in the country.U interesu je svakog društva razvijati samozapošljavanje među studentima, jer je za očekivati da će upravo oni biti lideri gospodarstva u bliskoj budućnosti. Uzimajući u obzir političke i gospodarske razlike između Hrvatske, Poljske, Slovačke i Srbije, ispitane su namjere samozapošljavanju među studentima područja poljoprivrede i životnih znanosti u navedenim zemljama. Razina namjere samozaposlenja (SEINT) je mjerena na skali od 1-5. Ukupno je ispitano 1.156 studenata sa sveučilišta u Nitri, Varšavi, Zagrebu i Novom Sadu. Prosječna vrijednost za SEINT iznosila je 2.97, pri čemu je prosjek studenata iz Novog Sada statistički značajno viši nego na ostala tri sveučilišta. Utvrđena je statistički značajna povezanost nekih od socio-demografskih čimbenika s vrijednošću SEINT. Rezultati ukazuju na zaključak da glavni razlog za značajno različite vrijednosti kod studenata iz Novog sada dolazi od razlike u makroekonomskim uvjetima u pojedinoj zemlji

Documentation of baseline and policy scenarios for Test Case 1

Environmental Economics and Policy,

Impacts of Improved Animal Welfare Standards on Competitiveness of EU Animal Production

The paper presents results of the FP7 Econ-Welfare Project “Assessing the socio-economic consequences of measures promoting good animal welfare”. The paper illustrates the economic consequences at the farm level of indicative improvements in animal welfare conditions for pigs and cattle and addresses the consequences of improved animal welfare for international trade and competitiveness1. For the farm level considerations costs - effectiveness analysis was applied, whilst impacts of the upgraded standards on international trade and competitiveness was assessed with the use of the partial equilibrium Agmemod model. The Belief Network Approach was used to determine the effects of animal welfare standards and labels on the competitiveness of the EU animal production and supply chain.Introducing upgraded Animal Welfare standards at the farm level would increase costs of production in pigs and beef cattle sectors. In dairy sector upgrading cows welfare standards results with higher benefits than costs. Accordingly, Agmemod results indicate that on the pork and beef markets international competitive position of the EU producers may be undermined. However, as the analysis showed, there are both supply conditions and demand side circumstances which may well resolve the apparent conflict between animal welfare and chain competitiveness. On the supply side, it is apparent that there are some animal welfare improvements that can be made without compromising competitiveness. Supply chain information, education and training may well be able to improve both animal welfare and competitiveness. In addition, better understanding of both animal welfare and animal productivity (through R&D) can be expected to lead to improvements in both objectives

Economic Impact of Prospective Risk Management Instruments Under Alternative Policy Scenarios

The main objective was to assess the risk of farmers in the European Union and to analyze the impact of agricultural policy changes on the main components of income namely price and production risks. In order to achieve this, qualitative considerations and quantitative analyses covering the period 2004 – 2018 have been made. Future policy scenarios have been defined, taking into account likely Common Agricultural Policy developments, including possible outcomes of the Doha round of the WTO negotiations. Subsequently, the economic impact of policy scenarios in conjunction with a set of prospective risk management instruments for the European Union are determined.Portfolio analysis, Policy scenarios, Risk Management Instruments,