Agriculture plays a vital role towards shaping the economy of South Africa. The role of agriculture in South Africa in ensuring a strong food supply has been greatly emphasised by the department of Agriculture in their Strategic Plan for South African agriculture. The agricultural environment in South Africa changes just as much as any other corporate environment and has forced farm owners and managers to start thinking holistically. With the many challenges facing farming businesses in South Africa, including constantly rising input costs, an unwell labour market, discouraging political talks about land reform, price fluctuations for crops and very limited help with financing, it is essential that all activities and resources of the farming business be strategically planned and prioritised. It is essential that all individuals involved in managing the farming business understand where the farm is going, how it plans to get there, and the problems and/or opportunities that lay ahead. This study focused on agricultural businesses in the North West Province of South Africa, and the main objective was to establish whether a well-research strategic plan could benefit farm owners and farm managers to produce more successful results. The research objective was, firstly, to review the literature and determine the key enablers required for successful strategy implementation in the agriculture industry and to investigate different strategy management frameworks to give a structure to allocate resources effectively in order to ensure long-term achievement of goals that are set out in the strategy. The second objective of the study was to analyse the findings of the empirical study and make recommendations on how to improve on the strategy of the farming business. The study report is concluded by making recommendations and encouraging farm owners and managers to include strategic planning into their business for farming success. / MBA, North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2015

Due to growing global concern regarding climate change and CO2 emissions, the use of soil as a potential carbon (C) sink has become increasingly recognised as a potential mitigation measure. Global agricultural soil has the estimated capacity for sequestering C at around 20 to 30 Pg (Peta grams) of C over the next 50 to 100 years if correct land management practises are applied. The benefits on improving soil C levels are not limited to reduced CO2 emissions and climate change mitigation however. It is widely accepted that improved organic C levels provide an array of positive benefits, including enhanced soil fertility, soil structure and water holding capacity and generally improve soil biodiversity and associated ecosystem services. Therefore, the pursuit of increasing soil organic carbon (SOC) levels in agricultural soil could create a win-win-win scenario. To improve SOC levels in agriculture, there are two key components that need to be fully effective. The first being the scientific understanding of SOC and its responses to different farming practices and systems. Secondly, the policy and advisory environment needs to be effective and conducive, promoting those practices and systems which are proven to increase SOC levels. This research therefore, explores these two components by conducting a series of investigations into current on-farm practices for managing SOC, the current policy and legislation structure, the quality and extent of farm-facing SOC related advice, and the scope for improving SOC levels through farm management practices and agri-environmental policy. A critical review and synopsis of global, European and national policy and advice was conducted to identify those policies that encourage the improvement of SOC and to highlight those areas where SOC does not currently feature as a management issue. Whilst soil and SOC do not feature heavily at the European or national level, there are a number of mechanisms which have the potential to improve SOC levels through their ability to reach a large audience of farmers and via the promotion of suitable management practices. The review of current policy was supplemented by interviews with those responsible for providing advice to farmers and farmers themselves. The interviewed farmers and advisors were relatively engaged with the subject of SOC although the results demonstrated that there was scope to improve current levels of understanding and practice. The currently policy environment at the national level, was not, in general, creating changes in management practices with those interviewed, so any potential enhancement of SOC that the policy mechanisms had the ability to create, were being missed. A review of the scientific literature regarding SOC and data gathered from subsequent soil sampling under a range of farming practices has allowed for the exploration of the potential and realisation to increase SOC levels through various management approaches. Practices which promote an increased use of organic matter amendments, reduced tillage systems and organic farming systems were of particular focus; with all three demonstrating the potential in improve SOC levels. Combining the social and natural science aspects of the issue of SOC has allowed for an exploration of the potential approaches to improve SOC within English agriculture. Critically, research and development of the subject needs to be improved to further the scientific understanding of SOC in relation to farming practices and land use. Development is also required of current national policy, in particular agri-environment schemes (AES), which despite reaching a wide farming audience, would appear to create minimal management changes and therefore has minimal impact on improving SOC levels. The two sides of this issue, the social and the natural sciences, must be addressed together otherwise a full understanding and an appropriate approach forward cannot be reached. This is why an interdisciplinary approach has been viewed as a suitable research framework for this thesis. The concluding aim of this work is to present a ‘best practice approach’ in terms of physically improving SOC levels by enhancing current advisory pathways and developing an effective policy environment.

This item was digitized as part of the Million Books Project led by Carnegie Mellon University and supported by grants from the National Science Foundation (NSF). Cornell University coordinated the participation of land-grant and agricultural libraries in providing historical agricultural information for the digitization project; the University of Arizona Libraries, the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, and the Office of Arid Lands Studies collaborated in the selection and provision of material for the digitization project.

Este estudo identificou um conjunto de razões que limita o uso de técnicas de gestão nas empresas agropecuárias. Analisando como os produtores rurais administram os seus negócios, e em acordo com a teoria da administração, estas razões foram discutidas através de uma matriz de atividades administrativas. Essa matriz relaciona as funções de planejamento, organização, direção e controle, exercidas no nível estratégico e operacional da empresa agropecuária, com as áreas administrativas de produção, finanças, comercialização e pessoal. Isso possibilitou uma identificação mais precisa dos fatores limitantes à gestão da empresa agropecuária e suas relações com a competência administrativa, composta pelas variáveis conhecimento, habilidades e atitudes. Os principais motivos que justificam o baixo envolvimento dos profissionais da assistência técnica com a gestão da propriedade rural também foram identificados. A coleta de dados primários envolveu duas fases. Na primeira, a investigação valeu-se da técnica de grupos focais, que permitiu reunir informações qualitativas sobre o assunto, em 8 sessões focais com agricultores, pecuaristas e os técnicos que os assistem. Na segunda fase, o assunto foi abordado de forma quantitativa, através da aplicação de 494 questionários junto ao mesmo público alvo, em vários estados do país. Os dados quantitativos foram analisados estatisticamente e os resultados se mostraram altamente significativos (P<0,05). Em linhas gerais, as principais conclusões do estudo foram: (1) a natureza familiar predominante na empresa agropecuária lhe confere uma forma própria de gestão; (2) há significativas diferenças na opinião e percepção de técnicos e produtores sobre a melhor forma de se gerenciar as empresas agropecuárias; (3) os produtores rurais não alteram, contínua e sistematicamente, seu planejamento estratégico de produção, em função das incertezas de mercado e dos custos associados à alteração do processo produtivo; (4) no planejamento financeiro, os produtores rurais normalmente direcionam seus recursos para serem aplicados em estoques ou ativos fixos; (5) na organização da infraestrutura e do pessoal, há uma tendência dos produtores em superdimensionar a disponibilidade desses fatores de produção, visando uma redução dos riscos operacionais inerentes à produção; (6) na organização das finanças, normalmente há um descompasso entre o detalhamento dos registros e a real capacidade de implementá-los com eficiência na empresa; (7) a estrutura funcional dos recursos humanos é ineficiente e centralizada, com acúmulo de responsabilidades no produtor rural; (8) a direção operacional da produção ocupa o maior tempo de trabalho do produtor, gerando ineficiências na direção das demais áreas administrativas; (9) as principais dificuldades no controle são a coleta de dados a campo, resultado do baixo nível de conhecimento, habilidades e atitudes de seus funcionários; e (10) a formulação de recomendações para o gerenciamento da empresa agropecuária deve considerar as características da empresa e do empresário rural, ao invés de serem estabelecidas a priori sem o conhecimento da situação particular de cada caso. Por fim, considerando a importância relativa das diferentes atividades administrativas em empresas agropecuárias referenciais e os fatores limitantes à gestão nessas empresas, fez-se recomendações para a melhoria do processo de aconselhamento administrativo aos produtores rurais. / The study identified some reasons that explain the limited use of scientific management tools by Brazilian farmers. A matrix of management activities was built to classify these reasons. The matrix crosses the management functions of planning, organizing, directing, and controlling, considered both in the strategic and operational levels, with the production, financial, commercial, and human resource administrative areas. This classification allowed a more precise identification of factors that are limiting the use of scientific management tools and their relationship to the farmer’s competence as given by their knowledge, abilities and attitudes. The study also identified some of the major reasons that explain why extension agents were not fully involved with counseling farmers on their management activities. Primary data used in the study were collected during two phases. During the first, 8 focus group manned by cash crop farmers, beef cattle farmers, and extension agents and counselors, were used to produce qualitative information. During the second phase, quantitative information were collected via a survey with 494 individual questionnaires applied to the same public covered by phase one. For the statistical tests performed 95% of significance was required. Some conclusions of the study are: (1) the family farm predominant nature requires an specific form of management; (2) farmers differ significantly from extension agents or counselors on farm management subjects; (3) farmers do not alter their strategic production plans in response to price changes or other signals perceived as short or mid term movements due to costs of changes in their production processes; (4) in managing their cash flow, farmers tend to immobilize their resources as fixed assets, therefore dangerously reducing their liquidity ratios; (5) in organizing their human resources structure farms tend to concentrate into their hands amounts of responsibilities larger than they can handle; (6) in organizing their financial flows there is a large gap between the desired level of details and their abilities to collect the data; (7) in organizing farm’s production infrastructure and human resource base there is a tendency to overestimate their needs in order to reduce productive or operational risks; (8) directing the productive process requires most of the time of the farmer, therefore reducing the amount of time dedicated to other areas of the administrative process; (9) the major difficulties faced in the function of controlling are linked with problems of collecting data. This is due to low levels of formal education that characterize the farm hired labor; and (10) counseling rules should not be formulated as general rules but the farm and the farmer individual characteristics must be considered in counseling for management purposes. Finally, the relative relevancy of the managerial activities in the "referential farms" were considered, together with their limiting managerial factors, in recommending improvements in the process of managerial counseling to farmers.

A fim de identificar os fatores que descrevem um empreendedor rural bem sucedido, três grupos focais foram realizados com produtores rurais e profissionais da assistência técnica da Cooperativa Tritícola Mista Alto Jacui Ltda. - Cotrijal em Não-Me-Toque, estado do Rio Grande do Sul. Algumas variáveis foram consideradas importantes para explicar por que um produtor é considerado bem ou mal sucedido, além da habilidade em produzir lucro. Entre estas variáveis foram apontadas: (1) competência, dada pelo domínio do conhecimento sobre a tecnologia, pela habilidade de conduzir as atividades de produção e comercialização e por ter atitudes em conformidade com os valores do grupo social de cooperados; (2) constante procura por informações técnicas e econômicas; (3) participação em eventos ou cursos que ampliem sua qualificação profissional; (4) disposição e habilidade em promover parcerias, associações ou condomínios de produção; (5) habilidade em diversificar sua produção, como estratégia para diminuição de riscos; (6) disposição em adotar novas idéias, tecnologias ou sistemas de produção; (7) habilidade em organizar a produção e a propriedade rural; (8) existência de sistemas de controle financeiro dos gastos e receitas; (9) planejamento da produção e das atividades da empresa; (10) liberdade em fixar os próprios horários e autonomia decisória, que permite ao produtor tirar férias; (11) envolvimento direto da família com a empresa rural; (12) promoção de um bom padrão de vida para a família, inclusive oferecendo oportunidades de educação formal aos filhos; (13) envolvimento com os assuntos comunitários; e, finalmente, (14) preservação do meio ambiente e ser exemplo para outros empresários rurais. Um questionário com 37 afirmações/questões foi aplicado a uma amostra de 140 produtores rurais associados à Cotrijal. As afirmativas foram baseadas nas características sugeridas pelos grupos focais e organizadas de acordo com as quatro funções gerenciais (planejamento, organização, direção e controle), em dois níveis (estratégico e operacional) e nas quatro áreas de atuação da empresa (produção, finanças, comercialização e recursos humanos). A grande quantidade de dados foi condensada, ao se definir oito fatores (a partir da análise fatorial multivariada) que compreenderam 62,3% da variância total da amostra: (1) financeiro; (2) planejamento comercial; (3) comunicação e informação; (4) planejamento pessoal; (5) gerenciamento de pessoal; (6) organização da produção; (7) aproveitamento de oportunidades; e (8) experiência comercial. Três equações de regressão linear foram estimadas com as notas atribuídas à capacidade administrativa dos produtores rurais como variáveis dependentes. As notas foram atribuídas pelos próprios produtores, por outros produtores entrevistados (pares) e pelos profissionais da assistência técnica da Cotrijal. As equações mostram que quatro fatores são estatisticamente significativos em explicar as notas: financeiro, comunicação e informação, planejamento pessoal e aproveitamento de oportunidades. Outras três variáveis genéricas também foram estatisticamente significativas: satisfação pessoal, qualidade dos produtos e controle físico e financeiro de gastos e receitas. Embora as equações explicassem somente uma pequena parte das variações nas notas atribuídas à capacidade administrativa dos produtores rurais (explicação entre 14 e 27%, medida pelo coeficiente R2 ajustado), são significativas, conforme medidas pelo teste estatístico F. / In order to identify the factors that describe a successful rural entrepreneur, three focus groups were conduced with farmers and extension agents of the Wheat Cooperative of Alto Jacui - Cotrijal at Não-Me-Toque, Rio Grande do Sul State. Several variables were suggested as playing important roles in explaining why a farmer is considered successful or not, besides their ability to produce profits. Among these variables are: (1) the farmer competence as shown by his technological knowledge, his ability to implement production and trading processes, and by his attitudes in conformity with the values of the Cotrijal’s social group; (2) farmer’s constant search for new technical and economical informations; (3) farmer attendance of courses and events that will enhance its technical qualifications; (4) farmers willingness and ability to promote partnerships, associations and group production; (5) farmers ability to diversify their activities as strategies to reduce risks; (6) farmers willingness to adopt knew ideas, technologies or production systems; (7) farmers ability to organize production and their farms; (8) the existence of a system of expenditure and receipt control; (9) how they plan production and other farm activities; (10) farmers that have freedom to travel and to set their own time to work; (11) farmers that have their families involved with the farm business; (12) their ability to provide for children formal education and to give their family higher levels of consumption; (13) farmers involvement with the community subjects; and finally, (14) farmers that are seen as persons that preserves the environment and as model for other farms. A questionnaire with 37 statements were applied to 140 farmers of Cotrijal. The statements were based on the focus group suggested characteristics and organized according to the four management functions (planning, organizing, direction, and control), on two strategic levels (strategic and operational) and on the four firm’s working areas (finance, production, commercialization, and human resource). The huge amount of data were condensed by defining eight factors (from multivariate factor analysis) that comprised 62.3% of the sample total variance: (1) financial, (2) commercial planning, (3) communication and information, (4) personal planning, (5) human resource management, (6) production organization, (7) dealing with new opportunities, and (8) previous commercial experience. Three linear regression equations were estimated with attributed grades for farmers' entrepreneurship ability as the dependent variables. Grades were attributed by the farmers (themselves), by other interviewed farmers, and by the extension agents of Cotrijal. Equations show that four factor were statistically significant in explaining the grades: financial, communication and information, personal planning, and dealing with new opportunities. Other three general variables also were statistically significant in explaining the grades: personal satisfaction, product quality, and physical and financial control. Although the equations explained only a small part of the variations in the grade attributed to the farmers entrepreneurs ability (from 14 to 27% explanation measured by the adjusted R2 coefficient) they showed high significant levels as measured by the F statistic test.

Following concerns expressed by canegrowers in the Burdekin River Irrigation Area (BRIA) of Northern Queensland regarding rising groundwater and salinity the Department of Primary Industries instigated action to investigate and develop Best-On-Farm Water Management Practices. The purposes of this project were to improve landholder awareness of water use to maximise cane production while minimising the likelihood of salinity and changes in the groundwater balance, and to facilitate the development of soil and water management practices on a range of soils in the BRIA. The project lasted for 12 months, and this short duration affected research methodologies and techniques selected. Groups of farmers were organised, participation was good and useful outcomes resulted. These included: improved landholder awareness of the relationships between salinity, water use and groundwater; identification of a range of best practices; identification of social theories about water management practices; development of an extension model based on the value of indigenous knowledge; equality between government and farmers; examination of underlying assumptions in relation to water management by both government and farmers; identification of issues for future research and extension. / Master of Science (Hons)

The factors affecting the supply of rubber from Sarawak, East Malaysia, were identified and reviewed in an historical framework. A methodical framework for the general analysis of economic relationships between variables was reviewed and a practical application of the methodology to the supply of rubber from Sarawak was carried out. An econometric analysis of the long run factors affecting the production of rubber was carried out. (1) Two log-differenced autoregressive models of the rubber supply were formulated. (2) The models were tested for parameter constancy to identify structural breaks in the time series and for structural invariance to determine whether they were suitable for policy analysis, forecasting and backcasting. (3) The variables were tested for bivariate Granger Causality to determine the relationships between the factors of production and the output of rubber. (4) Forecast Error Variance Decomposition analysis of multivariate Granger Causality was carried out using a Vector Autoregressive Model. The results confirm the a priori economic theory that long run changes in supply have been affected primarily by changes in area under rubber production and long term price trends. The area planted to rubber has depended upon price incentives and the availability of scarce labour resources. Prices have been affected by the supply of rubber from Sarawak but this is posited to be a reflection of global supply trends affecting prices. While the results generally confirm the economic theory, caution is urged when interpreting the results. The severe inadequacies of the data used highlights the need for more accurate time series and the mainly methodological approach of this study.

G.Čepas Elnininkystės marketingo strategijos kūrimas ir ūkio valdymas: Vadybos Magistro baigiamasis darbas / mokslinis vadovas prof. A.Garalis; Šiaulių universitetas, Vadybos katedra. – Šiauliai, 2007. – 54 p. Magistro darbe kuriama Č.Čepo ūkio marketingo strategija, išanalizuojamas ��kio valdymas, pagrindinė problema: kaip reikėtų sukurti ekonomiškai naudingą, gerai organizuotą, moksliškai pagrįstą ir paremtą pasauline praktika elnių auginimo verslo modelį viename Lietuvos ūkyje, siekiant didesnio pelno žemės ūkio srityje. Nagrinėjama įvairių Lietuvos ir užsienio autorių literatūra apie elnių, danielių auginimą, veisimą , analizuojama netradicinių aptvarų ūkių veikla. Savo darbe apžvelgiu tas išorines sąlygas, kurios labiausiai veikė ūkio veiklą, ir kokią įtaką jos turėjo plečiant rinką: besikeičiantys ekonominiai šalies rodikliai, politiniai-teisiniai sprendimai bei konkurentų veiksmai. Atlikta Č.Čepo ūkio SSGG analizė, išorinei ūkio analizei ištirti sudaryta anketa, nagrinėjami ūkių duomenys pagal pasirinktą temą. Gauti rezultatai patvirtina suformuluotą mokslinio tyrimo hipotezę, mažo našumo žemėse ir neefektyvaus ūkininkavimo ūkiuose tikslinga pereiti prie netradicinės gamybos – elnių ir danielių auginimo veiklos. Pateiktomis išvadomis ir pasiūlymais galės pasinaudoti Č.Čepo ūkio vadovybė, bei kiti panašaus pobūdžio ūkiai. / G.Čepas Marketing policymaking for deer farming and farm management: Magistracy work / scientific guide professor A.Garalis; Šiaulių University, Management department .-Šiauliai, 2007.-54 pages. Marketing policymaking for Č.Čepas deer farm is created in this work, analyzing of farm management, the main problem: how to create profitable, good managing, scientific reasoning and buttressed up by world experience deer farming business model in one Lithuanian farm, on purpose to make farm agricultural more profitable. I study conditions, which had most effects to farm activities, and what effect they had in increasing of market: changing national economy, politics-low decisions and competition in market. It was made SWOT analysis of Č.Čepas deer farm, questionnaire for study of external farm situation, explored records of farms according subject scheme. Work results confirm scientific researching hypothesis that it is proposing to make agricultural alternative business – deer and fallow deer farming in bad land and not effective managing farms. This researching notes can be used by managers of Č.Čepas and other Lithuanian deer farms.

Technology adoption has been seen as key to the development of more productive agriculture in lesser developed countries. But the adoption and adaptation of new agricultural technology occurs at the level of farm families where decisions are made based on perceived risks and benefits of the new technology, and its fit within the knowledge and practices of existing agricultural system. / The processes and consequences of household decision-making are investigated using unidisciplinary methods of decision analysis involving statistical, mathematical, psychological, anthropological and econometric techniques brought together in a holistic manner. The study is focused in the Ada and Selale regions of the Central Ethiopian Highlands. The technologies studied are fertilizer, improved crop varieties, pesticides and cross-bred cows. / Differences in goals and strategies of households are caused by inequalities in ownership of physical resources, and access to local institutions and indigenous knowledge. Village and regional institutions greatly influence access to physical (e.g. land) and non-physical (knowledge and information) resources. Successful intervention strategies are those that recognize region- and experience-specific potentials. / When compared with physical resources, non-physical resources exert greater influence on decisions to adopt technologies and on the efficiency with which inputs are used in the production of grain and milk outputs. Producers are willing to take risks in enterprises in which they have the advantages of favourable location or experience. The degree of risk-averse behaviour of households reduces the probability of adopting technologies in both study sites. Natural factors (e.g. rainfall) and policy variables (e.g., land tenure and market) increase production risk. Indigenous production knowledge and schooling consistently reduce variability in production.

During the last two decades two major government policies aimed at bringing structural changes in the system of land tenure in Iran have been implemented. The first was the Land Reform of 1962-66, which transferred the ownership of the land from the large landlords to the peasant and tribal producers. But during the late-sixties and the seventies a second major structural change in the system of land tenure was proposed by the government, this time aimed at the destruction of the already existing peasant, tribal and capitalist producers and the creation of very large-scale agricultural corporations. As the main objective of this policy was to bring about substantial increases in agricultural production and productivities, it is the purpose of this dissertation to examine whether these very large-scale corporations are more productive systems than the already existing autonomous producers. As the proponents of the very large-scale farms argue in terms of gains from economies of scale in very large units and of the superiority of the trained and skilled corporate managers to the family managed peasant farmers, in this dissertation an attempt has been made to examine the effect on productivity of (a) farm size and (b) management system. The following procedure has been adopted to examine the subject. [continued in text ...]