Union Representatives and their Members: Learning and Communication

The article reports on research conducted in 7 Scottish workplaces on the way shop stewards learn to carry out their representative duties, in particular how they communicate with the members they represent. Formal training is seen as only one element in the learning process, to be analysed in the context of the steward's overall environment: the national union, the branch and the workplace. The pattern of communication between stewards and their members, management and other union office-holders is traced out by the use of diaries and the key role (positive and negative) of the convenor or senior steward described. Finally, a provisional framework is put forward for the evaluation of formal training, and results reported from its application

Disease risks associated with cover crops and soybean production

Cover crops have numerous environmental benefits, for example reducing erosion, improving infiltration, mitigating nutrient loading in surface waters, and improving soil health (Kaspar et al 2001, Kaspar and Singer 2011, Schnepf and Cox 2006). Still, some farmers are reluctant to introduce cover crops into their production systems. In a 2016 Cover Crop Survey, approximately 30 percent of the respondents stated that “increased disease potential” was a minor or major challenge to using cover crops on their farm (SARE, 2016). Of the respondents, 20 percent had been growing cover crops for 2-3 years, 30% for 4-5 years, and 19% for more than 10 years. The goal of our research is to understand how cover crop may affect disease potential in the following cash crop and thereby recommend actions that may be taken to mitigate disease risk