Wind energy development and its stigma of avian mortality provide a case for exploring the complexities that can occur between science, law, politics, and planning. The present method of measuring mortality appears flawed and may hamper the ability of resource agencies, the public, and industry in making educated decisions about siting wind farms and protecting species. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has the ability to take an active role and affect a project already constructed. The Migratory Bird Treaty Act appears to keep the issue of avian mortality within the minds of wind energy developers. Protecting species on the brink of extinction is codified in the Endangered Species Act, which seems to be well suited for protecting most species. The significance of avian mortality can be linked to public perceptions. The industry in Texas has taken the approach of not sharing avian-related data, except in very few instances. Providing such substantial federal incentives through the Production Tax Credit rather than direct federal funding bypasses the National Environmental Policy Act and its requirement that federal governments consider impacts to the environment. / text

This dissertation addresses the modeling of wind turbine systems (WTS) and wind farms. The WTS reliability model provides the generation state space of a WTS. The generation states are derived from the combinations of the wind states from given wind data and the condition states of each component in a WTS. Wake effect is accounted when there are neighboring WTSs. The results of the reliability model of a WTS are associated with the generation states of the WTS, which include the probability, transition rates to other states, frequency of transitions to other states, and duration. The reliability model of the wind farm is derived by combining the wind states, WTS states and the distribution line states. The results of the reliability model of a wind farm are associated with the generation states of the wind farm, which include the probability, transition rates to other states, frequency to other states, and duration. The reliability model of the wind turbine system and the reliability model of the wind farm presented in this dissertation bring contribution to the planning and operation of bulk power systems with wind farm integration. The developed models can provide the system operator with clear reliability indices in terms of generation states of wind turbine systems and wind farms along with their probability, duration and frequency of transitions.

No description available.

The purpose of this study is to estimate the effect of Ontario’s Nutrient Management Act (NMA) on farm level profitability of dairy sector. NMA came into force in 2003 and sets standards for the storage and handling of nutrients for regulating farms that fit certain criteria to reduce the risk of nutrients entering surface water or groundwater, especially for farms with herd size that can produce Nutrient Units above a certain level (i.e. 300 Nutrient Units). While the Act may affect its regulated farms by incorporating additional compliance costs, it may not have the same effect on unregulated farms. Increase in the weighted-average production costs of all farms may lead to elevated milk price within a national cost of production (COP) pricing formula for dairy industry. A theoretical framework that describes the pathway by which farms’ economic performance can be affected by NMA is developed in this study. To empirically test whether NMA has effect on farm level profitability, a RE model is estimated by using the unbalanced panel data from Ontario Dairy Farm Accounting Project (ODFAP) from year 2000 to 2010. The empirical results of this study indicate that NMA may not have statistically significant effect on the profitability of regulated farms with no less than 300 Nutrient Units (NUs). A discussion is further developed to take into consideration factors that may affect this empirical results. / OMAFRA funding code: 200222

Small, locally-marketing farms are garnering more attention with regard to their ability to supply their regions with food. Their economic viability is called into question because if they cannot sustain themselves financially, they cannot be relied upon as an alternative food system. This paper looks at economic viability and ask the question “how are farmers making it work?” Data is based on a 25 interviews with farmers on the Saanich Peninsula, British Columbia, Canada. The decision to continue running a farm year to year is complex. The answer to valuing these farms may come by looking at the productivity of the farms, their many services to the environment and to their communities, rather than just the financial picture. Farmers are finding ways to retain more of the value of their productivity from transactions with customers. Navigating the regulatory environment remains a challenge. The paper concludes with policy recommendations. / Graduate

On-farm food safety management programs are increasingly a part of business for horticultural and livestock producers. Originally designed for export oriented food manufacturers, they are now promoted to smaller and domestically oriented farms as well. This thesis explores the potential impacts these programs can have on on small scale, ecological and locally oriented "community" farms. The food safety management approach explored involves a HACCP analysis, "Good Agricultural Practices" and an audit-based verification system. The research is based largely on interviews with community farmers on southern Vancouver Island, British Columbia. Findings indicate that in addition to the (widely acknowledged) financial disadvantages that these programs can present to small scale businesses they can also have significant socio-cultural impacts on community farms specifically. In particular, food safety programs can require farmers to focus on food safety objectives to the exclusion of other priorities. This can compromise their ability to practice ecological methods of food production. Also, the HACCP programs explored impose a commercial-style administrative model onto farms to facilitate a textually enacted demonstration of "safe food production". Such an approach does not account for the social regulatory mechanisms in place in localized markets and could require considerable reorganization for community farms. Finally, HACCP programs redefine the role of farmers such that their authority and autonomy are diminished, and the nature of farm work becomes managerially oriented. The impacts identified suggest that the community agricultural sector merits particular consideration in the development and implementation of food safety policies and programs. / Graduate

The engagement of farm businesses with pluriactivity in response to persistent downward pressures on agricultural incomes provided an enduring focus for research in agricultural geography during the late 20th century. This study contributes to and further develops the pluriactivity genre of research through a detailed investigation of farm-based recreation. A review of existing literature reveals that farm-based recreation has been widely acknowledged as a significant component of pluriactivity, yet the reasons for its contemporary development remain largely unexplored for two main interrelated reasons. First, the concept of pluriactivity is inadequate because it places emphasis on income-generating non-agricultural enterprises, yet many recreational activities fill non-economic roles within the farm business and have therefore been ignored in previous research. Secondly, those studies that examine farm-based recreation specifically are anachronistic and suffer from a failure to define it consistently. The variety of recreational activities included within 'recreation' varies considerably between studies. For example, the majority of studies have not included shortterm recreational events in their analyses. The economic nature of these studies is again a handicap. This study resolves definitional issues and presents a conceptual framework for a more rigorous analysis of farm-based recreation than hitherto has been attempted. The framework synthesizes the underlying principles of the established modified political economy approach in agricultural geography with insights from postmodernism in rural geography as represented by the 'cultural turn'. It represents a rational, sensible and profitable approach which combines the major strengths and takes account of the criticisms of both perspectives. Its value for this study is that a flexible methodology can be used to ensure that the analysis is sensitive to the great diversity of both recreational activities and the farm business forms within which they are enmeshed. An extensive postal questionnaire survey of over 4000 farms is conducted in eight geographical regions (counties) selected primarily on the basis of their agricultural characteristics. This enables the diversity of recreational activities to be fully appreciated and a geographical analysis of them to be undertaken, features rarely explored by the literature. Building upon the quantitative approach of the postal questionnaire survey, 20 individual farm businesses are selected for more detailed qualitative investigation in the form of ethnographic case studies. Using the conceptual framework as a guide, results from both quantitative and qualitative approaches are discussed in an integrative way to provide a novel analysis of farm-based recreation. The results highlight the widespread occurrence of recreational activities. Indeed, 41% of the postal questionnaire survey respondents provide some form of permanent and/or temporary recreational activity, a figure significantly higher than typically reported in previous studies. Differentiated by broad categories, and specific types, the diversity of different forms of recreational provision becomes apparent, highlighting the occurrence of numerous types rarely documented before. Distinct patterns emerge from an analysis of the inter- and intra-regional incidence of recreational provision. The characteristics of recreational activities and the factors influencing their initiation, operation and evolution are explored. The relatively low level of financial motivation expressed in relation to the initiation of recreational activities is of particular interest (42% of farms with recreational provision), and highlights the abundance of non-financially motivated forms and the importance of interest, altruistic and social motives. Clear variations in motives according to categories, and types, of recreational activity are also observed and two broad groups, characterised as economic 'diversification recreation' and non-economic 'cultural recreation', emerge. Detailed analysis of the relationships between recreational provision and farm business characteristics and operation identifies many strong links. Finally, an exploration of the reasons for the non-adoption of recreational activities is undertaken. With a renewed policy emphasis on rural development, including on-farm diversification, from the Agenda 2000 reform of the European Union's Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) currently being implemented, these findings make a significant contribution to the understanding of a phenomenon that is likely to be important to both farmers and researchers in agricultural geography in the early 21st century.

This study attempts to expand existing knowledge on the relationship between biodiversity and ecosystem functioning, by studying a four year old tropical tree plantation. The growth of trees coming from monocultures, three species mixtures and six species mixtures was compared. Through multivariate statistical analysis, the variation in tree productivity was partitioned into different components: variation explained by (1) species richness, (2) species identity and (3) the environment. Results reveal that the environment explains the largest portion of variability in tree growth. Moreover, of the small amount of variation explained by diversity, species identity is found to be twice as important then species richness. Of notable significance was the amount of variation explained by the interaction of diversity with the environment.

Thesis (M.S. - Renewable Natural Resources)--University of Arizona, 1981. / Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (M.A.)--Duquesne University, 2007. / Title from document title page. Abstract included in electronic submission form. Includes bibliographical references (p. 93-100) and index.