A typical story of the economic transition in East-Central Europe is Visit homepage of the frustrated manager in a state-owned company under Communism who becomes a rich and successful entrepreneur after 1989. Certainly there were plenty of frustrated managers during the Communist period. And you can read plenty of stories about the new fabulously wealthy business owners that have emerged in the region over the last 23 years.
But this particular story overlooks two very large categories of people: those who managed to do reasonably well under the system of state ownership and those who have encountered numerous challenges in the new entrepreneurial climate. Miroslav Blazek belongs to both categories. During the Communist period, he worked for the Zetor tractor company in Czechoslovakia and travelled throughout Europe representing the firm and overseeing the servicing of the product. Zetor produced and sold 30,000 tractors a year and was the number tractor import in such places as Greece and Ireland. Although Zetor supplied virtually all the state farms in Czechoslovakia, not everything went smoothly. All of the hard currency went to the Czech central bank, which meant that Zetor couldn't use it to import scarce parts. There was also a chronic labor shortage. On the other hand, the system had certain advantages, for instance the apprentice system. "We had a very good system of apprenticeship," Miroslav Blazek told me in an interview in Prague in February. "We had our own very good apprenticeship school and training center. At that time, I didn't know any of my schoolmates who wouldn't go either to school or to an apprenticeship. They usually stayed at the same job. When children went to an apprenticeship they usually stayed at that company for the rest of their lives." Blazek has gone on to work on several entrepreneurial efforts, the latest one involving machine tools from North Korea. He's endured usurious bank loans and bankrupt companies. He has watched unscrupulous individuals use privatization to effectively steal national wealth. "I think you could call it here the 'wild west,'" he described the early days of economic transition. "The people who didn't care about anything or about anybody were able to get a lot of compensation. If you were strong enough and didn't care about anybody, you could be in a very good position. We all started more or less from zero. In the beginning, you could get very easy credit and loans from the bank. But later on most of the projects failed, and gradually many were bought by Western companies." We talked about what it was like to work for a state-owned enterprise, what the fate of the Zetor tractor company has been, and what it's been like to negotiate a deal with North Korea. The Interview Tell me how you got involved working in business before 1989. I was quite lucky because I was involved more or less all my life in the tractor business in a Czech tractor company named Zetor where all my family worked. Naturally, when I finished school, I went to work there too. I really liked the job. I was very keen on tractors, cars, lorries, everything. I managed to get a very good position. I was responsible for servicing tractors in the Czech Republic and later on, abroad. I was able to travel abroad quite a lot, and my family and I spent a few years in England selling tractors. It was very nice. Before 1989 it was a state-owned company. What was it like to work within that system? I would say it was maybe easier because it was a very big company. There were 10,000 employees producing more than 30,000 tractors a year. At that time, we had no trouble financing, no problem with employees. However, it was difficult to import parts from abroad to improve the tractor, to make a better quality product. But I would say that it was probably easier than the business is today. There was competition from a tractor company in Poland and of course there was Caterpillar. I don't know if you had to go up against Caterpillar... No. At that time, Caterpillar was not producing classical tractors, and that is what we produced. When I was living in the UK, our biggest competitors were ACE, Massey Ferguson, John Deere. We used to be the fifth place in the UK. At the time there were maybe 30 other companies. When https://www.acgcapital.com/toll-free/equipment-leasing-products/john-deere-tractors-financing-leasing.aspx was that? 1979 and 1980. What was your biggest export market? At that time we were number one in Greece, Iceland, Norway, Finland, and Ireland. And we were in a very good position in France, the United Kingdom of course, and the United States. That's interesting because a lot of people, when I talk to them about the collapse of the economies after 1989, a lot of them say that the reason was the collapse of markets in the Soviet Union, but it doesn't sound like you sold to the Soviet Union. No, we didn't sell anything in the USSR. Our problem was the collapse in Iraq. We used to sell a lot of tractors in Iraq. There was an assembly plant in Iraq, and around 7,000 tractors went to Iraq where they were assembled. At the top time, sometime in the late 1970s, we had about 100 people from Zetor there assembling and servicing tractors. And what about domestically, did you have a domestic market? Yes, of course. There were no other tractors in Czechoslovakia except Zetor. There were very few from Romania or East Germany. But 95% of the tractors at that time came from us. Because we had big collective farms, they were able to absorb a lot of tractors. We were selling between 5,000 and 7,000 tractors domestically. And you were also responsible for servicing the tractors? I was responsible mainly for servicing the tractors. You mentioned difficulty of getting imported parts, like clutches. Were there any other bottlenecks in those days that were challenging? To read the rest of the interview, click here. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/john-feffer/doing-business-in-eastern_b_4169764.html
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Many aspiring truckers see the ads for the CR England lease program and get excited about the big money they can make. Much of this enthusiasm wanes when they begin searching for more information. It seems as if the vast majority of the people who leased a truck as part of the CR England lease program failed. The trucking forums are loaded with people who are disgusted with CRE These people not only were not successful with the lease program but also lost money. Why did these people fail? Here are some tips on how you can make money with the program.
Money Management The number one reason that drivers failed with the CR-England lease program is because they do not manage their money properly. As a lease operator you are truly running your own business. Just because you may earn a lot of money does not mean that you can spend it all. If you are spending hundred dollars on food and toys each day from the truck stops then you will rapidly be broke. They will loan you some money so you can buy yourself some food and showers and they will take it out of your next settlement check. Many drivers get in the habit of constantly taking draws and then they complain when they receive their minuscule checks. Equipment Care and Maintenance As a lease operator driver one of you largest expenses will be maintenance of your tractor trailer. If you inspect your semi and keep up on any maintenance issues then you will save money in the long run. Maintenance issues will always cost you a large amount of money but an inexperienced driver who is grinding gears and smoking brakes will end up paying much more for maintenance. Learn to drive properly and take care of your rig. Work Hard and Do Not Hang Out in the Truck Stops Do not hang out in the truck stops. Yes you have your mandatory reset hours and you need to eat, shower and fuel-up but many truckers seem to spend a lot of time socializing in the truck stops. As a lease purchase owner operator who is new to trucking you may get lonely at times and desire some socializing with other people, but it should never come at the expense of your job. You job, your business, is to drive the truck and if you are not driving the truck then you are not making money. Accept Loads Part of working hard is taking all loads that come your way. Instead of turning down a load and waiting for something more desirable simply take the load. I do not care if the load is for 1,000 miles or 50 miles. It does not matter if your load is heavier than normal or oversized. You should always be accepting loads. If you can develop a good relationship with your dispatcher you will rapidly become the "go to guy" for loads that other drivers turn down. This will keep you busy putting miles on your truck and Try these out earning more money. You will also get a lot of experience and the hard loads will soon become easier loads. Many drivers will avoid New York City. Yes driving a semi truck into New York City can be extremely stressful and hard, it will get easier each time you do it. There are many drivers that specialize in driving into New York City. These drivers have delivered into New York City so much that it is second nature to them. Keep your dispatcher happy and if freight slows down and the dispatcher only has one high paying load then they will be more apt to give it to you as opposed the trucker who always whines, gripes, and refuses loads they do not like. Home Time Yes you will get home time but you should not expect it. As a lease program driver with the CR. England lease you need to be putting a lot of miles on the truck. You cannot make money if you are sitting at home and you cannot make money if it has to deadhead you for hundreds of miles to get you home. You should plan on driving heavily when you begin the CR- England and not expect to get home very often and never on a regular basis. Once you complete the lease program and buy your truck outright then you can begin spending some time at home. Research Although the CR England has and continues to be a great program for many drivers, it is not for everybody. You need to work hard and be able to manage your trucking business in addition to driving. You need to do your own research to verify for yourself if the CR England lease plan is for you or not. If you are lazy then they CR England lease plan is not for you. Read up on the CR England lease program reviews. Most of the lease program reviews you read will be negative and this is partially because the successful drivers are out on the road earning money as opposed to sitting at the truck stops surfing the internet and griping about CR England. It will allow almost anyone to earn their CDL and then get their own business by leasing a truck. You can earn a lot of money with CRE but you need to manage your money properly and be able to drive hard. Read the Contract Many drivers get upset with certain terms of the truck lease program. Sure you may get a few CR England recruiters who gloss over some of the costs and only talk about the rates they pay out; however, you should always read the contract and learn what you are signing on for before you sign the agreement. All of the terms are listed in the contract and it would behoove you to read it. Many people on the Internet like to shout out that CR England is a scam company. If CR England truly scammed all of their lease operators then the lease program would cease to operate. If you are willing to work hard, follow the advice of other successful CR England lease operators, manage your money, keep on top of the paperwork, and not hang out at the truck stops then you may be an ideal candidate for the CR England lease program. If you cannot successfully manage all aspects of your trucking business then you should simply stick to being a company driver. http://www.infobarrel.com/Tips_on_How_to_Make_Money_With_the_CR_England_Lease_Program_for_Truckers Bad gateway
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Hewlett Packard Enterprise Co., down 71 cents to $21.38 The company will spin off part of its business software unit and combine it with Micro Focus in an $8.8 billion deal. Intel Corp., down 2 cents to $36.44 The company said it will spin its cybersecurity unit into a new company called McAfee and will get $3.1 billion in cash. Tractor Supply Co., down $14.15 to $69.38 The retailer for farmers and ranchers said it's being hurt by cuts in energy production and spending by farming communities. Pier 1 Imports Inc., down 72 cents to $4.08 The home decor company announced weak results for the second quarter and said its CEO will leave at the end of the year. Noble Energy Inc., up $1.72 to $37.25 Energy companies rose as oil prices jumped following a report that said U.S. crude stockpile shrank last week. Apple Inc., down $2.84 to $105.52 Apple led tech companies lower a day after it made modest gains while introducing its newest iPhone and other products. Tailored Brands Inc., up $2.34 to $16.57 The menswear retailer climbed after it reported solid quarterly results and maintained its forecasts for the year. Rite Aid Corp., up 46 cents to $8.21 Walgreens, which agreed to buy Rite Aid earlier this year, said it's making progress toward getting antitrust approval for the deal. http://abcnews.go.com/Business/wireStory/tractor-supply-pier-tumble-noble-energy-rises-41956348 The Obama administration has approved the first U.S. factory in Cuba in more than half a century, allowing a two-man company from Alabama to build a plant assembling as many as 1,000 small tractors a year for sale to private farmers in Cuba.
The Treasury Department last week notified partners Horace Clemmons and Saul Berenthal that they can legally build tractors and other heavy equipment in a special economic zone started by the Cuban government to attract foreign investment. Cuban officials already have publicly and enthusiastically endorsed the project. The partners said they expect to be building tractors in Cuba by the first quarter of 2017. "Everybody wants to go to Cuba to sell something and that's not what we're trying to do. We're looking at the problem and how do we help Cuba solve the problems that they consider are the most important problems for them to solve," Clemmons said. "It's our belief that in the long run we both win if we do things that are beneficial to both countries." The $5 million to $10 million plant would be the first significant U.S. business investment on Cuban soil since Fidel Castro took power in 1959 and nationalized billions of dollars of U.S. corporate and private property. That confiscation provoked a U.S. embargo on Cuba that prohibited virtually all forms of commerce and fined non-U.S. companies millions of dollars for doing business with the island. Letting an American tractor company operate inside a Cuban government facility would have been unimaginable before Presidents Barack Obama and Raul Castro declared on Dec. 17, 2014, that they would restore diplomatic relations and move to normalize trade, travel and other aspects of the long-broken bilateral relationship. Since then, Obama has been carving exceptions into the embargo through a series of executive actions, and his administration now says they allow U.S. manufacturing at the Mariel port and special economic zone about 30 miles west of Havana. One exception allows U.S. companies to export products that benefit private and cooperative farmers in Cuba. Berenthal and Clemmons say they will sell only to the private sector. The Obama administration says it is eager to make the opening with Cuba irreversible by any future administration. Since the start of the year, U.S. and Cuba have made a series of announcements that appear designed partly to create a sense of unstoppable momentum in their new relationship. Cuba announced late last month that it would more than double the number of public Wi-Fi access spots to more than 100 across the country this year and bring broadband Internet to a small number of Cuban homes, where it is currently illegal. Obama said in 2014 that Castro had promised to increase Cubans' access to the Internet as part of detente. On Saturday, Cuba announced that it had returned a U.S. Hellfire missile that it said was mistakenly shipped to Havana from Paris in 2014. On Tuesday, Cuba's Transport Minister and the U.S. Secretary of Transportation will sign a deal authorizing the first regularly scheduled commercial flights between the U.S. and Cuba since shortly after the 1959 revolution. The Oggun tractor plant, named after a god in Cuba's syncretic Santeria religion, will assemble commercially available components into a durable and easy-to-maintain 25-horsepower tractor selling for less than $10,000, Clemmons and Berenthal said. The men believe they can sell hundreds of the tractors a year to Cuban farmers with financing from relatives outside the country and to non-government organizations seeking to help improve Cuban agriculture, which suffers from low productivity due mostly to excessive control of both basic supplies and prices by an inefficient, centrally planned state bureaucracy. "I have two countries that for 60 years have been in the worst of terms, anything I can do to bring to the two countries and the two people together is tremendously satisfying," said Berenthal, a Cuban-born semi-retired software engineer who left the country at age 16. He met Clemmons, who is from Paint Rock, Alabama, when they worked at IBM in the 1970s. They left to form a successful cash-register software company that grew to earn $30 million a year before they sold it in 1995 for a sum that Clemmons says was "enough that I don't have to work." Between their own capital and commitments from private investors they say they have enough cash in hand to build the Oggun factory as soon as Cuba lets them proceed. "Everything's locked in," Clemmons said. Berenthal said they are optimistic that they will also be able to export Oggun tractors to other Latin American countries, which have low or no tariffs on Cuba products, making them competitive on price. The men expect a 10-20 percent profit on each tractor. For the project's first three years, Clemmons and Berenthal say they will export components from the United States for assembly in Cuba. They hope to eventually begin manufacturing many of the parts themselves on the island. They said they expect to start with 30 Cuban employees and, if things go as planned, grow within five years to as many as 300. Clemmons and Berenthal will publish all the schematics of their tractors online in order to allow Cubans and other clients to more easily repair their equipment and come up with designs for other heavy equipment based on the same frame and motor that Cleber can then produce at their Mariel factory. The men already have plans to produce excavators, backhoes, trench-diggers and forklifts, equipment that's badly needed across Cuba, where virtually all the infrastructure is crumbling after years of neglect and mismanagement and a lack of cash that the government blames on the embargo. "I think it'll have a tremendous impact on their ability not only to help their economy but to set an example across the Caribbean and Latin America," Berenthal said. http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2016/02/15/us-oks-first-factory-in-cuba-since-revolution.html Equipment Loans Financing or refinancing your new or used ag equipment with Farm Bureau Bank has never been easier! We understand your equipment needs and offer the best rates and flexible terms available.** Please select your Equipment Loan Financing Amount to proceed. Equipment Loans - Features Competitive rates for new and used equipment Up to 90% financing for new equipment and 85% for used Terms up to 7 years for new and used equipment Monthly, quarterly, semi-annual or annual payment plans available Minimum loan is $5,000 Farm Bureau Bank equipment loans are designed to get you the equipment you need now so your business can continue to run smoothly. Equipment Loan Annual Percentage Rates Model Years 2015-2016 Model Years 2006-2014 Term $5,000-$49,999 $50,000-$99,999 $100,000+ $5,000-$49,999 $50,000-$99,999 $100,000+ 1-2 Years 4.18% 4.14% 4.30% 4.68% 4.64% 4.80% 3 Years 4.28% 4.32% 4.48% 4.78% 4.82% 4.98% 4 Years 4.45% 4.50% 4.68% 4.95% 5.00% 5.18% 5 Years 4.63% 4.90% 4.87% 5.13% 5.19% 5.37% 6 Years 4.82% 4.89% 5.07% 5.32% 5.39% 5.57% 7 Years n/a 5.08% 5.17% n/a 5.58% 5.67% Equipment Loans - Additional Info Down payment required for new or used equipment purchases. One year of financial information is required for loan requests of $75,000 to $149,999 and two years of financial information is required for $150,000 and over. Financial information shall consist of your latest personal tax return(s) and a completed Personal Financial Statement and schedule of your debts. Additional supporting financial information may be required. If the loan applicant is a corporation, LLC or partnership, please provide the respective tax returns for the entity. Please make note of any extenuating circumstances that might reflect substantial changes to current income from the prior year. For a refinance request, please include a payoff letter from the existing creditor that provides the following: 10 day payoff amount with "good till" date; Account name and account number; Payoff mailing address; Description of collateral with serial number(s). Commercial vehicles and trailers may be subject to an additional documentation fee. Farm Bureau Bank does not provide equity or cash-out financing on vehicles and equipment. Payment plan subject to qualification and approval. ** Some restrictions may apply based upon the make and model of equipment offered as collateral. Rates are based on exceptional credit. Loans subject to credit approval. Rates are accurate as of 07/22/2016. Rates and financing are limited to farm equipment model years 2006 or newer and are subject to change without notice. Please contact 800.492.3276 for additional information. MachineName: SATC1WEB-WWW Version: 2.0.50727.4253 Server Uptime: 2062341 seconds JQuery Version: Current Directory: c:windowssystem32inetsrv Server Uptime: 2062341 seconds TITLE: SERVER_PORT: RedirectStatus: GeoLocatorResult: GeoLocatorResult https://www.farmbureaubank.com/EquipmentLoans Construction in Kansas has achieved a lot of growth owing to the economic development of the state. This however does not mean that there are plentiful jobs in the state. There is a long way to go. However in the whole job industry, jobs in construction have the best record. There has been an intense development of the state due to some construction projects, especially in the Wyandotte County.
Ken Simonson, the Chief Economist for the Associated General Contractors of America says, There has been a notable construction job growth in the Kansas City metropolitan region since February 2010 a net gain of 5,900 jobs, or 16 percent. This however is not all. Simonson goes on to say, Kansas led all states in construction job growth from May 2009 to May 2010, according to a report released by our Association. Kansas had a net gain of about 3,600 construction jobs over the 12 months. Except Kansas, there were only few other states that have registered a growth in construction employment. In May 2010, around 61,900 workers were employed in work Kansas construction jobs. Except for Kansas, the one state that had shown a growth in construction employment was Missouri. However in the past year Kansas has recorded a 6.2% increase in construction jobs while Missouri has recorded a 15% loss in the same. The main area of growth in construction jobs in Kansas has been due to the development of specialty trades like plumbers and electricians and not general construction. But since February 2010, construction work in Kansas has increased in all the three sectors be it in heavy construction, specialty trades or heavy construction. The demand in these jobs can clearly be seen if you search any website for Kansas construction jobs. If you have a lot of experience in construction and have special degrees, you can apply for Nuclear Power Construction Projects in Kansas City. Kansas City is one of the most rapidly developing sites for construction in Kansas. In fact, Overland Park is also a good area to search for nuclear construction projects. In fact many companies in this area have been looking for nuclear power managers, so if you have the degree and experience, you can as well apply. Wichita is a good place for those of you who are interested in a construction scheduler. If high degree is not your cup of tea, you can always look for plain construction jobs at Overland Park, Wichita and Kansas City. There is a lot of work for experienced construction workers in these regions. Lenexa is another place for Kansas construction jobs. You can apply for the post of a Construction Services Technician in companies at Lenexa. Are you interested for something else? Why not work as a Chief Estimator at Manhattan? Or you can also be a Quality Control Manager at Parsons. If you have a degree in engineering and are looking for something more sophisticated then you can apply for the post of a Structural Engineer at Kansas. The job pays well and has a good future. It is possible to get promoted quickly in this kind of job. In short construction in Kansas is really a pretty big field and there is something in it for everybody! http://construction.ezinemark.com/jobs-in-construction-kansas-opportunities-31a43982ff5.html By clicking Next, you agree to the AXS.com Terms and Conditions.
By creating an account, you consent to receive personalised marketing communications from AXS and the Ticket Supplier for the event, in accordance with our Privacy Policy and Terms of Use. You may opt out of these communications at any time via your online account or via the 'unsubscribe' instructions in any communications you receive. Yes, I'd like to receive additional offers and email communications from third parties, such as the event promoter, related to this event. Privacy Policy http://www.examiner.com/article/phaedra-parks-looking-at-a-possible-disbarrment-due-to-real-husband Despite the common notion that family farms have fallen on tough times and been pushed out by big agribusinesses, tens of thousands of families in the United States actually run multi-million dollar farming operations that produce the majority of the nation's food.
'; for (i = $allParagraphs.length-1; i > 0; i--) if (i > 4) afterParagraphFour = true; $currentParagraph = $($allParagraphs[i]); heights += $currentParagraph.height(); if (heights > limit && afterParagraphFour) console.log($currentParagraph.text()); $currentParagraph.after(smartAssetDiv); heights = -9999; // reset the heights variable $('#smartasset-article').css('float','left'); // allows module to have text float to right $('#smartasset-article').css('margin-right','20px'); $('#smartasset-article').css('margin-bottom','25px'); SMARTASSET.getModulePositionLimit = function() { /* returns integer position of where we should insert the module 1. if paragraph height is at least 2000, we will insert at middle 2. else we wait for 1000 pixels. */ var positionLimit; var i; var total = 0; $allParagraphs = $('#storytext').find('> p') // makes sure $allparagraphs doesn't include the story-table (only direct children) $('#storytext figure').hide(); for (i = 0; i 2000) positionLimit = total * 2 / 3; else if (total While million-dollar independent farms aren't the norm -- there are many times more small farms that struggle to make ends meet -- these slightly larger farms have been able to take advantage of their size, more advanced technologies and the recent commodity boom to become very successful small businesses. "Times have been pretty good," said Matt Schuiteman, who has 2,400 hogs and farms 2,500 acres in northwest Iowa with the help of his sons and a few hired hands. "We've been dealing with an environment where the price of all commodities has been going up." Schuiteman's farm is one of over 50,000 nationwide that have gross sales of over a million dollars a year, according to the United States Department of Agriculture. Lumping in farms with sales of over $250,000 a year, and these so called large-scale commercial farms represent just 10% of the country's farms but account for 82% of its overall food production. "People, on average, that are running large commercial farms are making substantial amounts of money," said Jim MacDonald, an economist at USDA, noting their the average household income is over $200,000 a year. Related: Cash-strapped farmers feed candy to cows What makes them so successful? The biggest driver of their income is their ability to take advantage of their larger size. A farm with 300 dairy cows will produce ten times as much milk as a farm with 30 cows. But the barn to house those extra cows isn't ten times as expensive, nor is the equipment or the laborers to do the work. The payoff for more land is well worth the expense. And these large independent farmers often have the means to supply the big food companies like Tyson Foods (TSN) or Dole (DOLE) with their raw product. Plus, farm subsidies from the federal government, which are doled out largely based on the output of the farm, are another advantage. Subsidies, which total about $14 billion a year, represent about about 5% of the gross cash income for all farms, according to USDA. Large farmers also have the capital to put down on new technologies that smaller farmers can't afford, like GPS-guided tractors that drive themselves (and save fuel) and computer programs that monitor the health and productivity of livestock. They're often more savvy at using hedging strategies to protect against future uncertainties. "I call it an information technology gap," said David Miller, an economist at the Iowa Farm Bureau who also has a 350-acre corn and soybean farm outside Des Moines. With sales of about $200,000 a year and profits of about $50,000, Miller considers himself on the borderline between large and small operator. He makes decent money, but his tractor is 20 years old and does not have GPS. It also helps that he farms corn and soybeans in Iowa -- two crops that are in strong demand in China and elsewhere. Related: Feds offer help to drought-stricken farmers Things are very different for Clark Hinsdale, a dairy farmer in northern Vermont. With 300 cows and sales that usually top a million dollars a year, Hinsdale has a large commercial farm. But with the high price of corn to feed the cows and gasoline for the tractors, turning a profit has still been tough. "Grain prices have virtually doubled," he said. "I think I'll lose money this year." It's even harder for many of his neighbors. The Northeast is home to many smaller commercial farms. These are the 30-cow, 200-acre operations that many consider "traditional farms." There are about three times as many of these smaller farms nationwide as there are the large farms. Most of these farmers can no longer support themselves by working the farm alone. The average farm income for this group is about $8,000 a year, according to USDA. As a result, many have at least one family member take a job outside the farm as a primary means of income. But even though they may not be money machines, the farming lifestyle is still attractive for a lot of people. "We don't need the big pickup and the fancy tractor," said one Vermont dairy farmer. "We do it because we enjoy it." CNNMoney (New York) First published November 27, 2012: 8:28 AM ET Terms & Conditions apply NMLS #1136 http://money.cnn.com/2012/11/27/news/economy/farming/index.html |