Defra's latest statistics on Countryside Maintenenace and Management Activities (CMMA) final estimates, released 28 June 2012, show that over 52,193 farms of the 56,294 farms in the Farm Business Survey (FBS) population carried out some kind of countryside maintenance and management activities in 2010-11. The number includes 99% of LFA grazing livestock and 98% of cereal farms. The lowest rate was for Pig farms at 58%. Rates of participation according to farm size were 95% for small farms, 94% for medium-sized farms and a lower rate of 88% for large farms.
Costs involved for farms with CMMA ranged from £2,327 for General Cropping farms to £392 for Pig farms with an average of £1,675 per farm for participating farms. The average cost per hectare was £11.75. Costs for CMMA as a proportion of total farm costs were much higher for Lowland and LFA grazing livestock farms, 2.2% and 2% respectively, with an average of 1% or less for other farms.
The most common CMMA overall was Boundary features such as hedges and wall maintenance with 82% of all participating farms doing such work including 96% of LFA grazing livestock farms. Other CMMAs include trees and woodland, historic and landscape features, buffer strips, arable land, range of crop types, soil and water protection, grassland and other activities not included in Entry Level Stewardship (ELS).
Some of the CMMAs contribute to the Campaign for the Farmed Environment targets. These include some Buffer strip activities, field corner management, overwintered stubble, uncropped land, beetle barks, skylark plots, wild bird seed mixture or pollen and nectar mixture, conservation headlands and reverted arable area (higher level stewardship (HLS)) from the Arable land ELS scheme option group.
Showing posts with label management. Show all posts
Showing posts with label management. Show all posts
Monday, 2 July 2012
Thursday, 22 July 2010
Countryside Maintenenace And Management From Farm Business Survey
Defra has released statistics on countryside maintenance and management activities on farms in England sourced from the Farm Business Survey 2008-9 covering the 2008 harvest. The survey showed that almost 90% of over 57,000 farms carried out some kind of countryside maintenance and management activities. The figure included 98% of cereal farms. Total costs for countryside maintenance and management activities came to £72m in 2008-9 that is 3% of total farm business income for that year. A total of 8,614 farms took professional advice.
The farms most likely to carry out management activities are the high-performing general cropping farms. The farms least likely to carry out countryside management on their farms are low performing mixed farms. Over half (51%) of medium performing farms carried out countryside maintenance and management activities. The cereal farms spent the most at £25.3m. Mixed farms were next on spend. The lowest spend was on specialist pig and specialist poultry farms at £0.1m and £0.3m respectively.
Associated costs were recorded on 70% of farms carrying out countryside maintenance and management activities. The most popular activity carried out on these farms was the management of boundary features which involved over 42,000 farms. Activities on boundary features such as hedges, stone walls and ditches cost a total of £45.1m, equivalent to 62% of the total countryside maintenance and management spend. Farms with historic and landscape features came next with £15m equivalent to 21% of total spend on 41% of the farms. Arable land activities accounted for £3.7m on the 28% of farms with that activity that recorded a cost.
There were 42,135 farms on which boundary features activites were carried out. Lowland grassland (24,049) came next with the restoration of moorland, pasture with low inputs, enclosed rough grazing and moorland and rough grazing. Countryside maintenance and management on the 22,528 farms with arable land activities involved field corner management, overwinter stubble, uncropped land, wild bird seed mixtures, beetle banks, skylark plots and headland conservation. Historic and landscape features (18,539) included archaeological features and traditional farm buildings, activities involving trees and woodland (16,839) included the protection of infield trees, broadleaved and mixed woodland and old orchards and buffer strips (16,347).
The available data from the 35,975 farms that recorded a cost shows that mixed farms spent the most with £2,935 on average per farm followed by general cropping and the lowest spend was on specialist pig farms with £575. On a per hectare basis the spend was highest on specialist poultry farms with £92 per hectare per farm and the lowest were the general cropping farms at £11 per hectare. The highest costs are recorded by the very large farm businesses on £18.9m but small farms follow closely on £18.4m. The highest average spend per farm was on boundary activities at £1,071, £809 for activities relating to historic and landscape features and the lowest was £24 for LFA grassland activities.
The individual countryside maintenance and management activities can be compared and show that the average costs per farm were highest for historic and landscape feature activities at £2,012 per farm and lowest for ditches at £837.
The farms most likely to carry out management activities are the high-performing general cropping farms. The farms least likely to carry out countryside management on their farms are low performing mixed farms. Over half (51%) of medium performing farms carried out countryside maintenance and management activities. The cereal farms spent the most at £25.3m. Mixed farms were next on spend. The lowest spend was on specialist pig and specialist poultry farms at £0.1m and £0.3m respectively.
Associated costs were recorded on 70% of farms carrying out countryside maintenance and management activities. The most popular activity carried out on these farms was the management of boundary features which involved over 42,000 farms. Activities on boundary features such as hedges, stone walls and ditches cost a total of £45.1m, equivalent to 62% of the total countryside maintenance and management spend. Farms with historic and landscape features came next with £15m equivalent to 21% of total spend on 41% of the farms. Arable land activities accounted for £3.7m on the 28% of farms with that activity that recorded a cost.
There were 42,135 farms on which boundary features activites were carried out. Lowland grassland (24,049) came next with the restoration of moorland, pasture with low inputs, enclosed rough grazing and moorland and rough grazing. Countryside maintenance and management on the 22,528 farms with arable land activities involved field corner management, overwinter stubble, uncropped land, wild bird seed mixtures, beetle banks, skylark plots and headland conservation. Historic and landscape features (18,539) included archaeological features and traditional farm buildings, activities involving trees and woodland (16,839) included the protection of infield trees, broadleaved and mixed woodland and old orchards and buffer strips (16,347).
The available data from the 35,975 farms that recorded a cost shows that mixed farms spent the most with £2,935 on average per farm followed by general cropping and the lowest spend was on specialist pig farms with £575. On a per hectare basis the spend was highest on specialist poultry farms with £92 per hectare per farm and the lowest were the general cropping farms at £11 per hectare. The highest costs are recorded by the very large farm businesses on £18.9m but small farms follow closely on £18.4m. The highest average spend per farm was on boundary activities at £1,071, £809 for activities relating to historic and landscape features and the lowest was £24 for LFA grassland activities.
The individual countryside maintenance and management activities can be compared and show that the average costs per farm were highest for historic and landscape feature activities at £2,012 per farm and lowest for ditches at £837.
Thursday, 7 May 2009
Small Business Downward Trend Expected To Slow
The CBI's latest SME Trends Survey shows that output has gone down at the fastest pace of decline for more than 20 years. The factor most likely to limit output will be sales and orders. The report also shows a fall of 64% in total new orders, the steepest fall since CBI records began, with 13% reporting an increase. The volume of output reported shows a 57% decline. Employment figures were no better with 50% of respondents reporting record increase in job losses, only 6% taking on new staff.
The number of firms working below capacity has continued to rise for over a year with 74% now running below capacity and companies are also still running down stocks. Export orders are weak. Credit and financial worries are still a problem and may limit exports. Average domestic prices continued to decline and costs continued to rise as imports are becoming more expensive.
Investment intentions are low and uncertainty about demand is likely to be a factor limiting plans to invest. However, general business sentiment is up as the decline in orders, output and employment is expected to slow down over the next three months.
The number of firms working below capacity has continued to rise for over a year with 74% now running below capacity and companies are also still running down stocks. Export orders are weak. Credit and financial worries are still a problem and may limit exports. Average domestic prices continued to decline and costs continued to rise as imports are becoming more expensive.
Investment intentions are low and uncertainty about demand is likely to be a factor limiting plans to invest. However, general business sentiment is up as the decline in orders, output and employment is expected to slow down over the next three months.
Friday, 20 March 2009
Management Services
Management services are responsible for gathering and analysing information and data about problems and opportunities. The provision of management services involves using a range of methodologies and techniques and requires an appropriate attitude to problems, opportunities and potential for change. Recommendations are suggested for action. Management should be aware of the effects that the implementation of recommendations might entail.
The main application areas are Control, Business Transformation, HRM, Quality Management, Operations Management, Information Management, Quantitative Work and Method Study.
Management services are concerned with people at all levels of business. Customer relationships should therefore be based on mutual respect.
The main application areas are Control, Business Transformation, HRM, Quality Management, Operations Management, Information Management, Quantitative Work and Method Study.
Management services are concerned with people at all levels of business. Customer relationships should therefore be based on mutual respect.
Tuesday, 3 February 2009
Tea And Sympathy
British industrial relations are traditionally voluntarist. They centre on collective bargaining and the voluntary regulation of the employment relationship. Workers' representatives usually negotiate pay and conditions on behalf of staff though employee involvement can vary greatly. There are usually two or more parties with different opinions of what the outcome should be and they are most often management and employees often represented by a trade union. Research into negotiations has tended to focus on the negotiations themselves rather than the contexts. During negotiations negotiators arrive at key decision points at which they must decide what to do. Behaviours are usually competitive or collaborative. One is distributive in that one side's gain is the others side's loss, whereas integrative bargaining tries to increase the overall rewards for all. The most effective negotiators show some concern for the other parties as well as their own (Arnold, Cooper and Robertson, 1998).
Choice of management style affects strategies and practices. Management strategies might be inclusive or exclusive of unions. Other dimensions such as status and contract or high and low strategic integration and individualism/collectivism can be added to give matrices of different styles. Collaborative arrangements appear to perform well but the political climate can affect the choice of styles (McLoughlin and Gourlay, 1992 and Hyman, 1997 in Bratton and Gold, 1999). Trade unions have several responses to these developments: opposition, passive co-operation, a bargaining approach and partnership (Bratton and Gold, 1999). The newer HRM models are inconsistent with traditional industrial relations models involving trade unions.
There are more options than conceding or not conceding. It is as well to remember that it may be necessary to work with the other parties again in the future so maintaining a good relationship and listening to them may be important. Willingness to compromise shows concern for the other party. Negotiations are often necessary in disputes over pay and conditions not least over working time, rest periods, breaks and holidays. The voluntarist tradition has been circumscribed in recent years by government legislation and European Directives. The negotiations over the Working Time Directive carried out in the European Parliament, for example, required several amendments and derogations had to be negotiated for many different sectoral interests.
The Working Time Directive of the European Union sets out the hours of work for employees within the European Union. Council Directive 93/104/EC, of 23 November 1993, amended by Directive 2000/34/EC of 22 June 2000 of the European Parliament and of the Council is concerned with hours of work, rest periods, breaks and paid holidays and night work in respect of health and safety. In particular it sets down a minimum of 11 hours rest in every 24 hours, a day off every seven days, a break every six hours as determined by collective or social agreements or legislation, four weeks annual paid holiday, a maximum 48 hour week including overtime. Also night work periods should be no more than eight hours in any 24 hour period with free health checks available. There is a general principle of adapting work to man especially where the work is monotonous with quick repetition. Derogations are allowed for continuity of service or production, such as in hospitals, agriculture or press and information services.
A satisfactory outcome to negotiations is obviously preferable. Failing to arrive at a settlement is usually unacceptable to all. Coming away with an unsatisfactory one-sided arrangement is also unacceptable and it may be necessary for the negotiator to persuade the rest of the team that what they came away with is acceptable (Arnold, Cooper and Robertson, 1998).
There is no single strategy that can be adopted for negotiations over workers pay and conditions. The traditional voluntarist method is being eroded by legislation from the government and Europe and also by changes in trade unions structures, bargaining power and relationship with New Labour. The hard HRM model threatens further union decline leaving the possibility that the soft HRM model may be a way to find mutually beneficial arrangments in future (Bratton and Gold, 1999). After all, we all want our tea breaks and our holidays.
Choice of management style affects strategies and practices. Management strategies might be inclusive or exclusive of unions. Other dimensions such as status and contract or high and low strategic integration and individualism/collectivism can be added to give matrices of different styles. Collaborative arrangements appear to perform well but the political climate can affect the choice of styles (McLoughlin and Gourlay, 1992 and Hyman, 1997 in Bratton and Gold, 1999). Trade unions have several responses to these developments: opposition, passive co-operation, a bargaining approach and partnership (Bratton and Gold, 1999). The newer HRM models are inconsistent with traditional industrial relations models involving trade unions.
There are more options than conceding or not conceding. It is as well to remember that it may be necessary to work with the other parties again in the future so maintaining a good relationship and listening to them may be important. Willingness to compromise shows concern for the other party. Negotiations are often necessary in disputes over pay and conditions not least over working time, rest periods, breaks and holidays. The voluntarist tradition has been circumscribed in recent years by government legislation and European Directives. The negotiations over the Working Time Directive carried out in the European Parliament, for example, required several amendments and derogations had to be negotiated for many different sectoral interests.
The Working Time Directive of the European Union sets out the hours of work for employees within the European Union. Council Directive 93/104/EC, of 23 November 1993, amended by Directive 2000/34/EC of 22 June 2000 of the European Parliament and of the Council is concerned with hours of work, rest periods, breaks and paid holidays and night work in respect of health and safety. In particular it sets down a minimum of 11 hours rest in every 24 hours, a day off every seven days, a break every six hours as determined by collective or social agreements or legislation, four weeks annual paid holiday, a maximum 48 hour week including overtime. Also night work periods should be no more than eight hours in any 24 hour period with free health checks available. There is a general principle of adapting work to man especially where the work is monotonous with quick repetition. Derogations are allowed for continuity of service or production, such as in hospitals, agriculture or press and information services.
A satisfactory outcome to negotiations is obviously preferable. Failing to arrive at a settlement is usually unacceptable to all. Coming away with an unsatisfactory one-sided arrangement is also unacceptable and it may be necessary for the negotiator to persuade the rest of the team that what they came away with is acceptable (Arnold, Cooper and Robertson, 1998).
There is no single strategy that can be adopted for negotiations over workers pay and conditions. The traditional voluntarist method is being eroded by legislation from the government and Europe and also by changes in trade unions structures, bargaining power and relationship with New Labour. The hard HRM model threatens further union decline leaving the possibility that the soft HRM model may be a way to find mutually beneficial arrangments in future (Bratton and Gold, 1999). After all, we all want our tea breaks and our holidays.
Thursday, 22 January 2009
The Perfect Manager
What makes the perfect manager? Is there such a thing? Is such a thing possible? Where does the perfect manager work? How much does he/she get paid? What does perfect mean? What does manager mean? How subjective is it?
The perfect manager will be able to give insights and inputs into strategy and will have tactical awareness and ability. Good interpersonal skills will be required for interacting with people at different levels of the organisation from the shop floor to the board room. Analytical skills for planning, implementation and control of marketing cannot be overlooked (Kotler, 1999).
Leadership style could be autocratic or democratic. Authority and freedom are both important but how much and where? Contingency style might suit best (Mullins, 1999). Management competencies and skills like communication skills, encoding and decoding written and verbal communication, delegating and negotiating, co-ordination of different roles and departments for a congruent outcome must be included in the analysis. Making sure of good information systems will help make the right decisions. Faultless financial analysis and budgeting, planning and control of accounting plans should keep the cash flowing. Organisation skills and structures and decisions on whether to have them entrepreneurial or bureaucratic are so important. Time is the manager's most precious resource. Good time management is vital to get things done. Boundary management is necessary to contain and differentiate the business from other open systems (Morden, 1996). The perfect manager, to be complete, must have the ability to manage diversity and manage change without upsetting people. Someone who knows the family well, an old friend.
It must be someone who will not give up the manager's right to manage. Someone with a management style for performance, productivity and work behaviour applying Theory X or Y or Z or the Golden Rule and being a people company (Mullins, 1999). Management must show more concern for the environment and social responsibility (Morden, 1996). It must involve the choice and application of business, marketing and communications ethics. The management, human resources and marketing philosophies of a perfect manager must make a difference to work performance, morale and relationships (Mullins, 1999).
A manager works for a firm and must make a contribution to accomplish the mission, aims and objectives of the business. The perfect manager must be whatever best suits particular requirements of the employer or situation. So perhaps it comes down to recruitment and selection and whoever best fits the job description and person specification. Given a competent HR manager. We all have different values and opinions, so maybe there is no such thing.
The perfect manager will be able to give insights and inputs into strategy and will have tactical awareness and ability. Good interpersonal skills will be required for interacting with people at different levels of the organisation from the shop floor to the board room. Analytical skills for planning, implementation and control of marketing cannot be overlooked (Kotler, 1999).
Leadership style could be autocratic or democratic. Authority and freedom are both important but how much and where? Contingency style might suit best (Mullins, 1999). Management competencies and skills like communication skills, encoding and decoding written and verbal communication, delegating and negotiating, co-ordination of different roles and departments for a congruent outcome must be included in the analysis. Making sure of good information systems will help make the right decisions. Faultless financial analysis and budgeting, planning and control of accounting plans should keep the cash flowing. Organisation skills and structures and decisions on whether to have them entrepreneurial or bureaucratic are so important. Time is the manager's most precious resource. Good time management is vital to get things done. Boundary management is necessary to contain and differentiate the business from other open systems (Morden, 1996). The perfect manager, to be complete, must have the ability to manage diversity and manage change without upsetting people. Someone who knows the family well, an old friend.
It must be someone who will not give up the manager's right to manage. Someone with a management style for performance, productivity and work behaviour applying Theory X or Y or Z or the Golden Rule and being a people company (Mullins, 1999). Management must show more concern for the environment and social responsibility (Morden, 1996). It must involve the choice and application of business, marketing and communications ethics. The management, human resources and marketing philosophies of a perfect manager must make a difference to work performance, morale and relationships (Mullins, 1999).
A manager works for a firm and must make a contribution to accomplish the mission, aims and objectives of the business. The perfect manager must be whatever best suits particular requirements of the employer or situation. So perhaps it comes down to recruitment and selection and whoever best fits the job description and person specification. Given a competent HR manager. We all have different values and opinions, so maybe there is no such thing.
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