Edinburgh Research Archive logo

Edinburgh Research Archive

University of Edinburgh homecrest
View Item 
  •   ERA Home
  • Biological Sciences, School of
  • Biological Sciences thesis and dissertation collection
  • View Item
  •   ERA Home
  • Biological Sciences, School of
  • Biological Sciences thesis and dissertation collection
  • View Item
  • Login
JavaScript is disabled for your browser. Some features of this site may not work without it.

An investigation of the application of programming techniques to farm management problems, with special reference to beef cattle feeding in the Lothians of Scotland and in Alberta

View/Open
MacHardyFV_1965redux.pdf (25.02Mb)
Date
1965
Author
MacHardy, Fenton Vincent
Metadata
Show full item record
Abstract
 
 
The Lothians of Scotland are generally farmed intensive- ly, with arable farming predominating in the more easterly regions. Potatoes form an integral part of the cropping pat- tern with sugar beets and turnips somewhat less widely grown. Wheat and barley are the principal cereal crops. Grass is in- cluded in the rotation on practically every farm. The returns from cropping are usually complemented by returns from the production of beef cattle. Farmers of the area usually have one or more beef cattle enterprises, frequently with emphasis on fattening cattle for slaughter.
 
The farming pattern, with emphasis on potato production, requires a substantial labour force, measured on an "acres per man" basis, as compared to less intensively farmed areas such as the unirrigated portions of Alberta. The availability of this labour force during non -critical seasons might be expect- ed to result in a level of mechanization differing from that developed for less intensively farmed areas. For field work, a larger number of smaller capacity machines might be expected, and for cattle feeding a lower level of mechanization might be expected. Despite these expectations there is a keen interest in highly mechanized processes. This is particularly evident in processes associated with cattle production.
 
This intensive, well integrated pattern of agriculture offers a challenging application for linear programming as a management aid. In addition, the interaction between cropping practise, manpower availability, and level of mechanization, particularly with respect to beef cattle feeding, offers an excellent medium for the extension of linear programming into the fixed -cost sector of farm business.
 
Tabulated, the objectives of the research leading to the preparation of this thesis were to:
 
1) Investigate the application of linear programming as an aid to farm planning in the Lothians.
 
2) Complementary to this objective, to assess the availability and suitability of Scottish agri- culture research data for the preparation of linear programmes.
 
3) The development of extensions to linear programming to permit the analysis of any mechanized activity in full economic association with other farm activities.
 
4) An investigation of the use of linear programming, with extensions, as a method for determining the optimum levels of mechanization for beef cattle feeding.
 
URI
http://hdl.handle.net/1842/28483
Collections
  • Biological Sciences thesis and dissertation collection

Library & University Collections HomeUniversity of Edinburgh Information Services Home
Privacy & Cookies | Takedown Policy | Accessibility | Contact
Privacy & Cookies
Takedown Policy
Accessibility
Contact
feed RSS Feeds

RSS Feed not available for this page

 

 

All of ERACommunities & CollectionsBy Issue DateAuthorsTitlesSubjectsPublication TypeSponsorSupervisorsThis CollectionBy Issue DateAuthorsTitlesSubjectsPublication TypeSponsorSupervisors
LoginRegister

Library & University Collections HomeUniversity of Edinburgh Information Services Home
Privacy & Cookies | Takedown Policy | Accessibility | Contact
Privacy & Cookies
Takedown Policy
Accessibility
Contact
feed RSS Feeds

RSS Feed not available for this page