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Publications

NIBIOs employees contribute to several hundred scientific articles and research reports every year. You can browse or search in our collection which contains references and links to these publications as well as other research and dissemination activities. The collection is continously updated with new and historical material.

1999

Abstract

The study examines the economics of combined milk and meat production as an alternative to the current specialised milk production on Norwegian goat. The reasons for the study are 1) to increase goat farm incomes,2) to improve the annual distribution pattern of goat milk and 3) to reduce negative publicity of farmers killing surplus goat kids just after birth. The most promising management practice would be to change the time of kidding from February to late April or May, combined with suckling the kids during the daytime until August. The kids are to be slaughtered in August in order to utilise the summer grazing period and market the kids the month before start of the lamb slaughter season. While the kids are being suckled, the does are milked once per day and after weaning the does are milked twice a day, thereby increasing milk deliveries during autumn and winter when milk prices are higher. A discussion of how the natural conditions and the Norwegian agricultural policy contribute to the results increases the value of the study.

Abstract

In this paper we first discuss the consumption behaviour of Norwegian farm households. Then, possible consumption models are outlined and our data sample is described. In the next section we discuss the use of panel data methods to estimate our consumption function. Finally, the results from estimating a consumption function with the DPD computer program are discussed. The preliminary results indicate that the GMM estimation using the system estimator of Blundell and Bond (1998) may be superior to the other methods. The parameter of the lagged dependent variable is inside the limits indicated by the OLS and the within estimator. The second lag of the dependent variable is rejected as an instrument and there are strong indications of serial correlation. Later on, we have to transform the model to make the serial correlation disappear. In a later version of this paper we will test if the MPC is changing over time. We will also test if there are different effects from price- and production dependent agricultural income and other income.

Abstract

This report focuses on agriculture and its impacts in rural areas. Agriculture is an important activity in the Norwegian periphery, directly and indirectly. A deregulation of agriculture will most probably have negative impacts on agricultural production and employment. This, in turn, will have negative impacts on other sectors. Since agriculture is overrepresented in the periphery, and there are few alternative sources of employment, reduced activity in agricultural can lead to increased centralisation. This can be a problem since the relatively low population densities already imply a danger of depopulation in the periphery. Some motivations for regulating agriculture are based on the sector's importance in the periphery. Regulations are also motivated by other facts. It is very difficult to distinguish precisely between rurality and other motivations. However, part of the motivation is agricultural production itself, or aims that can be deducted from production. Distribution of income is an example of this. From a theoretical point of view, subsidies should, in order to be as efficient as possible, be directed directly towards the problems they are meant to cure. If the aim for granting agricultural support is rural development and not agricultural production, then it is better to grant subsidies that do not depend upon production. Rural development (RD) can be thought of as complementary to agricultural production (AP): (*) RD = f(AP), f'(AP) > 0 This means that you get more RD if AP increases, and less RD if AP decreases. By subsidising AP, you will automatically get more RD. The function (*) does not, however, say anything about the efficiency of subsiding AP for gaining RD, compared to using the same amount of subsidies directly at gaining RD. The function does not describe whether subsidies that are production dependent are preferable to non-production subsidies from a rural development point of view. Using the function (*) and the fact that the secondary effects of reducing agricultural subsidies may be substantial in the peripheries, one may argue, however, that agriculture is important and that agricultural production is an essential industry for rural development. We would also like to underline the fact that agricultural has several non-food impacts and that multifunctionality is much more than rural development. It is especially difficult to distinguish between «rural development» and «cultural landscape». The relationship between them should probably be discussed further.

1998

Abstract

The seasonal variations in volume of the milk in Norwegian goat dairyfarming, complicate production of brand goat cheeses. In the specialised goat dairy farming system most kids are culled shortly after birth without utilising the meat. In this paper the farm economics of an alternative system with altered period of kidding (currently in theperiod from January to March) combined with production of meat and cashmere fibre, is examined. May kidding combined with raising the kids for 8 or 20 months yielded the m ost promising economical return. Raising the kids one year is also profitable when kidding takes place in February while December kidding seems to perform best with thepresent system of culling the kids right after birth. Cashmere fibre production seems to be profitable on Norwegian dairy goat farms and fibre and meat could become an optio n in countries seeking to improve incomes on dairy goat farms. Compared to the present system the changes also would be favourable from an animal welfare point of view.

1996

1995