Re-mapping regulatory space: The new governance of Australian dairying

Despite questions currently raised about the future of neoliberalism, it remains embedded within Australian agricultural policy and practice. This paper explores the strengths and limitations of mechanisms contributing to neoliberalism’s survival through a close examination of the restructuring of Australian agricultural production and governance processes under the influence of both globalising impulses and adherence to neoliberal strategies. We trace the changes in governance flowing from the dismantling of regulatory structures in the Australian dairy industry, and the creation of new forms of governance that have both facilitated this transition and dealt with its adverse, often unintended, consequences. The changing governance of Australian dairying is analysed through the lens of three arenas of governance: state, industry and place. Drought has played an important part in re-spacialising dairying and re-shaping the balance between farmers and industry, demonstrating the contingency at play in emerging governance structures. This study of processes of change within the highly export-oriented dairy sector of Australia focuses attention on resistance and on some of the messy actualities of the interplay between state, place and industry - and nature - in neoliberal agri-food governance.     

Chemical beneficiation of zircon concentrates in Western Australia

Western Australian zircons are typically brown-strained and inherently tinged with colour so that production of premium grade zircon has required special attention. The brown coating interferes with the separation of zircon from other minerals and adds to the level of impurities, particularly iron, in the product. Even when the stain is removed the zircon's pink-purple hue detracts from its market appeal. Two separate processes for the beneficiation of zircon to premium grade have been evaluated for three typical Western Australian zircon concentrates. One of the processes has been successfully implemented on a commercial scale.     

Irrelevant economics: The water pricing and pollution charging debate

Conventional economic appraisals of the water industry have concentrated on economic efficiency defined almost entirely in allocative terms, the key issues being the efficiency with which available water resources are allocated between users and with which factors of production are invested in new facilities. Since marginal cost pricing has been viewed as the mechanism theoretically capable of bringing about optimality in resource allocation, assessments of water industry practices have all too often been reduced to reiteration of the extent to which current pricing practices diverge from the theoretical optima. This paper, based on empirical work on water suppliers in both Britain and Australia, questions the relevance of this conventional approach.First, it is argued that the concentration on allocative efficiency has diverted attention from the equally crucial issue of whether the industry is efficient in managerial, technical and product terms. Since technological efficiency must exist in an industry before a Pareto optimal allocation of resources can occur, the presupposition, in papers which argue that the introduction of optimal pricing rules will ensure allocative efficiency, must be that the industry is already producing an appropriate product using least cost production methods. No such presupposition can be made in an industry where the profit motive and competitive forces do not operate.Second, it is argued that optimal pricing policies can only produce optimal resource allocations if consumers act in a prescribedly rational way to the prices set. Although it is well known that ‘second-best’ pricing rules may be needed to counter inefficient conditions prevailing in other sectors of the economy, the effect of market imperfec- tions on the way consumers react to prices has been less well analysed. Using results from a study of firms' reactions to trade effluent charges, it is shown that the structure of companies and the way they operate their revenue and capital budgets may severely limit the effectiveness of the price mechanism in ensuring allocative efficiency.Finally, the paper considers the ‘equity’ with which the costs of water services are distributed between consumers. Once again it is argued that the issue has been neglected since the distribution of income is irrelevant to the achievement of allocative optimality in Paretian terms. Evidence is presented that contradicts the popular myth that, although current pricing arrangements may be less than efficient, they are at least ‘broadly fair’. It is shown that, in practice, price discrimination against low income consumers is widespread, and this can hardly be regarded as equitable, whatever definition of equity is used.     

Economics of the coal industry east of the Mississippi, 1973–1982

Government regulations on health, safety and environment have been poppular blamed for the declining productivity in U.S. coal mines since 1970. The stagnation in the coal industry east of the Mississippi is alleged to have been caused by this declining productivity and by the growth of cheaper and cleaner coal production west of the Mississippi. Economic evidence suggests, however, that productivity declines were more due to a relative lowering of labor costs in comparison with coal prices and due to work stoppages. The development of western coals fields was spurred by growth in local demand and had only a relatively small impact on coal production east of the Mississippi. Problems of the eastern coal industry are rooted mainly in slow economic growth in eastern U.S. which must be addressed in the long-term interests of the eastern coal industry.     

Potential impact of ash eruptions on dairy farms from a study of the effects on a farm in eastern Bay of Plenty,New Zealand; implications for hazard mitigation

This paper investigates the impact ash fall would have on dairy farming, based on a study of ‘Tulachard’, a dairy farming operation at Rerewhakaaitu, North Island, New Zealand. It includes analysis of the potential effects on the dairy shed and milking machine, electrical supply and distribution, water supply and distribution, tractors and other farm vehicles, farm buildings (haysheds, pump sheds, implement sheds, etc.), milk-tanker access to the farm and critical needs of dairy cows and farm to keep milking. One of the most vulnerable areas identified in the study was the cooling of milk at the milking shed, pending dairy tanker pick-up. The cooling system’s condenser is exposed to the atmosphere and falling ash would make it highly vulnerable. Laboratory testing with wet and dry ash was conducted to determine its resilience to ash ingestion. It was found to perform satisfactorily during dry testing, but during wet testing significant clogging/blocking of the condenser’s radiator occurred, dramatically reducing airflow through the condenser. Specific mitigation recommendations have been developed that include cleaning with compressed air and adapting farm management techniques to lessen usage of the condenser during an ash-fall event. Specific recommendations for management of dairy farm operation are given to mitigate the effects of an ash-fall event.

Harvey's principles reapplied: a case study of the declining West Midland hop industry

Patterns of hop production in the U.K. have received scant attention in the geographical literature and little attempt has been made to apply the theoretical principles developed by Harvey to a declining rather than expanding industry. Trends in the U.K. hop industry are outlined before attention is focused on spatial changes in hop production in the West Midlands. The role of distance as a locational factor is examined and shown to be of continuing importance as the industry becomes increasingly concentrated around the core parish of Castle Frome. Physical factors, vital in defining the initial core area, have reinserted their importance as the hop industry has declined spatially and temporally. It is demonstrated how Harvey's economic principles are of limited value when attempting to explain patterns of decline, and the paper concludes by emphasizing the complexity of the situation and the need to examine the decision-making processes of the hop growers themselves.     

Transportation and the recent development of the Queensland coal industry

The role of transportation in the development of the Queensland coal industry since 1955 is reviewed in this paper. It is found that transportation has played a concomitant rather than a prerequisite role in the industry's development. The commitment of the Japanese to Queensland coal has been the most important stimulus to the development. The paper ends with a view to future developments, concluding that it would be unwise for Queensland to develop a transportation infrastructure as a stimulus to expanding the coal industry.     

Australian Geodynamics Cooperative Research Centre's integrated research program delivers a new minerals exploration strategy for industry

The Australian Geodynamics Cooperative Research Centre was an unincorporated joint venture between government organisations, universities and industry with financial support from the Commonwealth Government. Its Mission was to develop, in partnership with the minerals exploration industry, a geodynamic framework of the Australian continent, which would enhance industry's capacity to discover new world‐class deposits. The Centre has now closed after completing 7 years of integrated and innovative research. Prominent among the research outcomes are new geological, geophysical and geochronological data for key regions of Australia and new enabling technologies to collect better data or to better analyse existing data. In addition, it developed a systematic and objective methodology for synthesising data into possible exploration models that could be tested by computer analyses that simulate the geodynamic evolution of the proposed geology. If the computer simulation reproduced the same characteristics as are known to occur in a mineral deposit then the input data and exploration model are considered to be valid. They can then be used to predict whether other, as yet undiscovered deposits, occur within that area and their likely location, structure, ore grade and tonnage. This new exploration strategy can be used to reduce exploration risk and increase the rate of discovery of major new deposits.     

Agriculture in Eastern Europe: Communism, the transition and the future

The paper summarises the East European experience with socialist agriculture and notes that while production often failed to meet plan targets (thereby giving the impression of a sector in crisis), there was steady growth based on substantial investments in buildings, machinery, fertilisers and irrigation systems which provided food for the population at affordable prices. The increased spending power of higher salaries during the 1970s and 1980s also drew a positive response from agriculture in the context of significant reforms which, unintentionally, contributed to the demise of the communist system in 1988–1990. Transition to a market economy has cast agriculture into a state of great uncertainty through restitution and the end of price controls, combined with the disruption of trade contacts with the Former Soviet Union. Falling real wages have reduced demand while the overtures being made to the European Union (with its substantial food surpluses) suggest that reduced agricultural output may be a permanent reality. In this case the thrust of rural development will have to give more attention to the quality of the environment and the provision of alternative employments for country dwellers. It remains to be seen how far small family holdings can be maintained in the context of farm diversification and pluriactivity.     

Limits of solution of trace elements in minerals according to Henry's law: Review of experimental data

Results of a survey of experimental data on trace element partitioning between crystals and coexisting liquid and between crystals and coexisting aqueous fluid are reported. These studies involve combinations of elements such as Cs, Rb, K, Na, Li, Ba, Sr, Ni and Sm dissolved in minerals such as feldspars, micas, feldspathoids, garnets, pyroxenes, amphibole and olivine. It is shown that the concentration ranges of these elements in minerals with solution behavior according to Henry's law appear to extend to less than 1 wt.% and often to less than 100 ppm of the element in the crystalline phase.The available data indicate that the concentration ranges of solution in minerals according to Henry's law can be positively correlated with the difference of ionic radii between trace element and the host element for which the tracer is assumed to substitute. Furthermore, studies involving crystals and coexisting aqueous fluid have been used to determine whether Henry's law or Raoult's law adequately describes the solution. Based on the assumption that the aqueous fluid solution can be considered ideal, models have been proposed stating that if the difference between the ionic radii of the tracer and the host element in the crystalline phase is less than about 10% (relative to the host element), the solution is ideal (Raoult's law). With larger differences between the ionic radii, there is an excess free energy of mixing, although Henry's law is still obeyed in the concentration ranges where crystalliquid or crystal-fluid partition coefficients are independent of element concentration.     

A new approach for crude oil price prediction based on stream learning

Crude oil is the world's leading fuel, and its prices have a big impact on the global environment, economy as well as oil exploration and exploitation activities. Oil price forecasts are very useful to industries, governments and individuals. Although many methods have been developed for predicting oil prices, it remains one of the most challenging forecasting problems due to the high volatility of oil prices. In this paper, we propose a novel approach for crude oil price prediction based on a new machine learning paradigm called stream learning. The main advantage of our stream learning approach is that the prediction model can capture the changing pattern of oil prices since the model is continuously updated whenever new oil price data are available, with very small constant overhead. To evaluate the forecasting ability of our stream learning model, we compare it with three other popular oil price prediction models. The experiment results show that our stream learning model achieves the highest accuracy in terms of both mean squared prediction error and directional accuracy ratio over a variety of forecast time horizons.     

Part-time farming in Spain — a review

This paper is a review of statistical data and existing research on the part-time farming in Spain. The available data show an important level of development of the phenomenon: in 1965, 37.7 % of the earnings obtained by farm families are from jobs off the farm; in 1972, 48 % of the agrarian operators had main jobs off the farm. Most of the part-time farms are of small size although the phenomenon is also important on groups of farms of the largest size. The regional studies show a greater development of part-time farming in the Cantabrian coast, where the part-time farmer working in industry prevails, and in the E and S regions, where the jobs off the farm but within the agrarian sector (wage labour) are very important. Some studies on the stability of part-time farming show that this stability depends on the type of farming, the market of agricultural land in the area and the conditions of the jobs off the farm. In the present economic crisis the interest in part-time farming has been increased.Translated by Isabel Carbonell. Comments on earlier versions of this paper were provided by Prof. Josep Caries Genoves.     

The effects of agricultural land use and cotton production on tributaries of the Darling River, Australia

Intensive agricultural development in the Murray-Darling Basin, Australia, has been achieved at a high cost to the natural environment. This paper assess the hydrological, water quality and ecological changes which have occurred as a result of agricultural land use and particularly, cotton production, in major tributaries of the upper Darling River, using the Namoi Valley, the cradle of the Australian cotton industry, as a case study. Three aspects of cotton production have had detrimental effects in these catchments — extensive vegetation clearing on floodplains and in the riparian zone, water abstraction from regulated and unregulated river flows and intensive chemical use for pest control. The paper outlines the new initiatives in progress to improve the condition of these rivers, including management of pesticide runoff from cotton farms, nutrient reductions in surface waters and restoration of natural patterns of river flow. Constraints on water use off-stream and restrained regional development appear to be inevitable if river health is to be improved.     

Regional policy in the Federal Republic of Germany

Since the 1950s, regional policy in the Federal Republic of Germany has switched emphasis from assistance to specific locations with development problems to a systematic programme of development aid. Within the Common Task ‘Improvement of Regional Economic Structure’, which is undertaken jointly by the Federal and Laender governments, areas embracing 62% of the Federal Republic's total area have received aid for establishing new industries, expansion of existing manufacturing industry and rationalisation, and for developing tourism. Overall economic deterioration since the mid-'70s has been accompanied by increasing criticism of the inefficiency of this kind of regional policy directed towards the mobilisation of capital. More recent appraisals of methods improving development aid are aimed at achieving spatial concentration of the development areas, more selective aid for new establishments or expansion schemes which have sound future prospects, and increased encouragement to existing firms to innovate.     

The conventions of agri-environmental practice in New Zealand: farmers, retail driven audit schemes and a new spirit of farming

Audit schemes dictating the parameters of environmentally and socially acceptable management practice have emerged as a pervasive feature of global agri-food production. While the impacts of such schemes on the global movement of food and fibre and the evolving terrains of power in agri-food relations are well documented, the associated reconstruction of farming identities in the localities where audits are implemented has received less attention. The emerging responses to audit schemes in the New Zealand kiwifruit and dairy sectors are key examples of the contentious nature through which auditing is incorporated within farming practice. Analysis of these responses reveals the potential for audits to alter the spirit of farming in New Zealand, initiating new conventions of interaction between producers and industries. Within a convention theory framework, the incorporation of auditing within standard management practice involves a negotiated process in which the farmers employ strategic justifications of their capability (and value) relative to the quality designations established by the audit. Rather than evaluate the relative merits of a farm, its product and its owner through the craft and skill of the independent land manager, successful farming is increasingly associated with the individual’s ability to conform to an audit’s structures. The global trend toward audit schemes suggests that similar challenges to the spirit of farming may be replicated in other contexts.     

Cosmic-ray exposure ages of the ordinary chondrites and their significance for parent body stratigraphy

²¹Ne cosmic-ray exposure ages have been calculated from literature data for 201 H, 203 L and 38 LL chondrites, corrected for shielding differences when possible. The distributions of exposure ages again show the familiar peaks at 4.5 and 20 Myr for the H's, but no outstanding events for the L's and LL's. If the L-chondrite distribution is interpreted as a series of discrete events, then at least 6 peaks between 1 and 35 Myr are needed to model it. The observations, that every petrologic type occurs in every large peak and that even the higher petrologic types contain solar wind gases, suggest that the parent bodies have been fragmented and reassembled into a megabreccia. For the H chondrites, both large and small peaks contain about 15% solar-gas bearing meteorites, which could mean that surface material has been mixed to depths represented by the largest event, on the order of a kilometer. In contrast, only 3% of the L's contain solar wind, which may be related to breakup of their parent planet. Those L's with especially low radiogenic He (U,Th-He ages < 1 AE) tend to have low exposure ages: their distribution may be biased by a subgroup that had orbits coupling short capture lifetimes with significant solar heating.     

Gender equity in fairtrade-organic coffee producer organizations: Cases from Mesoamerica

Data from Mesoamerican studies shows that the proportion of women registered as ‘farm operators’ in fairtrade-organic coffee producer unions has increased significantly. However, this increase is uneven across Mesoamerican communities and the prospects for improved gender equity rest on several questions that we explore in this study. First, what explains the large discrepancies in participation across groups? Second, what effect does the ‘farm operator’ status have on women’s ability to participate in producer unions and in fairtrade-organic coffee networks? Third, how will fairtrade-organic organizational and procedural norms affect women’s insertion into the coffee ‘value-chain’? Making use of ethnographic, archival, and survey data we find that fairtrade organizational norms combine with organic procedural norms to bring significant impacts in three areas: women’s organizations have greater access to network benefits, women gain greater control over farm practices, and women enjoy increased access to cash. However, we also find that the burden of complying with norms together with stagnant real prices excludes some women who might otherwise benefit from expanded participation.     

Everywhere different? Globalisation and the impact of international migration on Sydney and Melbourne

Using a new approach to classifying migrant group concentrations, we test for evidence of the effects of globalisation, associated by some with ‘protopostmodernity’, on two Australian cities. Sydney is characterised as an emergent world city and a focus of ‘new economy’ activities. Melbourne is associated with ‘old economy’ activities, dominated by manufacturing. In the Australian context, the onset of globalisation also coincided with significant changes to immigration policy: the end of a ‘white Australia’ policy in the early 1970s in favour of a skills-based policy, regardless of race or ethnicity. We argue that the evidence of the spatial behaviour of ethnic groups for these two cities highlights the essential continuity of ethnic segregation and spatial assimilation processes in two cities where segregation levels and experience are fundamentally different from many overseas examples. We further argue for a need to recognise that context, and the ethnic experience, are everywhere different, both intra- and internationally.     

Microbiologically influenced corrosion in dairy effluent

In the dairy industry mild steel is used as the construction material for the effluent treatment plants, pipelines, reinforcement in concrete structures etc. The steel exposed to the dairy effluent faces corrosion due to the microbes. In the present study the role of microbes in dairy effluent on the corrosion of mild steel has been investigated. Pseudomonas sp., Streptococcus sp., Micrococcus sp., Bacillus sp., Neisseria sp. and Lactobacillus sp. were identified in dairy effluent. Corrosion rate has been estimated by weight loss measurements and polarization technique. The Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and X-ray diffractometer (XRD) studies were found helpful in investigating the chemical pathway leading to the formation of corrosion products on the mild steel during fermentation. Initiation of pitting corrosion was noticed on steel specimens by scanning electron microscope (SEM). A mechanism has been proposed for microbiologically influenced corrosion in dairy effluent.     

Exploring the policy and social factors fueling the expansion and shift of sugarcane production in the Brazilian Cerrado

Within the past decade, the sugarcane ethanol industry in Brazil has increased its production capacity to meet rising domestic demand for ethanol. However, to achieve this growth the industry has had to expand into new frontiers in the Brazilian Cerrado, specifically in the states of Goiás and Mato Grosso do Sul, which is now the second largest producing area of ethanol in Brazil. We argue that the expansion into the Brazilian Cerrado is a result of the interactions between the increase in demand, governmental policies, infrastructure, and factors that have prevented traditional sugarcane producing regions from meeting the increasing demand for ethanol. This paper analyzes the policies that have shaped the sugarcane industry in Brazil and the expansion of the industry across the country. The policies and issues examined include those that led to the concentration and consolidation of the sugarcane industry in the state of São Paulo and the consequences of this consolidation; the influence of governmental policies on the decision-making process of producers and industry; the state-level policies designed to expand the industry into Goiás and Mato Grosso do Sul states; infrastructure development; and the Sugarcane Agroecological Zoning policies. Through this study we conclude that the ethanol industry identified the Cerrado states as an opportunity for investment, given the good agricultural conditions for producing sugarcane, affordable land prices and favorable state-level fiscal incentive policies. In addition, there is a need for further regional development policies as the interaction between the sugarcane sector and regional government is likely to continue into the future.