Agricultural Books - Page 5

Successful Wine Marketing

James Lapsley, Kirby Moulton

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Total reviews: 2 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

"Successful Wine Marketing" explains the principles, logistics, and strategies of wine marketing and sales, helping any winery or distributor understand the market, find a niche, and develop a successful plan.

Full of descriptions, tips, and real world examples from both wine and business experts, this book distills the lessons and practical knowledge that come out of the highly regarded University of California at Davis short course, given each summer in conjunction with the Office international de la vigne et du vin (OIV).

From the basics of understanding the wine consumer, the marketplace, and trends; to developing strategies through category management, design, and positioning; to understanding the legal environment and distribution chain, "Successful Wine Marketing" is the first publication to provide sound, practical information on both wine and business.

Completely up to date, with information on Internet marketing, small winery strategies, and so much more, "Successful Wine Marketing" is a necessary and valuable resource for small and large wineries, wine consultants and distributors, enology departments and associations, trade associations and agents, short courses and professional development courses, graduate and undergraduate wine marketing courses, and some wine retail outlets.

The Oregon-American Lumber Company: Ain't No More

Edward Kamholz, Jim Blain, Greg Kamholz

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 3 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

This is a lavishly illustrated history of the Oregon-American Lumber Company, during its heyday one of the most important lumber firms in the Pacific Northwest. Operating from 1922 until its closure in 1957, the company provides an illuminating example of the history of lumbering in the region, showing in detail both the opportunities and problems encountered by firms seeking to exploit the area’s rich natural stands of Douglas fir. The story is enhanced by the inclusion of 285 illustrations, most of which are previously unpublished, that depict logging, railroading, and sawmilling activities, and 17 period-specific maps that give the reader a unique perspective on the growth of the company.

The lumbering industry was pivotal to America’s settlement and development, reaching its zenith in the period covered by this book, which shows how Oregon-American’s survival depended on successfully adapting to great changes in market forces and in industry structures, to natural disasters, and to economic crises like the Great Depression. Essential to the company’s objective of supplying lumber to markets in the Midwest farm belt was its relationship with the Great Northern and Northern Pacific Railroads; accordingly, the book provides much information on the railroad networks that made timber extraction possible.

The study is based on fifteen years of archival and on-the-ground research and draws heavily on the extensive collection of Oregon-American records, notably the correspondence files of Judd Greenman, the company president who conceived and executed most of the company’s operating policies. It also includes, as sidebars, engaging oral histories related by employees, which enrich the text and provide a vivid contrast between management and employee viewpoints.

Talking Sheepdogs: Training Your Working Border Collie

Derek Scrimgeour

Amazon Price: $12.89 List Price: $18.95 Not yet published By: Good Life Press

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Total reviews: 2 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

Easy to understand, yet world-class 5 out of 5 stars.
19 of 21 people found this review helpful.

Derek Scrimgeour is a world-class sheepdog trainer; he has run dogs in the English National, the International, and the World trial, puts on training clinics all over Europe and the United States, and runs a training center in England. His book reflects his experience in its breadth and quality; with a little luck, some sheep, and a good dog, you could take a dog from pup to trial-worthy with only this book. Yet it is also easy to understand. All the terms are simply explained, the training is laid out in simple steps, and tips are made on trouble shooting problems. Beyond that, Scrimgeour's methods are among the gentlest in the Border Collie world, rarely using any punishment other than a 'hard voice'. A must buy for any working Border Collie aficionado, whether complete beginner or established expert.

Editorial Review:

Accompanied by explanatory text, color photographs and illustrations 'Talking Sheepdogs' guides the reader from beginner stage to effective working sheepdog right through to supreme championship level using 'the Scrimgeour method of sheepdog training. With plenty of 'sheepdog dog' and ancedotes to make this book an enjoyable as well as information book Derek takes the reader through the special relationship, starting a pup, basic commands and driving, the good and bad moves, introducing the stop, good foundations and starting trialling making this the key reference for anyone wanting to training their sheepdog for farm work.

Beyond the Miracle of the Market: The Political Economy of Agrarian Development in Kenya (Political Economy of Institutions and Decisions)

Robert H. Bates

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Editorial Review:

As capitalism defeated socialism in Eastern Europe, the market displaced the state in the developing world. Robert Bates focuses on Kenya, a country that continued to grow while others declined in Africa, and criticizes the neo-classical turn in development economics. Attributing Kenya's exceptionalism to its economic institutions, Bates relates its subsequent economic decline to the change from the Kenyatta to the Moi regime--and the subsequent use of the power of economic institutions to redistribute rather than to create wealth.

Slaughterhouse Blues: The Meat and Poultry Industry in North America (Case Studies on Contemporary Social Issues)

Donald D. Stull, Michael J. Broadway

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 1 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

Very good book! 5 out of 5 stars.
1 of 14 people found this review helpful.

I haven't read this yet, but I'm getting it for Christmas, and it should be just as good as the other slaughterhouse books! Read it if you want to learn about how badly animals are treated inside slaughterhouses!

Editorial Review:

SLAUGHTERHOUSE BLUES: THE MEAT AND POULTRY INDUSTRY IN NORTH AMERICA draws on more than 15 years of research by the authors, a cultural anthropologist and a social geographer, to present a detailed look at the meat and poultry industry in the United States and Canada. Following chapters on today's beef, poultry, and pork industries, SLAUGHTERHOUSE BLUES examines industry impacts on workers and on the communities that host its plants. The book details the authors' efforts to help communities plan for and mitigate the negative consequences of meat and poultry plants as well as community opposition to confined animal feeding operations. The book concludes by exploring alternatives to North America's model of industrialized meat production.

Biodiesel America: How to Achieve Energy Security, Free America from Middle-east Oil Dependence And Make Money Growing Fuel

Josh Tickell

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 18 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

excellent overview and must read for anyone who wants a solid understanding of America's fastest growing alternative fuel 5 out of 5 stars.
4 of 5 people found this review helpful.

I strongly recomend this book for anyone who wants a very readable overview of the biodiesel world. This book is just as engaging to someone seasoned in the renewable fuels industry as those that are just being introduced to this important subject. Josh Tickell explains things to just the right depth, tackling complicated concepts with straighforward language that helps you understand its relavance.
Buy this book. Give it to your friends. Donate one to the local library!

Why Smart Energy Policy is as Important as A Strong Military 4 out of 5 stars.
3 of 3 people found this review helpful.

An excellent overview of this country's energy history and energy options and a good starting point from which to learn more. Not a left wing political rant nor an argument for biodiesel as an energy panacea. Tickell emphasizes the economic costs of our energy dependence and the benefits of energy self-sufficiency from a practical perspective - certainly a highly relevant subject in light of the turmoil in the Middle East.

Huber is Right and Tickell is wrong. 3 out of 5 stars.
2 of 9 people found this review helpful.

States like Minnesota, Illinois, Michigan, and Oregon have made Biodiesel feasible through political incentives and mandates. The desired affect of the political mandates has been to artificially raise the prices of soybeans and corn. Minnesota fuel law msandates 2% of the diesel fuel include biodiesel and an additional law favoring corn support requires gasoline too include 10% ethanol. Locally owned and operated, Ethanol production plants produce 400 million gallons of ethanol a year: Fontieer Energy, World Energy, and Pacific Biodiesel. The production of Ethanol boosts the price of corn removing excess inventories and driving up demand for the commodity. Likewise, Illinois, Michigan, and Oregon have similar fuel laws mandating 2% biodiesel portion to the fuel mix. Biodiesel in some parts of the country has become an alternative heat fuel to natural gas.

Cost is the biodiesel barrier. Biodiesel costs 20 cents more than conventional diesel. Tax incentives attempt to temporarily narrow the cost gap. Tax support is linked to environmental advantages. Biodiesel environmental advantages include: Biodiesel emits no sulfur, discharges 78% less CO2, has 50% fewer smog producing components, leads to 48% reduction in carbon monoxide, and has 67% less hydrocarbons.

Biodiesel production volumes are insignificant, 30 million gals/day, in comparison to the 85 million barrels/day of oil. The Energy Information Administration predicts that worldwide oil consumption would increase from 28.4 billion barrels a year in 2002 to 43 billion barrels per year by 2025. Each year the US consumes 125 billion gallons of gasoline and 60 billion gallons of diesel and distillate fuel. Biodiesel would need to reach at least 60 billion gallons a year to replace diesel and endure five to ten years worth of tax burden to compensate for cost differences between the two products. Currently, Biodiesel volumes are too small to be significant. Secondly, there is a water shortage, "Ultimate Resource II" which Tickell ignores in his three scenario plan to reach, 60 billion gallons of biodiesel. Tickell's problem is water and arable land not incentives to grow more soybeans. Tickell becomes desparate and proposes a $308 billion algae oil infrastructure to achieve his 60 billion gallons. This plan would alienate both the farmer and the tax payer and incourage them to seek methods for extracting shale and tar oil.

Biodiesel contains 10% less energy per gallon than diesel fuel but has 7% more combustion efficiency yielding 2-3% decrease in torque, power, and fuel efficiency. Three components are need to produce biodiesel: vegetable oil or animal fat, an alcohol (methanol or ethanol), and a catalyst (sodium hydroxide - NaOH). Vegetable oil + Methyl Alochol->Glycerol + Methyl Ester.

Diesel engines cost more than gas engines, but perform more efficiently. Diesel cars and performance stats: ninety-eight 27 miles/gal, Volkswagon Rabbit 45 miles/gal, Delta 88 and Oldsmobile Tornonado, Ford - prodigy diesel-electric hybrid 70 miles/gal, Dodge Esx4 diesel-electric 72 miles/gal, GM Precept 79.6 miles/gal, Toyota Prius 50 miles/gal, Jeep CRD: tow capacity of 5,000 lbs and 27 miles/gal, Volkswagon Turbo Direct Injection (TDI) for new beetle, golf, Jetta, Passat 50 miles/gal, and A2 80 miles gal.

Tickel is wrong and Peter Huber is right. Future energy will come from Shale and Tar oil as Middle East oil depletes. The US and Canada will become the new "empty quarter". The future of energy will not be biodiesel or hydrogen, but oil and electricity. Biodiesel is a short-term political maneuver to appease special interest groups. Cheap petroleum fuel will force the inevitable conclusion to abandon these alternative fuels as too expensive. Tickel calls the House of Saud a House of cards: 1. The House of Saud with its 30,000 members owns 25% of the worlds oil. 2. The House of Saud is a top-heavy ruling class and putting downward economic pressure on an increasingly large Saudi society. 3. Economic cannibalization of the middle class by the ruling elite has reduced stipends for the average Saudi citizen demonstrated by the plummet in per capita income of $28,600 in 1981 to $6,800 in 2001. 4. The country owes $164 billion equal to the GNP. 5. Country assets drain has become a crisis. Financial follies has drained the country of $120 billion cash assets in 1980 leaving the Saudi treasury holding only about $20 billion. 6. Rapid disintegration of the middle class has driven the popularity of the Islamic fundamentalist. 7. Unemployment rate stands near 25%.

Tickel is a doomdayer and from the doomsday ashes he preaches his vision of a biodiesel powered economy. Peter Huber, "The Bottomless well" is a more accurate vision of abundant and infinite energy. Wealth is the country that produces and consumes the most energy. Bottom line, the country with the maximum consumption of energy will become the wealthiest country. India and China are rapidly consumption energy and their wealth is increasing. India enjoys a 8% growth rate and experience rapid wealth creation buying BMW, Mercedes, Rolls-Royce, expensive watches, and large real-estate abodes. Private banks and hedge funds surge into India seeking to stabilize and profit from the surge in wealth creation in the country. Wealthy investors vote with their dollars encouraging rapid growth to be sustained. Everything looks better during a boom. The expression of this new found wealth is a result of cheap energy.

What happens when energy consumption increases another 4 fold? Computers, robots, electronics, and logic created devices will proliferate as diverse means of service and production as companies seek to market and sell this expert logic. Energy takes on a higher quality form and produces higher quality results. Machine and computer moves closer to the consumer and provide value chains of service. Exclusive and expensive devices will become more accessible: health devices, music devices, media devices, and transportation devices; more manual labor becomes mechanical labor; more intellectual processes become digital; and more energy transform from combustible energy to electrical energy.

Huber believes in the potential of fusion energy telling readers that 10 trillion quads of energy exist in our oceans. The problem with fusion energy is cost. Therefore, oil and nuclear energy will remain the most feasible source of energy in the near future. However, as cars become more computerized and robotic the need for combustible engine locomotion will diminish.

Tickel at best should be arguing for short-term relief of energy supplies. During the 1970s, oil production increased locally to 50 percent as oil in Texas, Alaska, and Mexico warded off production shortages in the Middle East. Huber predicts that Shale and Tar oil will ward off any shortages in the near future to peak oil, a false and misleading concept. The world is not running out of energy. We are just beginning to tap the endless boundary of infinite energy.

Introduction to Agricultural Economics (4th Edition)

John B. Penson, Oral Capps Jr., C. Parr Rosson, Richard Woodward

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Total reviews: 1 Average rating: 2.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

Helping readers understand the governing economic forces behind our agricultural industry, this jargon-free survey provides a systematic introduction to the basic concepts and issues in economics as they relate to the food and fiber industry - a major segment of the U.S. economy. Covering key economic principles and their application to the food and fiber system, it traces microeconomic, macroeconomic, and global forces influencing the decisions of producers and consumers of food and fiber products, and focuses on the leading problems and issues confronting this important industry today. Contains comprehensive micro coverage with heavy emphasis on interpretation/applications of marginal analysis in decision-making, and comprehensive macro coverage with discussions on the implications that events elsewhere in the economy have upon price of food and producer profits, as well as consumer economic well-being. Considers trade theory and issues facing domestic producers and consumers in light NAFTA and trade liberalization. Now looks at the effect of the 1996 FAIR Act, and presents a new chapter on resource economics.

Bringing the Food Economy Home: Local Alternatives to Global Agribusiness

Helena Norberg-Hodge, Todd Merrifield, Steven Gorelick

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From local to global to local 5 out of 5 stars.
15 of 15 people found this review helpful.

Calculating the true cost of getting your family's typical dinner on the table would reveal a shocking price! In addition to produce cost itself, you would have to include the delivery charges for each meal component: from the producer via long distance shipping, packaging, storage, and distribution to you via your local supermarket. The authors suggest that product travel distance in reaching our table should be calculated in 'food miles'. The further the distance - the higher the price . At least that's what it should logically be.

However, as consumers, most of us rarely pay the full cost of any food item. If we did, we would appreciate more readily how the global food system has turned food production on its head. Thus claim the authors of this concise and illuminating analysis of globalization of the agribusiness and its impacts on our well-being. While this slim volume might appear otherwise, the study is packed with useful information and concrete data. It explains why we are facing major problems in the food economy around the world. In developing and industrialized countries farmers are abandoning their land to large-scale cash-crop agribusiness or big corporations. The push for crop monocultures is contributing to land degradation and is skewing food supplies. The authors demystify the notion that a globalized food system is more efficient and economic and question the logic of its processes. For example, in recent years the UK has been importing about as much milk as it has exported! The only beneficiaries of this artificial trade balance, they argue, are the transport businesses and the financial speculators. As tax payers we subsidize the transportation business by allowing governments to subsidize the development of big agriculture to the detriment of local farmers everywhere. The authors encourage the reader to examine these issues and outline what we can do as consumers and citizens, to reverse current trends. Examples and case studies are interleafed with tables and statistics illustrating the underlying argument of the authors: to restore local food production and closely link it to the consumer.

In this well-structured and easily followed study, the authors examine global food issues from all possible angles: food and health, food and economy, food and community; food and marketing ecologies and (local) food security. In addition, the authors expose the serious environmental impacts of large-scale monoculture farming and the unnecessary transport of food shipped across the globe or from one end of the country to the other (in the US). For example, US cookies are exported to Denmark while Danish cookies are exported to the US! Why not, the authors argue, just swap recipes at minimal cost?

In each chapter the implications of globalizing the food sector are summarized, critiqued and contrasted with working alternatives. For example. initiatives of community-based agriculture or consumer-coops are introduced that are springing up in many countries. While food production and trade in the developing world are not addressed as the primary focus of the analysis, the consistent negative impacts of a globalized food system on the populations in the South have provided the authors with strong arguments for local diversity in food security systems. Norberg-Hodge, in particular, has a long track record of researching the impact of international development policies on traditional functioning rural communities in the South.

The intended audiences of this book are clearly the consumers and citizens in the industrialized countries. The examples given are highlighting the situation in the US and UK. Yet, they also present interesting insights into other countries' situations. The authors' conclusion is that the food economy needs to be shifted from its current global level to the local wherever possible. This does not mean, they contend, that all food trade should stop or the consumer should no longer be able to buy exotic foods from far away. Instead, they argue, the priority has to be that people produce staple food locally wherever possible. Food should be imported only where the local resources cannot fulfill the demand of the population. Local produce is usually healthier, fresher and can be more appropriate for the local diet and culture. It is also much cheaper if transport, packaging and storage costs for long distance travel are to be included in the true price of food.

This a book to absorb and not just to read once. It calls for action by everyone and is a toolkit for all those seriously engaged in educating people of all ages in health, environment and all food issues. A resource guide is added for further study and action. [Friederike Knabe, Ottawa Canada]

Editorial Review:

* Reveals how bringing food production to a local level revitalizes rural economies in both the industrialized and developing world
* Published in association with the International Society for Ecology and Culture
* For readers concerned with agriculture, community development, environmental sustainability, and ecological economics

If the many social, environmental, and economic crises facing the planet are to be reversed, local food economies must be rebuilt. Given the constant demand for food, even miniscule changes in its production and marketing can offer immense benefits for farmers, consumers, the economy and the environment.

Bringing the Food Economy Home reveals how a shift towards the local would protect and rebuild agricultural diversity by giving farmers a larger share of the money spent on food, and providing consumers with healthier, fresher food at more affordable prices.

My First Crush: Misadventures in Wine Country

Linda Kaplan

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Editorial Review:

When Linda Kaplan’s husband quit his law firm in Des Moines and bought Panther Creek, a vineyard in Oregon’s Willamette Valley, Kaplan went along for the ride, though she couldn’t tell an earthy wine with a hint of cherries from a glass of grape juice. It didn’t matter: They were going to make pinot noir in a small town, and they would learn how or go crazy trying. Kaplan wryly reveals in her memoir that the result was a bit of both.

There are chapters on the science of wine, on the oddballs who show up for harvest, on telling a good grape from a great grape, and a good wine from a great wine. Kaplan sheds light on the mysteries of marketing wine, the connoisseurs who like to test the newcomers, and the messy business of stomping grapes barefoot. There’s even a recipe for making thirty-six thousand bottles of Panther Creek’s fine pinot noir.

But Kaplan wasn’t only learning about wine. She was also learning about life, about getting along in her new hometown, McMinnville, which seems ripped right from the script of television’s Northern Exposure. Panther Creek has since become an award-winning vineyard, its wine on Wine Spectator magazine’s list of the Top 100 Wines of the World.

The New Encyclopedia of Southern Culture: Volume 11: Agriculture and Industry (New Encyclopedia of Southern Culture)

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Editorial Review:

Volume 11 of The New Encyclopedia of Southern Culture examines the economic culture of the South by pairing two categories that account for the ways many southerners have made their living. In the antebellum period, the wealth of southern whites came largely from agriculture that relied on the forced labor of enslaved blacks. After Reconstruction, the South became attractive to new industries lured by the region's ongoing commitment to low-wage labor and management-friendly economic policies. Throughout the volume, articles reflect the breadth and variety of southern life, paying particular attention to the region's profound economic transformation in recent decades.

The agricultural section consists of 25 thematic entries that explore issues such as Native American agricultural practices, plantations, and sustainable agriculture. Thirty-eight shorter pieces cover key crops of the region—from tobacco to Christmas trees—as well as issues of historic and emerging interest—from insects and insecticides to migrant labor. The section on industry and commerce contains 13 thematic entries in which contributors address topics such as the economic impact of military bases, resistance to industrialization, and black business. Thirty-six topical entries explore particular industries, such as textiles, timber, automobiles, and banking, as well as individuals--including Henry W. Grady and Sam M. Walton—whose ideas and enterprises have helped shape the modern South.