Profitability, Liquidity and Solvency of Wood Harvesting Contractors in Finland

In order to respond to global competition challenges, the wood-processing industry in Finland and elsewhere is outsourcing roundwood harvesting to harvesting contractors. The industry also seeks to negotiate with fewer, larger and more diverse contractor enterprises. The weak profitability, liquidity and solvency of harvesting contractors and the consequent difficulty in hiring qualified machine operators make networking and enterprise growth a complicated process. Financial data of 1,060 Finnish wood harvesting contractors from the period 2001 to 2007 were studied using the ‘closing of the accounts’ data. The material represents most of the full-time contractors. For 2007 net profit was about 6%, credit share of turnover over 50% and median financial reserve €18,000. High machine depreciation and interest expenses together with low solidity make it difficult for small enterprises to absorb seasonal variations and to cope with recessions. Profitability varies considerably amongst smallest enterprises, which most often are sole-operator enterprises. Moreover, even the median profit of the smallest enterprises tends to be negative, which means that enterprise capital will be consumed and many enterprises are at risk of failure. Larger enterprises are more likely to be limited liability companies. Their median profit is clearly positive and the profit varies relative little between enterprises.     

Economic and policy considerations regarding hydropower and migratory fish

Environmental standards have rarely been applied for promoting the joint production of hydropower and migratory fish. The objective of this study was to review existing research results on the effectiveness and costs of alternative measures improving fish migration, which are necessary for the development of environmental standards. The ranking of alternative measures indicates that cost‐effective combinations of measures are case‐specific and highly dependent on measure design, implementation and maintenance. In addition to tailored ex ante cost‐effectiveness analyses, other preconditions for cost savings include effective and affordable monitoring and enforcement, and cooperation among power companies that share water‐use rights within a river basin as well as among other stakeholders, such as the local community, fishermen and recreational users.     

Loss function analysis of private forest owners’ timber price change expectations

Loss function analysis was introduced to timber market price analysis. Methods found in Bayesian statistical decision analysis were applied to expectations of market price changes. These were obtained from a forest owner survey conducted in Finland in 2009. Forecast errors of heterogeneous price expectations of the individual private forest owners were derived with observed price changes in six different timber price regions. The forecast errors were complemented with random number simulations to control for unobserved response heterogeneity. The properties and estimation of generalized loss functions – LIN-EX and flexible loss functions – allowing for asymmetry in individual forecast errors were introduced into the analysis. Estimation results for different price regions implied that forest owners’ perceived costs related to positive forecast errors of negative price changes that took place in 2009 were larger than those related to negative errors. This under-prediction vs. over-prediction asymmetry was large in some price regions. The forest owners exhibited an aversion to losses reflected in price expectations errors in the year 2009. The observed loss aversion means that forest owners were cautious in their selling decisions during periods of declining market prices. This has a negative impact on the recovery of slack timber markets.     

Effect of Sowing Technique on Growth of Undersown Crop and Yield of Spring Barley

Undersowing a main crop enables establishment of a catch crop in areas characterized by a short post-harvest period before the onset of winter. Techniques with lower costs than conventional undersowing by separate drilling are often regarded as unreliable. Undersowing by drilling after sowing spring barley ( Hordeum vulgare L.) was compared with broadcast sowing simultaneously with drilling barley. Various implements were coupled behind the combined drill in cases where seed was broadcast: a press-wheel attachment, a long-tined harrow and a cage roller. A fourth treatment did not include an implement coupled behind the drill. The undersown crop was sown as a seed mixture of 3 kg ha^–1 red clover ( Trifolium pratense L.) and 6 kg ha^–1 meadow fescue ( Festuca pratensis Hudson). The numbers of plants and weeds and the plant height were measured five times during the growing season. Above-ground biomass of the undersown species was determined at barley harvest and in late autumn. Grain yield of spring barley was recorded. Drilling resulted in the highest yield of undersown crop when an early summer drought occurred, but broadcasting in combination with use of seed covering equipment led to the least variation in biomass production over the 4 years the experiment was conducted. The relative proportion of meadow fescue in the crop was low in three years, and lower when broadcast than when drilled. Barley grain yield was highest when the seed was broadcast and seed covering equipment was used. Use of a cage roller increased weed biomass, but press-wheels and a long-tined harrow did not. Separate rolling after undersowing increased undersown crop yield in one year, but decreased grain yield in some cases.     

Plasma concentration and cardiovascular effects of intramuscular medetomidine combined with three doses of the peripheral alpha2-antagonist MK-467 in dogs

Objective

We investigated the plasma concentrations and cardiovascular effects of intramuscularly (IM) administered medetomidine, administered alone or with three different doses of MK-467.

Competitive behaviour of dairy cows at a concentrate self-feeder

Abstract

We investigated whether feeding cows are disturbed by butting of other cows during the time they are in a concentrate self-feeder, and whether this leads to concentrate leftovers. Forty dairy cows were observed while visiting two self-feeders. If a cow was butted visiting the self-feeder, it was considered as ‘disturbed visit’. When retreating from the feeder within five seconds after being butted, the visit was also considered ‘interrupted’. Half of the visits were disturbed, and 42% of visits were also interrupted. Visits were disturbed particularly when cows’ own feed was dispensed, and in 63% of disturbed visits concentrates were left over. The non-lactating cows, denied concentrates, won leftover concentrates after butting the previous visitor more often than lactating cows. Cows’ weight correlated negatively with visiting and receiving butting. Initiated butting correlated positively with winning leftover concentrates. There is a need for further development of automatic feeders to secure individual concentrate feeding.     

Soil microbial effects of a Cu-Ni smelter in southwestern Finland

Summary The influence of a Cu-Ni smelter on the soil microbial parameters: physiological groups of bacteria, soil respiration, fungal hyphal length, and green-needle litter decomposition, were investigated. The microbial parameters were reduced and this was significantly explained (P<0.01) by the supplied environmental variables: exchangeable Ca, Mg, K, Mn, Cu, Ni, Cd, Zn, soil moisture, pH, and organic C as loss on ignition (Canoco, RDA-analysis). The importance of measuring exchangeable cations for major and trace elements appeared to be a relevant factor that must be considered when establishing relationships between microbial populations, their activity and the effect of heavy metals.