No description available.

Due to a rising interest in natural fibres for textiles as well as environmental concerns, the demand for fibre flax has increased in recent decades. It was, therefore, with great enthusiasm that Canadian farmers welcomed, in 1997, the opening of a flaxprocessing unit in the region of Salaberry-de-Valleyfield, Quebec. The purpose of this study was to investigate the economic viability of fibre flax contracting as an alternative activity for field-crop producers in Quebec. A risk-programming model called minimization of total absolute deviation (MOTAD) was developed to better approach this issue. The MOTAD takes into account the variability in income that stems from uncertainty in commodity-market prices and yields. In addition, five different marketing strategies for pricing grain corn and soybeans were included in the model. These pricing techniques combined the use of futures and options markets. / In a global agricultural system, where international commitments force governments to cut subsidies, reducing income variability for risk-averse farmers becomes a critical challenge. This study offered to assess the contribution of both contracting and futures markets as alternative market instruments for risk management. Five portfolio farm plans were identified for 200- and 300-hectare farm sizes. The results showed that gains through fibre flax contracting, in terms of risk reduction, exist only for the farm plans with lower levels of income and risk. Moreover, simulations demonstrated that the use of futures and options markets can help maximize overall net farm return.

No description available.

Longtemps appelée la « cité de la toile », Armentières a vu sa prospérité reposer, un siècle durant, sur la fabrication et la commercialisation des tissus majoritairement en lin. Pourtant, si cette ville manufacturière a largement contribué à la renommée textile de la région lilloise, elle est restée en retrait par rapport à Lille, Roubaix et Tourcoing. C’est si vrai qu’aujourd’hui encore, on peine à retrouver les traces du riche patrimoine industriel dont elle disposait il y a trois ou quatre décennies. Contrairement à ses prestigieuses voisines, faute de réhabilitation et de reconversion de son bâti usinier, elle a tourné le dos à son passé comme si celui-ci ne valait pas la peine que l’on s’y attarde. Aussi, entre requalification des friches et absence de volonté pour valoriser ce qui reste du patrimoine industriel, on oublierait presque qu’Armentières a été de temps immémoriaux un centre manufacturier non pas secondaire mais second. Grâce aux nouvelles techniques numériques et aux ressources désormais mises à la disposition du chercheur, il est malgré tout possible de reconstituer l’empreinte que l’industrie a laissée dans le tissu urbain. Emprise foncière des bâtiments dévolus à la fabrication ou à la commercialisation des toiles, procédés constructifs et matériaux, organisation des lieux productifs : il a fallu exhumer et agencer toute la documentation disponible pour faire ressurgir un passé en quasi-totalité disparu. Pourtant, quand il s’est agi, dès le milieu du XIXe siècle, de répondre aux défis des marchés, les entrepreneurs locaux ont réussi à développer la convoitise de la clientèle pour le linge de maison et de table. Ils ont également répondu avec succès aux demandes toujours plus exigeantes de l’armée et des administrations. Bref, en valorisant la tradition tout en répondant aux exigences de produits « techniques », les industriels d’Armentières sont parvenus, autour du travail du lin, à imposer la localité comme une véritable marque de fabrique pour mieux soutenir la comparaison avec leurs puissants voisins. Mais cette conquête des marchés n’aurait pas eu lieu sans une indéniable capacité à maîtriser le travail d’une fibre longtemps rétive à la mécanisation. Aussi, pénétrer dans les usines, recenser les matériels et retrouver les gestes du fileur et du tisseur étaient indispensable pour comprendre comment, par delà les vicissitudes de la conjoncture, les défis techniques ont été relevés afin de conjuguer production de masse, qualité de la marchandise et coûts de fabrication. Histoire des lieux de la production, des marchandises et de la fabrication des toiles, ce travail entend également revenir sur le milieu des patrons armentiérois déjà étudié, non sans complaisance envers son milieu d’origine, par Lambert-Dansette. Les sources de l’Enregistrement et les actes notariés, entre autres, ont permis de revenir sur les origines géographiques et sociales des entrepreneurs puis de s’interroger sur les montages juridiques, les financements et les modes de gestion qui ont rendu possible cette aventure industrielle. C’était là l’occasion de mesurer la spécificité du monde des liniers au sein du patronat régional et, plus encore, de comprendre leur étonnante capacité à repousser, à partir des années 1930, les échéances d’une mort annoncée. Soucieux de souscrire à la « main invisible du marché » et de sanctifier tous les dogmes libéraux, les patrons d’Armentières ne s’arrangent-ils pour bénéficier de l’aide de l’État dont ils attendent à la fois une relative souplesse à leur égard et, singulièrement une protection infaillible ? En définitive, le choix délibéré de faire l’histoire en longue durée des entreprises et des entrepreneurs du lin à une échelle locale permet de réinterroger les modes de coordinations et les combinaisons multiples qui, en mariant le local et le global, autorisent à saisir d’un seul tenant tous les déterminants spatiaux du capitalisme. / Armentières was called “the city of linen” for a long time, and it prospered for a century thanks to the manufacture and trade of fabric, mainly linen. But even if this manufacturing town greatly contributed to making the Lille area famous for its textiles, it always remained in the background compared to Lille, Roubaix and Tourcoing. This is so true that today it is still difficult to find memories of the rich industrial heritage that Armentières had three or four decades ago. Unlike its prestigious neighbours, Armentières turned its back on its past as if it was not worth any attention, and this was reflected notably in a lack of renovation and renewal of its industrial buildings. Entire industrial wastelands are being reshaped and no one seems willing to make what is left of the town’s industrial heritage more attractive, which could make us forget that since ancient times Armentières was a major manufacturing centre. However, thanks to the new digital technologies and the resources that are available available to researchers, it is now possible to recreate the imprint that the industry has left on the urban network. Whether it was about the impact on property of buildings devoted to fabric manufacturing and trade, about building processes and materials, or about the organization of manufacturing facilities, it was necessary to find and organize the whole range of documents available in order to bring back to life a past that had almost completely disappeared. Local entrepreneurs managed to stimulate customer desire for household and table linen when they had to face the challenges of the market in the middle of the 19th Century. They also responded successfully to the increasingly demanding requests from the army and administration. Putting tradition forward while also providing technically demanding products, the manufacturers from Armentières focused on linen and managed to turn the area into a label that guaranteed authenticity and quality, ensuring that Armentières was fully able to compete with its powerful neighbours. But they would never have conquered the market if they had not mastered the ability to work with a type of fabric that was hard to manufacture industrially. Thus, taking a close look at the factories, listing the machines and tools that were used, and studying precisely how the spinner and the weaver worked were necessary steps to face up tothe the technical challenges in a difficult economic context, so as to handle mass production, product quality and manufacturing costs at the same time. This dissertation proposes to study the history of the manufacturing facilities, the manufacture of goods and fabrics but also to deal with the social class of Armentières’ factory owners, which was already studied by Lambert-Dansette, not without some self-indulgence towards the social class he came from. Various sources have allowed me to take a close look at the geographical and social origins of these entrepreneurs and then to look into the various legal, financial and management condidtions which made this industrial adventure possible. This allowed me to confront the experience of the linen makers with that of the other industrialists in the region, and to understand their amazing ability to push back and delay the inevitable death of their industry from the 1930s onwards. Willing to obey “the invisible hand of the market” and to follow all liberal theories wholeheartedly, can we not say that the industrialists of Armentières did everything they could to benefit from state assistance? Not only did they expect to receive state support, they also sought to have their sector benefit from considerable state protection.