The Uptake of Internet-Based Communication Technologies in UK Farm Management

The results are presented of two surveys of actual and potential use of new communication technologies (with special reference to those based on the internet) in UK farming: one in the South West of England, characterised by family farms and pastoral enterprises, and the other in the Eastern counties, associated more with large farms and arable farming. Conclusions are drawn concerning conditions for increased exploitation of the Internet in agriculture, and recommendations made for overcoming some barriers. The paper also reports on the establishment of a trial within a farmers' production/marketing group, comparing experiences of a group of internet users with a similar-sized group of non-users, and monitoring the pattern of use of the technology within the user-group

Soil disturbed using a strip tillage implement on a range of soil types and the effects on sugar beet establishment

The area of soil disturbed using a single tine is well documented. However, modern strip tillage implements using a tine and disc design have not been assessed in the UK or in mainland Europe. Using a strip tillage implement has potential benefits for European agriculture where economic returns and sustainability are key issues. Using a strip tillage system a narrow zone is cultivated leaving most of the straw residue on the soil surface. Small field plot experiments were undertaken on three soil types and the operating parameters of forward speed, tine depth and tine design were investigated together with measurements of seedbed tilth and crop emergence. The type of tine used was found to be the primary factor in achieving the required volume of disturbance within a narrow zone whilst maintaining an area of undisturbed soil with straw residue on the surface. The winged tine produced greater disturbance at a given depth compared with the knife tine. Increasing forward speed did not consistently increase the volume of disturbance. In a sandy clay loam the tilth created and emergence of sugar beet by strip tillage and ploughing were similar but on a sandy loam the strip tillage treatments generally gave a finer tilth but poorer emergence particularly at greater working depth

Does Capital Market Structure Affect Farm Investment? A Comparison using French and British Farm-Level Panel Data

This article considers whether differences in the structure of agriculture credit markets in France and the United Kingdom alters the investment sensitivity to financial variables particularly cash flow. Using two panel datasets of French and British farms, three approaches are used to test the sensitivity of investment to internal finance, an inventory investment model, a fundamental q-model, and Euler equations for machinery investment. The results suggest that the contrasting capital markets structures do induce differences in overall investment sensitivity to cash flow and its pattern across both farms with varying levels of collateral and between inventory and machinery investment. Copyright 2002, Oxford University Press.