Factors influencing net investment decision making for a group of lower North Island sheep and beef farmers : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Agricultural Economics at Massey University

This study investigated the process of net investment decision-making on a group of New Zealand sheep and beef farmers. A review of previous theoretical and empirical research led to the study's objectives, namely to test that investment decision making on New Zealand farms could be incorporated in two dimensions: the determination of a desired level of capital stock and a description of the rate of adjustment of actual capital stock to the desired level. A study of net investment decision-making was chosen because net investment was seen by policy-makers in the 1970's to be an ingredient in planned growth in output. Information on net investment at the individual farmer level was not, however, available to policy-makers at the time. The study was at the individual farmer level to complement previous reserarch at the macro-level on investment in the New Zealand pastoral sector. An investment model was tested using ordinary least squares combining time-series and cross-section data. The initial specification included individual farm dummy variables to account for cross-sectional differences in net investment decision-making. Later, candidate variables hypothesised as explaining cross-section differences were included in the model. The regression results led support to the study's objective. Demand for desired capital stock was viewed as determined by Government policy measures, farm size, farmer age and the initial development state of the farm. Adjustment of actual capital stock to the desired level was viewed as determined by the level of cash at the beginning of each period and windfall gains or losses in net income in the current period. The results provide some basis for the better targeting of future policy measures to the farm sector. The study was limited by lack of a priori knowledge of inter-farm differences in the desire for capital, by the lack of a precise measurement of actual capital stock and the failure to account for interdependencies in the consumption-investment decisions that take place on farms. These limitations could provide avenues for future research

A method for oxygen isotope analysis of milligram quantities of water and some of its applications

A method has been developed by which bromine pentafluoride and small amounts of water are reacted in a nickel vessel at 80°C to liberate oxygen in 100% yield. The oxygen is converted to CO_2, which is analyzed on an isotope ratio mass spectrometer. The oxidation reaction takes place instantaneously, and the conversion of the liberated O to CO_2 requires approximately 15 minutes. There are no measurable memory effects in the method and the reproducibility is ±0.1‰. A value of 1.0407 was determined for the CO_2-H_2O fractionation factor at 25°C, a number necessary for relating standards in use by various workers. This value is in exact agreement with that obtained by Compston and Epstein in the same laboratory using a reduction technique but is in serious disagreement with values determined by other workers. An application of this technique has been made to the study of a meteorological problem

Selling mill-run and graded oak lumber

This bulletin reports on School of Forestry Research Project 120, 'Timber Crop'--P. [2].Digitized 2007 AES

Tests on treated fence posts

Cover title.Includes bibliographical references

Tests on treated fence posts

Cover title

Oxygen isotope equilibrium between muscovite and water

Oxygen isotopes have been equilibrated between muscovite and aqueous alkali chloride solution and between paragonite and alkali chloride solution in the temperature range of 400°–650°C at 1 and 1.5 kb fluid pressure. Isotopic equilibrium was inferred from the fact that compatible fractionation factors were obtained using 3 different chemical reactions to produce the mica: (1) muscovite or paragonite was prepared by reacting natural kaolinite with 2–3 molal KCl or NaCl solutions; (2) muscovite was crystallized in pure water from a gel; and (3) synthetic paragonite was reacted with 2–3 molal KCl solution, producing muscovite by an alkali ion exchange reaction. The 1 M modification of the mica was made in every experiment. In several cases the extent of oxygen exchange was traced by running companion equilibrations in solutions of unusually low O^(18)/O^(16) ratio. No isotopic fractionation was discernible between muscovite and paragonite in the temperature range studied. Per mille fractionations between muscovite and water are given by the expression 10^3 In α = 2.38(10^6T^(−2)) − 3.89. These data can be combined with the results of other laboratory equilibration studies to establish a set of calibrated oxygen isotope geothermometers. Analogous to the alkali feldspar systems previously reported, the direct relationship between cation and oxygen isotope exchange suggests that some type of solution-redeposition mechanism operated during muscovite-paragonite transformations in aqueous solutions. Also, the extensive oxygen isotope exchange (with the solution) that accompanies the formation of muscovite from kaolinite implies a breakdown of the kaolinite structure. This notion does not concur with hypotheses based on rate studies and X-ray measurements that the unaltered kaolinite structure is partially inherited by the mica

Sustainable, Reliable Mission-Systems Architecture

A mission-systems architecture, based on a highly modular infrastructure utilizing: open-standards hardware and software interfaces as the enabling technology is essential for affordable and sustainable space exploration programs. This mission-systems architecture requires (a) robust communication between heterogeneous system, (b) high reliability, (c) minimal mission-to-mission reconfiguration, (d) affordable development, system integration, and verification of systems, and (e) minimal sustaining engineering. This paper proposes such an architecture. Lessons learned from the Space Shuttle program and Earthbound complex engineered system are applied to define the model. Technology projections reaching out 5 years are mde to refine model details

Valley receives 2003 N.L. Bowen award

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/94640/1/eost14650.pd

Variations in Alsea River flow: implications for Alsea Spit & inlet stability

Based in part on previous work by this researcher, variables assumed to play a minor part in the process/ response system examined by the OSU Alsea Bay Hazard Study Team (1985-87)--river input and subsequent variations in hydrology--were more completely analyzed for their range of effects on the stability of Alsea Bay Spit and inlet. Through air photo analysis of spit configurations, compil­ation of concurrent tide prism characteristics, and empiric study of environmental variables, a correlation matrix was developed to refine and evaluate the parameters used in determination of stability for the spit and inlet. Results of the statistical analysis showed high correlation between spit area, tide range, and tide prism variations. No sig­nificant correlation was found between river flow and spit size, except when flow is combined with total tide prism volumes. These findings provide the basis for further development of a predictive model capable of identifying future unstable periods at the Alsea Bay inlet