Capitalising the farm family entrepreneur: negotiating private equity partnerships in Australia

ABSTRACT

Research on the financialisation of land and agribusiness has highlighted major shifts in agri-food systems globally. Yet these accounts tend to focus on the activities of financial actors, and few take seriously the role of farmers in negotiating investments in land and agribusiness. Farmers in the global North may be well placed to benefit from partnerships with financial investors, although little is known about the way that such partnerships are formed. Australian studies of farmer agency have been productive in examining farm family entrepreneurs and globally engaged farmers who work beyond the farm gate to organise supply chains. This paper adds to these studies by providing insights about a capitalising farm family entrepreneur, who successfully negotiated and entered into a direct equity partnership with a large foreign pension fund. Several observations are significant: the exceptional skill, time and expense required to negotiate these partnerships; the role of consultants and non-human actors in structuring them; and the spatially- and temporally divergent farm development practices that are enabled by a shift from debt to equity financing. These observations are indicative of a new adaptive strategy of family farmers to shifting financial landscapes and of emergent family, corporate, and financial farm hybridity.     

福建深沪湾晚更新世沉积、古环境和地壳形变

研究福建深沪湾多种相的晚更新世沉积,包括有冲洪积相的含砾砂黏土、湖相黏土、潮间带生物沉积相即大片的古牡蛎滩及滨海相河口潮滩砂黏土和风成老红砂等,研究了它们的沉积学特征和形成古环境及其可能反映的复杂的构造形变.沉积相特征表明,深沪湾地壳经历了距今约60 000 a以来早期的可能下沉(距今约28 000 a开始海浸)—距今约25 000~15 000 a的与水动型海平面上升速率大致相同的抬升(生成晚更新世古牡蛎滩)—距今约15 000~11 000 a的可能与古强地震相关的快速抬升(古牡蛎滩脱离海面形成古牡蛎滩台地,深沪湾地区生成多个陆地凹陷)—距今约11 000~7 000 a的相对稳定(凹陷内生长古森林)—距今约7 000 a的古强地震快速下沉(形成潟湖、古森林沉溺)—相对稳定—微弱抬升(又一次成陆)—距今约2 400 a的又一次古强地震快速下沉(形成海底古森林及潮间带古牡蛎滩遗迹)—相对稳定(海岸堤形成)的地壳形变及环境变迁过程.     

农作物成熟、收获动态预报和农产品交售、收购资金计划调度初探

在具体分析农作物成熟，收获和农产品交售，收购过程的基础上，根据历年农产品收购进度资料，初步探讨了农作物成熟，收获动态预报和农产品交售，收购之间的动态变化关系，建立了农作物成熟，收获动态预报模型，为农产品交售，收购资金合理计划，调度提供了科学依据。     

正确处理好四个关系 实现企业又好又快发展

本文从事关企业发展的重要环节入手,力争在更高层次上不断提升企业综合实力,提高发展质量,实现“创造精品、服务社会”的承诺,以适应城市建设的高标准和严要求,实现企业又好又快发展。     

元坝高研磨性地层提速提效集成钻井技术

四川元坝地区陆相下沙溪庙组—须家河组地层岩性复杂、可钻性差、研磨性强、地层压力高,使用牙轮钻头、PDC钻头等常规钻井技术钻速慢、周期长、效率低,引进扭力冲击器+PDC钻头、孕镶金刚石钻头+涡轮等进口提速工具费用昂贵,提速效果明显,但经济效益差。为降低钻井成本,结合地层地质特性,开展了个性化钻头及配套提速工具的研制及优选,形成了元坝高研磨性地层提速提效集成钻井技术,即自流井组珍珠冲段以上地层采用研制的KS1362ADGR型PDC钻头+国产大扭矩螺杆马达;珍珠冲及须家河组地层优选国产NR826M型孕镶金刚石钻头+高转速螺杆马达。通过3口井现场试验表明：同比2012—2013年完钻井指标,平均机械钻速提高64.7%;在井段长度增加8.7%的情况下,平均钻井周期缩短36.3%。该技术将对川东北、川西须家河组等高研磨性地层钻井具有指导作用。     

云开大山冬季热量资源利用

云开大山位于南亚热带南缘,种植亚热带作物热量有余,种热带作物常常不能安全越冬。为了合理利用地形环境,本文分析了山地环境避寒原理,给出了平流型寒害的综合表达指标,根据不同地形环境,提出了作物合理种植的建议。     

石家庄市主要大气污染物的数值预报

应用CAPPS城市大气污染潜势和污染指数预报系统，对石家庄市主要大气污染物（SO2，NOX，TSP）的污染指数（API）进行模拟分析，结果表明，用CAPPS作城市大气污染预报时，应加入污染物排放的时间系数（Ti)订正和经验系数（Ki)订正，对北方城市而言，还须加入扬尘百分率（F）订正，用加入Ti,Ki和F订正后的CAPPS预报系统，对石家庄市大气污染物（SO2，NOx,TSP)进行模拟，结果SO2，NOx,TSP三种污染物的预报值与其监测值的相关系数分别提高到0．951，0．854和0．880。     

The special climate change fund: origins and prioritisation assessment

The Special Climate Change (SCC) fund was established by the Marrakesh Accords under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. This fund will finance climate change activities in the areas of: adaptation, technology transfer, certain specific sectors, and activities to assist oil-exporting countries diversify their economies. These activities are to be complementary to those funded by the Global Environment Facility and by bilateral and multilateral funding. This paper describes the origins of the SCC fund and proposes a framework for the prioritisation of its activities. The fund has a complicated history that is intrinsically linked to numerous Convention issues, which explains the range of activities included in it. The framework proposed is based on certain principles: sound scientific knowledge, the ultimate objective of the Convention, “common but differentiated responsibilities and respective capabilities” and the status of the climate negotiations. This appraisal suggests that the fund should prioritise adaptation, followed by mitigation and finally economic diversification.     

The Geography of Mutual Fund Assets

Mutual funds are the primary investment vehicle for individual retirement savings, but the spatial aspects of mutual fund investments have not been examined. This paper discusses the characteristics of the mutual fund industry and compares them to other financial industries. Previous studies of the financial industry and quaternary location theory are used to formulate three hypotheses predicting the distribution of mutual fund assets: (1) mutual fund assets will concentrate in the largest urban centers; (2) mutual fund assets will become increasingly concentrated in financial centers over the 1986-1996 period; and (3) the distribution of mutual fund assets will be similar to the distribution of other financial activities. Examination of mutual fund asset data from 1986 and 1996 did not fully support any of the three hypotheses. These findings suggest that the standard elements of quaternary location theory may need to be reevaluated.     

建立我国地震灾害资金补偿机制的思考

文章从我国多地震的国情出发,分析了农村地区和城市应对地震灾害的脆弱性和高风险性,阐述了建立地震灾害资金补偿机制的重要性,并结合国内外情况提出了一些可供实施的建议。