The Profitable Farm : Balancing Business, Nature and Energy through Maximum Sustainable Output

Maximum sustainable output offers increased economic and environmental resilience at both the individual farm and wider industry levels. The Profitable Farm is a pragmatic guide for farmers and other interested parties to maximum sustainable output (MSO) concepts, practices and applications.The Profitable Farm is suitable for farmers seeking greater resilience and increased profitability, academics who need to re-visit the ‘Standard Theory of The Firm’ as it applies to farming, and policy-makers charged with responsibility to secure food-supplies and provide support programmes for the sector. The Profitable Farm provides both the technical background and the practical implications of MSO practices.In particular, it addresses the inescapable realities of energy issues on profitability and environmental damage.Case studies are used throughout to emphasise key points and the appendices will satisfy those wishing to delve further into the technical concepts behind MSO.Unlike most publications on farming, which tend to focus on farming practices, sectoral economics (at a national planning level) or environmental impact issues, The Profitable Farm is essentially about farming as businesses with significant responsibilities to the natural environment and uncompromised animal welfare.