Assessing the Impacts of Federal Farm Bill Programs on Rural Communities

This report summarizes the state of scientific knowledge on the impact of federal farm and food programs on rural communities in the United States. We focus on the impacts of five specific programs of what is commonly referred to as the “farm bill.” These five include farm commodity programs; farm risk management, insurance, and disaster programs; agricultural conservation programs; food and nutrition programs; and rural development programs. Although there is extensive research on the relative merits and effectiveness of specific rural development programs and policies on rural community outcomes, the impacts of the other four main farm bill programs on rural America have received much less empirical scrutiny

Beyond Constructivism: An Introduction to Critical Realism in Science Education

In the context of social and philosophical debates concerning the nature of science, this thesis provides an introductory investigation of the application of critical realism to science education. It moves beyond the current impasse within constructivist science education and, in particular, philosophical debates that fail to represent science education as a whole. The current dominance of anti-realist positions in science education is treated as problematic. This thesis explores selected current and potential uses of critical realism in an endeavour to move beyond the perceived inadequacies of constructivism as the current paradigm of science education. The approach used is one of philosophical reflection engaging with literature that addressed representative positions in science education concerning epistemology, critical realism, the nature of science, and constructivism. A preliminary explanatory framework for science education is developed. Features of this critical realist framework include epistemic humility, judgmental rationality, recognition of the transitive and intransitive domains, a stratified ontology, and the distinction between open and closed systems. A central core of the framework is the insistence that epistemology models ontology. The framework provides a philosophy that reflects the working epistemology of practising scientists and provides a robust stratified ontology. The framework also possesses greater theoretical and explanatory power than that of constructivism

Overview of Emerging Conflicts over AgriculturalLand Use

I’d like to use my opening comments today to set the stage for the rest of the program. But first, a few words about my background. I’m a sociologist and an economist trained in the dynamics of change in the farm sector. I help direct a research and outreach unit called the Program on Agricultural Technology Studies that tracks the impacts of new technologies and public policies on farm families, and only came to the world of land use planning through the back door. Specifically, as we’ve worked with farmers across the state in the last five to seven years, land use issues began to come up as an increasingly important part of farmers’ lives, both in a positive way and a negative way. As a result, we began to direct some of our program resources to examining that issue. In the last year and a half, I have assumed additional responsibilities as a co-leader of a workteam within UW-Extension that is developing educational programs for local decision-makers concerning agricultural trends and agricultural land use. I’ll call your attention to a display in the back of the room that illustrates some Townlevel land use trend data that our team helped collect in the last few years. A number of you may have received copies of our Town Land Use Databooks in recent months. I know we sent them out to a lot of agencies and local government officials. In my comments I will be using some maps and images that are based on those data. Finally, I am a member of the faculty in the Department of Urban and Regional Planning and have become much more familiar with the formal world of planning and zoning through my colleagues there

Planning for Agriculture in Wisconsin: A Guide forCommunities

The purpose of this guide is to provide you with basic information to help Wisconsin’s rural communities prepare to plan for agriculture. The guide was developed in response to the Comprehensive Planning Law passed under the 1999-2001 Wisconsin State Biennial Budget. This law requires that by January 1, 2010, all programs, actions, and decisions affecting land use must be consistent with the locally adopted comprehensive plan in order for the community to continue making land use related decisions. The law applies to cities, villages, towns, counties, and regional planning commissions

Smart Growth and Wisconsin Agriculture

Relatively low and volatile agricultural commodity prices have placed increasing pressure on the state’s farm sector in the 1990s. At the same time, an unusually robust non-farm economy has generated significant demand for rural housing and recreational land development. The result has been a dramatic acceleration in the rate of farmland conversion to non- farm uses over the last 15 years. Non-farm growth pressures have affected many other aspects of Wisconsin’s urban and rural landscape as well. To help communities grapple with these new challenges, the state legislature passed a new “Smart Growth” law in the fall of 1999 (1999 Wisconsin Act 9). This law encourages municipalities to write and use new “comprehensive plans” to guide all their land use decisions by January 1, 2010. Under the statute, one required element of comprehensive plans will be an assessment of agricultural resources and a plan for their future use or protection. This article assesses the significance of the new Smart Growth legislation for agriculture in Wisconsin. I begin with an overview of trends in farmland loss in the state. Because agricultural planning had a long history in the state even before the Smart Growth law, I examine some of the political and economic challenges of writing and implementing effective land use plans in rural communities. I conclude with a detailed consideration of what the Smart Growth law will require concerning agriculture, and explore some of the ways in which it could impact farms, the general agribusiness economy, land markets, and rural communities in Wisconsin

SLIDES: Food for Thought: Water Requirements for Social-Ecological Systems

Presenters: Michael Douglas, University of Western Australia, Charles Darwin University Sue Jackson, Griffith University 35 slide

Status and Prospects for the Wisconsin Dairy Goat Sector

The Wisconsin dairy goat industry is a diverse, vibrant and robust sector that has grown rapidly over the last decade. Goat milk output has increased several-fold in the last ten years, and retail markets for goat cheese appear to be increasing at double-digit annual rates. The most recent data shows just over 200 licensed farms in Wisconsin in 2009. According to 2006 numbers, Wisconsin dairy goat farms were milking an average of 118 does that produced 1,416 lbs. On average, Wisconsin dairy goat farms were both larger and more productive on a per animal basis than farms in any other state except Iowa

Development and implementation of a topology and size optimized formula SAE chassis [abstract]

Abstract only availableThe design of the Formula SAE chassis is a critical component in producing a competitive car. An ideal frame is expected to be lightweight and stiff so that a degree of freedom can be removed from the the design of the suspension. Thus, the design of the frame can benefit from the implementation of optimization software in which constraints can be applied to the mass of the frame in order to reach a desired stiffness. The purpose of this project was to develop a process to optimize a Formula SAE chassis which could easily be used by future teams to analyze and develop optimized frames. Topology optimization was used to develop a general idea of how to acheive a stiff, lightweight design. Then a preliminary design was developed using the results of the topology optimization and the requirements of the frame as specified in the Formula SAE competition rules. Finally, size optimization furthered reduced the weight of the frame by optimizing the size of tubes. The completed frame design resulted in a 10 pound reduction of weight and a 20% increase in torsional stiffness.College of Engineering Undergraduate Research Option; National Science Foundatio

Matrices permutable to ∗ matrices

AbstractA (0, 1) matrix (aij) is said to be a ∗ matrix iff aij = 1 implies ai′j′ = 1 for all (i′, j′) satisfying 1 ⩽ i′ ⩽ i, 1 ⩽ j′ ⩽ j. (0, 1) matrices permutable to ∗ matrices are characterized and counted. Commutivity of matrices which permute to ∗ matrices is also discussed