THE SAEA: AFTER TWENTY YEARS

Teaching/Communication/Extension/Profession,

CHANGES IN EUROPE AND THE USSR: AN OVERVIEW FOR SOUTHERN AGRICULTURE AND AGRIBUSINESS

Agribusiness,

TOWARD AN INFORMATION SYSTEM FOR GUIDING RESEARCH IN THE SOYBEAN PRODUCTION ECONOMY

Crop Production/Industries,

AN EXAMINATION OF MAJOR CROP ACREAGE RESPONSE

Crop Production/Industries,

A SIMULTANEOUS EQUATION APPROACH TO PRODUCTION RESPONSE: DELTA REGION

Production Economics,

STRATEGIC BUSINESS MANAGEMENT PRINCIPLES FOR THE AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTION SECTOR IN A CHANGING GLOBAL FOOD SYSTEM

Agricultural industries, producers, and producer organizations are often counseled to develop strategies or strategic alliances to address changing market and political environments. Over the next twenty years, production agriculture will experience fundamental changes, which, because of its rapidity and permanence, could surpass the tremendous changes that have occurred over the past fifty years. As the structure of agricultural production changes, so will the role and scope of agricultural producer organizations. Surviving organizations will be forced to fundamentally restructure their mission, goals, and purpose. Consequently, the application of strategic business management concepts will be increasingly more important for these groups over the next decade than at any previous time. The purpose of strategic business management is to build a strategic (or competitive) advantage over rival firms (or organizations) which can lead to long-term above-average returns for a firm in an industry. In general, successful companies employ one of three strategies: (1) a low-cost strategy, (2) a differentiation strategy, or (3) a focus strategy. Each of these strategies provides direction for firm-level decision-making and implicitly develops entry barriers to protect the developed competitive position. In addition, it is essential for a firm to consider strategies to defend its competitive position, lest it be overtaken by other firms who adopt similar market strategies. The best strategy is ultimately a function of consumer demand and the product/service attributes, core competencies, and managerial skills of each company. However, the worst strategy is being "stuck-in-the-middle," that is, being unable to compete with others on the basis of cost, value, or market specificity. In any case, rivals may undercut prices, maintain market share, or become the supplier of choice whenever change occurs in an industry. In addition, strategies must be refined as market conditions change. Over the next twenty years, farms and ranches will gravitate toward one of two production structures. The first type of production structure will be similar to many current farms and ranches in that undifferentiated commodity products will continue to be produced. Only low-cost producers will survive in this sector. A second category of producer will also evolve. Farms in this category will produce differentiated, identity-preserved products that focus on certain product attributes and consumer demands. Strategic business management abilities will be especially critical for farms that gravitate toward identity-preserved production. Agricultural producer organizations have historically performed the role of providing a unified voice in relation to commodity programs and other agricultural policies and as a conduit for information among producers. Trade liberalization, an increasingly global food system, the decoupling of commodity program benefits from production, and advances in biotechnology and information technology will alter the focus of agricultural producer organizations. Surviving organizations will be those who change their primary objective from lobbying for traditional commodity programs to providing resources and services needed by producers to cope with change and to expand profit opportunities. Such organizations will continue to provide valuable lobbying efforts with respect to a new range of issues, such as intellectual patent rights, trade liberalization negotiations, contract law, and environmental awareness. In addition, new roles for agricultural producer organizations will also develop. These will include performing clearinghouse functions for biotechnology information, facilitating strategic alliances and farmer-owned cooperative ventures, and developing new educational programs designed to improve members' strategic and risk management capabilities with respect to specialty food and fiber production. Some producer organizations may provide risk transfer functions for members, serve as contracting agents to facilitate identity-preservation, and organize production contracts that ensure supply availability of specialty food and fiber products. The combination of agricultural industrialization, trade liberalization, information technology, decoupled farm programs, environmental concerns, and consumer demands for food quality, safety, convenience, and nutrition will lead to unprecedented change in the agricultural production and the food and fiber processing and distribution sectors. Successful farm and ranch managers and commodity organizations are likely to be those who develop strategies which allow them to survive and prosper in this changing environment.Production Economics,

THE VALUE ADDED TAX: A PRELIMINARY LOOK AT EFFECTS ON THE AGRICULTURAL SECTOR

Public Economics,

Physics of Solar Prominences: I - Spectral Diagnostics and Non-LTE Modelling

This review paper outlines background information and covers recent advances made via the analysis of spectra and images of prominence plasma and the increased sophistication of non-LTE (ie when there is a departure from Local Thermodynamic Equilibrium) radiative transfer models. We first describe the spectral inversion techniques that have been used to infer the plasma parameters important for the general properties of the prominence plasma in both its cool core and the hotter prominence-corona transition region. We also review studies devoted to the observation of bulk motions of the prominence plasma and to the determination of prominence mass. However, a simple inversion of spectroscopic data usually fails when the lines become optically thick at certain wavelengths. Therefore, complex non-LTE models become necessary. We thus present the basics of non-LTE radiative transfer theory and the associated multi-level radiative transfer problems. The main results of one- and two-dimensional models of the prominences and their fine-structures are presented. We then discuss the energy balance in various prominence models. Finally, we outline the outstanding observational and theoretical questions, and the directions for future progress in our understanding of solar prominences.Comment: 96 pages, 37 figures, Space Science Reviews. Some figures may have a better resolution in the published version. New version reflects minor changes brought after proof editin

Modeling the Subsurface Structure of Sunspots

While sunspots are easily observed at the solar surface, determining their subsurface structure is not trivial. There are two main hypotheses for the subsurface structure of sunspots: the monolithic model and the cluster model. Local helioseismology is the only means by which we can investigate subphotospheric structure. However, as current linear inversion techniques do not yet allow helioseismology to probe the internal structure with sufficient confidence to distinguish between the monolith and cluster models, the development of physically realistic sunspot models are a priority for helioseismologists. This is because they are not only important indicators of the variety of physical effects that may influence helioseismic inferences in active regions, but they also enable detailed assessments of the validity of helioseismic interpretations through numerical forward modeling. In this paper, we provide a critical review of the existing sunspot models and an overview of numerical methods employed to model wave propagation through model sunspots. We then carry out an helioseismic analysis of the sunspot in Active Region 9787 and address the serious inconsistencies uncovered by \citeauthor{gizonetal2009}~(\citeyear{gizonetal2009,gizonetal2009a}). We find that this sunspot is most probably associated with a shallow, positive wave-speed perturbation (unlike the traditional two-layer model) and that travel-time measurements are consistent with a horizontal outflow in the surrounding moat.Comment: 73 pages, 19 figures, accepted by Solar Physic

Detector Description and Performance for the First Coincidence Observations between LIGO and GEO

For 17 days in August and September 2002, the LIGO and GEO interferometer gravitational wave detectors were operated in coincidence to produce their first data for scientific analysis. Although the detectors were still far from their design sensitivity levels, the data can be used to place better upper limits on the flux of gravitational waves incident on the earth than previous direct measurements. This paper describes the instruments and the data in some detail, as a companion to analysis papers based on the first data.Comment: 41 pages, 9 figures 17 Sept 03: author list amended, minor editorial change