The structural rationalization of the agricultural sector in Sweden has led to many expansive, professional companies orientated towards growth. The agricultural sector is a very capital-intense sector and is characterized by the need for large sums of capital in form of buildings, inventory and arable land. The capital need is especially large for companies who have an ambition of growth and development of the company in the near future. The study is built upon six cases that all can be categorized as large agricultural farms with a turnover exceeding 20 million Swedish crowns. The companies are located in the middle and in the south of Sweden and are in the sector of primary production with focus on dairy-, pork-, egg-, chicken-, beef-, vegetables- and grain production as well as in the business of refining milk towards consumers. The study aims to identify the motives and driving forces that lies behind the growth of a farm-based company. The agricultural companies' motive for growth is studied based on which factors that influence the ambition to grow and to what extent these factors accord to the picture given by earlier research of small companies outside the agricultural sector.

This study had two different aims. The main aim was to investigate the dynamics and impact of African swine fever (ASF) on a farm in Uganda during a recent outbreak through a case study. The second aim was to estimate the presence of two important differential diagnoses of ASF: Classical swine fever (CSF) and Porcine Reproduction and Respiratory syndrome (PRRS).The field and laboratory based case study of the farm level dynamics of ASF virus during a recent outbreak (October-December 2010) on a farm in the district of Mityana, Uganda, was conducted, using interviews, ELISA and RT-PCR. The financial impact on the farm was also estimated. The impact of the outbreak was profound.

The agriculture throughout the world is becoming increasingly deregulated and this has affected the prices of raw materials to fluctuate at a higher degree than earlier. This in turn has made it interesting and in some cases even necessary for the trader as well as the producer to gain knowledge about the trade instruments available to ensure a good enough price for their produced goods. This study encompasses a number of ways to trade grain and oil plants in order to clarify what differences there are in the several contracts that exist in the present situation, economical as well as practical. The various trade instruments available to the producers on the Swedish market are described in the theoretical part of this study. The study also contains a simple arithmetic example, based on historical prices collected from grain traders and trading floors, in order to point out the differences in the economical outcomes depending on the business strategy used to sell the produced goods. The study shows the importance, as a producer, of being able to use and take advantage of the different trading instruments at hand to monitor and exploit the shifts in the market. From an economical point of view it is not enough to just excel at farming but knowledge about the market functions and the trade instruments at hand is also required to be able to secure a good enough price for your goods.

The economic conditions for Swedish dairy farmers are constantly changing. The numbers of producers are declining and the economic conditions for dairy production are weakening debilitating. To improve the economic situation for a farm a hired contractor is a possible solution since previous studies show that machinery cooperation may be beneficial for the farmers. The aim of this study is to examine the possibility for farmers to cut costs by hiring a contractor for harvesting silage. A comparison between using own machinery and hire a contractor is the starting point of this study. Another aim is to discuss the farmer?s decision process when achieving today?s situation and to determinate what factors affect their decisions. The study is based on cases selected from four farms that today have chosen not to or only to some extent, hire a contractor for harvesting silage.

This is a study made because I would like to see how much money can be saved when reduced soil preparations is used. This is a case study, the farm is located in the north vest part of Skåne, Sweden. I have calculated with four different soilpreparation methods. Alternative 1: Conventional soil preparation, the way the farm is managed today. Alternative 2: Ploughing on depth of 12 centimeters, with a ridge packer followed with sowing. Alternative 3: Eco-tillage Alternative 4: Direct drilling The results of my study showes that Alternative 2 is the most profitable. Alternative 4 is very good if you see to dieselexpenses and hours of work, but the yield is far to low. If the numbers are further analized, it showes that in spring barley the differense between Alternative 2 and Alternative 4 is at a minimum. So if there is lack of time for one reason or another, this might be an alternative in spring barley. The differense in how the farm is managed today and the most profitable alternative in the study, Alternative 2 showes that it can be saved up to 60 940 SEK..

This report summarize a simple and efficient way to convert 2D into 3D designs. It explains the benefits of a 3D design compared with 2D, and how those benefits may be used.It will also give the reader a presentation of the company Clean Air Technologies, which for the most part constructs cleaning facilities for power plants. How to create 3D-libraries for some of those facilities will be introduced in this composition.The collaboration with Clean Air Technologies has resulted in several 3D animated movies and rendered images. This has increased the quality of the companies offer presentations, which has made it easier for the prospective customer to get an improved overall image of the power plant design..

In this thesis an energy analysis of ethanol production at the ethanol plant of Lantmännen Agroetanol in Norrköping has been performed. The ethanol plant has been studied in combination with Händelöverket, the combined heat and power plant which provides the ethanol process with steam. The purpose of this study was to determine the energy consumption for the whole production chain from grain to ethanol. The analysis has included the energy consumption for cultivation of grain, production of chemicals, the production chain for wood chips, the steam production and the ethanol plant. The grain and wood chips are both considered raw materials there for the energy content in these are not included as energy input in the system.

In this thesis an energy analysis of ethanol production at the ethanol plant of Lantmännen Agroetanol in Norrköping has been performed. The ethanol plant has been studied in combination with Händelöverket, the combined heat and power plant which provides the ethanol process with steam. The purpose of this study was to determine the energy consumption for the whole production chain from grain to ethanol. The analysis has included the energy consumption for cultivation of grain, production of chemicals, the production chain for wood chips, the steam production and the ethanol plant. The grain and wood chips are both considered raw materials there for the energy content in these are not included as energy input in the system.

The grain market is facing substantial changes. Tradionally, cereal has been a supply-led market i.e. supply conditions have had a major impact on price level or indirectly, through market interventions implemented through the Common Agriculture Policy (CAP). Just a few years ago, Sweden and the EU were not affected so strongly by world market prices for cereals. EU was a surplus-area and to a substantial degree a local market.

Protecting the environment has with time grown to take a more central role in the society. Agriculture plays an important role in the society since this sector produces our food. More thorough research on how agriculture affects the environment is therefore motivated. This research can be used to improve the agricultural practice from an environmental point of view. This is something that both the farmers and the consumers can profit from. This study aims to form the basis for creating environmental indicators for use of nitrogen and energy on dairy farms. Twenty-three farmers in western Sweden have been interviewed about their farms, both organic and conventional. They produce milk with different intensity, defined as the amount of milk delivered (sold) per hectare of arable land.

Generally in Macedonia keeping farm records and farm business planning is not often practiced like an ordinary activity in farming. Therefore one of the crucial things to do it is to comprise and continuously practice record keeping of farm data. The efficient and justified farm business planning should be based on farm records about the previous work of the farm, which will bring a structured approach for planning all the activities, as well as provide a good basis for attracting investors and creditors for the additional expansion of the business.Given that sheep breeding holds an important part of the livestock production in Macedonia, there is a need for adding analytical sheep enterprise budgets to support the farm business planning process at sheep farms.The aim of this research was to develop sheep enterprise budgets created on the best production practice for Macedonian conditions of breeding and test their applicability into the farm business plan model Agriwise Macedonia. The sheep budgets were composed with a process of data collecting consisted of direct farm data (for the cases), expert's consultation and relevant desk research, as well as a literature study. The aim of doing it was to attain more accurate calculations of the enterprise budgets, which will result in a more precise outcome in the farm business plan model Agriwise Macedonia.

The aim with this study was to collect fundamental information, and to plan, a windpower farm in Juddhult , Småland in southern Sweden. The goal is to collect the bestavailable projecting planning support. The pieces of this projecting planning supportthat will be presented is; Environmental Consequence Description (MKB), productioncalculations, comparisons between different plant types, economic calculations, evaluatethe economy and give some farm design suggestions. The imagined wind farm will belocated in forest environment and which may cause a number of new problems. Specialinterest that will be affected, where special consideration because of the forestenvironmental is requested is, hunting, wetlands, ancient monuments and windturbulence.

Our aim with this study is to investigate whether or not Utbildningsradions - which is a public broadcasting agency - educational programmes reproduce the existing gender patterns of the female and male genders. We have chosen to analyse two educational programmes, Home Farm Twins and Rena rama forntiden.We use a social constructionist theory regarding the construction and reproduction of gender and the method we have chosen to use is a qualitative content analysis to study the educational programmes.Our conclusion is that in the case of Home Farm Twins, it reproduces the current stereotypes that exist in society. Rena rama forntiden on the other hand does not, the program has got a clear gender perspective in regards to its content. Though it can be said that in some ways it does not reflect upon the gender patterns that exist in society today, to a satisfactionary extent.Utbildningsradion does not achieve its policy concerning Home Farm Twins, but on the other hand it shows that in the case of Rena rama forntiden they do own up to the standards regarding cultural diversity and creative aim..

The scope of this project is to make a comparison of costs associated with wind and nuclear power in order to decide which one of these is the most suitable in the case of an increased demand for electricity. It is also investigated if there are other factors that can influence the choice of energy source.An average cost is calculated in terms of kronor per kilowatt-hour (SEK/kWh) using cost of investment, operation & maintenance and taxes & subsidies. Total investment cost is recalculated to production cost using the annuity method at three different interest rates (6%, 9% and 12%).The comparison is made between three cases of wind power and two cases of nuclear power. For wind power there are two ocean-based (300MW and 100MW installed capacity, respectively) and one land-based (60MW) wind farm. For nuclear power there is one EPR-reactor (1600MW) and one AP1000-reactor (1100MW).

The cocoa produced in Fiji is exported to industrialized countries for processing of the raw material. The Swedish organization Cocoa Bello is involved in a project to provide the Fijian cocoa farmers with knowledge as well as resources to enable local processing and to attain added value of the cocoa crop. The purpose of this study is to discover a field of application for the Fijian cocoa among the rural population, using an ethnographic design. We spent one week in Namau Settlement, Fiji, where we applied in-depth interviews and participant obser-vations in six families. We found a number of aspects affecting food choices, such as social, economical and cultural beliefs.