The role of and the approach to the countryside and the environment has undergone dramatic changes in recent decades as relations between sustainable, multi-functional agriculture and the need for preserving natural resources were realised. On the other hand, to be successful in a commercial...

The purpose of this study was to investigate the management behaviours of six top performing sheep and beef farmers from the South Island of New Zealand. Information was obtained through interviews using grounded theory qualitative research methodology. All six farmers were found to be...

Ma'ayan is a software package developed by the Israeli extension service. The package was developed under the assumption that extension has a comparative advantage in bridging the gap between farmers' need for innovative farm management practice, managerial information and software to support...

Farmers the world over face many common problems in the early part of the 21st century. However there are none so dependant on farming for their very survival than many smallholders in Africa, who often rely entirely on production from their limited land area to provide both staple foodstuffs...

The most dramatic change occurring in agricultural production is the change in business strategies. In the US, family farmers have traditionally made decisions with whatever information they could independently gather. Today, the ability to assimilate an overload of data into decision making...

Semi-arid and arid lands cover approximately two-thirds of Australia. These heartlands are the focus of a 7-year research project (Desert Knowledge Cooperative Research Centre - DK-CRC) that has the vision of developing a sustainable future through the development of thriving desert knowledge...

The ability to adapt to changing circumstance is a determinant of future farm prosperity. Managers need to assess the performance of their current farming system and alternative farming options to identify possible profitable management changes. This paper uses the STEP (Simulated Transitional...

Benchmarking is the practice of establishing the relative performance of a business or enterprise against an appropriate standard, generally industry standards derived from a survey of farms. The Policy Commission into the Future of Farming and Food (2002) highlighted a need to spread and...

Hungary and Poland are two applicant countries, which know the date of the admission into European Union, but the problems of the agriculture are great in both of them. The ways to the recent conditions were different, but the economic situation is similar. In Poland, mainly on the Eastern part...

This paper is a summary of a project that compared the relative profitability of existing, emerging and prospective agroforestry systems with profitability of conventional agricultural land uses in the cropping zones of Western Australia and New South Wales. The project explored the economic...