Among farmers in Sweden hedging of product prices is a relatively new way of thinking. A deregulated market and a more volatile price picture are consequences of the free market and the movements towards globalization. The effects of globalization are largely a demand- and supply driven market. These factors give the farmers incentives to stay informed and to act on their own in order to manage their price risk exposure.The overall purpose with this study is to analyze the farmers? attitudes and awareness of price hedging and to examine what type of decision processes that characterize hedging decisions.The study covers the period 2006 until 2008 and the crops oil seeds, Barley (malt), milling wheat, feed wheat, oats and feed oats.

Optimization of soil tillage and crop rotation is important in many aspects, but particularly in maximizing profit margins. Since the economic outcome is usually decisive, it can be interesting to study different combinations of soil tillage systems and crop rotations in order to identify the maximum economic outcome. How a crop functions in a particular tillage system determines whether it is profitable to grow that crop. Different tillage systems affect the soil and its processes in different ways. Reduced tillage often works best on weak-structured heavy clays and on silty clays.

Along with other European farmland birds, the skylark (Alauda arvensis) has declined rapidly since the 1970?s. Between 1975 and 2003, the Swedish population of skylarks declined with 64 %. In Britain, the decline is often explained by alterations in farming practices in general and the shift from spring-sown to winter-sown cereals in particular. The dense vegetation structure of winter cereals is limiting the number of breeding attempts possible, causing the entire population to decline.

The current situation for Swedish grain farmers facing a situation with decreasing profitability makes it necessary for the farmers to find ways of increasing the margins in their grain growing. Decreasing profitabilities along with Lantmännens closing of grain elevators contribute to the necessity for farmers to invest in grain storing and drying at the farm. By investing in capacity for drying and storage of grain on the farm it is possible to recieve a higher price on the grain sold due to the possibility to sell when the price is higher compared to the harvesting season. An investment in grain drying and storage with a relatively low investment cost that recently has appeared on the Swedish market is the grain stir drying system. This study contains a comparison of an investment in a grain stir drying system where the grain is dried and stored in the same silo and a conventional drying and storage system.

By using pollen analysis, 14C-dating and historical sources, I studied the history of vegetation and land use at an abandoned forest settlement near the Lade summer farms in the parish of Mora, Dalama. The aim of this paper is to investigate the agricultural establishment and development, the effects of this on forest vegetation, and the origin and development of summer farming. The analysis of pollen in a peat core revealed that a settlement was established at Lade around 1000 AD. Cereal cultivation, hay-making on the mire and extensive forest grazing were intro-duced as a complete agricultural system. Pollen analysis and the presence of ancient fields suggests that cultivation took place on permanent fields. Barley was the main crop, but rye and hops/hemp were also grown at the settlement.

Sahlgrenska Academyat University of GothenburgDepartment of Internal Medicine and Clinical NutritionAbstractTitle: The effect of naturally existent beta-glucan in adults with hypercholesterolemia. - a systematic review with focus on the Swedish food market.Author: Ida Edman Hellberg, Frida HanssonSupervisor: Mette AxelsenExaminer: Anna WinkvistProgramme: Dietician study programme, 180/240 ECTSType of paper: Examination paper, 15 hpDate: May 01, 2014Background EFSA states in 2010 that there are good evidence that three grams of beta-glucan/day from oat as a part of a balanced diet, has a positive effect on total cholesterol and LDL.Objective Evaluate if there is evidence for primary treatment of lifestyle related hypercholesterolemia with products naturally containing beta-glucan.Search strategyIn February 2014 the databases PubMed and Scopus were used for article research. The search terms used were; cholesterol level, beta-glucan, hypercholesterolemia, oat and Barley.Selection criteria Articles, written in Swedish and English, on RCT-studies conducted on otherwise healthy adults with hypercholesterolemia (serum cholesterol >5,0 mmol/L) were included. The intervention product must naturally contain beta-glucan, and an equally product should be retailed in Swedish grocery stores. The control group needed to be supplied with a placebo product and the participants could not be on any lipid-lowering medication.

Distillers? grain is a by-product of ethanol production. Corn, wheat and Barley are the grains that are generally used in the distillery process. Distillers? grain is rich in protein and phosphorus.

The cattle production in the world has been questioned in Sweden due to its negative impacts on the environment. The use of imported soya bean meal as a protein feed for Swedish cattle results in the cutting of rainforest and an extensive use of pesticides in the countries were the soya beans are produced. As a consequence, the environmental impacts caused by cattle production increases. A production of protein feeds in Sweden would decrease the transportations and the cutting of rainforest. For organic beef producers the possibility to produce home-grown protein feeds is important since organic protein feeds can be difficult to obtain in another way.