The Role of Agricultural Consultants in the New Zealand Research, Development and Extension System

This paper discusses the findings from a pilot study of New Zealand agricultural consultants aiming to describe the role of agricultural consultancy within the New Zealand RD&E system with specific reference to their role in environmental management. The study comprised a literature review, interviews with informed persons and case studies. Agricultural consultants generally operate chiefly in the area of farm economics and management, but their positioning makes them well-placed for impacting positively on environmental management on farms. They assist producer decision-making by providing industry intelligence, up-to-date information and analysis of options. Consultants fulfil the role of knowledge broker reasonably effectively, but some were out of the direct RD&E loop.Agricultural consultants, environment, RD&E system, Research and Development/Tech Change/Emerging Technologies, Teaching/Communication/Extension/Profession,

Pricing an Extension Service for Organic Farmers and Growers

The organics sector is expanding rapidly and the Board of Organics Aotearoa New Zealand considers that the future provision of an extension service is needed to underpin the ability of producers to efficiently convert to organic systems and then to further develop the sustainability of their systems. This project commissioned by Organics Aotearoa New Zealand in 2008 considers four possible organisational structures for delivering such a service. The first possible structure is a complete extension service for organic producers that combines national coordination, standard setting and information management with a local problem-solving and sector development service. Option 2 is a more centralised option, especially useful for producers at the beginning of their system conversions to organics when advice to them can be more prescriptive. Option 3 provides decentralised learning opportunities for producers out in the regions and so is more of a “bottom-up” approach to extension. Option 4 is a user-pays option where only those people directly involved in a project need make any contribution to the costs of the extension service. Option 1 requires funding for each producer of more than $250 per annum and needs over$2 million gross income before the full service could be provided. Option 2 requires 2000 producers to be financially viable and funding of less than the equivalent of $250 per annum per grower. Option 3 requires 7000 producers involved before the costs are reduced to the equivalent of less than$250 per annum per grower. Option 4 would be viable with funding equivalent to less than $250 per annum per grower. The Board wanted an extension service that minimised central overheads, provided a variety of learning styles, and served the needs of both organic start-ups and established producers. It was recommended to the Board of Organics Aotearoa that they proceed with Option 3. The Board decided that Option 2 better fitted the resources that they had available, and this approach has been working well.Organic, extension, governance, funding, Crop Production/Industries, Demand and Price Analysis, Environmental Economics and Policy, Farm Management, Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety, Health Economics and Policy,

An assessment of five different theoretical frameworks to study the uptake of innovations

There are several theoretical frameworks one can draw upon to study the adoption process. Extension Theory, Bounded Rationality, Diffusion Theory, the Theory of Reasoned Action and Consumer Behaviour Theory were of particular interest to us. In assessing the frameworks we looked for contradictions, and how and whether these frameworks could be used to study the adoption process. The assessment was done by using our own conceptual framework of the adoption process and we discuss the results in this paper. We found that the different frameworks don‘t contradict each other and when combined into our conceptual framework they offer very useful constructs for studying the adoption process.adoption, innovations, theory, Agricultural and Food Policy, Environmental Economics and Policy, Research Methods/ Statistical Methods, Resource /Energy Economics and Policy,

Postponement and recuperation of Belgian fertility: how are they related to rising female educational attainment?

Fertility trends in Europe after 1970 are routinely referred to in terms of the postponement of fertility. The shortening of the effective reproductive lifespan and its association with post-materialist values have raised questions as to whether fertility can or will be recuperated. Decomposition of cohort fertility in Belgium by level of education shows that the postponement of fertility after 1970 is closely related to the expansion of education: compared with cohorts born in 1946-1950, 40 to 50 per cent of the difference in cumulated fertility at age 25 in the 1951-1975 birth cohorts is attributable to rising educational levels. Educational differentials also prove relevant with regard to the recuperation of fertility at older ages as the tempo and quantum of order-specific fertility have responded differently to variations in the economic and policy context, depending on the educational level considered. Differential fertility trends by level of education have thus attenuated the relationship between female educational attainment and completed fertility in recent cohorts.

Views of Primary Producers in the Taupo and Rotorua catchments: implications for water quality policy

Lakes Taupo and Rotorua are important to New Zealand, but declining lake water quality is increasingly becoming a problem. Primary producers are said to be impacting heavily on the lakes' water quality through discharges that reach them through streams and ground water. The paper discusses the results of ongoing social research in the lakes' catchments. Data gathering was through literature reviews, interviews and workshops. The views, farming goals and perceived mediocre to poor adoptability of new environmental practices and technologies by primary producers in the lakes' catchments indicate that policy instruments encouraging voluntary change are unlikely to positively impact on water quality.Adoptability, policy instrument, farming goals, Environmental Economics and Policy, Resource /Energy Economics and Policy,

Pastoral Farmer Goals and Intensification Strategies

Focus groups were held with four pastoral sectors (sheep, dairy, deer, and beef) to investigate intensification strategies available to each sector. Focus groups first identified drivers of intensification in their sector, then identified the strategies they perceived as available, and evaluated the identified strategies in terms of favourability. For a researcher selected intensification strategy in each pastoral sector, benefits, barriers and solutions, and the relationship between farmer goals and the selected strategy was examined. The three main drivers of intensification in the sheep industry were profit, higher land values and return on capital. The researcher chosen strategy, high fecundity sheep, was viewed by the focus group as having benefits of increased financial security, increased profit, better return on capital and better land utilisation. However the strategy was seen as conflicting with other desirable goals such as lifestyle, social life, work variety, self reliance, environmental concerns and animal welfare. The three main drivers of intensification in the dairy sector were declining market prices, need for increased profit and need for increased productivity. The researcher chosen strategy, robotic milking, was viewed as having benefits of: reduced labour requirements, enhanced lifestyle, greater job satisfaction, reduce operational costs and increased profit. Implementation cost was viewed as a barrier as was the need for new specialised technical skills. The three main drivers of intensification in the deer industry were return on investment, competition from other land uses and returns per hectare compared with other pastoral sectors. The researcher chosen strategy, 100kg weaner by 1st June, had benefits of increased management options, increased profit, achievement of animals’ genetic potential, better predictability and a higher kill-out yield. The strategy presents challenges to animal welfare – an important consideration for the group. Three industry enterprises (dairy, calf rearers, and beef finishers) are involved in beef production. All three agreed that profit was the main driver for intensification. The researcher chosen strategy was dairy/beef progeny. Benefits of this strategy for the industry were: increased profit, access to prime markets, higher yielding quicker growing animals, and better behaved animals. The primary barrier to the success of this strategy was the need for co-operation across the three industry enterprises and the processors, and the need to ensure increased profits are distributed to all parts of the chain. Dairy farmers (the source of 65% of animals farmed for beef) were particular concerned about animal welfare issues and the consequent financial risks presented to their operations by this strategy.Agribusiness, Agricultural Finance, Consumer/Household Economics, Crop Production/Industries, Environmental Economics and Policy, Farm Management, Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety, Land Economics/Use, Livestock Production/Industries, Risk and Uncertainty,

AgI, CdII, and HgII complexes with 2,5-bis(pyridyl)pyrazine ligands: syntheses, spectral analyses, single crystal, and powder X-ray analyses

2,5-Bis(4-pyridyl)pyrazine (4-bppz) and 2,5-bis(3-pyridyl)pyrazine (3-bppz) have been synthesized and characterized spectroscopically and crystallographically. 4-bppz [unit cell: a = 7.319(1), b = 5.746(1), c = 12.756(2) Å, β = 93.16(1)° space group: P21/a] was characterized by X-ray single crystal diffraction methods while the structure of 3-bppz [unit cell: a = 10.9148(4), b = 4.5722(1), c = 11.4462(2) Å, β = 109.571(2)° space group: P21/c] was determined from laboratory X-ray powder diffraction data. In these compounds, the pyrazine ring contains two symmetrically attached pyridine substituents with the nitrogen atom in the para positions for 4-bppz and in the meta positions for 3-bppz. Both compounds possess Ci symmetry with the pyridine rings twisted by 17.7° (4-bppz) and 2.6° (3-bppz) with respect to the pyrazine ring. 4-bppz was used in the formation of coordination compounds with silver(I) and cadmium(II). The silver(I) complex [Ag(OAc)(4-bppz)] n (1) [unit cell: a = 8.472(1), b = 13.051(1), c = 19.063(2) Å, β = 109.96(1)° space group: P21/c] is characterized by the formation of a perfectly linear chain containing the silver ions bridged by the ligand molecule, the latter using its pyridine nitrogen donor atoms for coordination. A pair of chains is interconnected by silver-silver interactions, the silver coordination sphere being completed by acetate anions. A similar one-dimensional coordination polymer, [Cd(OAc)2(4-bppz)(MeOH)] n (2) [unit cell: a = 8.680(1), b = 10.035(1), c = 13.445(1) Å, α = 77.35(1), β = 71.17(1), γ = 80.14(1)° space group: $$P\bar 1$$ ], was obtained by the reaction of 4-bppz with Cd(OAc)2. Ligand 3-bppz forms an analogous cadmium(II) complex, [Cd(OAc)2(3-bppz)(MeOH)] n (3) [unit cell: a = 9.306(1), b = 9.733(1), c = 11.550(1) Å, α = 87.86(1), β = 76.73(1), γ = 85.91(1)° space group: $$P\bar 1$$ ], containing the molecules arranged in double zigzag chains. The reaction of 3-bppz with HgI2 leads surprisingly to a binuclear complex, [Hg2I4(3-bppz)2] (4) [unit cell: a = 17.555(1), b = 12.973(1), c = 16.195(1) Å, β = 115.32(1)° space group: C2/c]. Two ligand molecules are bridged by two mercury(II) ions forming a cyclic structure, the tetrahedral coordination sphere of the metal being completed by iodide anion

Si/SiGe bound-to-continuum quantum cascade emitters

Si/SiGe bound-to-continuum quantum cascade emitters designed by self-consistent 6-band k.p modeling and grown by low energy plasma enhanced chemical vapour deposition are presented demonstrating electroluminescence between 1.5 and 3 THz. The electroluminescence is Stark shifted by an electric field and demonstrates polarized emission consistent with the design. Transmission electron microscopy and x-ray diffraction are also presented to characterize the thick heterolayer structure

Occurrence of anthropogenic and naturally-produced organohalogenated compounds in tissues of Black Sea harbour porpoises

Harbour porpoises are one of the three cetacean species inhabiting the Black Sea. This is the first study to report on polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) and naturally-produced compounds, methoxylated PBDEs (MeO-PBDEs) and polybrominated hexahydroxanthene derivatives (PBHDs), in tissues (kidney, brain, blubber, liver, muscle) of male harbour porpoises (11 adults, 9 juveniles) from the Black Sea. Lipid-normalized concentrations decreased from muscle > blubber > liver > kidney > brain for the sum of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and for the sum of PBDEs. Among the naturally-produced compounds, levels of PBHDs were higher than of MeO-PBDEs, with tri-BHD and 6-MeO-BDE 47 being the dominant compounds for both groups, respectively. Concentrations of naturally-produced compounds decreased from blubber to brain, similarly to the sum of DDT and metabolites (DDXs). Concentrations of DDXs were highest, followed by PCBs, HCB, PBHDs, PBDEs and MeO-PBDEs. Levels of PCBs and PBDEs in blubber were lower than concentrations reported for harbour porpoises from the North Sea, while concentrations of DDXs were higher