Depression, anxiety and metabolic syndrome in farm men and women

This research found that Depression was associated with the development of metabolic syndrome, whilst both Depression and Anxiety are associated with the maintenance of metabolic syndrome in Farm men and women. Future interventions in metabolic syndrome should consider screening for and treating these psychological factors to improve health outcomes.

Assessing the impact of HRM on dairy farm performance: an Australian study

This thesis explains the benefits of HRM policies and practices for Australian dairy farmers. A conceptual roadmap for rural industry policy-makers and farm owner-managers is presented in this thesis. It helps farmers to enhance dairy farm performance through HRM practices, which in turn would contribute to regional economic development.

Indices for cashmere fleece competition and across farm comparisons: The role of staple length in identifying goats of higher cashmere production

A single focus on mean fibre diameter (MFD, μm) as the definition of cashmere quality overlooks the effects of fibre length, softness and fibre curvature on cashmere processing, textile quality and consumer acceptance. Many farmers overlook the importance of cashmere staple length (SL, cm) in their fleece assessments. We aimed to determine the importance of SL in comparison with MFD when evaluating cashmere production and to identify how across farm comparisons of cashmere fleeces can be objectively undertaken. A sample of 1244 commercial cashmere fleeces from goats originating from many Australian farms was used. Least squares models, relating the logarithm of clean cashmere production (CCMwt, g) to MFD and SL, were fitted. Six years of data from the Australian cashmere industry between farm fleece competitions were analysed to determine the relation between CCMwt and MFD. In the research flocks, adjusting CCMwt of individual goats across farms for MFD only accounted for 2% of the variance, whereas SL accounted for 39% of the variance. The least squares additive model involving only SL was: log10(CCMwt)=1.570+0.06010×SL. Thus CCMwt was proportional to: 100.06010×SL=1.1484SL. It was appropriate to adjust CCMwt for SL by a factor 1/1.1484(SL-SL0) where SL0 is a standard SL of 7.5cm. The between farm index for cashmere weight equals: cleancashmerestaplelengthindex=2.823×CCMwt/1.1484SL. For industry fleece competitions, regression analysis indicated that there was no association between cashmere production and MFD (P=0.81), similar to the research data. Adjusting CCMwt for MFD in across farm comparison and fleece competitions appears to be ineffective. For farm comparisons and in fleece competitions it is important to assess cashmere SL. The use of the Clean Cashmere Staple Length Index will provide a more robust comparison of cashmere productivity between farms as it is an indirect indicator of desirable skin secondary follicle development. The results have application in development projects where obtaining a cashmere MFD test is costly or unavailable. © 2013 Elsevier B.V.

International perspectives on psychosocial working conditions, mental health, and stress of dairy farm operators

Dairy farm operators-farmers, workers, and family members-are faced with many demands and stressors in their daily work and these appear to be shared across countries and cultures. Dairy operators experience high psychosocial demands with respect to a hard work and production ethos, economic influences, and social and environmental responsibility. Furthermore, both traditional and industrial farms are highly dependent on external conditions, such as weather, fluctuating markets, and regulations from government authorities. Possible external stressors include disease outbreaks, taxes related to dairy production, and recent negative societal attitudes to farming in general. Dairy farm operators may have very few or no opportunities to influence and control these external conditions, demands, and expectations. High work demands and expectations coupled with low control and lack of social support can lead to a poor psychosocial work environment, with increased stress levels, ill mental health, depression, and, in the worst cases, suicide. Internationally, farmers with ill mental health have different health service options depending on their location. Regardless of location, it is initially the responsibility of the individual farmer and farm family to handle mental health and stress, which can be of short- or long-term duration. This paper reviews the literature on the topics of psychosocial working conditions, mental health, stress, depression, and suicide among dairy farm operators, farm workers, and farm family members in an international perspective.

Migration and the right to social security: perceptions of off-farm migrants' rights to social insurance in China's Jiangsu Province

In 2001 China ratified the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. By so doing the national government became legally bound, "to the maximum of its available resources", to achieve "progressively" full realization of the rights specified in the Covenant. Included amongst these entitlements is the "right of everyone to social security, including social insurance". This paper uses data from Jiangsu to examine the extent to which urbanites agree that previously disenfranchised migrants have the same right to social insurance as the urban population. Many urbanites fear that their existing entitlements to social protection will be diluted if social insurance coverage is extended to include new populations. Accordingly, state agencies and the media have sought to promote acceptance of a more positive view of migrant workers than has traditionally prevailed within towns and cities. We find that younger urban residents, urban residents who already have social insurance and urban residents working in the state-owned sector are more likely to agree that migrants have the same right to social insurance as the urban population. © 2007 Institute of World Economics and Politics, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.

Effects of intergroup contact on Chinese off-farm migrants' attitudes to urban locals

This study models the effects on attitudes and behavioral interaction of intergroup contact between minority-status off-farm migrants and majority-status local urban residents in urban China. Responses from a sample of 548 migrants to Fuzhou indicate positive effects of friendship contact on attitudes and positive effects of both friendship and non-friendship contact on behaviour. Results imply that while contact per se may improve intergroup functioning in urban China, it takes more intimate contact to translate improved intergroup functioning into improved intergroup relations in this urban setting.