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,

Cyclic and Long-term Variation of Sunspot Magnetic Fields

Measurements from the Mount Wilson Observatory (MWO) are used to study the long-term variations of sunspot field strengths from 1920 to 1958. Following a modified approach similar to that in Pevtsov et al. (2011), for each observing week we select a single sunspot with the strongest field strength measured that week and then compute monthly averages of these weekly maximum field strengths. The data show the solar cycle variation of the peak field strengths with an amplitude of about 500-700 gauss (G), but no statistically significant long-term trends. Next, we use the sunspot observations from the Royal Greenwich Observatory (RGO) to establish a relationship between the sunspot areas and the sunspot field strengths for Cycles 15-19. This relationship is then used to create a proxy of peak magnetic field strength based on sunspot areas from the RGO and the USAF/NOAA network for the period from 1874 to early 2012. Over this interval, the magnetic field proxy shows a clear solar cycle variation with an amplitude of 500-700 G and a weaker long-term trend. From 1874 to around 1920, the mean value of magnetic field proxy increases by about 300-350 G, and, following a broad maximum in 1920-1960, it decreases by about 300 G. Using the proxy for the magnetic field strength as the reference, we scale the MWO field measurements to the measurements of the magnetic fields in Pevtsov et al. (2011) to construct a combined data set of maximum sunspot field strengths extending from 1920 to early 2012. This combined data set shows strong solar cycle variations and no significant long-term trend (linear fit to the data yields a slope of $-0.2\pm$0.8 G year$^{-1}$). On the other hand, the peak sunspot field strengths observed at the minimum of the solar cycle show a gradual decline over the last three minima (corresponding to cycles 21-23) with a mean downward trend of $\approx$ 15 G year$^{-1}$

Phase transitions in two-dimensional anisotropic quantum magnets

We consider quantum Heisenberg ferro- and antiferromagnets on the square lattice with exchange anisotropy of easy-plane or easy-axis type. The thermodynamics and the critical behaviour of the models are studied by the pure-quantum self-consistent harmonic approximation, in order to evaluate the spin and anisotropy dependence of the critical temperatures. Results for thermodynamic quantities are reported and comparison with experimental and numerical simulation data is made. The obtained results allow us to draw a general picture of the subject and, in particular, to estimate the value of the critical temperature for any model belonging to the considered class.Comment: To be published on Eur. Phys. J.

A preliminary review of organic materials single crystal growth by the Czochralski technique

The growth of single crystals of organic compounds by the Czochralski method is reviewed. From the literature it is found that single crystals of benzil, a nonlinear optical material with a d sub 11 value of 11.2 + or - 1.5 x d sub 11 value of alpha quartz, has fewer dislocations than generally contained in Bridgman crystals. More perfect crystals were grown by repeated Czochralski growth. This consists of etching away the defect-containing portion of a Czochralski grown crystal and using it as a seed for further growth. Other compounds used to grow single crystals are benzophenone, 12-tricosanone (laurone), and salol. The physical properties, growth apparatus, and processing conditions presented in the literature are discussed. Moreover, some of the possible advantages of growing single crystals of organic compounds in microgravity to obtain more perfect crystals than on Earth are reviewed

Determination of life for a polyimide-epoxy alternator insulation system

Tests were conducted to predict remaining electrical insulation life of a polyimide epoxy insulated 60 KW, 208 volt homopolar inductor alternator, following completion of 23,130 hours of turbo-alternator endurance tests. The sectioned armature winding of this alternator stator was used as means to evaluate and measure end-life at several aging temperatures for development of an Arrhenius plot. A one-half life rate of 11.3 C was established from these data with a predicted remaining life of 60,000 hours at an armature winding temperature of 248 C and a total life, including endurance test time, of 61,645 hours

High-throughput sequencing of 16S rRNA gene amplicons : effects of extraction procedure, primer length and annealing temperature

The analysis of 16S-rDNA sequences to assess the bacterial community composition of a sample is a widely used technique that has increased with the advent of high throughput sequencing. Although considerable effort has been devoted to identifying the most informative region of the 16S gene and the optimal informatics procedures to process the data, little attention has been paid to the PCR step, in particular annealing temperature and primer length. To address this, amplicons derived from 16S-rDNA were generated from chicken caecal content DNA using different annealing temperatures, primers and different DNA extraction procedures. The amplicons were pyrosequenced to determine the optimal protocols for capture of maximum bacterial diversity from a chicken caecal sample. Even at very low annealing temperatures there was little effect on the community structure, although the abundance of some OTUs such as Bifidobacterium increased. Using shorter primers did not reveal any novel OTUs but did change the community profile obtained. Mechanical disruption of the sample by bead beating had a significant effect on the results obtained, as did repeated freezing and thawing. In conclusion, existing primers and standard annealing temperatures captured as much diversity as lower annealing temperatures and shorter primers

Identifying gene locus associations with promyelocytic leukemia nuclear bodies using immuno-TRAP.

Important insights into nuclear function would arise if gene loci physically interacting with particular subnuclear domains could be readily identified. Immunofluorescence microscopy combined with fluorescence in situ hybridization (immuno-FISH), the method that would typically be used in such a study, is limited by spatial resolution and requires prior assumptions for selecting genes to probe. Our new technique, immuno-TRAP, overcomes these limitations. Using promyelocytic leukemia nuclear bodies (PML NBs) as a model, we used immuno-TRAP to determine if specific genes localize within molecular dimensions with these bodies. Although we confirmed a TP53 gene-PML NB association, immuno-TRAP allowed us to uncover novel locus-PML NB associations, including the ABCA7 and TFF1 loci and, most surprisingly, the PML locus itself. These associations were cell type specific and reflected the cell's physiological state. Combined with microarrays or deep sequencing, immuno-TRAP provides powerful opportunities for identifying gene locus associations with potentially any nuclear subcompartment