Agribusiness degree programs train managers to make decisions in complex business environments. Curriculum designers generally look to the offerings of peer institutions for guidance. Decision science (DS) topics are important parts of agribusiness curricula, and students should learn about these areas. Measuring faculty members’ perceptions of the current inclusion and importance of teaching DS topics is a necessary step in developing a prioritized list of teaching needs. Leaving curriculum design to undocumented or random processes would be a poor start to training our nation’s future agribusiness managers. This research used a correlational ex post facto design to analyze faculty members’ perceptions of topic importance and inclusion. A random sample of faculty members was emailed a link to an online four-part questionnaire. Forced Likert-type scales measured the perceptions of importance and inclusion of 18 selected DS topics. Borich’s (1980) model of weighted discrepancy scores was used to develop a rank order of DS topic curricular needs. Forced-entry multiple regression was used to describe how the variation in the dependent variables measuring perceived importance was partitioned among sets of predictor variables. Teaching DS topics in a faculty member’s coursework was significantly correlated with faculty members’ overall perception of the importance of DS topics in the agribusiness curriculum, albeit at a low level. Although most dedicated DS courses were taught in agribusiness departments, no significant relationship existed between department and overall perceived importance of teaching DS topics. Faculty members who had earned a business degree did not rate DS topics as more important compared to those who had not earned a business degree. Respondents from departments with industry advisory councils did not rate the importance of DS topics higher than those from departments without such councils. Of the 18 DS topics studied, Project Management was identified as the one most needed to be added to agribusiness curricula. Forced-entry multiple regression was used for explaining variation among variables. Of the 18 importance-related dependent variables, those for Linear Programming and Material Resource Planning had no significant relationship with any independent variables. The remaining models explained at most 13.9% of the variations, and frequently much less.

The purpose of the study was to compare the perceptions of subordinates with top managements? own perceptions regarding top management leadership and innovative ability and to determine whether differences and/or similarities exist. The Multi Leadership Questionnaire (MLQ form 5X) from Avolio & Bass (2004) was used to measure self– and subordinates? perceptions of leadership styles. The Situation Outlook Questionnaire (SOQ) was used to measure leaders? self– and subordinates? perception on the ability to be innovative. The questionnaires were completed by 6 executive committee members (top management) and 94 subordinates that have a direct relationship with the executive committee members in an agricultural business. The research findings revealed that there is a significant difference between leaders? (executive committee members) self–perceptions on their own leadership and ability to be innovative, versus the perceptions of their subordinates on their leadership and ability to be innovative. The research showed that leaders tend to assess themselves higher than their subordinates do. Both leaders and subordinates indicated that the leaders have a transformational leadership style. The results also showed that there is a weak to moderate, positively significant correlation between innovation and transformational leadership styles. / Thesis (M.B.A.)--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2012.

The purpose of the study was to compare the perceptions of subordinates with top managements? own perceptions regarding top management leadership and innovative ability and to determine whether differences and/or similarities exist. The Multi Leadership Questionnaire (MLQ form 5X) from Avolio & Bass (2004) was used to measure self– and subordinates? perceptions of leadership styles. The Situation Outlook Questionnaire (SOQ) was used to measure leaders? self– and subordinates? perception on the ability to be innovative. The questionnaires were completed by 6 executive committee members (top management) and 94 subordinates that have a direct relationship with the executive committee members in an agricultural business. The research findings revealed that there is a significant difference between leaders? (executive committee members) self–perceptions on their own leadership and ability to be innovative, versus the perceptions of their subordinates on their leadership and ability to be innovative. The research showed that leaders tend to assess themselves higher than their subordinates do. Both leaders and subordinates indicated that the leaders have a transformational leadership style. The results also showed that there is a weak to moderate, positively significant correlation between innovation and transformational leadership styles. / Thesis (M.B.A.)--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2012.

El texto completo de este trabajo no está disponible en el Repositorio Académico UPC por restricciones de la casa editorial donde ha sido publicado. / In this study, we propose a basic quality management model that was designed based on good agricultural practices for micro-enterprises of pecan farmers in Ica el Valle, Peru. The research study was developed based on in-depth interviews with 18 farmers within the agricultural sector under study. The study focused on identifying and analyzing the current situation of farmers to design a basic quality management model that can be implemented. The results led to the identification of critical aspects for each of the activities related to the production of nuts. We thus designed a basic quality management model based previous scientific studies. This management system is composed of the following subprocesses: quality adjustment; documentation; parameters definition; monitoring and control; and continuous improvement and analysis of results.

An intense trauma in the UK farming industry was caused by the foot-and-mouth disease. The Policy Commission on the Future of Farming and Food, chaired by Sir Donald Curry CBE, diagnosed that farming was detached from the other sectors of the economy and was “serving nobody well”. The final recommendations of this commission were focused on efficiency, adding value and diversification. Among the specific recommendations, there was an important emphasis on the need to increase collaboration and cooperation because it “is the best way for small farm business to get the benefits of being a large farm business” (Curry, 2002:34). UK experts in farmer collaboration such as, Parnell (1999a), and The Plunkett Foundation (1992) had previously made clear the need for bigger, better, more effective and efficient Farmer Controlled Businesses. English Farming and Food Partnerships (2004a), also, set the challenge to explore and evaluate new approaches to develop farmer controlled enterprises more imaginatively. Therefore, the main aim of this research was to identify new forms of collaboration between farmers, which might lead to gain greater scale and flexibility in farming operating in an increasingly global food chain. Using an inductive grounded theory approach comprising a series of Delphi iterative face to face interviews, three rounds of guided interviews were completed. These involved 55 experts in the field of business collaboration, selected using a purposive sampling approach. Interviewees included leading academics, government officials and advisors, senior managers and business proprietors of the most profitable and/or innovative UK-based collaborative ventures. The outcome of the research has been to develop three discreet but combinable models of collaboration. Each model requires different levels of commitment from its members and would suit different business situations. All the proposed models offer a business structure flexible enough to be easily adapted in response to changes in the market place, but they also offer the opportunity of combining into much bigger organisations with the potential to integrate small-scale businesses into networks of international companies. This research also reaffirms that the traditional cultural barriers and divisions between the different stages and participants of the food and farming industry were still present and hinder the development of a more competitive sector. Whilst there has been progress in the assimilation of the supply chain concept, most of the businesses involved did not see the other stages of the chain as their potential partners.

The objective of this thesis is to examine the impacts of changes in Canada’s AgriStability program on crop allocation, particularly the change in the payment trigger associated with the shift from Growing Forward (GF) to Growing Forward 2 (GF2). To examine whether this change could affect production decisions, and thereby potentially violate the WTO’s ‘green box’ criteria, farm management models are constructed for representative farms in six different Alberta regions. To incorporate risk and uncertainty into the farm model, I assume that, instead of maximizing overall gross margin, a farmer varies her crop activities to maximize expected utility subject to technological and market constraints. The models are calibrated using positive mathematical programming (PMP), which then facilitates their use for policy analysis; however, PMP is not straightforward in the case of expected utility maximization because a risk parameter also needs to be calibrated. Possible ways to address this issue are examined. Results indicate that the initial introduction of the AgriStability program tilted farmers’ planting decisions towards crops with higher returns and greater risk, but that a change in the AgriStability payout trigger (going from GF to GF2) would not further alter land-use decisions. However, the latter shift does reduce indemnities and farmers’ expected profits. Meanwhile, increases in farmers’ aversion to risk will lead to changes in crop allocations. / Graduate / 0503 / 0508 / sheriliu@uvic.ca

ABSTRACT Extension agricultural business programs have provided enhanced individualized services to Vermont’s agricultural producers by using a variety of external funding sources combined with base departmental funds. These farm business programs are uniquely positioned to deliver one-on-one outreach education and information that not only has a direct benefit to private farm business owners but indirectly serves the public good by enhancing farm business viability. Meanwhile, there is an ongoing cultural shift among Extension professionals and farm owners who acknowledge that Extension programs cannot be sustained at low or no cost to participants. Funding for Extension programming has been declining for several years. Traditional funding sources, such as university base funding and state legislature appropriations, have been significantly reduced, and as a result, faculty positions in Extension nationwide have been reduced or eliminated altogether. New ways to support Extension programming must be developed in order to continue to deliver high quality business outreach education to Vermont agricultural producers. This research addresses this need in the following two ways. First, Farm Viability (now Agricultural Business) program participants were surveyed to gauge their understanding of declining funding from traditional sources to determine whether or not a fee-based structure for future programming is acceptable them. Next, a reflective essay proposes solutions for supplementing funding for Extension programming with a fee-for-service model for advanced and extended one-on-one programming. Survey results showed that those respondents likely to engage in programming beyond the initial 2-year period were willing to pay for extended services at a rate higher than the original application fee. Of those who were willing to pay for future services, 80% of respondents said that they would use a plan that included 1-3 visits at a cost of $250 - $499. The reflective essay defines program areas in need of funding enhancement, such as using facilitated management teams, succession planning and grant application assistance. The essay discusses programming opportunities that exist to serve at least some past program participants with additional one-on-one services, thereby sharing the increasing financial burden experienced by Extension educators in the presence of shrinking internal capacity to fund this type of outreach education. This research also raises awareness in areas of program costs, dwindling funding sources, and how participants can help share the financial burden. Important points for farmers weighing the merits of paying for program participation and future programing opportunities are discussed. These results can guide the efforts of program administrators seeking to improve the cost-effectiveness of Extension outreach education in Vermont agriculture.

O elevado índice de perdas pós-colheita que ocorre no Brasil impede que 20 a 30 % das hortaliças e frutas produzidas e que saem do campo cheguem ao consumidor final. Embalagens adequadas para a comercialização podem contribuir para reduzir essas perdas. Buscou-se neste trabalho dimensionar embalagens para comercialização das principais espécies de hortaliças e frutas comercializadas no Brasil, considerandose a proteção da carga, quanto a danos mecânicos, o atendimento à legislação brasileira, a adequação de logística e o atendimento a critérios ergonômicos para proteger a saúde do operador. Calculou-se a altura potencial de embalagens para as principais hortaliças e frutas de formato arredondado, em sua maioria. A definição da altura baseou-se na compressão que cada produto pode suportar sem que ocorram danos mecânicos, altura esta estimada a partir de medidas efetuadas com a técnica de aplanação. Depois foi calculada a altura para embalagens de hortaliças folhosas com metodologia apropriada ao formato e comercialização em maços ou planta inteira. A mesma metodologia foi usada para pimentão, hortaliça igualmente deformável devido à proeminência do vazio de sua cavidade locular. O cálculo da altura máxima potencial foi a primeira dimensão das embalagens. Para a definição do comprimento e largura consideraram-se a legislação brasileira, com medidas externas paletizáveis e a otimização de frete e transporte, com conteúdos de produto preferencialmente entre 15 e 20 kg. A determinação da densidade aparente de cada uma das frutas ou hortaliças nas embalagens foi necessária para este dimensionamento. Houve desenvolvimento de metodologias específicas para alcançar o objetivo proposto, como os métodos para determinação das alturas potenciais de embalagens para frutas e hortaliças arredondadas e para hortaliças folhosas, e da balança hidrostática acoplada à embalagem, que permite medir a pressão a que os frutos ficam sujeitos com o fechamento da caixa. Além de métodos e conhecimentos biomecânicos, foram propostos novos modelos de embalagens para comercialização de hortaliças e frutas, gerando uma família de caixas constituída de tamanhos. Estes modelos possuem medidas externas de 50 cm de comprimento, 30 ou 60 cm de largura e 17,5; 23 ou 35 cm de altura. Este número reduzido de modelos é valioso para as necessidades logísticas de embalagens que se encaixem entre si, e para facilitar a composição de páletes mistos, muito freqüentes na comercialização de frutas e hortaliças no Brasil e em outros países. / Fruits and vegetables post-harvest losses levels of 20 to 30% occur in Brazil. Correct packages for fruits and vegetables commercialization can contribute to reduce these losses. The purpose of this work was to dimension packages for the main fruits and vegetables commercialized in Brazil, considering mechanical injuries protection, Brazilian package horticultural laws, logistic and worker health constraints. Initially, there were obtained the maximum allowable pile height for several horticultural products, using the flattening method and the firmometer to measure the organ turgor dependent firmness. After that, it was defined the commercialization leafy vegetables package height based on compression, with another methodology. Considering Brazilian laws, worker health constraints and transport optimization, packages have the lenght and width defined to accommodate 15 to 20 kg of product each ones. Apparent density determination for each fruit or vegetable was necessary for this dimensioning. Besides new methodology and biomechanical knowledge, it was proposed the dimensioning of new packages for the main fruits and vegetables commercialized in Brazil, a package family, with four different sizes. These models have external measures of 50 cm lenght, width 30 or 60 cm, and height 17.5, 23 or 35 cm. The reduced number of different packages is important for logistics purposes, in order the boxes can be used in homogeneous mixed pallets, which are common in fruits and vegetables commercialization retailers in Brazil and other countries.

O elevado índice de perdas pós-colheita que ocorre no Brasil impede que 20 a 30 % das hortaliças e frutas produzidas e que saem do campo cheguem ao consumidor final. Embalagens adequadas para a comercialização podem contribuir para reduzir essas perdas. Buscou-se neste trabalho dimensionar embalagens para comercialização das principais espécies de hortaliças e frutas comercializadas no Brasil, considerandose a proteção da carga, quanto a danos mecânicos, o atendimento à legislação brasileira, a adequação de logística e o atendimento a critérios ergonômicos para proteger a saúde do operador. Calculou-se a altura potencial de embalagens para as principais hortaliças e frutas de formato arredondado, em sua maioria. A definição da altura baseou-se na compressão que cada produto pode suportar sem que ocorram danos mecânicos, altura esta estimada a partir de medidas efetuadas com a técnica de aplanação. Depois foi calculada a altura para embalagens de hortaliças folhosas com metodologia apropriada ao formato e comercialização em maços ou planta inteira. A mesma metodologia foi usada para pimentão, hortaliça igualmente deformável devido à proeminência do vazio de sua cavidade locular. O cálculo da altura máxima potencial foi a primeira dimensão das embalagens. Para a definição do comprimento e largura consideraram-se a legislação brasileira, com medidas externas paletizáveis e a otimização de frete e transporte, com conteúdos de produto preferencialmente entre 15 e 20 kg. A determinação da densidade aparente de cada uma das frutas ou hortaliças nas embalagens foi necessária para este dimensionamento. Houve desenvolvimento de metodologias específicas para alcançar o objetivo proposto, como os métodos para determinação das alturas potenciais de embalagens para frutas e hortaliças arredondadas e para hortaliças folhosas, e da balança hidrostática acoplada à embalagem, que permite medir a pressão a que os frutos ficam sujeitos com o fechamento da caixa. Além de métodos e conhecimentos biomecânicos, foram propostos novos modelos de embalagens para comercialização de hortaliças e frutas, gerando uma família de caixas constituída de tamanhos. Estes modelos possuem medidas externas de 50 cm de comprimento, 30 ou 60 cm de largura e 17,5; 23 ou 35 cm de altura. Este número reduzido de modelos é valioso para as necessidades logísticas de embalagens que se encaixem entre si, e para facilitar a composição de páletes mistos, muito freqüentes na comercialização de frutas e hortaliças no Brasil e em outros países. / Fruits and vegetables post-harvest losses levels of 20 to 30% occur in Brazil. Correct packages for fruits and vegetables commercialization can contribute to reduce these losses. The purpose of this work was to dimension packages for the main fruits and vegetables commercialized in Brazil, considering mechanical injuries protection, Brazilian package horticultural laws, logistic and worker health constraints. Initially, there were obtained the maximum allowable pile height for several horticultural products, using the flattening method and the firmometer to measure the organ turgor dependent firmness. After that, it was defined the commercialization leafy vegetables package height based on compression, with another methodology. Considering Brazilian laws, worker health constraints and transport optimization, packages have the lenght and width defined to accommodate 15 to 20 kg of product each ones. Apparent density determination for each fruit or vegetable was necessary for this dimensioning. Besides new methodology and biomechanical knowledge, it was proposed the dimensioning of new packages for the main fruits and vegetables commercialized in Brazil, a package family, with four different sizes. These models have external measures of 50 cm lenght, width 30 or 60 cm, and height 17.5, 23 or 35 cm. The reduced number of different packages is important for logistics purposes, in order the boxes can be used in homogeneous mixed pallets, which are common in fruits and vegetables commercialization retailers in Brazil and other countries.

Insurance has been considered as a useful tool for farmers to mitigate income volatility. However, there remain concerns that insurance may distort crop production decisions. Positive mathematical programming (PMP) models of farmers’ cropping decisions can be applied to study the effect of agricultural business risk management (BRM) policies on farmers’ decisions on land use and their incomes. Before being used to examine agricultural producer responses to policy changes under the expected utility framework, the models must first be calibrated to obtain the values of the risk aversion coefficient and the cost function parameters. In chapter 2, three calibration approaches are compared for disentangling the risk parameter from the parameters of the cost function. Then, in chapter 3, to investigate the impacts on production incentives of changes in Canada’s AgriStability program, farm management models are calibrated for farms with different cost structures for three different Alberta regions. Results indicate that farmers’ observed attitudes towards risk vary with cost structure. After joining the program, all farmers alter their land allocations to some extent. The introduction of a reference margin limit (RML) in the AgriStability program under Growing Forward 2 (2013-2018), which was retained in the replacement legislation until 2020, has the most negative impact on farmers with the lowest costs. The removal of RML significantly increases the benefits to low-cost farmers. Traditional insurance products provide financial support to farmers. However, for fruit farmers, the products’ quality can be greatly affected by the weather conditions during the stage of fruit development and ripening, which may lead to quality downgrade and a significant loss in revenue with little impacts on yields. Hence, chapters 4 and 5 investigate the conceptual feasibility of using weather-indexed insurance (WII) to hedge against non-catastrophic, but quality-impacting weather conditions to complement existing traditional insurance. Prospect theory is applied to analyze a farmer’s demand for WII. The theoretical model demonstrates that an increase in the volatility of total revenue and the revenue proportion from blueberries increases the possibility of farmers’ participation in WII. On the other hand, the increase in the value loss aversion coefficient and WII’s basis risk leads to less demand for WII. To design a WII product for blueberry growers to hedge against quality risk, a quality index must be constructed and the relationship between key weather conditions, such as cumulative maximum temperature and cumulative excess rainfall, and the quality index should be quantified. The results from a partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) show that the above goals are achievable. Further, rainfall and temperature can be modelled via a time-series model and statistical distributions, respectively, to provide reasonable estimates for calculating insurance premia. / Graduate / 2022-08-05