The Healthcheck is an evaluation of the 2003 years reform of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP). When the Healthcheck of CAP is decided, most likely in the beginning of 2009, there will be a discussion about how CAP will appear in the next budget period 2013. One main question in the Healthcheck is how the farm support will be designed. A suggestion that has arised is if todays addition amount for dairy- and beef production should be transferred to the fundamental farm support. In this exam theses calculations has been done in created typical farms in every Swedish support region for cereals-, dairy- and beef production.

Heat stress negatively influences the performance of dairy cattle such as lactation and reproduction. Heat stress can cause production losses as well as welfare problems. Years of research have shown that heat stress is a huge problem for dairy cattle in both the tropics and temperate zones but no such research have so far been done in northern European countries. It seems like shade is an important tool when improving pasture conditions and therefore deserves more attention. The aim with this study was to investigate whether there is a need of providing shade for grazing dairy cows during the summer in Sweden. Two groups of lactating Swedish Red dairy cows (n=15 per group) were kept on pasture.

Organic material used for biogas production can also undergo other treatments. The emissions and impact from the different treatments are evaluated in this environmental assessment, with a focus on energy and climate. The materials included in the study are organic household waste, slaughterhouse waste and liquid manure. Other than biogas production, the possible treatments for organic household waste and slaughterhouse waste are incineration and composting, and for liquid manure storing and spreading. The analysis is based on data and information from current and relevant literature, and relates to the conditions in the Swedish energy system.

Biogas is a renewable energy produced through anaerobic digestion, which means that organic matter is degraded by microorganisms under anaerobic conditions. The produced biogas can then be used for cogeneration, electricity, heat or upgraded to vehicle gas. Eskilstuna Energy & Environment AB has four digesters at Ekeby water sewage treatment plant, Eskilstuna. One of the biogas reactor (RK4) is equipped with a jet-mixing system while the remaining digester uses top-mixing. The mixing system is an important parameter to achieve optimum operating conditions for the process regarding gas production and degree of digestion.

Transportation represents 10-15 % of wood supply costs. It is therefore important to improve efficiency in the transport system to decrease these costs. The aim of this study is to map the timber vehicle routing processes used by a sample of timber hauling contractors and to identify possible links between the vehicle routing process and service and economic variables. The study was carried out at Södra Skog in autumn 2008. 15 timber hauling contractors were sampled and interviewed about their work with timber transports.

This study examines how gender is at work in four series of teaching material of Swedish in the years 7-9 of the Swedish primary school. Analyzing eight books in total, and also their respective teacher?s manuals, the study focuses on the following aspects in both texts and pictures within the books: heteronormativity, marginalization, stereotypes, equality, and also general gender related issues. Doing so, this study approaches the analyzed material with the eyes of a feminist critic. Moreover, this study applies both a qualitative and a quantitative analysis as its method of approach. Initially, the theoretical background and scientific method for this study is presented.

The Swedish dairy sector is facing several challenges the coming years. One big challenge is how they will secure the access of their raw material milk in the future. The number of milk producers has decreased for an extended period of time, but was for a long time partly compensated by an increased productivity among the remaining milk producers. From year 2000 that trend was broken and also the quantity of milk produced started to fall quickly. Milko is a dairy company with members from Dalsland in the south to Jämtland in the north. During the first seven moths 2007, their number of members decreased by almost a fourth, from 1 272 to 974.

Extreme Production Makeover? fångade vårt intresse för en tid sedan, strax innan vi skulle börja skriva vår C-uppsats. Metoden går ut på att under mycket kort tid förändra och effektivisera en produktionslina för att höja produktiviteten. Vi blev genast nyfikna på om Extreme Production Makeover? skulle gå att omsätta i administrativa flöden och tjänste-flöden med ett informationslogistiskt perspektiv.Inom produktion finns det en lång tradition av att arbeta med effektiviseringar och förbättringar.

The heterosis effect and breed group effect of crossbreds between Swedish Holstein (SH) and Swedish Red (SRB) was estimated in this study. Observations on cows born between 1990 and 2012 were used to estimate the heterosis effect and breed group effect for several traits included in the Nordic breeding goals: production, fertility, udder health, calving performance, survival and other diseases. Breeding within the Holstein dairy breed has earlier been focused on increased milk production and conformation. This, combined with an intensive use of individual animals, has resulted in a radical increase of milk yield in the Holstein dairy cow population all over the world. However, this breeding strategy has resulted in increased inbreeding and several functional traits have impaired.

This report is a thesis work for a B.Sc. in Forestry exam at the School for Forest Engineers, SLU. The work was an assignment from Sydved Energy AB. The aim of the work was to compare the operational productivity between two kinds of forwarders for extraction of harvesting residues, one forwarder with a special compression device and one ordinary, slightly modified forwarder. Two sites were studied for each forwarder. The study shows that the annual production was about 11,000 m3 higher for the traditional forwarder. The cost for the traditional forwarder was SEK 0.9 lower per m3.

Protected Designation of Origin (PDO) is a quality control system created by the European Union (EU) to protect integrity of certain food and drinks that are produced in a specific area in a unique way. By protecting these products, the EU can certify that the traditional region-specific methods of food and drink production are preserved. The EU countries that follow such a system are mostly from Southern Europe. For instance in France, the PDO system has helped improve the income for farmers, boosted the rural development and assured protection for farmers against the abuse of their brand and the selling of their products by outsiders. In Sweden, there are no PDO products yet, instead there is Protected Geographical Indication (PGI) and Traditional Speciality Guarantee (TSG) that are not as protective as PDO.

This report is a literature review that aims to describe marketing contexts for mango production in Kenya. The institutional conditions in the country are not well developed for marketing purposes, which causes many difficulties and problems for the society. In Kenya most mango producers are poor small-scale farmers with limited resources. Mango is a perishable commodity and to keep its value and quality it is essential to have the opportunity to sell the mangos in the right time. Inefficient and undeveloped infrastructure and marketing systems hinders the mangos to reach the market in time though, which causes large losses of produce.The Kenyan mango production has increased during the last decade but due to market losses for the producer, the small-scale farmers? profits have not improved.

Optimizing energy systems is, in Sweden, as in many other countries, of growing interest. District heating systems are no exception. In 2012, 285 out of 290 municipals in Sweden had district heating in use and the majority of these systems have a higher return temperature than that which is possible with an error-free substation of day current technology. To, when possible, lower the return temperature is a way of increasing the effectiveness of the district heating system.This study means to investigate, through simulations and calculations, how big of a reduction in production cost a lower temperature in the city of Ystad?s district heating system would correspond to.

The purpose of my study was to explore how preschool educators in Kenya look at children's influence on teaching. Researchers have argued that the formal educational system in Kenya today is a remnant of its days as a colony when people were expected to blindly follow rules without questioning them. I have used qualitative interviews as a method in order get the most concrete understanding of educators? views on the influence from children. The educators I interviewed were based at a school I visited in Kenya.

?Development of methods for the planning and implementation of ditch clearing with modern methods?, is a long title for an exam work but that is what this report describes. In Sweden, we have a limited area available, and with the present development with increasing market oil prices, and enormous forces on the renewable energy sources, we need every hectare possible to protect the output of the forests. So with this in mind, many people are now considering how to increase the production of the forests that are already available. A part of production increases is to manage the existing forests, and not to allow this area to go to cultivation or become marshland. We manage our forests in a way that benefits the environment, and we consider that our working practice over the years has shown us to be correct and well functioning. A part of our way of producing forests is to ensure that we have functioning drainage systems in the forest holdings which we administer. The responsible at Holmen Skog requested a good method to make inventories of the drainage systems of Holmen forests. This Degree Project is about ways to identify and implement drainage systems with modern methods. It deals with authorities regulations, and how they operate in different counties.