Digitized by Kansas Correctional Industries

Typescript. / Digitized by Kansas Correctional Industries

The numerous influences which are so greatly changing rural life in America are having their effect upon the farm shopwork which farmers perform. New farm machines and tools are being introduced and used, causing the farmer to learn new operations and to acquire new skills in the maintenance, repair and use of this equipment. The farm shop is becoming an essential part of every farm. In order to carry on the farming business more economically, and thereby meet competition which is necessary in present day farming, the farmer must know how to properly use his farm mechanics needs to the best advantage.

This study was undertaken in an attempt to determine some of the factors which may influence the survival of Utah game farm-reared pheasants following their release into the wild. The survival of these birds is below the desired level after they are released, as is indicated by the low percentage taken by the sportsmen during the hunting season. In recent years the return from released game farm-reared pheasants is about 7 to 8 percent. Consequently, if survival rate of these birds could be increased, more birds would be available to supplement the wild stock. Also, an increase in the pheasant population throughout the state would make more birds available to sportsmen during the hunting season.

The ability to maximise learning efficiently is of concern to all who are involved in an educational environment. The process of learning that will facilitate change is well documented. This documentation suggests that: (1) the understanding of what is occurring in the process of change is essential for it to be successful, and (2) this process includes certain specific traits that will facilitate change. In this study, a design to acquire data from individuals involved in this process of change is developed. To acquire the data sought in this study, observation was made of ten trainees involved in a skills enhancement programme at Caloola Farm; a training centre sponsored by the Federal Government and operated through the Baptist Community Services (A.C.T.). The conclusion reached supported the original premise that recognisable traits exist and aid in the process of accepting change.

<p>Until just a few years ago wind farms where excluded from many of the requirementsthat can be found in grid codes. But as the numbers of wind farms have grown as wellas the sizes of them, the requirements to connect them to the grid have becomemore stringent. In this thesis it has been investigated if it’s possible to design a controlsystem that controls the reactive power from an offshore wind farm, so that the gridcode requirements regarding reactive power are fulfilled. By controlling the reactivepower the dynamic variations in the voltage are decreased. The regulator should alsobe able to help the wind farm to handle the fault conditions that are described in thegrid code.An offshore wind farm outside the coast of Western Europe is now being planned.Data from this wind farm has been used in this thesis. The wind farm has a total of 54wind turbines with more than 300 MW all together. The reactive power is controlledvia the generators and also by disconnecting and connecting four shunt reactors.A model of the wind farm has been built in Simpow, as well as design of the regulator.Simpow is a simulation program developed by ABB that enables simulations of powersystems. Different scenarios have been simulated to see if it is possible to control thewind farm in the desired way. The results show that the wind farm manages to handlefault conditions as described in the grid, and it is also possible to control the reactivepower in a desirable way.</p>

Ecological goods and services (EG&S) represent the benefits that humans derive from ecosystem functions. The private wealth implications of on-farm EG&S practices that promote wildlife habitat are determined for the Lower Souris River Watershed in South-eastern Saskatchewan. Monte Carlo simulation is used, coupled with NPV analysis, to examine the impacts of practices at a representative farm level. Linear programming is utilized to determine the farm wealth implications of imposing landscape targets across selected parts of the study area. In both models, implementing an EG&S policy or practice comes with costs to farm wealth. Potential exceptions include converting cropland to tame pasture, and EG&S enhancing herd management practices. However, without policy intervention there is continued conversion of native prairie, perennial forage, and lotic riparian landscapes to cropland. Imposing landscape targets preserves these landscape uses, but with a loss in private economic value ranging from $3,196 to $7,179 per quarter section. / Agricultural and Resource Economics

Climate Change has been related to GHG emissions, of both natural and anthropogenic origin. Agricultural management practices like reduced tillage and intensive cropping systems have a significant impact on the flow of C among its sources and sinks. These management practices involve complex biophysical interactions resulting in a range of impacts on farm income and GHG abatement. The focus of this study was on the impact of alternative annual crop tillage systems on GHG emissions and income to better inform climate change mitigation policy in agriculture. Besides tillage intensity, cropping intensity and crop mix and the interaction of these characteristics with the biological and physical attributes, the emission and income effects are a function of factor inputs, factor costs and commodity prices. Therefpre, the analysis was multi-disciplinary in nature and the tool of choice that depicts impacts on individual indicators is Trade-off Analysis (TOA). A component of risk analysis was also included. The analysis focused on short and long-term performance, the uncertainty of soil N2O emission coefficients as well as changes in weather patterns. As the adoption of reduced till has been a relatively recent development and as such, there is not a lot of long-term biophysical and economic data, which limits the effectiveness of econometric analysis. The different scenarios of uncertainty and long-term impacts were analysed by use of a simulation model. The model was parameterised with Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) 1996 coefficients, a farmer survey, and cost data from Saskatchewan Agriculture Agri-Food and Rural Revitalization (SAFRR) for 2004. Results indicated that net GHG emissions were relatively lower for reduced tillage management while conventional tillage may be relatively more attractive from an economic perspective. However, results indicated that such economic factors as risk and economies of size may have a significant influence on this latter result. The study also highlighted the need to evaluate the GHG abatement potential of reduced tillage while simultaneously considering the abatement capability of the farm.

Until just a few years ago wind farms where excluded from many of the requirementsthat can be found in grid codes. But as the numbers of wind farms have grown as wellas the sizes of them, the requirements to connect them to the grid have becomemore stringent. In this thesis it has been investigated if it’s possible to design a controlsystem that controls the reactive power from an offshore wind farm, so that the gridcode requirements regarding reactive power are fulfilled. By controlling the reactivepower the dynamic variations in the voltage are decreased. The regulator should alsobe able to help the wind farm to handle the fault conditions that are described in thegrid code.An offshore wind farm outside the coast of Western Europe is now being planned.Data from this wind farm has been used in this thesis. The wind farm has a total of 54wind turbines with more than 300 MW all together. The reactive power is controlledvia the generators and also by disconnecting and connecting four shunt reactors.A model of the wind farm has been built in Simpow, as well as design of the regulator.Simpow is a simulation program developed by ABB that enables simulations of powersystems. Different scenarios have been simulated to see if it is possible to control thewind farm in the desired way. The results show that the wind farm manages to handlefault conditions as described in the grid, and it is also possible to control the reactivepower in a desirable way.

Climate Change has been related to GHG emissions, of both natural and anthropogenic origin. Agricultural management practices like reduced tillage and intensive cropping systems have a significant impact on the flow of C among its sources and sinks. These management practices involve complex biophysical interactions resulting in a range of impacts on farm income and GHG abatement. The focus of this study was on the impact of alternative annual crop tillage systems on GHG emissions and income to better inform climate change mitigation policy in agriculture. Besides tillage intensity, cropping intensity and crop mix and the interaction of these characteristics with the biological and physical attributes, the emission and income effects are a function of factor inputs, factor costs and commodity prices. Therefpre, the analysis was multi-disciplinary in nature and the tool of choice that depicts impacts on individual indicators is Trade-off Analysis (TOA). A component of risk analysis was also included. The analysis focused on short and long-term performance, the uncertainty of soil N2O emission coefficients as well as changes in weather patterns. As the adoption of reduced till has been a relatively recent development and as such, there is not a lot of long-term biophysical and economic data, which limits the effectiveness of econometric analysis. The different scenarios of uncertainty and long-term impacts were analysed by use of a simulation model. The model was parameterised with Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) 1996 coefficients, a farmer survey, and cost data from Saskatchewan Agriculture Agri-Food and Rural Revitalization (SAFRR) for 2004. Results indicated that net GHG emissions were relatively lower for reduced tillage management while conventional tillage may be relatively more attractive from an economic perspective. However, results indicated that such economic factors as risk and economies of size may have a significant influence on this latter result. The study also highlighted the need to evaluate the GHG abatement potential of reduced tillage while simultaneously considering the abatement capability of the farm.