Building a stakeholder's vision of an offshore wind-farm project: A group modeling approach.

PubMed

Château, Pierre-Alexandre; Chang, Yang-Chi; Chen, Hsin; Ko, Tsung-Ting

2012-03-15

This paper describes a Group Model Building (GMB) initiative that was designed to discuss the various potential effects that an offshore wind-farm may have on its local ecology and socioeconomic development. The representatives of various organizations in the study area, Lu-Kang, Taiwan, have held several meetings, and structured debates have been organized to promote the emergence of a consensual view on the main issues and their implications. A System Dynamics (SD) model has been built and corrected iteratively with the participants through the GMB process. The diverse interests within the group led the process toward the design of multifunctional wind-farms with different modalities. The scenario analyses, using the SD model under various policies, including no wind-farm policy, objectively articulates the vision of the local stakeholders. The results of the SD simulations show that the multifunctional wind-farms may have superior economic effects and the larger wind-farms with bird corridors could reduce ecological impact. However, the participants of the modeling process did not appreciate any type of offshore wind-farm development when considering all of the identified key factors of social acceptance. The insight gained from the study can provide valuable information to actualize feasible strategies for the green energy technique to meet local expectations. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Poverty on the Land - In a Land of Plenty.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Myers, Robin, Comp.

The problems of agricultural laborers were discussed in this report on the public hearings held by the National Advisory Committee on Farm Labor. Problems were identified in the areas of wages of farm workers, labor standards and labor shortages, welfare, marginal farmers, Federal aid, public assistance in rural areas, family farmers, and the…

Vineyard management in virtual reality: autonomous control of a transformable drone

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Griffiths, H.; Shen, H.; Li, N.; Rojas, S.; Perkins, N.; Liu, M.

2017-05-01

Grape vines are susceptible to many diseases. Routine scouting is critically important to keep vineyards in healthy condition. Currently, scouting relies on experienced farm workers to inspect acres of land while arduously filling out reports to document crop health conditions. This process is both labor and time consuming. Using drones to assist farm workers in scouting has great potential to improve the efficiency of vineyard management. Due to the complexity in grape farm disease detection, the drones are normally used to detect suspicious areas to help farm workers to prioritize scouting activities. Operations still rely heavily on humans for further inspection to be certain about the health conditions of the vines. This paper introduces an autonomous transition flight control method for a transformable drone, which is suitable for the future virtual presence of humans in further inspecting suspicious areas. The transformable drone adopts a tilt-rotor mechanism to automatically switch between hover and horizontal flight modes, following commands from virtual reality devices held in the ground control station. The conceptual design and transformation dynamics of the drone will be first discussed, followed by a model predictive control system developed to automatically control the transition flight. Simulation is also provided to show the effectiveness of the proposed control system.

Bring Farm Advisors into the Sustainability Conversation: Results from a Nitrogen Workshop in the U.S. Midwest

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Doll, Julie E.; Reimer, Adam

2017-01-01

Increasingly, farmers are looking to private sector advisors to inform their nitrogen decisions, but little is known about these important actors. We held a Sustainable Nitrogen Roundtable workshop to bring together important groups--private sector farm advisors, Extension educators, scientists, and farmers--to discuss new research and more…

SUMMARY OF RESEARCH FINDINGS IN OFF-FARM AGRICULTURAL OCCUPATIONS.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ohio State Univ., Columbus. Center for Vocational and Technical Education.

AS A RESULT OF TWO CONFERENCES HELD IN 1963-64, INTERVIEW-TYPE SURVEYS OF EMPLOYMENT NEEDS IN OFF-FARM AGRICULTURAL BUSINESSES WERE CONDUCTED IN 26 STATES IN 1964. THE ANALYSIS OF THE FINDINGS RESULTED IN THIS SYNTHESIS. INFORMATION IS GIVEN ON -- (1) NUMBERS OF PEOPLE EMPLOYED, (2) PRESENT NUMBER, ESTIMATED INCREASE, OCCUPATIONAL GROUP AND LEVEL…

Feather retention force in broiler carcasses slaughtered and held up to 8 hours postmortem prior to scalding

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

One factor that could impact the feasibility of commercial on-farm slaughter of broilers is the time delay from on-farm slaughter to scalding and defeathering in the commercial plant that could be 4 h or more. This experiment evaluated feather retention force (FRF) in broilers that were slaughtered ...

26 CFR 20.2032A-3 - Material participation requirements for valuation of certain farm and closely-held business real...

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-04-01

... successive interests in specially valued property (e.g. life estate and remainder interests) from the...-year old widow of farmer C. She lives on a farm for which special valuation has been elected and has... what fields to plant and when to plant and harvest crops are left to E, but D does occasionally make...

Influence of distance to urban markets on smallholder dairy farming systems in Kenya.

PubMed

Migose, S A; Bebe, B O; de Boer, I J M; Oosting, S J

2018-03-28

We studied influence of distance to urban markets on smallholder dairy farming system development. Farms were chosen from three locations that varied in distance to the urban market of Nakuru Town in the Kenyan highlands: urban location (UL, n = 10) at less than 15 km distance, mid-rural location (MRL, n = 11) in between 20 and 50 km west of Nakuru and extreme rural location (ERL, n = 9) beyond 50 km west and south-west of Nakuru. In-depth interviews with farmers and focus group discussions with eight groups of stakeholders were held to collect narratives and data about market quality, production factors, farm performance and functions of dairy cattle. We applied thematic content analysis to qualitative information by clustering narratives according to predefined themes and used ANOVA to analyse farm data. In UL, markets were functional, with predominantly informal market chains, with a high milk price (US $ 45.1/100 kg). Inputs were available in UL markets, but prices were high for inputs such as concentrates, fodder, replacement stock and hired labour. Moreover, availability of grazing land and the high opportunity costs for family labour were limiting dairy activities. In UL, milk production per cow (6.9 kg/cow/day) and per farm (20.1 kg/farm/day) were relatively low, and we concluded that farm development was constrained by scarcity of inputs and production factors. In rural locations (MRL and ERL), markets were functional with relatively low prices (average US $ 32.8/100 kg) for milk in both formal and informal market chains. Here, concentrates were relatively cheap but also of low quality. Fodder, replacement stock and labour were more available in rural locations than in UL. In rural locations, milk production per cow (average 7.2 kg/cow/day) and per farm (average 18.5 kg/farm/day) were low, and we concluded that farm development was constrained by low quality of concentrates and low price of milk. In all locations, production for subsistence was valued since income generated was used for non-dairy expenses. A tailor-made package of interventions that targets the above constraints is recommended for farm development.

Animal welfare: what has changed in the past 50 years?

PubMed

2014-07-12

The 3(rd) CABI symposium on animal welfare and behaviour was held on June 11, and featured a range of talks on 'animals as machines'. The symposium marked the 50(th) anniversary of the publication of the book 'Animal Machines' by Ruth Harrison. The book decried the conditions experienced at that time by many animals kept in intensive farming systems, and the speakers at the symposium discussed how far animal welfare had come since its publication. Georgina Mills reports. British Veterinary Association.

A global perspective of the richness and evenness of traditional crop-variety diversity maintained by farming communities

PubMed Central

Jarvis, Devra I.; Brown, Anthony H. D.; Cuong, Pham Hung; Collado-Panduro, Luis; Latournerie-Moreno, Luis; Gyawali, Sanjaya; Tanto, Tesema; Sawadogo, Mahamadou; Mar, Istvan; Sadiki, Mohammed; Hue, Nguyen Thi-Ngoc; Arias-Reyes, Luis; Balma, Didier; Bajracharya, Jwala; Castillo, Fernando; Rijal, Deepak; Belqadi, Loubna; Rana, Ram; Saidi, Seddik; Ouedraogo, Jeremy; Zangre, Roger; Rhrib, Keltoum; Chavez, Jose Luis; Schoen, Daniel; Sthapit, Bhuwon; De Santis, Paola; Fadda, Carlo; Hodgkin, Toby

2008-01-01

Varietal data from 27 crop species from five continents were drawn together to determine overall trends in crop varietal diversity on farm. Measurements of richness, evenness, and divergence showed that considerable crop genetic diversity continues to be maintained on farm, in the form of traditional crop varieties. Major staples had higher richness and evenness than nonstaples. Variety richness for clonal species was much higher than that of other breeding systems. A close linear relationship between traditional variety richness and evenness (both transformed), empirically derived from data spanning a wide range of crops and countries, was found both at household and community levels. Fitting a neutral “function” to traditional variety diversity relationships, comparable to a species abundance distribution of “neutral ecology,” provided a benchmark to assess the standing diversity on farm. In some cases, high dominance occurred, with much of the variety richness held at low frequencies. This suggested that diversity may be maintained as an insurance to meet future environmental changes or social and economic needs. In other cases, a more even frequency distribution of varieties was found, possibly implying that farmers are selecting varieties to service a diversity of current needs and purposes. Divergence estimates, measured as the proportion of community evenness displayed among farmers, underscore the importance of a large number of small farms adopting distinctly diverse varietal strategies as a major force that maintains crop genetic diversity on farm. PMID:18362337

Real Time Conference 2014 Overview

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nomachi, Masaharu

2015-06-01

This article presents an overview of the 19th Real Time Conference held last May 26-30, 2014, at the Nara Prefectural New Public Hall, Nara, Japan, organized by the Research Center for Nuclear Physics of the Osaka University. The program included many invited talks and oral sessions offering an extensive overview on the following topics: real-time system architectures, intelligent signal processing, fast data transfer links and networks, trigger systems, data acquisition, processing-farms, control, monitoring and test systems, emerging real-time technologies, new standards, real-time safety and security, and some feedback on experiences. In parallel to the oral and poster presentations, industrial exhibits by companies, workshops and short courses also ran through the week.

What Difference Does a Visit Make? Changes in Animal Welfare Perceptions after Interested Citizens Tour a Dairy Farm

PubMed Central

von Keyserlingk, Marina A. G.; Wittman, Hannah; Weary, Daniel M.

2016-01-01

Citizens’ concerns about farm animal welfare are often dismissed on the assumption that they are not well informed about farming practices. We conducted exploratory surveys of interested citizens (n = 50) before and after a self-guided tour of a 500-head dairy farm. ‘Before’ survey questions explored perceptions, concerns, and values about dairy cattle farming and welfare, in addition to a short knowledge-based quiz on dairy cattle husbandry. An ‘after’ survey explored the extent to which these constructs shifted after the tour. Before, most participants correctly answered quiz questions about general feeding and housing practices, but scores were low on questions about specific practices such as cow-calf separation. Participants considered several elements as necessary for a ‘good’ life for dairy cattle: fresh food and water, pasture access, gentle handling, space, shelter, hygiene, fresh air and sunshine, social companions, absence of stress, health, and safety from predators. These elements reflect a diverse conception of animal welfare that incorporates values for physical and mental well-being, natural living, and humane care. The visit had a mixed effect on perceptions of whether dairy cows had a ‘good’ life, improving perceptions for a quarter of participants, worsening perceptions in a third, with no shift in the remaining participants. The visit appeared to mitigate some concerns (e.g., provision of adequate food and water, gentle humane care) while reinforcing or eliciting others (e.g., lack of pasture access, early cow-calf separation). Moreover, animal welfare-relevant values held by participants (e.g., natural living, care) appeared to play an important role in influencing perceptions of farm practices. These results suggest that education and exposure to livestock farming may resolve certain concerns, but other concerns will likely persist, especially when practices conflict with deeply held values around animal care. PMID:27243965

What Difference Does a Visit Make? Changes in Animal Welfare Perceptions after Interested Citizens Tour a Dairy Farm.

PubMed

Ventura, Beth Ann; von Keyserlingk, Marina A G; Wittman, Hannah; Weary, Daniel M

2016-01-01

Citizens' concerns about farm animal welfare are often dismissed on the assumption that they are not well informed about farming practices. We conducted exploratory surveys of interested citizens (n = 50) before and after a self-guided tour of a 500-head dairy farm. 'Before' survey questions explored perceptions, concerns, and values about dairy cattle farming and welfare, in addition to a short knowledge-based quiz on dairy cattle husbandry. An 'after' survey explored the extent to which these constructs shifted after the tour. Before, most participants correctly answered quiz questions about general feeding and housing practices, but scores were low on questions about specific practices such as cow-calf separation. Participants considered several elements as necessary for a 'good' life for dairy cattle: fresh food and water, pasture access, gentle handling, space, shelter, hygiene, fresh air and sunshine, social companions, absence of stress, health, and safety from predators. These elements reflect a diverse conception of animal welfare that incorporates values for physical and mental well-being, natural living, and humane care. The visit had a mixed effect on perceptions of whether dairy cows had a 'good' life, improving perceptions for a quarter of participants, worsening perceptions in a third, with no shift in the remaining participants. The visit appeared to mitigate some concerns (e.g., provision of adequate food and water, gentle humane care) while reinforcing or eliciting others (e.g., lack of pasture access, early cow-calf separation). Moreover, animal welfare-relevant values held by participants (e.g., natural living, care) appeared to play an important role in influencing perceptions of farm practices. These results suggest that education and exposure to livestock farming may resolve certain concerns, but other concerns will likely persist, especially when practices conflict with deeply held values around animal care.

Hearings Before the Select Committee on Nutrition and Human Needs of the United States Senate, Ninety-Second Congress, First Session on Nutrition and Human Needs. Part 8A--Food Distribution Program. Hearings Held Washington, D.C., September 15-16, 1971.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Congress of the U.S., Washington, DC. Senate Select Committee on Nutrition and Human Needs.

The Senate Select Committee on Nutrition and Human Needs held hearings on the "Food Distribution Program." The Program--often referred to as the "commodity distribution,""surplus distribution," or "direct distribution program"--has the dual purpose of alleviating farm surpluses and helping the poor. It presently feeds about 3.6 million Americans…

Initiation of farm safety programs in the Arkansas Delta: a case study of participatory methods.

PubMed

Richter, Jan S; Hall, Becky G; Deere, G David

2007-01-01

Outreach to high-risk communities is one of the goals of Area Health Education Centers. One such population is the farm community, which is known to suffer high rates of traumatic events. To describe a participatory methods initiative by the Arkansas Delta Area Health Education Center and other agencies to address farm-related health hazards in a 7-county region. Regional injury and fatality data were gathered from sources including Arkansas Farm Bureau Federation insurance claims, the Arkansas Statistical Service Phone Survey, the National Agricultural Statistics Service, and the Cooperative Extension Service Division of Agriculture at the University of Arkansas. Focus groups were held to assess farmer perceptions and recommendations. Accidents involving tractors accounted for 42% of deaths, and accidents with crop-spraying aircraft accounted for 36%. Focus group participants agreed that planting and harvesting seasons were particularly dangerous. Recommendations included educating motorists to be more cautious on agricultural area roads, using local farmers to provide farm safety training, and making safety equipment more available.

Farmers' perceptions of health in the Riverland region of South Australia: 'If it's broke, fix it'.

PubMed

Rawolle, Tessa A; Sadauskas, David; van Kessel, Gisela; Dollman, James

2016-10-01

To explore perceptions of health among South Australian farmers. Descriptive qualitative study, using semi-structured interviews. Two rural towns in the Riverland region of South Australia. Fifteen adults involved in farming within the Riverland region of South Australia, from a variety of farming industries; age range 23-70 years old; 53% male, 47% female. Perceptions and definitions of health. Participants described an ecological understanding of health across individual, farm, and community domains. Participants perceived health as being able to function and complete farm work. Participants reported that farm work helped to maintain fitness, but the multiple stress and hazards associated with farming had a significant influence on health. Participants described how health was influenced by community activities and social support from friends and families. Women were reported to take a lead role in health. Health providers can frame interventions to resonate with the perceptions of health held by people, shaped and formed by the context of farming. Further research is needed to explore farmers' perceptions of health in different locations, from different industries and from a range of age groups. © 2016 National Rural Health Alliance Inc.

7 CFR 761.205 - Computing the formula allocation.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-01-01

..., DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE SPECIAL PROGRAMS GENERAL PROGRAM ADMINISTRATION Allocation of Farm Loan Programs... held in the National Office reserve and distributed by base and administrative allocation, multiplied... allocation−national reserve−base allocation−administrative allocation) × State Factor (b) To calculate the...

12 CFR 652.1 - Purpose.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-01-01

... FISCAL AFFAIRS Investment Management § 652.1 Purpose. This subpart contains the Farm Credit Administration's (FCA) rules for governing liquidity and non-program investments held by the Federal Agricultural... of directors to adopt policies covering such areas as investment management, interest rate risk, and...

7 CFR 1944.71 - Term of grant.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-01-01

... Regulations of the Department of Agriculture (Continued) RURAL HOUSING SERVICE, RURAL BUSINESS-COOPERATIVE SERVICE, RURAL UTILITIES SERVICE, AND FARM SERVICE AGENCY, DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE (CONTINUED) PROGRAM... may be submitted after the annual housing application packaging orientation and training is held. The...

Agricultural Education: Gender Identity and Knowledge Exchange

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Trauger, Amy; Sachs, Carolyn; Barbercheck, Mary; Kiernan, Nancy Ellen; Brasier, Kathy; Findeis, Jill

2008-01-01

Women farmers are underserved in agricultural education and technical assistance. Long held social constructions of farming women as "farmwives" and in some cases "the bookkeepers" rather than farmers or decision-makers influence the direction of most educational programming delivered through extension programs in land-grant…

Impact of Declining Rural Infrastructure.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

McKenzie, Fiona Haslem

A study investigated the impact of declining rural community infrastructure on social, environmental, and economic well-being in Western Australia's central wheatbelt. Questionnaires were completed by 398 residents of the central wheatbelt, on-farm interviews were conducted with 68 respondents, and 4 focus groups were held in area towns.…

77 FR 7576 - Farm, Ranch, and Rural Communities Committee (FRRCC)

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2012-02-13

..., Ranch, and Rural Communities Committee (FRRCC). SUMMARY: The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA... approved by the Designated Federal Officer (DFO). Meetings will generally be held in Washington, DC... diverse candidates, EPA encourages nominations of women and men of all racial and ethnic groups. In...

Irrigation and Maize Cultivation Erode Plant Diversity Within Crops in Mediterranean Dry Cereal Agro-Ecosystems.

PubMed

Fagúndez, Jaime; Olea, Pedro P; Tejedo, Pablo; Mateo-Tomás, Patricia; Gómez, David

2016-07-01

The intensification of agriculture has increased production at the cost of environment and biodiversity worldwide. To increase crop yield in dry cereal systems, vast farmland areas of high conservation value are being converted into irrigation, especially in Mediterranean countries. We analyze the effect of irrigation-driven changes on the farm biota by comparing species diversity, community composition, and species traits of arable plants within crop fields from two contrasting farming systems (dry and irrigated) in Spain. We sampled plant species within 80 fields of dry wheat, irrigated wheat, and maize (only cultivated under irrigation). Wheat crops held higher landscape and per field species richness, and beta diversity than maize. Within the same type of crop, irrigated wheat hosted lower plant diversity than dry wheat at both field and landscape scales. Floristic composition differed between crop types, with higher frequencies of perennials, cosmopolitan, exotic, wind-pollinated and C4 species in maize. Our results suggest that irrigation projects, that transform large areas of dry cereal agro-ecosystems into irrigated crop systems dominated by maize, erode plant diversity. An adequate planning on the type and proportion of crops used in the irrigated agro-ecosystems is needed in order to balance agriculture production and biodiversity conservation.

7 CFR 1951.15 - Return of paid-in-full or satisfied notes to borrower.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-01-01

... HOUSING SERVICE, RURAL BUSINESS-COOPERATIVE SERVICE, RURAL UTILITIES SERVICE, AND FARM SERVICE AGENCY..., cashier's check, certified check, Postal or bank money order, bank draft, or a check issued by a... making marginal releases or satisfactions or security instruments, the notes will be held until the...

12 CFR 615.5208 - Allotment of allocated investments.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-01-01

... 12 Banks and Banking 6 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Allotment of allocated investments. 615.5208... allocated investments. (a) The following conditions apply to agreements that a Farm Credit Bank or... investments held by those associations with which there is no agreement (nonagreeing associations), and does...

12 CFR 615.5208 - Allotment of allocated investments.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-01-01

... 12 Banks and Banking 6 2011-01-01 2011-01-01 false Allotment of allocated investments. 615.5208... allocated investments. (a) The following conditions apply to agreements that a Farm Credit Bank or... investments held by those associations with which there is no agreement (nonagreeing associations), and does...

26 CFR 1.1251-2 - Excess deductions account.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-04-01

..., and livestock used in the trade or business of farming which is held for draft, breeding, dairy, or... $13,000 (b) Gain from disposition of breeding herd to which section 1251(c)(1) applies (computed... include all expenditures paid or incurred for producing the animal, such as for stud, breeding, and...

Sustainability evaluation of different systems for sea cucumber ( Apostichopus japonicus) farming based on emergy theory

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, Guodong; Dong, Shuanglin; Tian, Xiangli; Gao, Qinfeng; Wang, Fang

2015-06-01

Emergy analysis is effective for analyzing ecological economic systems. However, the accuracy of the approach is affected by the diversity of economic level, meteorological and hydrological parameters in different regions. The present study evaluated the economic benefits, environmental impact, and sustainability of indoor, semi-intensive and extensive farming systems of sea cucumber ( Apostichopus japonicus) in the same region. The results showed that A. japonicus indoor farming system was high in input and output (yield) whereas pond extensive farming system was low in input and output. The output/input ratio of indoor farming system was lower than that of pond extensive farming system, and the output/input ratio of semi-intensive farming system fell in between them. The environmental loading ratio of A. japonicus extensive farming system was lower than that of indoor farming system. In addition, the emergy yield and emergy exchange ratios, and emergy sustainability and emergy indexes for sustainable development were higher in extensive farming system than those in indoor farming system. These results indicated that the current extensive farming system exerted fewer negative influences on the environment, made more efficient use of available resources, and met more sustainable development requirements than the indoor farming system. A. japonicus farming systems showed more emergy benefits than fish farming systems. The pond farming systems of A. japonicus exploited more free local environmental resources for production, caused less potential pressure on the local environment, and achieved higher sustainability than indoor farming system.

Anthropogenic and meteorological factors influence vector abundance and prevalence of bluetongue virus infection of dairy cattle in California.

PubMed

Mayo, Christie E; Gardner, Ian A; Mullens, Bradley A; Barker, Christopher M; Gerry, Alec C; Guthrie, Alan J; MacLachlan, N James

2012-03-23

Bluetongue is an economically important arboviral disease of ruminants that is transmitted by hematophagous Culicoides midges. In light of dramatic recent changes in the global distribution of bluetongue virus (BTV), the goals of this study were to re-evaluate the prevalence of BTV infection of cattle and abundance of Culicoides midges on individual dairy farms in California. A serosurvey of adult dairy cattle confirmed that BTV infection is prevalent throughout much of the state, although the coastal northwestern region remains free of infection and prevalence varies markedly among farms in the remainder of the state. Intensive sampling for one year of 4 farms in the northern Central Valley of California showed that the abundance of Culicoides midges was markedly different and coincided with the prevalence of BTV infection of sentinel cattle on each farm. Mean maximum and minimum temperatures and other meteorological parameters were similar on all 4 farms, thus we speculate that particular management practices were responsible for both the increased midge abundance and prevalence of BTV infection of cattle at individual farms. Specifically, it is concluded that variation in vector abundance at individual farms most likely is the result of waste-water lagoon and irrigation management practices, leading to higher BTV infection rates among livestock held on farms with more waste-water lagoons and greater acreage of land for waste-water irrigation. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

The legacy of wetland drainage on the remaining peat in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta, California, USA

USGS Publications Warehouse

Drexler, Judith Z.; Christian S. de Fontaine,; Steven J. Deverel,

2009-01-01

Throughout the world, many extensive wetlands, such as the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta of California (hereafter, the Delta), have been drained for agriculture, resulting in land-surface subsidence of peat soils. The purpose of this project was to study the in situ effects of wetland drainage on the remaining peat in the Delta. Peat cores were retrieved from four drained, farmed islands and four relatively undisturbed, marsh islands. Core samples were analyzed for bulk density and percent organic carbon. Macrofossils in the peat were dated using radiocarbon age determination. The peat from the farmed islands is highly distinct from marsh island peat. Bulk density of peat from the farmed islands is generally greater than that of the marsh islands at a given organic carbon content. On the farmed islands, increased bulk density, which is an indication of compaction, decreases with depth within the unoxidized peat zone, whereas, on the marsh islands, bulk density is generally constant with depth except near the surface. Approximately 55–80% of the original peat layer on the farmed islands has been lost due to landsurface subsidence. For the center regions of the farmed islands, this translates into an estimated loss of between 2900-5700 metric tons of organic carbon/hectare. Most of the intact peat just below the currently farmed soil layer is over 4000 years old. Peat loss will continue as long as the artificial water table on the farmed islands is held below the land surface.

26 CFR 1.1251-2 - Excess deductions account.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-04-01

... business of farming which is held for draft, breeding, dairy, or sporting purposes regardless of the period... of breeding herd to which section 1251(c)(1) applies (computed before applying limitation) 14,000 (c... animal, such as for stud, breeding, and veterinary services, as well as all amounts paid or incurred with...

26 CFR 1.1251-2 - Excess deductions account.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-04-01

... business of farming which is held for draft, breeding, dairy, or sporting purposes regardless of the period... of breeding herd to which section 1251(c)(1) applies (computed before applying limitation) 14,000 (c... animal, such as for stud, breeding, and veterinary services, as well as all amounts paid or incurred with...

26 CFR 1.1251-2 - Excess deductions account.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-04-01

... business of farming which is held for draft, breeding, dairy, or sporting purposes regardless of the period... of breeding herd to which section 1251(c)(1) applies (computed before applying limitation) 14,000 (c... animal, such as for stud, breeding, and veterinary services, as well as all amounts paid or incurred with...

26 CFR 1.1251-2 - Excess deductions account.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-04-01

... business of farming which is held for draft, breeding, dairy, or sporting purposes regardless of the period... of breeding herd to which section 1251(c)(1) applies (computed before applying limitation) 14,000 (c... animal, such as for stud, breeding, and veterinary services, as well as all amounts paid or incurred with...

Report on the White House Consultation with Rural Women.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Rural American Women, Inc., Washington, DC.

At the White House Consultation with Rural Women held in June 1980, over 250 women from all walks of rural life and from 12 other nations responded to the Carter Administration's rural policy on small farms, health, employment, communications, education, housing, food, agriculture, and land and energy issues and made recommendations for action for…

Microbiology and evisceration efficiency of broiler carcasses slaughtered and held up to 8 hours postmortem prior to scalding and defeathering

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

The implementation of on farm slaughter could eliminate potential animal welfare issues associated with cooping, transport, dumping, and shackling live broilers. This research evaluated evisceration efficiency and the microbiological implications of delaying scalding and defeathering for up to 8 h a...

Combining high biodiversity with high yields in tropical agroforests.

PubMed

Clough, Yann; Barkmann, Jan; Juhrbandt, Jana; Kessler, Michael; Wanger, Thomas Cherico; Anshary, Alam; Buchori, Damayanti; Cicuzza, Daniele; Darras, Kevin; Putra, Dadang Dwi; Erasmi, Stefan; Pitopang, Ramadhanil; Schmidt, Carsten; Schulze, Christian H; Seidel, Dominik; Steffan-Dewenter, Ingolf; Stenchly, Kathrin; Vidal, Stefan; Weist, Maria; Wielgoss, Arno Christian; Tscharntke, Teja

2011-05-17

Local and landscape-scale agricultural intensification is a major driver of global biodiversity loss. Controversially discussed solutions include wildlife-friendly farming or combining high-intensity farming with land-sparing for nature. Here, we integrate biodiversity and crop productivity data for smallholder cacao in Indonesia to exemplify for tropical agroforests that there is little relationship between yield and biodiversity under current management, opening substantial opportunities for wildlife-friendly management. Species richness of trees, fungi, invertebrates, and vertebrates did not decrease with yield. Moderate shade, adequate labor, and input level can be combined with a complex habitat structure to provide high biodiversity as well as high yields. Although livelihood impacts are held up as a major obstacle for wildlife-friendly farming in the tropics, our results suggest that in some situations, agroforests can be designed to optimize both biodiversity and crop production benefits without adding pressure to convert natural habitat to farmland.

Combining high biodiversity with high yields in tropical agroforests

PubMed Central

Clough, Yann; Barkmann, Jan; Juhrbandt, Jana; Kessler, Michael; Wanger, Thomas Cherico; Anshary, Alam; Buchori, Damayanti; Cicuzza, Daniele; Darras, Kevin; Putra, Dadang Dwi; Erasmi, Stefan; Pitopang, Ramadhanil; Schmidt, Carsten; Schulze, Christian H.; Seidel, Dominik; Steffan-Dewenter, Ingolf; Stenchly, Kathrin; Vidal, Stefan; Weist, Maria; Wielgoss, Arno Christian; Tscharntke, Teja

2011-01-01

Local and landscape-scale agricultural intensification is a major driver of global biodiversity loss. Controversially discussed solutions include wildlife-friendly farming or combining high-intensity farming with land-sparing for nature. Here, we integrate biodiversity and crop productivity data for smallholder cacao in Indonesia to exemplify for tropical agroforests that there is little relationship between yield and biodiversity under current management, opening substantial opportunities for wildlife-friendly management. Species richness of trees, fungi, invertebrates, and vertebrates did not decrease with yield. Moderate shade, adequate labor, and input level can be combined with a complex habitat structure to provide high biodiversity as well as high yields. Although livelihood impacts are held up as a major obstacle for wildlife-friendly farming in the tropics, our results suggest that in some situations, agroforests can be designed to optimize both biodiversity and crop production benefits without adding pressure to convert natural habitat to farmland. PMID:21536873

26 CFR 20.2032A-3 - Material participation requirements for valuation of certain farm and closely-held business real...

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-04-01

... is a factual determination, and the types of activities and financial risks which will support such a..., or service enterprise, or to the raising of agricultural or horticultural commodities, as... though an office and regular hours are maintained for management of income producing assets, as the term...

A Dialogue on the Structure of American Agriculture: Summary of Regional Meetings, November 27-December 18, 1979.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Department of Agriculture, Washington, DC.

At the request of Secretary of Agriculture, Robert Bergland, 10 regional meetings were held in which 210 scheduled speakers and 365 unscheduled speakers commented on 12 broad areas of concern to American agriculture. These concerns were: landownership, control and tenancy; barriers to entering and leaving farming; production efficiency, size of…

Role of the Agricultural Industry and Judging Events in Formation of the Future Farmers of America

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Tummons, John D.; Simonsen, Jon C.; Martin, Michael J.

2017-01-01

Early agricultural education included youth judging activities, in which farm boys matched skills with students from neighboring schools. In 1925, students competed in a National Dairy Judging Contest in Indianapolis held specifically for vocational students. Based on the success of this contest, the Federal Board for Vocational Education…

5 CFR 8301.103 - Additional rules for employees of the Farm Service Agency.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-01-01

... SUPPLEMENTAL STANDARDS OF ETHICAL CONDUCT FOR EMPLOYEES OF THE DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE § 8301.103 Additional... estate purchases. (1) No FSA employee, or spouse or minor child of an FSA employee, may directly or indirectly purchase real estate held in the FSA inventory, for sale under forfeiture to FSA, or from an FSA...

The legacy of wetland drainage on the remaining peat in the Sacramento San Joaquin Delta, California, USA

USGS Publications Warehouse

Drexler, J.Z.; De Fontaine, C. S.; Deverel, S.J.

2009-01-01

Throughout the world, many extensive wetlands, such as the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta of California (hereafter, the Delta), have been drained for agriculture, resulting in land-surface subsidence of peat soils. The purpose of this project was to study the in situ effects of wetland drainage on the remaining peat in the Delta. Peat cores were retrieved from four drained, farmed islands and four relatively undisturbed, marsh islands. Core samples were analyzed for bulk density and percent organic carbon. Macrofossils in the peat were dated using radiocarbon age determination. The peat from the farmed islands is highly distinct from marsh island peat. Bulk density of peat from the farmed islands is generally greater than that of the marsh islands at a given organic carbon content. On the farmed islands, increased bulk density, which is an indication of compaction, decreases with depth within the unoxidized peat zone, whereas, on the marsh islands, bulk density is generally constant with depth except near the surface. Approximately 5580 of the original peat layer on the farmed islands has been lost due to land-surface subsidence. For the center regions of the farmed islands, this translates into an estimated loss of between 29005700 metric tons of organic carbon/hectare. Most of the intact peat just below the currently farmed soil layer is over 4000 years old. Peat loss will continue as long as the artificial water table on the farmed islands is held below the land surface. ?? 2009 The Society of Wetland Scientists.

76 FR 34985 - Farm Credit System Insurance Corporation Board Meeting

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2011-06-15

... FARM CREDIT SYSTEM INSURANCE CORPORATION Farm Credit System Insurance Corporation Board Meeting AGENCY: Farm Credit System Insurance Corporation. SUMMARY: Notice is hereby given of the regular meeting of the Farm Credit System Insurance Corporation Board (Board). Date and Time: The meeting of the...

Mixed crop-livestock systems: an economic and environmental-friendly way of farming?

PubMed

Ryschawy, J; Choisis, N; Choisis, J P; Joannon, A; Gibon, A

2012-10-01

Intensification and specialisation of agriculture in developed countries enabled productivity to be improved but had detrimental impacts on the environment and threatened the economic viability of a huge number of farms. The combination of livestock and crops, which was very common in the past, is assumed to be a viable alternative to specialised livestock or cropping systems. Mixed crop-livestock systems can improve nutrient cycling while reducing chemical inputs and generate economies of scope at farm level. Most assumptions underlying these views are based on theoretical and experimental evidence. Very few assessments of their environmental and economic advantages have nevertheless been undertaken in real-world farming conditions. In this paper, we present a comparative assessment of the environmental and economic performances of mixed crop-livestock farms v. specialised farms among the farm population of the French 'Coteaux de Gascogne'. In this hilly region, half of the farms currently use a mixed crop-livestock system including beef cattle and cash crops, the remaining farms being specialised in either crops or cattle. Data were collected through an exhaustive survey of farms located in our study area. The economic performances of farming systems were assessed on 48 farms on the basis of (i) overall gross margin, (ii) production costs and (iii) analysis of the sensitivity of gross margins to fluctuations in the price of inputs and outputs. The environmental dimension was analysed through (i) characterisation of farmers' crop management practices, (ii) analysis of farm land use diversity and (iii) nitrogen farm-gate balance. Local mixed crop-livestock farms did not have significantly higher overall gross margins than specialised farms but were less sensitive than dairy and crop farms to fluctuations in the price of inputs and outputs considered. Mixed crop-livestock farms had lower costs than crop farms, while beef farms had the lowest costs as they are grass-based systems. Concerning crop management practices, our results revealed an intensification gradient from low to high input farming systems. Beyond some general trends, a wide range of management practices and levels of intensification were observed among farms with a similar production system. Mixed crop-livestock farms were very heterogeneous with respect to the use of inputs. Nevertheless, our study revealed a lower potential for nitrogen pollution in mixed crop-livestock and beef production systems than in dairy and crop farming systems. Even if a wide variability exists within system, mixed crop-livestock systems appear to be a way for an environmental and economical sustainable agriculture.

77 FR 8179 - Disclosure to Investors in System-wide and Consolidated Bank Debt Obligations of the Farm Credit...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2012-02-14

... FARM CREDIT ADMINISTRATION 12 CFR Part 630 RIN 3052-AC77 Disclosure to Investors in System-wide and Consolidated Bank Debt Obligations of the Farm Credit System AGENCY: Farm Credit Administration...) System Audit Committee (SAC) and the Farm Credit System (System) annual report to investors. The proposed...

12 CFR 615.5560 - Book-entry Procedure for Farm Credit System Financial Assistance Corporation Securities.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-01-01

... OPERATIONS Farm Credit System Financial Assistance Corporation Securities § 615.5560 Book-entry Procedure for Farm Credit System Financial Assistance Corporation Securities. (a) The Farm Credit System Financial... 12 Banks and Banking 6 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Book-entry Procedure for Farm Credit System...

Characterization of Dutch dairy farms using sensor systems for cow management.

PubMed

Steeneveld, W; Hogeveen, H

2015-01-01

To improve cow management in large dairy herds, sensors have been developed that can measure physiological, behavioral, and production indicators on individual cows. Recently, the number of dairy farms using sensor systems has increased. It is not known, however, to what extent sensor systems are used on dairy farms, and the reasons why farmers invest or not in sensor systems are unclear. The first objective of this study was to give an overview of the sensor systems currently used in the Netherlands. The second objective was to investigate the reasons for investing or not investing in sensor systems. The third objective was to characterize farms with and without sensor systems. A survey was developed to investigate first, the reasons for investing or not in sensor systems and, then, how the sensor systems are used in daily cow management. The survey was sent to 1,672 Dutch dairy farmers. The final data set consisted of 512 dairy farms (response rate of 30.6%); 202 farms indicated that they had sensor systems and 310 farms indicated that they did not have sensor systems. A wide variety of sensor systems was used on Dutch dairy farms; those for mastitis detection and estrus detection were the most-used sensor systems. The use of sensor systems was different for farms using an automatic milking system (AMS) and a conventional milking system (CMS). Reasons for investing were different for different sensor systems. For sensor systems attached to the AMS, the farmers made no conscious decision to invest: they answered that the sensors were standard in the AMS or were bought for reduced cost with the AMS. The main reasons for investing in estrus detection sensor systems were improving detection rates, gaining insights into the fertility level of the herd, improving profitability of the farm, and reducing labor. Main reasons for not investing in sensor systems were economically related. It was very difficult to characterize farms with and without sensor systems. Farms with CMS and sensor systems had more cows than CMS farms without sensor systems. Furthermore, farms with sensor systems had fewer labor hours per cow compared with farms without sensor systems. Other farm characteristics (age of the farmer, availability of a successor, growth in herd size, milk production per cow, number of cows per hectare, and milk production per hectare) did not differ for farms with and without sensor systems. Copyright © 2015 American Dairy Science Association. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

12 CFR 1400.1 - Farm Credit System Insurance Corporation.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-01-01

... 12 Banks and Banking 9 2013-01-01 2013-01-01 false Farm Credit System Insurance Corporation. 1400.1 Section 1400.1 Banks and Banking FARM CREDIT SYSTEM INSURANCE CORPORATION ORGANIZATION AND FUNCTIONS Organization and Functions § 1400.1 Farm Credit System Insurance Corporation. The Farm Credit...

12 CFR 1400.1 - Farm Credit System Insurance Corporation.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-01-01

... 12 Banks and Banking 9 2012-01-01 2012-01-01 false Farm Credit System Insurance Corporation. 1400.1 Section 1400.1 Banks and Banking FARM CREDIT SYSTEM INSURANCE CORPORATION ORGANIZATION AND FUNCTIONS Organization and Functions § 1400.1 Farm Credit System Insurance Corporation. The Farm Credit...

12 CFR 1400.1 - Farm Credit System Insurance Corporation.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-01-01

... 12 Banks and Banking 7 2011-01-01 2011-01-01 false Farm Credit System Insurance Corporation. 1400.1 Section 1400.1 Banks and Banking FARM CREDIT SYSTEM INSURANCE CORPORATION ORGANIZATION AND FUNCTIONS Organization and Functions § 1400.1 Farm Credit System Insurance Corporation. The Farm Credit...

12 CFR 1400.1 - Farm Credit System Insurance Corporation.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-01-01

... 12 Banks and Banking 10 2014-01-01 2014-01-01 false Farm Credit System Insurance Corporation. 1400.1 Section 1400.1 Banks and Banking FARM CREDIT SYSTEM INSURANCE CORPORATION ORGANIZATION AND FUNCTIONS Organization and Functions § 1400.1 Farm Credit System Insurance Corporation. The Farm Credit...

12 CFR 1400.1 - Farm Credit System Insurance Corporation.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-01-01

... 12 Banks and Banking 7 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Farm Credit System Insurance Corporation. 1400.1 Section 1400.1 Banks and Banking FARM CREDIT SYSTEM INSURANCE CORPORATION ORGANIZATION AND FUNCTIONS Organization and Functions § 1400.1 Farm Credit System Insurance Corporation. The Farm Credit...

Control of reproduction in aquacultured species has benefited worldwide; can this strategy benefit U.S. farm-raised catfish too

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Natural pond spawning of channel catfish is unreliable, unpredictable, and is dependent on environmental conditions. Male and female broodfish are typically held in the same pond for 2 or 3 years. Approximately 30-50% of the females and 10 percent of the males present in the pond participate in the...

Attitudes to Agricultural Policy and Farming Futures in the Context of the 2003 CAP Reform: A Comparison of Farmers in Selected Established and New Member States

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gorton, Matthew; Douarin, Elodie; Davidova, Sophia; Latruffe, Laure

2008-01-01

Farmers' attitudes, to agricultural production, diversification and policy support, and behavioural intentions in five Member States of the EU (France, Lithuania, Slovakia, Sweden, England) are analysed comparatively. Groups of farmers with similarly held attitudes are identified using cluster analysis to investigate whether differences in…

Attitudes of farm consultants in the South Island of New Zealand towards the role of veterinarians in farm businesses.

PubMed

Bates, A J; Wapenaar, W; Campbell, A C; Eggleton, R G

2016-09-01

To assess the attitude of dairy farm consultants to the role of veterinarians on dairy farms and whether they viewed veterinary advice as impartial, free from commercial bias and central to farm productivity and profitability. A telephone survey was commissioned in September 2014 of 36 full-time farm consultants in the Canterbury and Otago region of New Zealand using a pre-prepared questionnaire to explore their attitudes towards the veterinary profession. Of those approached, 25 completed the survey. The consultants surveyed agreed or strongly agreed (21/23) that they were the custodians of animal health expenditure on farms, which was seen as an expense to be controlled (19/25 agreed or strongly agreed). This view was held more strongly (9/9 agreed or strongly agreed) by consultants with >5 years' professional experience, compared to 10/16 consultants with ≤5 years' experience. Most consultants (24/25) disagreed that they did not respect veterinary advice, but agreed (24/25) that veterinarians almost always had a vested interest in the advice that they gave. The role of veterinarians was seen by respondents to be mainly treatment of sick animals (22/25) and provision of animal health products (24/25), but not in maximising farm profitability (selected by 8/25 respondents). Consultants viewed their own roles as providing advice on the influence of animal health on farm profitability (21/25), nutrition (22/25) and reproduction (20/25). Most respondents (21/25) stated that reducing disease and animal health issues was important, but they (21/25) also identified a reduction in farm animal health expenditure as a measure of success. Only 7/25 consultants felt that they should work in partnership with veterinarians. This was a small scale study from one region of New Zealand but it indicates that consultants are ambivalent about the role and value of working more closely with veterinarians, and about the benefit that veterinary intervention may bring to a farm's profitability. More successful veterinary involvement on dairy farms will follow from a better understanding of how other rural professionals are involved in the farm's management and in meeting the individual farmer's goals and motivations.

Farming systems and sanitary problems in mountain cattle farms.

PubMed

Bernúes, A; Manrique, E; Maza, M T

1994-01-01

On the basis of concepts established by ecopathology and the systems theory, certain aspects of the 'Ecosanitary System', which forms part of the 'Farming System', were studied. Multivariant statistical methods were used to analyze and classify 69 mountain cattle farms into different types and to establish relationships between variables relating to pathological problems and others relating to aspects of production and farm structure. Stable mastitis characterized farms with a higher milk production, more intensive farming and greater hygiene measures. The pattern of diarrhoea in the calves was similar. Problems relating to reproduction and calving were more characteristic of traditional, small farms.

12 CFR 615.5175 - Investments in Farm Credit System institution preferred stock.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-01-01

... 12 Banks and Banking 6 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Investments in Farm Credit System institution preferred stock. 615.5175 Section 615.5175 Banks and Banking FARM CREDIT ADMINISTRATION FARM CREDIT SYSTEM... Capital, and Other Investments § 615.5175 Investments in Farm Credit System institution preferred stock...

Fracture trauma in a medieval British farming village.

PubMed

Judd, M A; Roberts, C A

1999-06-01

Farming is among the three most hazardous occupations in modern society and perhaps also held a similar position during the medieval period. The goal of this study was to determine if there is a significant difference in frequencies and patterns of longbone fracture trauma observed between rural and urban activity bases that distinguish farming as a particularly dangerous occupation during the medieval period. The longbones of 170 individuals excavated from Raunds, a rural medieval British site (10th-12th centuries AD) were examined for fractures and compared to data collected from four contemporary British medieval sites, one rural and three urban. The fracture frequency for the Raunds individuals (19.4%) was significantly different from the urban sites (4.7-5.5%). Female fractures were characterized by injury to the forearm, while the males were predisposed to diverse fracture locations. Clinical research provided a source of documented farm-related trauma from North America and Europe where the crops and animals raised, the manual chores performed, and the equipment used in traditional or small-scale farms have changed little in form or function since the medieval period. Nonmechanized causes of injury contribute to approximately 40% of all modern farm-related injuries and are attributed to falls from lofts and ladders, animal assaults and bites, and falls from moving vehicles. These hazardous situations were also present in the medieval period and may explain some of the fracture trauma from the rural sites. A high fracture frequency for both medieval males and females is significantly associated with farming subsistence when compared to craft-orientated urban dwellers.

A wireless electronic monitoring system for securing milk from farm to processor

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Womble, Phillip; Hopper, Lindsay; Thompson, Chris; Alexander, Suraj M.; Crist, William; Payne, Fred; Stombaugh, Tim; Paschal, Jon; Moore, Ryan; Luck, Brian; Tabayehnejab, Nasrin

2008-04-01

The Department of Homeland Security and the Department of Health and Human Services have targeted bulk food contamination as a focus for attention. The contamination of bulk food poses a high consequence threat to our society. Milk transport falls into three of the 17 targeted NIPP (National Infrastructure Protection Plan) sectors including agriculture-food, public health, and commercial facilities. Minimal security safeguards have been developed for bulk milk transport. The current manual methods of securing milk are paper intensive and prone to errors. The bulk milk transportation sector requires a security enhancement that will both reduce recording errors and enable normal transport activities to occur while providing security against unauthorized access. Milk transportation companies currently use voluntary seal programs that utilize plastic, numbered seals on milk transport tank openings. Our group has developed a Milk Transport Security System which is an electromechanical access control and communication system that assures the secure transport of milk, milk samples, milk data, and security data between locations and specifically between dairy farms, transfer stations, receiving stations, and milk plants. It includes a security monitoring system installed on the milk transport tank, a hand held device, optional printers, data server, and security evaluation software. The system operates automatically and requires minimal or no attention by the bulk milk hauler/sampler. The system is compatible with existing milk transport infrastructure, and has the support of the milk producers, milk transportation companies, milk marketing agencies, and dairy processors. The security protocol developed is applicable for transport of other bulk foods both nationally and internationally. This system adds significantly to the national security infrastructure for bulk food transport. We are currently demonstrating the system in central Kentucky and will report on the results of the demonstration.

Conducting On-Farm Animal Research: Procedures & Economic Analysis.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Amir, Pervaiz; Knipscheer, Hendrik C.

This book is intended to give animal scientists elementary tools to perform on-farm livestock analysis and to provide crop-oriented farming systems researchers with methods for conducting animal research. Chapter 1 describes farming systems research as a systems approach to on-farm animal research. Chapter 2 outlines some important…

7 CFR 4290.720 - Enterprises that may be ineligible for Financing.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-01-01

... wells, wind farms, or power facilities (including solar, geothermal, hydroelectric, or biomass power... ineligible for Farm Credit System Assistance. If one or more Farm Credit System Institutions or their... that is not otherwise eligible to receive Financing from the Farm Credit System under the Farm Credit...

7 CFR 4290.720 - Enterprises that may be ineligible for Financing.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-01-01

... wells, wind farms, or power facilities (including solar, geothermal, hydroelectric, or biomass power... ineligible for Farm Credit System Assistance. If one or more Farm Credit System Institutions or their... that is not otherwise eligible to receive Financing from the Farm Credit System under the Farm Credit...

76 FR 76409 - Meeting of the Farm Credit System Insurance Corporation Board

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2011-12-07

... FARM CREDIT SYSTEM INSURANCE CORPORATION Meeting of the Farm Credit System Insurance Corporation... given of the regular meeting of the Farm Credit System Insurance Corporation Board (Board). DATE AND... Coverage and the Audit Committee Charter Closed Sesson Confidential Report on System Performance Audit Plan...

77 FR 45606 - Policy Statement Concerning Assistance to Troubled Farm Credit System Institutions

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2012-08-01

... FARM CREDIT SYSTEM INSURANCE CORPORATION Policy Statement Concerning Assistance to Troubled Farm...) published for comment a draft Policy Statement Concerning Assistance to Troubled Farm Credit System (System) Institutions to replace the Corporation's present Policy Statement Concerning Stand- Alone Assistance. The...

77 FR 37399 - Policy Statement Concerning Assistance to Troubled Farm Credit System Institutions

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2012-06-21

... FARM CREDIT SYSTEM INSURANCE CORPORATION Policy Statement Concerning Assistance to Troubled Farm... publishing for comment a draft Policy Statement Concerning Assistance to Troubled Farm Credit System (System) Institutions to replace the Corporation's present Policy Statement Concerning Stand- Alone Assistance. The...

77 FR 76356 - Disclosure to Investors in System-wide and Consolidated Bank Debt Obligations of the Farm Credit...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2012-12-28

... FARM CREDIT ADMINISTRATION 12 CFR Part 630 RIN 3052-AC77 Disclosure to Investors in System-wide and Consolidated Bank Debt Obligations of the Farm Credit System; System Audit Committee; Effective... Corporation System Audit Committee and the Farm Credit System annual report to investors. In accordance with...

Assessing conservation opportunity on private land: socio-economic, behavioral, and spatial dimensions.

PubMed

Raymond, Christopher M; Brown, Gregory

2011-10-01

This study presents a method for assessing conservation opportunity on private land based on landholders' socio-economic, behavioral, and farm characteristics. These characteristics include age, gender, education, level of off-farm income, farm size, proportion of remnant native vegetation on-farm, and ecological value of native vegetation on-farm. A sample of landholders who own greater than 2 ha of land in the South Australian Murray-Darling Basin region were sent a mail-based survey about their values and preferences for environmental management (N = 659, 52% response). Cross-tabulations and ANOVA statistical analysis techniques were used to compare the socio-economic attributes across three landholder classes: disengaged, moderately engaged, and highly engaged in native vegetation planting. Results indicate that highly engaged landholders were more likely to be female, formally educated, hobby farmers who managed small parcels of land and have high off-farm incomes, whereas disengaged landholders held significantly stronger farming connections (more farming experience, family have lived on the farm for more generations). Spatial analysis revealed area-specific differences in conservation opportunity and conservation priority. In some areas, properties of high ecological value were managed by highly engaged landholders, but nearby properties of high value were managed by moderately engaged or disengaged landholders. Environmental managers therefore cannot assume areas of high conservation priority will be areas of high conservation opportunity. At the regional scale, the potential for revegetation seems most promising within the moderately engaged landholder group considering the vast amount of land managed by this group in areas of high ecological value, particularly within the less represented Mallee and Coorong and Rangelands sub-regions. We suggest that incentive schemes which purchase conservation need to be targeted at disengaged landholders; mentoring schemes led by commercial farmers highly engaged in native vegetation planting should be directed at moderately engaged landholders, and; awards programs which acknowledge conservation successes should be targeted at highly engaged landholders. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Drivers of land use change and household determinants of sustainability in smallholder farming systems of Eastern Uganda.

PubMed

Ebanyat, Peter; de Ridder, Nico; de Jager, Andre; Delve, Robert J; Bekunda, Mateete A; Giller, Ken E

2010-07-01

Smallholder farming systems in sub-Saharan Africa have undergone changes in land use, productivity and sustainability. Understanding of the drivers that have led to changes in land use in these systems and factors that influence the systems' sustainability is useful to guide appropriate targeting of intervention strategies for improvement. We studied low input Teso farming systems in eastern Uganda from 1960 to 2001 in a place-based analysis combined with a comparative analysis of similar low input systems in southern Mali. This study showed that policy-institutional factors next to population growth have driven land use changes in the Teso systems, and that nutrient balances of farm households are useful indicators to identify their sustainability. During the period of analysis, the fraction of land under cultivation increased from 46 to 78%, and communal grazing lands nearly completely disappeared. Cropping diversified over time; cassava overtook cotton and millet in importance, and rice emerged as an alternative cash crop. Impacts of political instability, such as the collapse of cotton marketing and land management institutions, of communal labour arrangements and aggravation of cattle rustling were linked to the changes. Crop productivity in the farming systems is poor and nutrient balances differed between farm types. Balances of N, P and K were all positive for larger farms (LF) that had more cattle and derived a larger proportion of their income from off-farm activities, whereas on the medium farms (MF), small farms with cattle (SF1) and without cattle (SF2) balances were mostly negative. Sustainability of the farming system is driven by livestock, crop production, labour and access to off-farm income. Building private public partnerships around market-oriented crops can be an entry point for encouraging investment in use of external nutrient inputs to boost productivity in such African farming systems. However, intervention strategies should recognise the diversity and heterogeneity between farms to ensure efficient use of these external inputs.

Organic Farming: Biodiversity Impacts Can Depend on Dispersal Characteristics and Landscape Context

PubMed Central

Feber, Ruth E.; Johnson, Paul J.; Bell, James R.; Chamberlain, Dan E.; Firbank, Leslie G.; Fuller, Robert J.; Manley, Will; Mathews, Fiona; Norton, Lisa R.; Townsend, Martin; Macdonald, David W.

2015-01-01

Organic farming, a low intensity system, may offer benefits for a range of taxa, but what affects the extent of those benefits is imperfectly understood. We explored the effects of organic farming and landscape on the activity density and species density of spiders and carabid beetles, using a large sample of paired organic and conventional farms in the UK. Spider activity density and species density were influenced by both farming system and surrounding landscape. Hunting spiders, which tend to have lower dispersal capabilities, had higher activity density, and more species were captured, on organic compared to conventional farms. There was also evidence for an interaction, as the farming system effect was particularly marked in the cropped area before harvest and was more pronounced in complex landscapes (those with little arable land). There was no evidence for any effect of farming system or landscape on web-building spiders (which include the linyphiids, many of which have high dispersal capabilities). For carabid beetles, the farming system effects were inconsistent. Before harvest, higher activity densities were observed in the crops on organic farms compared with conventional farms. After harvest, no difference was detected in the cropped area, but more carabids were captured on conventional compared to organic boundaries. Carabids were more species-dense in complex landscapes, and farming system did not affect this. There was little evidence that non-cropped habitat differences explained the farming system effects for either spiders or carabid beetles. For spiders, the farming system effects in the cropped area were probably largely attributable to differences in crop management; reduced inputs of pesticides (herbicides and insecticides) and fertilisers are possible influences, and there was some evidence for an effect of non-crop plant species richness on hunting spider activity density. The benefits of organic farming may be greatest for taxa with lower dispersal abilities generally. The evidence for interactions among landscape and farming system in their effects on spiders highlights the importance of developing strategies for managing farmland at the landscape-scale for most effective conservation of biodiversity. PMID:26309040

Organic Farming: Biodiversity Impacts Can Depend on Dispersal Characteristics and Landscape Context.

PubMed

Feber, Ruth E; Johnson, Paul J; Bell, James R; Chamberlain, Dan E; Firbank, Leslie G; Fuller, Robert J; Manley, Will; Mathews, Fiona; Norton, Lisa R; Townsend, Martin; Macdonald, David W

2015-01-01

Organic farming, a low intensity system, may offer benefits for a range of taxa, but what affects the extent of those benefits is imperfectly understood. We explored the effects of organic farming and landscape on the activity density and species density of spiders and carabid beetles, using a large sample of paired organic and conventional farms in the UK. Spider activity density and species density were influenced by both farming system and surrounding landscape. Hunting spiders, which tend to have lower dispersal capabilities, had higher activity density, and more species were captured, on organic compared to conventional farms. There was also evidence for an interaction, as the farming system effect was particularly marked in the cropped area before harvest and was more pronounced in complex landscapes (those with little arable land). There was no evidence for any effect of farming system or landscape on web-building spiders (which include the linyphiids, many of which have high dispersal capabilities). For carabid beetles, the farming system effects were inconsistent. Before harvest, higher activity densities were observed in the crops on organic farms compared with conventional farms. After harvest, no difference was detected in the cropped area, but more carabids were captured on conventional compared to organic boundaries. Carabids were more species-dense in complex landscapes, and farming system did not affect this. There was little evidence that non-cropped habitat differences explained the farming system effects for either spiders or carabid beetles. For spiders, the farming system effects in the cropped area were probably largely attributable to differences in crop management; reduced inputs of pesticides (herbicides and insecticides) and fertilisers are possible influences, and there was some evidence for an effect of non-crop plant species richness on hunting spider activity density. The benefits of organic farming may be greatest for taxa with lower dispersal abilities generally. The evidence for interactions among landscape and farming system in their effects on spiders highlights the importance of developing strategies for managing farmland at the landscape-scale for most effective conservation of biodiversity.

Assessing agro-environmental performance of dairy farms in northwest Italy based on aggregated results from indicators.

PubMed

Gaudino, Stefano; Goia, Irene; Grignani, Carlo; Monaco, Stefano; Sacco, Dario

2014-07-01

Dairy farms control an important share of the agricultural area of Northern Italy. Zero grazing, large maize-cropped areas, high stocking densities, and high milk production make them intensive and prone to impact the environment. Currently, few published studies have proposed indicator sets able to describe the entire dairy farm system and their internal components. This work had four aims: i) to propose a list of agro-environmental indicators to assess dairy farms; ii) to understand which indicators classify farms best; iii) to evaluate the dairy farms based on the proposed indicator list; iv) to link farmer decisions to the consequent environmental pressures. Forty agro-environmental indicators selected for this study are described. Northern Italy dairy systems were analysed considering both farmer decision indicators (farm management) and the resulting pressure indicators that demonstrate environmental stress on the entire farming system, and its components: cropping system, livestock system, and milk production. The correlations among single indicators identified redundant indicators. Principal Components Analysis distinguished which indicators provided meaningful information about each pressure indicator group. Analysis of the communalities and the correlations among indicators identified those that best represented farm variability: Farm Gate N Balance, Greenhouse Gas Emission, and Net Energy of the farm system; Net Energy and Gross P Balance of the cropping system component; Energy Use Efficiency and Purchased Feed N Input of the livestock system component; N Eco-Efficiency of the milk production component. Farm evaluation, based on the complete list of selected indicators demonstrated organic farming resulted in uniformly high values, while farms with low milk-producing herds resulted in uniformly low values. Yet on other farms, the environmental quality varied greatly when different groups of pressure indicators were considered, which highlighted the importance of expanding environmental analysis to effects within the farm. Statistical analysis demonstrated positive correlations between all farmer decision and pressure group indicators. Consumption of mineral fertiliser and pesticide negatively influenced the cropping system. Furthermore, stocking rate was found to correlate positively with the milk production component and negatively with the farm system. This study provides baseline references for ex ante policy evaluation, and monitoring tools for analysis both in itinere and ex post environment policy implementation. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Drivers of land use change and household determinants of sustainability in smallholder farming systems of Eastern Uganda

PubMed Central

de Ridder, Nico; de Jager, Andre; Delve, Robert J.; Bekunda, Mateete A.; Giller, Ken E.

2010-01-01

Smallholder farming systems in sub-Saharan Africa have undergone changes in land use, productivity and sustainability. Understanding of the drivers that have led to changes in land use in these systems and factors that influence the systems’ sustainability is useful to guide appropriate targeting of intervention strategies for improvement. We studied low input Teso farming systems in eastern Uganda from 1960 to 2001 in a place-based analysis combined with a comparative analysis of similar low input systems in southern Mali. This study showed that policy-institutional factors next to population growth have driven land use changes in the Teso systems, and that nutrient balances of farm households are useful indicators to identify their sustainability. During the period of analysis, the fraction of land under cultivation increased from 46 to 78%, and communal grazing lands nearly completely disappeared. Cropping diversified over time; cassava overtook cotton and millet in importance, and rice emerged as an alternative cash crop. Impacts of political instability, such as the collapse of cotton marketing and land management institutions, of communal labour arrangements and aggravation of cattle rustling were linked to the changes. Crop productivity in the farming systems is poor and nutrient balances differed between farm types. Balances of N, P and K were all positive for larger farms (LF) that had more cattle and derived a larger proportion of their income from off-farm activities, whereas on the medium farms (MF), small farms with cattle (SF1) and without cattle (SF2) balances were mostly negative. Sustainability of the farming system is driven by livestock, crop production, labour and access to off-farm income. Building private public partnerships around market-oriented crops can be an entry point for encouraging investment in use of external nutrient inputs to boost productivity in such African farming systems. However, intervention strategies should recognise the diversity and heterogeneity between farms to ensure efficient use of these external inputs. PMID:20628448

Life cycle assessment of different sea cucumber ( Apostichopus japonicus Selenka) farming systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, Guodong; Dong, Shuanglin; Tian, Xiangli; Gao, Qinfeng; Wang, Fang; Xu, Kefeng

2015-12-01

The life cycle assessment was employed to evaluate the environmental impacts of three farming systems (indoor intensive, semi-intensive and extensive systems) of sea cucumber living near Qingdao, China, which can effectively overcome the interference of inaccurate background parameters caused by the diversity of economic level and environment in different regions. Six indicators entailing global warming potential (1.86E + 04, 3.45E + 03, 2.36E + 02), eutrophication potential (6.65E + 01, -1.24E + 02, -1.65E + 02), acidification potential (1.93E + 02, 4.33E + 01, 1.30E + 00), photochemical oxidant formation potential (2.35E-01, 5.46E -02, 2.53E-03), human toxicity potential (2.47E + 00, 6.08E-01, 4.91E + 00) and energy use (3.36E + 05, 1.27E + 04, 1.48E + 03) were introduced in the current study. It was found that all environmental indicators in the indoor intensive farming system were much higher than those in semi-intensive and extensive farming systems because of the dominant role of energy input, while energy input also contributed as the leading cause factor for most of the indicators in the semi-intensive farming system. Yet in the extensive farming system, infrastructure materials played a major role. Through a comprehensive comparison of the three farming systems, it was concluded that income per unit area of indoor intensive farming system was much higher than those of semi-intensive and extensive farming systems. However, the extensive farming system was the most sustainable one. Moreover, adequate measures were proposed, respectively, to improve the environmental sustainability of each farming system in the present study.

Farming Systems Research: A Critical Appraisal. MSU Rural Development Paper No. 6.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gilbert, Elon H.; And Others

The objectives of the state-of-the-art paper, second in a series on farming systems research (FSR) in the Third World, are to: (1) review the literature on farming systems; (2) evaluate farming systems research in international institutes and in national agricultural research systems in the Third World; and (3) recommend what can be done to…

12 CFR 1402.13 - Request for records.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-01-01

... Banks and Banking FARM CREDIT SYSTEM INSURANCE CORPORATION RELEASING INFORMATION Availability of Records of the Farm Credit System Insurance Corporation § 1402.13 Request for records. Requests for records... regular business day in the office of the Farm Credit System Insurance Corporation, 1501 Farm Credit Drive...

[Agricultural policies and farming systems: A case study of landscape changes in Shizuitou Village in the recent four decades].

PubMed

Wang, Xiao-jun; Zhou, Yang; Yan, Yan-bin; Li, Lei

2015-01-01

Agricultural policy in China's rural heartland is driving profound changes to traditional farming systems. A case study covering four decades mapped and recorded farming patterns and processes in Shizuitou Village, a rural village in northwest Shanxi. An integrated geospatial methodology from geography and anthropology was employed in the case study to record the changing dynamics of farming systems in Shizuitou Village to discover the long-term impacts of China's agricultural policies on village farming systems. Positive and negative impacts of agricultural policies on village farming systems were mapped, inventoried and evaluated using Participatory Geographic Information Systems (PGIS). The results revealed traditional polycultures are being gradually replaced by industrialized monocultures. The driving forces behind these farming changes come from a series of government agricultural policies aiming at modernization of farming systems in China. The goal of these policies was to spur rapid development of industrial agriculture under the guise of modernization but is leading to the decay of traditional farming systems in the village that maintained local food security with healthy land for hundreds of years. The paper concluded with a recommendation that in future, agricultural policy makers should strike a more reasonable balance between short-term agricultural profits and long-term farming sustainability based on the principles of ecological sustainable development under the context of global changes.

Motivating California organic farmers to go solar: Economics may trump philosophy in deciding to adopt photovoltaics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fata, Johnathon A.

Organic farmers who have adopted solar photovoltaic (PV) systems to generate electricity are leaders in agricultural energy sustainability, yet research on their culture and motivations is largely incomplete. These farmers share economic and logistical constraints, but they may differ in their underlying worldviews. To better understand what motivates San Francisco Bay Area organic farmers to install solar PV systems, 14 in-depth interviews and short surveys were conducted and included a "frontier mentality" rubric. Additionally, nine online surveys were administered. In this study's sample, financial concerns turned out to provide the greatest motivation for farmers to adopt solar PV. Concern for the environment followed closely. Among farms that did not have solar, the overwhelming prohibiting factor was upfront cost. Climate change was not cited directly as a driving force for adoption of solar PV by any of the participants. A wide range of differences among organic farmers existed in environmental attitudes. This reflected the diversity of views held by organic farmers in California today. For example, certified organic farmers had less strongly held environmental values than did those that eschew third-party certification in favor of a trust-based connection to the consumer. Understanding this group of highly involved environmental players provides insight into environmental behavior of other farmers as well as broader categories of consumers and businesses.

High-level waste tank farm set point document

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Anthony, J.A. III

1995-01-15

Setpoints for nuclear safety-related instrumentation are required for actions determined by the design authorization basis. Minimum requirements need to be established for assuring that setpoints are established and held within specified limits. This document establishes the controlling methodology for changing setpoints of all classifications. The instrumentation under consideration involve the transfer, storage, and volume reduction of radioactive liquid waste in the F- and H-Area High-Level Radioactive Waste Tank Farms. The setpoint document will encompass the PROCESS AREA listed in the Safety Analysis Report (SAR) (DPSTSA-200-10 Sup 18) which includes the diversion box HDB-8 facility. In addition to the PROCESS AREASmore » listed in the SAR, Building 299-H and the Effluent Transfer Facility (ETF) are also included in the scope.« less

Evaluation of the sustainability of contrasted pig farming systems: breeding programmes.

PubMed

Rydhmer, L; Gourdine, J L; de Greef, K; Bonneau, M

2014-12-01

The sustainability of breeding activities in 15 pig farming systems in five European countries was evaluated. One conventional and two differentiated systems per country were studied. The Conventional systems were the standard systems in their countries. The differentiated systems were of three categories: Adapted Conventional with focus on animal welfare, meat quality or environment (five systems); Traditional with local breeds in small-scale production (three systems) and Organic (two systems). Data were collected with a questionnaire from nine breeding organisations providing animals and semen to the studied farming systems and from, on average, five farmers per farming system. The sustainability assessment of breeding activities was performed in four dimensions. The first dimension described whether the market for the product was well defined, and whether the breeding goal reflected the farming system and the farmers' demands. The second dimension described recording and selection procedures, together with genetic change in traits that were important in the system. The third dimension described genetic variation, both within and between pig breeds. The fourth dimension described the management of the breeding organisation, including communication, transparency, and technical and human resources. The results show substantial differences in the sustainability of breeding activities, both between farming systems within the same category and between different categories of farming systems. The breeding activities are assessed to be more sustainable for conventional systems than for differentiated systems in three of the four dimensions. In most differentiated farming systems, breeding goals are not related to the system, as these systems use the same genetic material as conventional systems. The breeds used in Traditional farming systems are important for genetic biodiversity, but the small scale of these systems renders them vulnerable. It is hoped that, by reflecting on different aspects of sustainability, this study will encourage sustainable developments in pig production.

PREFACE: Wake Conference 2015

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Barney, Andrew; Nørkær Sørensen, Jens; Ivanell, Stefan

2015-06-01

The 44 papers in this volume constitute the proceedings of the 2015 Wake Conference, held in Visby on the island of Gotland in Sweden. It is the fourth time this conference has been held. The Wake Conference series started in Visby, where it was held in 2009 and 2011. In 2013 it took place in Copenhagen where it was combined with the International Conference on Offshore Wind Energy and Ocean Energy. In 2015 it is back where it started in Visby, where it takes place at Uppsala University Campus Gotland, June 9th-11th. The global yearly production of electrical energy by wind turbines has grown tremendously in the past decade and it now comprises more than 3% of the global electrical power consumption. Today the wind power industry has a global annual turnover of more than 50 billion USD and an annual average growth rate of more than 20%. State-of-the-art wind turbines have rotor diameters of up to 150 m and 8 MW installed capacity. These turbines are often placed in large wind farms that have a total production capacity corresponding to that of a nuclear power plant. In order to make a substantial impact on one of the most significant challenges of our time, global warming, the industry's growth has to continue for a decade or two yet. This in turn requires research into the physics of wind turbine wakes and wind farms. Modern wind turbines are today clustered in wind farms in which the turbines are fully or partially influenced by the wake of upstream turbines. As a consequence, the wake behind the wind turbines has a lower mean wind speed and an increased turbulence level, as compared to the undisturbed flow outside the farm. Hence, wake interaction results in decreased total production of power, caused by lower kinetic energy in the wind, and an increase in the turbulence intensity. Therefore, understanding the physical nature of the vortices and their dynamics in the wake of a turbine is important for the optimal design of a wind farm. This conference is aimed at scientists and PhD students working in the field of wake dynamics. The conference covers the following subject areas: Wake and vortex dynamics, instabilities in trailing vortices and wakes, simulation and measurements of wakes, analytical approaches for modeling wakes, wake interaction and other wind farm investigations. Many people have been involved in producing the 2015 Wake Conference proceedings. The work by the more than 60 reviewers ensuring the quality of the papers is greatly appreciated. The timely evaluation and coordination of the reviews would not have been possible without the work of the section editors: Christian Masson, ÉTS, Fernando Porté-Agel, EPFL, Gerard Schepers, ECN Wind Energy, Gijs Van Kuik, Delft University, Gunner Larsen, DTU Wind Energy, Jakob Mann, DTU Wind Energy, Javier Sanz Rodrigo, CENER, Johan Meyers, KU Leuven, Rebecca Barthelmie, Cornell University, Sandrine Aubrun-Sanches, Université d'Orléans and Thomas Leweke, IRPHE-CNRS. We are also immensely indebted to the very responsive support from the editorial team at IOP Publishing, especially Sarah Toms, during the review process of these proceedings. Visby, Sweden, June 2015 Andrew Barney, Jens Nørkær Sørensen and Stefan Ivanell Uppsala University - Campus Gotland

7 CFR 1470.6 - Eligibility requirements.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-01-01

... producer must be the operator in the Farm Service Agency (FSA) farm records management system. Potential applicants that are not in the FSA farm records management system must establish records with FSA. Potential applicants whose records are not current in the FSA farm records management system must update those records...

7 CFR 1470.6 - Eligibility requirements.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-01-01

... producer must be the operator in the Farm Service Agency (FSA) farm records management system. Potential applicants that are not in the FSA farm records management system must establish records with FSA. Potential applicants whose records are not current in the FSA farm records management system must update those records...

7 CFR 1470.6 - Eligibility requirements.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-01-01

... producer must be the operator in the Farm Service Agency (FSA) farm records management system. Potential applicants that are not in the FSA farm records management system must establish records with FSA. Potential applicants whose records are not current in the FSA farm records management system must update those records...

7 CFR 1470.6 - Eligibility requirements.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-01-01

... producer must be the operator in the Farm Service Agency (FSA) farm records management system. Potential applicants that are not in the FSA farm records management system must establish records with FSA. Potential applicants whose records are not current in the FSA farm records management system must update those records...

12 CFR 620.4 - Preparing and providing the annual report.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-01-01

....4 Section 620.4 Banks and Banking FARM CREDIT ADMINISTRATION FARM CREDIT SYSTEM DISCLOSURE TO... institution of the Farm Credit System must: (1) Prepare and send to the Farm Credit Administration an... copy of its annual report on its Web site when it sends the report electronically to the Farm Credit...

Antibiotic use by farmers to control mastitis as influenced by health advice and dairy farming systems.

PubMed

Poizat, A; Bonnet-Beaugrand, F; Rault, A; Fourichon, C; Bareille, N

2017-10-01

Mastitis is a bacterial disease common in dairy farms. Although knowledge about mastitis and its optimal technical management and treatment is now available, some dairy farmers still use antibiotics in inappropriate ways. Antibiotic use by farmers can be influenced by personal restraints and motivations, but it can be assumed that external drivers are also influential. The main purpose of this article is thus to analyse the choices of antibiotic and alternative medicine use for mastitis treatment and investigate the possible influence of two unexplored external drivers in dairy farms: (i) the health advice offered to farmers by farm advisors and veterinarians, (ii) the dairy farming system, as defined by combining the market valuation chosen for the milk, the level of intensification, and the perceived pressure related to investments. Research was based on 51 individual semi-structured interviews with farmers and their corresponding veterinarians and farm advisors. Based on verbatim, the use of antibiotics and alternative medicine by farmers for mastitis treatment, the vet-farmers interactions, and the dairy farming systems are described. The advisory relationships between farmers and farm advisors and between farmers and veterinarians influenced the implementation of selective dry cow therapy, but had very little effect on the use of alternative medicines by farmers, who were more willing to experiment alternative medicines than their advisors. The dairy farming system had very little influence on antibiotic use: some misuse of antibiotics was found whatever the farming system. Systematic dry cow therapy was also a widespread habit in all dairy farming systems except organic. The use of alternative medicine was common in all farming systems. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Starting a learning progression for agricultural literacy: A qualitative study of urban elementary student understandings of agricultural and science education benchmarks

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hess, Alexander Jay

Science and agriculture professional organizations have argued for agricultural literacy as a goal for K-12 public education. Due to the complexity of our modern agri-food system, with social, economic, and environmental concerns embedded, an agriculturally literate society is needed for informed decision making, democratic participation, and system reform. While grade-span specific benchmarks for gauging agri-food system literacy have been developed, little attention has been paid to existing ideas individuals hold about the agri-food system, how these existing ideas relate to benchmarks, how experience shapes such ideas, or how ideas change overtime. Developing a body of knowledge on students' agri-food system understandings as they develop across K-12 grades can ground efforts seeking to promote a learning progression toward agricultural literacy. This study compares existing perceptions held by 18 upper elementary students from a large urban center in California to agri-food system literacy benchmarks and examines the perceptions against student background and experiences. Data were collected via semi-structured interviews and analyzed using the constant comparative method. Constructivist theoretical perspectives framed the study. No student had ever grown their own food, raised a plant, or cared for an animal. Participation in school fieldtrips to farms or visits to a relative's garden were agricultural experiences most frequently mentioned. Students were able to identify common food items, but could not elaborate on their origins, especially those that were highly processed. Students' understanding of post-production activities (i.e. food processing, manufacturing, or food marketing) was not apparent. Students' understanding of farms reflected a 1900's subsistence farming operation commonly found in a literature written for the primary grades. Students were unaware that plants and animals were selected for production based on desired genetic traits. Obtaining food from areas with favorable growing conditions and supporting technology (such as transportation and refrigeration) was an understanding lacking in the group. Furthermore, most spoilage prevention technologies employed today were not an expressed part of student's schema. Students' backgrounds and experiences did not appear to support the development of a robust agri-food system schema. An agricultural science and technology schema appears poorly developed in each of the students.

Seaweed Farms in South Korea [detail

NASA Image and Video Library

2015-04-30

The dark squares that make up the checkerboard pattern in this image are fields of a sort—fields of seaweed. Along the south coast of South Korea, seaweed is often grown on ropes, which are held near the surface with buoys. This technique ensures that the seaweed stays close enough to the surface to get enough light during high tide but doesn’t scrape against the bottom during low tide. The Operational Land Imager (OLI) on Landsat 8 acquired this image of seaweed cultivation in the shallow waters around Sisan Island on January 31, 2014. Home to a thriving aquaculture industry, the south coast of South Korea produces about 90 percent of the country’s seaweed crop. The waters around Sisan are not the only place where aquaculture is common. View the large image to see how ubiquitous seaweed aquaculture is along the coast in Jeollanam-do, the southernmost province on the Korean peninsula. Two main types of seaweed are cultivated in South Korea: Undaria (known as miyeok in Korean, wakame in Japanese) and Pyropia (gim in Korean, nori in Japanese). Both types are used generously in traditional Korean, Japanese, and Chinese food. Since 1970, farmed seaweed production has increased by approximately 8 percent per year. Today, about 90 percent of all the seaweed that humans consume globally is farmed. That may be good for the environment. In comparison to other types of food production, seaweed farming has a light environmental footprint because it does not require fresh water or fertilizer. NASA Earth Observatory image by Jesse Allen, using Landsat data from the U.S. Geological Survey. Caption by Adam Voiland. Credit: NASA Earth Observatory NASA image use policy. NASA Goddard Space Flight Center enables NASA’s mission through four scientific endeavors: Earth Science, Heliophysics, Solar System Exploration, and Astrophysics. Goddard plays a leading role in NASA’s accomplishments by contributing compelling scientific knowledge to advance the Agency’s mission. Follow us on Twitter Like us on Facebook Find us on Instagram

Seaweed Farms in South Korea

NASA Image and Video Library

2015-04-30

The dark squares that make up the checkerboard pattern in this image are fields of a sort—fields of seaweed. Along the south coast of South Korea, seaweed is often grown on ropes, which are held near the surface with buoys. This technique ensures that the seaweed stays close enough to the surface to get enough light during high tide but doesn’t scrape against the bottom during low tide. The Operational Land Imager (OLI) on Landsat 8 acquired this image of seaweed cultivation in the shallow waters around Sisan Island on January 31, 2014. Home to a thriving aquaculture industry, the south coast of South Korea produces about 90 percent of the country’s seaweed crop. The waters around Sisan are not the only place where aquaculture is common. View the large image to see how ubiquitous seaweed aquaculture is along the coast in Jeollanam-do, the southernmost province on the Korean peninsula. Two main types of seaweed are cultivated in South Korea: Undaria (known as miyeok in Korean, wakame in Japanese) and Pyropia (gim in Korean, nori in Japanese). Both types are used generously in traditional Korean, Japanese, and Chinese food. Since 1970, farmed seaweed production has increased by approximately 8 percent per year. Today, about 90 percent of all the seaweed that humans consume globally is farmed. That may be good for the environment. In comparison to other types of food production, seaweed farming has a light environmental footprint because it does not require fresh water or fertilizer. NASA Earth Observatory image by Jesse Allen, using Landsat data from the U.S. Geological Survey. Caption by Adam Voiland. Credit: NASA Earth Observatory NASA image use policy. NASA Goddard Space Flight Center enables NASA’s mission through four scientific endeavors: Earth Science, Heliophysics, Solar System Exploration, and Astrophysics. Goddard plays a leading role in NASA’s accomplishments by contributing compelling scientific knowledge to advance the Agency’s mission. Follow us on Twitter Like us on Facebook Find us on Instagram

12 CFR 614.4590 - Equitable treatment of OFIs and Farm Credit System associations.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-01-01

... differences in credit risk and administrative costs to the Farm Credit Bank or agricultural credit bank. (c... 12 Banks and Banking 6 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Equitable treatment of OFIs and Farm Credit System associations. 614.4590 Section 614.4590 Banks and Banking FARM CREDIT ADMINISTRATION FARM CREDIT...

Ships as future floating farm systems?

PubMed

Moustafa, Khaled

2018-04-03

Environmental and agriculture challenges such as severe drought, desertification, sprawling cities and shrinking arable lands in large regions in the world compel us to think about alternative and sustainable farming systems. Ongoing projects to build floating cities in the sea suggest that building specific ships for farming purposes (as farming ships or farming boats) would also be attainable to introduce new farming surfaces and boost food production worldwide to cope with food insecurity issues.

12 CFR 609.905 - Background.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-01-01

... facilitates electronic commerce (E-commerce) and allows Farm Credit System (System) institutions and their customers to use new technologies. System institutions may use E-commerce but must establish good business... Banking FARM CREDIT ADMINISTRATION FARM CREDIT SYSTEM ELECTRONIC COMMERCE General Rules § 609.905...

12 CFR 609.905 - Background.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-01-01

... facilitates electronic commerce (E-commerce) and allows Farm Credit System (System) institutions and their customers to use new technologies. System institutions may use E-commerce but must establish good business... Banking FARM CREDIT ADMINISTRATION FARM CREDIT SYSTEM ELECTRONIC COMMERCE General Rules § 609.905...

12 CFR 609.905 - Background.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-01-01

... facilitates electronic commerce (E-commerce) and allows Farm Credit System (System) institutions and their customers to use new technologies. System institutions may use E-commerce but must establish good business... Banking FARM CREDIT ADMINISTRATION FARM CREDIT SYSTEM ELECTRONIC COMMERCE General Rules § 609.905...

12 CFR 609.905 - Background.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-01-01

... facilitates electronic commerce (E-commerce) and allows Farm Credit System (System) institutions and their customers to use new technologies. System institutions may use E-commerce but must establish good business... Banking FARM CREDIT ADMINISTRATION FARM CREDIT SYSTEM ELECTRONIC COMMERCE General Rules § 609.905...

12 CFR 609.905 - Background.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-01-01

... facilitates electronic commerce (E-commerce) and allows Farm Credit System (System) institutions and their customers to use new technologies. System institutions may use E-commerce but must establish good business... Banking FARM CREDIT ADMINISTRATION FARM CREDIT SYSTEM ELECTRONIC COMMERCE General Rules § 609.905...

The Challenge in Improving the Diets of Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program Recipients

PubMed Central

Popkin, Barry M.

2017-01-01

This paper provides an historical background for the current nutrition issues faced by the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). The Food Stamp Program evolved into SNAP during a period when U.S. diets, particularly those of the poor, became less healthful. During the 1960s, the U.S. (Kennedy–Johnson era) addressed malnutrition first with a pilot project focused on retail sales and cash food stamps, which showed that low-income consumers purchased relatively healthy foods for a fairly high-quality diet. Southern politicians in the House of Representatives wanted a program similar to an earlier subsidized commodity distribution program. The pilot provided the evidence northern urban politicians sought, and they held the farm bill hostage until southern rural interests agreed to an unfettered Food Stamp Program that allowed purchases directly from retailers. A final Food Stamp Program law was incorporated into the farm bill and passed. This program shifted in 1977 to a full cash benefit system later, first using food stamps to act as cash and later an Electronic Benefit Transfer program. The program was designed at a time of a very healthful diet of lower-SES Americans. As diets of lower-income Americans changed and the entire food system shifted, the program has not been adjusted in any manner. Today, 50%–66% of the calories in the American diet, particularly that of low-SES Americans, come from highly processed foods containing excessive refined carbohydrates, sodium, unhealthy saturated fats, and added sugar. The SNAP design has not responded to these shifts in diet and the powerful interests controlling our food system. This twist in the U.S. diet and food system presents a major dilemma to those attempting to form a healthy food program based on the results of an effective pilot project. PMID:28109411

Fuel gas production from animal and agricultural residues and biomass. Quarterly coordination meeting, December 11-12, 1978, Denver, Colorado. Second Quarterly progress report

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Wise, D L; Ashare, E; Wentworth, R L

1979-01-05

The tenth quarterly coordination meeting of the methane production group of the Fuels from Biomass Systems Branch, US Department of Energy was held at Denver, Colorado, December 11-12, 1978. Progress reports were presented by the contractors and a site visit was made to the Solar Energy Research Institute, Golden, Colorado. A meeting agenda, a list of attendees, and progress are presented. Report titles are: pipeline fuel gas from an environmental feedlot; operation of a 50,000 gallon anaerobic digester at the Monroe State Dairy Farm near Monroe, Washington; anaerobic fermentation of livestock and crop residues; anaerobic fermentation of agricultural residues -more » potential for improvement and implementation; heat treatment of organics for increasing anaerobic biodegradability; and biological conversion of biomass to methane. (DC)« less

12 CFR 618.8040 - Authorized insurance services.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-01-01

... 618.8040 Banks and Banking FARM CREDIT ADMINISTRATION FARM CREDIT SYSTEM GENERAL PROVISIONS Member Insurance § 618.8040 Authorized insurance services. (a) Farm Credit System banks (excluding banks for... member's or borrower's farm or aquatic unit is permitted, but limited to hail and multiple-peril crop...

12 CFR 618.8040 - Authorized insurance services.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-01-01

... 618.8040 Banks and Banking FARM CREDIT ADMINISTRATION FARM CREDIT SYSTEM GENERAL PROVISIONS Member Insurance § 618.8040 Authorized insurance services. (a) Farm Credit System banks (excluding banks for... member's or borrower's farm or aquatic unit is permitted, but limited to hail and multiple-peril crop...

12 CFR 618.8040 - Authorized insurance services.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-01-01

... 618.8040 Banks and Banking FARM CREDIT ADMINISTRATION FARM CREDIT SYSTEM GENERAL PROVISIONS Member Insurance § 618.8040 Authorized insurance services. (a) Farm Credit System banks (excluding banks for... member's or borrower's farm or aquatic unit is permitted, but limited to hail and multiple-peril crop...

Yield and Economic Performance of Organic and Conventional Cotton-Based Farming Systems – Results from a Field Trial in India

PubMed Central

Forster, Dionys; Andres, Christian; Verma, Rajeev; Zundel, Christine; Messmer, Monika M.; Mäder, Paul

2013-01-01

The debate on the relative benefits of conventional and organic farming systems has in recent time gained significant interest. So far, global agricultural development has focused on increased productivity rather than on a holistic natural resource management for food security. Thus, developing more sustainable farming practices on a large scale is of utmost importance. However, information concerning the performance of farming systems under organic and conventional management in tropical and subtropical regions is scarce. This study presents agronomic and economic data from the conversion phase (2007–2010) of a farming systems comparison trial on a Vertisol soil in Madhya Pradesh, central India. A cotton-soybean-wheat crop rotation under biodynamic, organic and conventional (with and without Bt cotton) management was investigated. We observed a significant yield gap between organic and conventional farming systems in the 1st crop cycle (cycle 1: 2007–2008) for cotton (−29%) and wheat (−27%), whereas in the 2nd crop cycle (cycle 2: 2009–2010) cotton and wheat yields were similar in all farming systems due to lower yields in the conventional systems. In contrast, organic soybean (a nitrogen fixing leguminous plant) yields were marginally lower than conventional yields (−1% in cycle 1, −11% in cycle 2). Averaged across all crops, conventional farming systems achieved significantly higher gross margins in cycle 1 (+29%), whereas in cycle 2 gross margins in organic farming systems were significantly higher (+25%) due to lower variable production costs but similar yields. Soybean gross margin was significantly higher in the organic system (+11%) across the four harvest years compared to the conventional systems. Our results suggest that organic soybean production is a viable option for smallholder farmers under the prevailing semi-arid conditions in India. Future research needs to elucidate the long-term productivity and profitability, particularly of cotton and wheat, and the ecological impact of the different farming systems. PMID:24324659

Yield and economic performance of organic and conventional cotton-based farming systems--results from a field trial in India.

PubMed

Forster, Dionys; Andres, Christian; Verma, Rajeev; Zundel, Christine; Messmer, Monika M; Mäder, Paul

2013-01-01

The debate on the relative benefits of conventional and organic farming systems has in recent time gained significant interest. So far, global agricultural development has focused on increased productivity rather than on a holistic natural resource management for food security. Thus, developing more sustainable farming practices on a large scale is of utmost importance. However, information concerning the performance of farming systems under organic and conventional management in tropical and subtropical regions is scarce. This study presents agronomic and economic data from the conversion phase (2007-2010) of a farming systems comparison trial on a Vertisol soil in Madhya Pradesh, central India. A cotton-soybean-wheat crop rotation under biodynamic, organic and conventional (with and without Bt cotton) management was investigated. We observed a significant yield gap between organic and conventional farming systems in the 1(st) crop cycle (cycle 1: 2007-2008) for cotton (-29%) and wheat (-27%), whereas in the 2(nd) crop cycle (cycle 2: 2009-2010) cotton and wheat yields were similar in all farming systems due to lower yields in the conventional systems. In contrast, organic soybean (a nitrogen fixing leguminous plant) yields were marginally lower than conventional yields (-1% in cycle 1, -11% in cycle 2). Averaged across all crops, conventional farming systems achieved significantly higher gross margins in cycle 1 (+29%), whereas in cycle 2 gross margins in organic farming systems were significantly higher (+25%) due to lower variable production costs but similar yields. Soybean gross margin was significantly higher in the organic system (+11%) across the four harvest years compared to the conventional systems. Our results suggest that organic soybean production is a viable option for smallholder farmers under the prevailing semi-arid conditions in India. Future research needs to elucidate the long-term productivity and profitability, particularly of cotton and wheat, and the ecological impact of the different farming systems.

Evaluation of the use of an on-farm system for bacteriologic culture of milk from cows with low-grade mastitis.

PubMed

Neeser, Nicole L; Hueston, William D; Godden, Sandra M; Bey, Russell F

2006-01-15

To determine factors associated with implementation and use of an on-farm system for bacteriologic culture of milk from cows with lowgrade mastitis, including information on how producers used the on-farm bacteriologic culture system to guide antimicrobial selection practices and the resulting impact on patterns of antimicrobial use. Retrospective cohort study. Producers of 81 dairy farms. Farms that used an on-farm system for bacteriologic culture of milk from January 2001 to July 2003 were surveyed. Over half of those producers continuing to use the on-farm culture delayed antimicrobial treatment pending results of bacteriologic culture. Most other producers initiated empirical antimicrobial treatment while bacteriologic culture results were pending. Several barriers to the use of an on-farm system were identified. Significant reductions in rates of antimicrobial use were detected when comparing antimicrobial use rates before and during use of the on-farm system. Most producers chose to treat cows with mastitis caused by gram-positive pathogens with antimicrobials, whereas treatment choices for cows with mastitis caused by gram-negative bacteria and in cases in which no growth was detected varied. Readily available results permit antimicrobial selections to be made on the basis of the causative agent of mastitis. Adoption of an on-farm system for bacteriologic culture of milk may result in significant reductions in the percentage of cows treated with antimicrobials. Decreasing antimicrobial use may have several benefits including preventing unnecessary discarding of milk, decreasing the potential for drug residues in milk, and improving treatment outcomes as a result of targeted treatments.

7 CFR 4290.720 - Enterprises that may be ineligible for Financing.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-01-01

... wells, wind farms, or power facilities (including solar, geothermal, hydroelectric, or biomass power... the majority of the activities of the Enterprise. Examples include motion pictures. (e) Farm land... ineligible for Farm Credit System Assistance. If one or more Farm Credit System Institutions or their...

Health Care Costs and Their Effects on the Economy. Hearings before the Joint Economic Committee. Congress of the United States, Ninety-Eighth Congress, Second Session (April 12 and August 29, 1984).

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Joint Economic Committee, Washington, DC.

The first of two hearings on the topic of health care costs, their effects on the economy, and ways to curb costs was held in Washington, D.C. Testimony was heard from representatives of Chrysler Corporation, Ford Motor Company, American Farm Bureau Federation, Washington Business Group on Health, American Association of Retired Persons, American…

Evaluation of the Chiduku Literacy Project: An Abridged Report (incorporating A Preliminary Report ...). A Micro-Study of Rural Illiteracy in the Tribal Trust Lands of Rhodesia.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Smith, G.A.

A full-time literacy course was held during August and September, 1969, in the Chiduku Tribal Trust Land (Rhodesia). The purpose was to assess the feasibility of teaching illiterate adults the 85 lessons of the primer in an intensive course and to see if it was then possible to teach them how to keep simple farm and household records and accounts…

Comparing technical efficiency of farms with an automatic milking system and a conventional milking system.

PubMed

Steeneveld, W; Tauer, L W; Hogeveen, H; Oude Lansink, A G J M

2012-12-01

Changing from a conventional milking system (CMS) to an automatic milking system (AMS) necessitates a new management approach and a corresponding change in labor tasks. Together with labor savings, AMS farms have been found to have higher capital costs, primarily because of higher maintenance costs and depreciation. Therefore, it is hypothesized that AMS farms differ from CMS farms in capital:labor ratio and possibly their technical efficiency, at least during a transition learning period. The current study used actual farm accounting data from dairy farms in the Netherlands with an AMS and a CMS to investigate the empirical substitution of capital for labor in the AMS farms and to determine if the technical efficiency of the AMS farms differed from the CMS farms. The technical efficiency estimates were obtained with data envelopment analysis. The 63 AMS farms and the 337 CMS farms in the data set did not differ in general farm characteristics such as the number of cows, number of hectares, and the amount of milk quota. Farms with AMS have significantly higher capital costs (€12.71 per 100 kg of milk) than CMS farms (€10.10 per 100 kg of milk). Total labor costs and net outputs were not significantly different between AMS and CMS farms. A clear substitution of capital for labor with the adoption of an AMS could not be observed. Although the AMS farms have a slightly lower technical efficiency (0.76) than the CMS farms (0.78), a significant difference in these estimates was not observed. This indicates that the farms were not different in their ability to use inputs (capital, labor, cows, and land) to produce outputs (total farm revenues). The technical efficiency of farms invested in an AMS in 2008 or earlier was not different from the farms invested in 2009 or 2010, indicating that a learning effect during the transition period was not observed. The results indicate that the economic performance of AMS and CMS farms are similar. What these results show is that other than higher capital costs, the use of AMS rather than a CMS does not affect farm efficiency and that the learning costs to use an AMS are not present as measured by any fall in technical efficiency. Copyright © 2012 American Dairy Science Association. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Impact of Offshore Wind Power Integrated by VSC-HVDC on Power Angle Stability of Power Systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lu, Haiyang; Tang, Xisheng

2017-05-01

Offshore wind farm connected to grid by VSC-HVDC loses frequency support for power system, so adding frequency control in wind farm and VSC-HVDC system is an effective measure, but it will change wind farm VSC-HVDC’s transient stability on power system. Through theoretical analysis, concluding the relationship between equivalent mechanical power and electromagnetic power of two-machine system with the active power of wind farm VSC-HVDC, then analyzing the impact of wind farm VSC-HVDC with or without frequency control and different frequency control parameters on angle stability of synchronous machine by EEAC. The validity of theoretical analysis has been demonstrated through simulation in PSCAD/EMTDC.

12 CFR 619.9140 - Farm Credit bank(s).

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-01-01

... 12 Banks and Banking 6 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Farm Credit bank(s). 619.9140 Section 619.9140 Banks and Banking FARM CREDIT ADMINISTRATION FARM CREDIT SYSTEM DEFINITIONS § 619.9140 Farm Credit bank(s). Except as otherwise defined, the term Farm Credit bank(s) includes Farm Credit Banks...

12 CFR 619.9140 - Farm Credit bank(s).

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-01-01

... 12 Banks and Banking 6 2011-01-01 2011-01-01 false Farm Credit bank(s). 619.9140 Section 619.9140 Banks and Banking FARM CREDIT ADMINISTRATION FARM CREDIT SYSTEM DEFINITIONS § 619.9140 Farm Credit bank(s). Except as otherwise defined, the term Farm Credit bank(s) includes Farm Credit Banks...

76 FR 20668 - Farm Credit System Insurance Corporation Board; Regular Meeting

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2011-04-13

... Plan. C. New Business Presentation of 2010 Audits Results. Closed Sesson FCSIC Report on System... Meeting AGENCY: Farm Credit System Insurance Corporation. SUMMARY: Notice is hereby given of the regular meeting of the Farm Credit System Insurance Corporation Board (Board). Date and Time: The meeting of the...

Seasonality of parasitic helminths of Leporinus macrocephalus and their parasitism rates in farming systems in the Amazon.

PubMed

Martins, Williane Maria de Oliveira; Justo, Márcia Cristina Nascimento; Cárdenas, Melissa Querido; Cohen, Simone Chinicz

2017-01-01

The objective of the present study was to analyze the seasonality of parasitic helminths of Leporinus macrocephalus from fish farms in the municipality of Cruzeiro do Sul, Acre, Brazil, and their parasitism rates. Between June 2014 and March 2015, 200 specimens were sampled from two fish farms: one with a semi-intensive system and the other with an extensive system (100 fish from each farm: 50 during the dry season and 50 during the rainy season). Fifteen species of parasites were found, with seasonal variations of some according to the farming system. In the semi-intensive fish farm, there was greater prevalence of infection during the dry season. Also, Urocleidoides paradoxus, Procamallanus (Spirocamallanus) inopinatus, Goezia leporini and Rhabdochona (Rhabdochona) acuminata presented differences in their parasitism rates between the seasons. In the extensive fish farm, no variation in the prevalence of infection was observed between the seasons and two species Tereancistrum parvus and G. leporini demonstrated differences only regarding the mean intensity of infection. The data presented here may help fish farmers to understand the parasite dynamics of L. macrocephalus in farming systems during the dry and rainy seasons in the state of Acre.

Security region-based small signal stability analysis of power systems with FSIG based wind farm

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Qin, Chao; Zeng, Yuan; Yang, Yang; Cui, Xiaodan; Xu, Xialing; Li, Yong

2018-02-01

Based on the Security Region approach, the impact of fixed-speed induction generator based wind farm on the small signal stability of power systems is analyzed. Firstly, the key factors of wind farm on the small signal stability of power systems are analyzed and the parameter space for small signal stability region is formed. Secondly, the small signal stability region of power systems with wind power is established. Thirdly, the corresponding relation between the boundary of SSSR and the dominant oscillation mode is further studied. Results show that the integration of fixed-speed induction generator based wind farm will cause the low frequency oscillation stability of the power system deteriorate. When the output of wind power is high, the oscillation stability of the power system is mainly concerned with the inter-area oscillation mode caused by the integration of the wind farm. Both the active power output and the capacity of reactive power compensation of the wind farm have a significant influence on the SSSR. To improve the oscillation stability of power systems with wind power, it is suggested to reasonably set the reactive power compensation capacity for the wind farm through SSSR.

Effects of stored feed cropping systems and farm size on the profitability of Maine organic dairy farm simulations.

PubMed

Hoshide, A K; Halloran, J M; Kersbergen, R J; Griffin, T S; DeFauw, S L; LaGasse, B J; Jain, S

2011-11-01

United States organic dairy production has increased to meet the growing demand for organic milk. Despite higher prices received for milk, organic dairy farmers have come under increasing financial stress due to increases in concentrated feed prices over the past few years, which can make up one-third of variable costs. Market demand for milk has also leveled in the last year, resulting in some downward pressure on prices paid to dairy farmers. Organic dairy farmers in the Northeast United States have experimented with growing different forage and grain crops to maximize on-farm production of protein and energy to improve profitability. Three representative organic feed systems were simulated using the integrated farm system model for farms with 30, 120, and 220 milk cows. Increasing intensity of equipment use was represented by organic dairy farms growing only perennial sod (low) to those with corn-based forage systems, which purchase supplemental grain (medium) or which produce and feed soybeans (high). The relative profitability of these 3 organic feed systems was strongly dependent on dairy farm size. From results, we suggest smaller organic dairy farms can be more profitable with perennial sod-based rather than corn-based forage systems due to lower fixed costs from using only equipment associated with perennial forage harvest and storage. The largest farm size was more profitable using a corn-based system due to greater economies of scale for growing soybeans, corn grain, winter cereals, and corn silages. At an intermediate farm size of 120 cows, corn-based forage systems were more profitable if perennial sod was not harvested at optimum quality, corn was grown on better soils, or if milk yield was 10% higher. Delayed harvest decreased the protein and energy content of perennial sod crops, requiring more purchased grain to balance the ration and resulting in lower profits. Corn-based systems were less affected by lower perennial forage quality, as corn silage is part of the forage base. Growing on better soils increased corn yields more than perennial forage yields. Large corn-based organic dairy farms that produced and fed soybeans minimized off-farm grain purchases and were the most profitable among large farms. Although perennial sod-based systems purchased more grain, these organic systems were more profitable under timely forage harvest, decreased soil quality, and relatively lower purchased energy prices and higher protein supplement prices. Copyright © 2011 American Dairy Science Association. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Farm Women, Farming Systems, and Agricultural Structure: Suggestions for Scholarship.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Flora, Cornelia Butler

1981-01-01

Suggests research agenda to analyze the class struggle occurring with farm women. Views the household as the unit of analysis, both internally from a farming-systems perspective and externally as responding to shifts in policy and technology. Available from: Rural Sociological Society, 325 Morgan Hall, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN 37916.…

Success Factors for Community-Based Natural Resource Management (CBNRM): Lessons from Kenya and Australia

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Measham, Thomas G.; Lumbasi, Jared A.

2013-09-01

Recent concerns over a crisis of identity and legitimacy in community-based natural resource management (CBNRM) have emerged following several decades of documented failure. A substantial literature has developed on the reasons for failure in CBNRM. In this paper, we complement this literature by considering these factors in relation to two successful CBNRM case studies. These cases have distinct differences, one focusing on the conservation of hirola in Kenya on community-held trust land and the other focusing on remnant vegetation conservation from grazing pressure on privately held farm land in Australia. What these cases have in common is that both CBNRM projects were initiated by local communities with strong attachments to their local environments. The projects both represent genuine community initiatives, closely aligned to the original aims of CBNRM. The intrinsically high level of "ownership" held by local residents has proven effective in surviving many challenges which have affected other CBNRM projects: from impacts on local livelihoods to complex governance arrangements involving non-government organizations and research organizations. The cases provide some signs of hope among broader signs of crisis in CBNRM practice.

7 CFR 1470.6 - Eligibility requirements.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-01-01

... operator in the Farm Service Agency (FSA) farm records management system for the agricultural operation... management system must establish records with FSA prior to application. Potential applicants whose records are not current in the FSA farm records management system must update those records with FSA prior to...

Ecologically sound management: aspects of modern sustainable deer farming systems.

PubMed

Pearse, A J; Drew, K R

1998-01-01

Modern deer farming systems have become increasingly intensive allowing strategic feeding for production and genetic improvement programmes. Meeting feeding standards that account for changing nutritional demands related to seasonality and reproductive state is critical. As the industry matures there is a growing awareness of the balance between retaining natural behaviour in producing breeding stock on larger extensive holdings and intensification systems for performance in young stock. Stocking rates are critical determinants of success as land use and capability needs are matched with an increasing stratification of stock type and purpose. Food product safety and welfare considerations of farmed deer are being driven by consumer demands. Farm quality assurance and codes of practice are developing to ensure that deer farming meets and exceeds international expectations of land use and deer welfare in modern deer farming systems.

Automatic milking systems, farm size, and milk production.

PubMed

Rotz, C A; Coiner, C U; Soder, K J

2003-12-01

Automatic milking systems (AMS) offer relief from the demanding routine of milking. Although many AMS are in use in Europe and a few are used in the United States, the potential benefit for American farms is uncertain. A farm-simulation model was used to determine the long-term, whole-farm effect of implementing AMS on farm sizes of 30 to 270 cows. Highest farm net return to management and unpaid factors was when AMS were used at maximal milking capacity. Adding stalls to increase milking frequency and possibly increase production generally did not improve net return. Compared with new traditional milking systems, the greatest potential economic benefit was a single-stall AMS on a farm size of 60 cows at a moderate milk production level (8600 kg/cow). On other farm sizes using single-stall type robotic units, losses in annual net return of 0 dollars to 300 dollars/cow were projected, with the greatest losses on larger farms and at high milk production (10,900 kg/cow). Systems with one robot serving multiple stalls provided a greater net return than single-stall systems, and this net return was competitive with traditional parlors for 50- to 130-cow farm sizes. The potential benefit of AMS was improved by 100 dollars/cow per year if the AMS increased production an additional 5%. A 20% reduction in initial equipment cost or doubling milking labor cost also improved annual net return of an AMS by up to 100 dollars/cow. Annual net return was reduced by 110 dollars/cow, though, if the economic life of the AMS was reduced by 3 yr for a more rapid depreciation than that normally used with traditional milking systems. Thus, under current assumptions, the economic return for an AMS was similar to that of new parlor systems on smaller farms when the milking capacity of the AMS was well matched to herd size and milk production level.

Environmental performances of Sardinian dairy sheep production systems at different input levels.

PubMed

Vagnoni, E; Franca, A; Breedveld, L; Porqueddu, C; Ferrara, R; Duce, P

2015-01-01

Although sheep milk production is a significant sector for the European Mediterranean countries, it shows serious competitiveness gaps. Minimizing the ecological impacts of dairy sheep farming systems could represent a key factor for farmers to bridging the gaps in competitiveness of such systems and also obtaining public incentives. However, scarce is the knowledge about the environmental performance of Mediterranean dairy sheep farms. The main objectives of this paper were (i) to compare the environmental impacts of sheep milk production from three dairy farms in Sardinia (Italy), characterized by different input levels, and (ii) to identify the hotspots for improving the environmental performances of each farm, by using a Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) approach. The LCA was conducted using two different assessment methods: Carbon Footprint-IPCC and ReCiPe end-point. The analysis, conducted "from cradle to gate", was based on the functional unit 1 kg of Fat and Protein Corrected Milk (FPCM). The observed trends of the environmental performances of the studied farming systems were similar for both evaluation methods. The GHG emissions revealed a little range of variation (from 2.0 to 2.3 kg CO2-eq per kg of FPCM) with differences between farming systems being not significant. The ReCiPe end-point analysis showed a larger range of values and environmental performances of the low-input farm were significantly different compared to the medium- and high-input farms. In general, enteric methane emissions, field operations, electricity and production of agricultural machineries were the most relevant processes in determining the overall environmental performances of farms. Future research will be dedicated to (i) explore and better define the environmental implications of the land use impact category in the Mediterranean sheep farming systems, and (ii) contribute to revising and improving the existing LCA dataset for Mediterranean farming systems. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Farmers and Bankers Are Interested in F.B.P.A. (Farm Business Planning and Analysis)

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Borton, John L.

1974-01-01

A successful Farm Business Planning and Analysis program is being taught by the Upper Sandusky, Ohio, Vocational Agriculture Department fo farm operators, farm couples, bankers, and vocational agriculture teachers and students. The F.B.P.A. program consists of developing a record system, summarizing and analyzing the system, and planning future…

An empirical analysis of farm vehicle crash injury severities on Iowa's public road system.

PubMed

Gkritza, Konstantina; Kinzenbaw, Caroline R; Hallmark, Shauna; Hawkins, Neal

2010-07-01

Farm vehicle crashes are a major safety concern for farmers as well as all other users of the public road system in agricultural states. Using data on farm vehicle crashes that occurred on Iowa's public roads between 2004 and 2006, we estimate a multinomial logit model to identify crash-, farm vehicle-, and driver-specific factors that determine farm vehicle crash injury severity outcomes. Estimation findings indicate that there are crash patterns (rear-end manner of collision; single-vehicle crash; farm vehicle crossed the centerline or median) and conditions (obstructed vision and crash in rural area; dry road, dark lighting, speed limit 55 mph or higher, and harvesting season), as well as farm vehicle and driver-contributing characteristics (old farm vehicle, young farm vehicle driver), where targeted intervention can help reduce the severity of crash outcomes. Determining these contributing factors and their effect is the first step to identifying countermeasures and safety strategies in a bid to improve transportation safety for all users on the public road system in Iowa as well as other agricultural states. Copyright 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

The Integrated Farm System Model: A Tool for Whole Farm Nutrient Management Analysis

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

With tighter profit margins and increasing environmental constraints, strategic planning of farm production systems is becoming both more important and more difficult. This is especially true for integrated crop and animal production systems. Animal production is complex with a number of interacting...

Evaluation of ecofriendly management practices of french beanrust (Uromyces appendiculatus) in organic farming system

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chhetry, G. K. N.; Mangang, H. C.

2012-09-01

Organic farming system emphasises on sustainable development of agriculture. The traditional agriculture system was much akin to the organic system but modernization of agriculture made a shift to this trend. The north east region of India is potential organic farming sites. Most of the farming systems are traditional and are organic by default; however crops in organic farming are prone to many fungal diseases. Hence for validation of the impact of organic practices on the disease development of plants, a study has been conducted for three years under natural environmental conditions on bean rust (Uromyces appendiculatus). Study includes ecofriendly practices like: plant extract treatment, intercropping of beans with maize, organic manure application, influence of cropping season and Trichoderma treatment. Rust is a major prevalent disease in the cultivation of beans as in other parts of the world. Detailed study of the disease in the organic environment and the impact of various treatments and agricultural agronomic practices would help in validation of the practices for the management of the disease in the organic farming system. In our study for three consecutive years it has been revealed that the practices of the traditional farmers likeplant extract application, intercropping, and manure application were found to have significant positive effects in reducing rust development in the bean fields. The treatment of farm yard manure resulted in development of lesser area under disease progress curve. The plant extract of Artemisia vulgaris has marked positive impact on reducing rust disease parameters. Foliar application of Trichoderma reduces the disease parameters of rust. This study would enhance information in understanding the impact of organic farming system on bean rust and would help in validitation of sustainable agricultural practices for use in organic farming system.

Animal welfare: European legislation and future perspectives.

PubMed

Bonafos, Laurence; Simonin, Denis; Gavinelli, Andrea

2010-01-01

Although animals are central to the life of all societies, substantial differences exist in the level of understanding or attitudes toward animal-welfare issues between agrarian and urban societies in developing or industrial countries. These differences are largely dependent on people's degree of contact with animals. Other than domestic species, people in industrialized nations tend to have limited contact with farm and wild animals. With this reduced or lack of daily animal contact, there can be a parallel lack of understanding of or appreciation for animal-welfare issues. As a result, different nations have adopted various policies, procedures, and laws to ensure that their societies protect the welfare of animals. In this article, we chronicle 30 years of actions by European nations through the European Commission to enact legislation that ensures uniform standards of animal-welfare practices to protect farm animals, animals used in research, and wild animals held in captivity.

Farm Hall: The Play

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cassidy, David C.

2013-03-01

It's July 1945. Germany is in defeat and the atomic bombs are on their way to Japan. Under the direction of Samuel Goudsmit, the Allies are holding some of the top German nuclear scientists-among them Heisenberg, Hahn, and Gerlach-captive in Farm Hall, an English country manor near Cambridge, England. As secret microphones record their conversations, the scientists are unaware of why they are being held or for how long. Thinking themselves far ahead of the Allies, how will they react to the news of the atomic bombs? How will these famous scientists explain to themselves and to the world their failure to achieve even a chain reaction? How will they come to terms with the horror of the Third Reich, their work for such a regime, and their behavior during that period? This one-act play is based upon the transcripts of their conversations as well as the author's historical work on the subject.

Role of self-sufficiency, productivity and diversification on the economic sustainability of farming systems with autochthonous sheep breeds in less favoured areas in Southern Europe.

PubMed

Ripoll-Bosch, R; Joy, M; Bernués, A

2014-08-01

Traditional mixed livestock cereal- and pasture-based sheep farming systems in Europe are threatened by intensification and specialisation processes. However, the intensification process does not always yield improved economic results or efficiency. This study involved a group of farmers that raised an autochthonous sheep breed (Ojinegra de Teruel) in an unfavourable area of North-East Spain. This study aimed to typify the farms and elucidate the existing links between economic performance and certain sustainability indicators (i.e. productivity, self-sufficiency and diversification). Information was obtained through direct interviews with 30 farms (73% of the farmers belonging to the breeders association). Interviews were conducted in 2009 and involved 32 indicators regarding farm structure, management and economic performance. With a principal component analysis, three factors were obtained explaining 77.9% of the original variance. This factors were named as inputs/self-sufficiency, which included the use of on-farm feeds, the amount of variable costs per ewe and economic performance; productivity, which included lamb productivity and economic autonomy; and productive orientation, which included the degree of specialisation in production. A cluster analysis identified the following four groups of farms: high-input intensive system; low-input self-sufficient system; specialised livestock system; and diversified crops-livestock system. In conclusion, despite the large variability between and within groups, the following factors that explain the economic profitability of farms were identified: (i) high feed self-sufficiency and low variable costs enhance the economic performance (per labour unit) of the farms; (ii) animal productivity reduces subsidy dependence, but does not necessarily imply better economic performance; and (iii) diversity of production enhances farm flexibility, but is not related to economic performance.

Organic farming enhances soil microbial abundance and activity—A meta-analysis and meta-regression

PubMed Central

Symnaczik, Sarah; Mäder, Paul; De Deyn, Gerlinde; Gattinger, Andreas

2017-01-01

Population growth and climate change challenge our food and farming systems and provide arguments for an increased intensification of agriculture. A promising option is eco-functional intensification through organic farming, an approach based on using and enhancing internal natural resources and processes to secure and improve agricultural productivity, while minimizing negative environmental impacts. In this concept an active soil microbiota plays an important role for various soil based ecosystem services such as nutrient cycling, erosion control and pest and disease regulation. Several studies have reported a positive effect of organic farming on soil health and quality including microbial community traits. However, so far no systematic quantification of whether organic farming systems comprise larger and more active soil microbial communities compared to conventional farming systems was performed on a global scale. Therefore, we conducted a meta-analysis on current literature to quantify possible differences in key indicators for soil microbial abundance and activity in organic and conventional cropping systems. All together we integrated data from 56 mainly peer-reviewed papers into our analysis, including 149 pairwise comparisons originating from different climatic zones and experimental duration ranging from 3 to more than 100 years. Overall, we found that organic systems had 32% to 84% greater microbial biomass carbon, microbial biomass nitrogen, total phospholipid fatty-acids, and dehydrogenase, urease and protease activities than conventional systems. Exclusively the metabolic quotient as an indicator for stresses on microbial communities remained unaffected by the farming systems. Categorical subgroup analysis revealed that crop rotation, the inclusion of legumes in the crop rotation and organic inputs are important farming practices affecting soil microbial community size and activity. Furthermore, we show that differences in microbial size and activity between organic and conventional farming systems vary as a function of land use (arable, orchards, and grassland), plant life cycle (annual and perennial) and climatic zone. In summary, this study shows that overall organic farming enhances total microbial abundance and activity in agricultural soils on a global scale. PMID:28700609

Nitrogen food-print: N use and N cascade from livestock systems in relation to pork, beef and milk supply to Paris

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chatzimpiros, P.; Barles, S.

2012-02-01

A bottom-up approach is constructed to determine N losses from livestock farming systems and to relate these losses to the supply of fresh milk, pig and beef to Paris. First, the three products are expressed in terms of their nitrogen content; then, their fodder equivalent is determined by modelling feed formulas for swine, beef and dairy cows to meet their energy and protein requirements. Fodder deficits in livestock farms are determined by comparing the nutrient requirements of the livestock with the fodder production on the livestock farms. This allowed determining the geography of the livestock systems according to the imports of fodder to the livestock farms from external crop farms. Then we assessed the "farm-gate" N budgets in all crop and livestock farms of the entire livestock systems using data on total N fertilization, atmospheric deposition and manure management practices to finally derive N losses in relation to fodder cultivation and to manure management. Measured in N, the supply of milk, beef and pig to Paris sum 1.85 kg N/cap and the corresponding N losses from the farming systems total 8.9 kg N/cap. N losses per unit of product differ among the three livestock systems according to where and how the fodder is grown and to what densities the livestock is reared.

12 CFR 619.9145 - Farm Credit Bank.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-01-01

... 12 Banks and Banking 6 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Farm Credit Bank. 619.9145 Section 619.9145 Banks and Banking FARM CREDIT ADMINISTRATION FARM CREDIT SYSTEM DEFINITIONS § 619.9145 Farm Credit Bank. The term Farm Credit Bank refers to a bank resulting from the mandatory merger of the Federal land...

12 CFR 619.9145 - Farm Credit Bank.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-01-01

... 12 Banks and Banking 6 2011-01-01 2011-01-01 false Farm Credit Bank. 619.9145 Section 619.9145 Banks and Banking FARM CREDIT ADMINISTRATION FARM CREDIT SYSTEM DEFINITIONS § 619.9145 Farm Credit Bank. The term Farm Credit Bank refers to a bank resulting from the mandatory merger of the Federal land...

77 FR 21099 - Farm Credit Administration Board; Sunshine Act; Regular Meeting

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2012-04-09

... Report on Farm Credit System Condition Farm Credit System Building Association Auditor's Report on 2011 Financial Audit Executive Session Meeting with Auditors \\1\\ \\1\\ Session Closed--Exempt pursuant to 5 U.S.C...

Initiative for Future Agricultural Food Systems (IFAFS) From Farm to School: Improving Small Farm Viability and School Meals

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kish, Stacy

2008-01-01

Improving the nutritional value of school meals is a growing priority among school systems across the United States. To assist in this effort, the USDA's Cooperative State Research, Education, and Extension Service (CSREES) funded a coalition, which developed a new program called "From Farm to School: Improving Small Farm Viability and School…

OLIVERO: the project analysing the future of olive production systems on sloping land in the Mediterranean basin.

PubMed

Stroosnijder, Leo; Mansinho, Maria Inês; Palese, Assunta Maria

2008-11-01

From 2003 to 2006, a consortium of six European partners analysed the future of olive production systems on sloping land in the Mediterranean basin. Olive production on such land dates back to pre-Roman times, but the production systems (known by the acronym SMOPS, for "Sloping and Mountainous Olive Production Systems"), are under threat. Many are unsustainable environmentally (erosion hazard), socially (exodus of young people) or economically (high labour costs). The OLIVERO research project was possible thanks to a grant of euro1.5 million from the European Union, which gives out euro2.5 billion in subsidies annually for olive production. An extended survey conducted by the project in five sites in Portugal, Spain, Italy and Greece revealed the diversity and multifunctionality of SMOPS. Four main systems were identified as important for the future: traditional, organic, semi-intensive and intensive. The conceptual framework of OLIVERO involved six phases, ranging from the initial survey up to policy recommendations. In all phases there was intensive contact with stakeholders and institutions. End-users were identified at three levels: local, intermediate and regional, and national/international. This paper presents the highlights of the physical analysis of land and water resources, crop and land management, and economics and policies. Scenario studies gave insight into the possible future: some SMOPS will be gradually abandoned or transformed into nature conservation areas, others will exploit drip irrigation and follow the intensification patterns of agriculture in the valleys, and a third group will continue to be managed more extensively, perhaps augmenting their income with other activities (possibly off-farm) or turning to organic production systems. At the five international OLIVERO meetings held from 2003 to 2006, knowledge, experience and ideas on the future of olive production systems were intensively exchanged. A network was established for ongoing and future cooperation. Two end-user seminars were held in Matera (Italy) and Lisbon. Over 70 scientific papers have been published.

Feeding strategies and manure management for cost-effective mitigation of greenhouse gas emissions from dairy farms in Wisconsin.

PubMed

Dutreuil, M; Wattiaux, M; Hardie, C A; Cabrera, V E

2014-09-01

Greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from dairy farms are a major concern. Our objectives were to assess the effect of mitigation strategies on GHG emissions and net return to management on 3 distinct farm production systems of Wisconsin. A survey was conducted on 27 conventional farms, 30 grazing farms, and 69 organic farms. The data collected were used to characterize 3 feeding systems scaled to the average farm (85 cows and 127ha). The Integrated Farm System Model was used to simulate the economic and environmental impacts of altering feeding and manure management in those 3 farms. Results showed that incorporation of grazing practices for lactating cows in the conventional farm led to a 27.6% decrease in total GHG emissions [-0.16kg of CO2 equivalents (CO2eq)/kg of energy corrected milk (ECM)] and a 29.3% increase in net return to management (+$7,005/yr) when milk production was assumed constant. For the grazing and organic farms, decreasing the forage-to-concentrate ratio in the diet decreased GHG emissions when milk production was increased by 5 or 10%. The 5% increase in milk production was not sufficient to maintain the net return; however, the 10% increase in milk production increased net return in the organic farm but not on the grazing farm. A 13.7% decrease in GHG emissions (-0.08kg of CO2eq/kg of ECM) was observed on the conventional farm when incorporating manure the day of application and adding a 12-mo covered storage unit. However, those same changes led to a 6.1% (+0.04kg of CO2eq/kg of ECM) and a 6.9% (+0.06kg of CO2eq/kg of ECM) increase in GHG emissions in the grazing and the organic farms, respectively. For the 3 farms, manure management changes led to a decrease in net return to management. Simulation results suggested that the same feeding and manure management mitigation strategies led to different outcomes depending on the farm system, and furthermore, effective mitigation strategies were used to reduce GHG emissions while maintaining profitability within each farm. Copyright © 2014 American Dairy Science Association. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

12 CFR 630.40 - Contents of the quarterly report to investors.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-01-01

... the System Audit Committee. (1) An interim balance sheet as of the end of the most recent fiscal.... 630.40 Section 630.40 Banks and Banking FARM CREDIT ADMINISTRATION FARM CREDIT SYSTEM DISCLOSURE TO INVESTORS IN SYSTEMWIDE AND CONSOLIDATED BANK DEBT OBLIGATIONS OF THE FARM CREDIT SYSTEM Quarterly Reports...

How best to geo-reference farms? A case study from Cornwall, England.

PubMed

Durr, P A; Froggatt, A E A

2002-11-29

The commonest way of geo-referencing farms as single points is using the location of the farmhouse as either read off a map or approximated by its postcode. While these two methods may be adequate for small farms, they are unlikely to be satisfactory for large ones, or alternatively when they are comprised of several discrete units or holdings. In order to investigate the best representation of the total farm polygon(s) by a single point, we undertook a study using nearly 500 actual farm boundaries in the county of Cornwall, England. For each farm, the farm boundaries were digitised, and its area and centroid determined using ArcView 3.2. A variety of point geo-referencing systems were tested to find the best single point location for a farm, as judged by the proportion of farm area captured. Whilst the centroid was found to capture the largest area, the main farm building was judged to be the best geo-referencing method for practical purposes. In contrast, the various systems of geo-coding using the farm postal address performed relatively poorly. Where there are separate parcels of land managed together in a single parish, they may be identified as a single unit, but if there are separate parcels in different parishes they should be identified as separate units.The implications of these results for Great Britain's national animal health information system (VETNET) are discussed.

Study of the ubiquitous hog farm system using wireless sensor networks for environmental monitoring and facilities control.

PubMed

Hwang, Jeonghwan; Yoe, Hyun

2010-01-01

Many hog farmers are now suffering from high pig mortality rates due to various wasting diseases and increased breeding costs, etc. It is therefore necessary for hog farms to implement systematic and scientific pig production technology to increase productivity and produce high quality pork in order to solve these problems. In this study, we describe such a technology by suggesting a ubiquitous hog farm system which applies WSN (Wireless Sensor Network) technology to the pig industry. We suggest that a WSN and CCTV (Closed-circuit television) should be installed on hog farms to collect environmental and image information which shall then help producers not only in monitoring the hog farm via the Web from outside the farm, but also facilitate the control of hog farm facilities in remote locations. In addition, facilities can be automatically controlled based on breeding environment parameters which are already set up and a SMS notice service to notify of deviations shall provide users with convenience. Hog farmers may increase production and improve pork quality through this ubiquitous hog farm system and prepare a database with information collected from environmental factors and the hog farm control devices, which is expected to provide information needed to design and implement suitable control strategies for hog farm operation.

Study of the Ubiquitous Hog Farm System Using Wireless Sensor Networks for Environmental Monitoring and Facilities Control

PubMed Central

Hwang, Jeonghwan; Yoe, Hyun

2010-01-01

Many hog farmers are now suffering from high pig mortality rates due to various wasting diseases and increased breeding costs, etc. It is therefore necessary for hog farms to implement systematic and scientific pig production technology to increase productivity and produce high quality pork in order to solve these problems. In this study, we describe such a technology by suggesting a ubiquitous hog farm system which applies WSN (Wireless Sensor Network) technology to the pig industry. We suggest that a WSN and CCTV (Closed-circuit television) should be installed on hog farms to collect environmental and image information which shall then help producers not only in monitoring the hog farm via the Web from outside the farm, but also facilitate the control of hog farm facilities in remote locations. In addition, facilities can be automatically controlled based on breeding environment parameters which are already set up and a SMS notice service to notify of deviations shall provide users with convenience. Hog farmers may increase production and improve pork quality through this ubiquitous hog farm system and prepare a database with information collected from environmental factors and the hog farm control devices, which is expected to provide information needed to design and implement suitable control strategies for hog farm operation. PMID:22163497

Push-pull farming systems.

PubMed

Pickett, John A; Woodcock, Christine M; Midega, Charles A O; Khan, Zeyaur R

2014-04-01

Farming systems for pest control, based on the stimulo-deterrent diversionary strategy or push-pull system, have become an important target for sustainable intensification of food production. A prominent example is push-pull developed in sub-Saharan Africa using a combination of companion plants delivering semiochemicals, as plant secondary metabolites, for smallholder farming cereal production, initially against lepidopterous stem borers. Opportunities are being developed for other regions and farming ecosystems. New semiochemical tools and delivery systems, including GM, are being incorporated to exploit further opportunities for mainstream arable farming systems. By delivering the push and pull effects as secondary metabolites, for example, (E)-4,8-dimethyl-1,3,7-nonatriene repelling pests and attracting beneficial insects, problems of high volatility and instability are overcome and compounds are produced when and where required. Copyright © 2013 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.

12 CFR 614.4000 - Farm Credit Banks.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-01-01

... institutions. (3) Farm Credit Banks, in their capacity as certified agricultural mortgage marketing facilities... 12 Banks and Banking 6 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Farm Credit Banks. 614.4000 Section 614.4000 Banks and Banking FARM CREDIT ADMINISTRATION FARM CREDIT SYSTEM LOAN POLICIES AND OPERATIONS Lending...

12 CFR 614.4000 - Farm Credit Banks.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-01-01

... 12 Banks and Banking 6 2011-01-01 2011-01-01 false Farm Credit Banks. 614.4000 Section 614.4000 Banks and Banking FARM CREDIT ADMINISTRATION FARM CREDIT SYSTEM LOAN POLICIES AND OPERATIONS Lending Authorities § 614.4000 Farm Credit Banks. (a) Long-term real estate lending. Except to the extent such...

Regenerative agriculture: merging farming and natural resource conservation profitably.

PubMed

LaCanne, Claire E; Lundgren, Jonathan G

2018-01-01

Most cropland in the United States is characterized by large monocultures, whose productivity is maintained through a strong reliance on costly tillage, external fertilizers, and pesticides (Schipanski et al., 2016). Despite this, farmers have developed a regenerative model of farm production that promotes soil health and biodiversity, while producing nutrient-dense farm products profitably. Little work has focused on the relative costs and benefits of novel regenerative farming operations, which necessitates studying in situ , farmer-defined best management practices. Here, we evaluate the relative effects of regenerative and conventional corn production systems on pest management services, soil conservation, and farmer profitability and productivity throughout the Northern Plains of the United States. Regenerative farming systems provided greater ecosystem services and profitability for farmers than an input-intensive model of corn production. Pests were 10-fold more abundant in insecticide-treated corn fields than on insecticide-free regenerative farms, indicating that farmers who proactively design pest-resilient food systems outperform farmers that react to pests chemically. Regenerative fields had 29% lower grain production but 78% higher profits over traditional corn production systems. Profit was positively correlated with the particulate organic matter of the soil, not yield. These results provide the basis for dialogue on ecologically based farming systems that could be used to simultaneously produce food while conserving our natural resource base: two factors that are pitted against one another in simplified food production systems. To attain this requires a systems-level shift on the farm; simply applying individual regenerative practices within the current production model will not likely produce the documented results.

Requirements Verification Report AN Farm to 200 E Waste Transfer System for Project W-314 Tank Farm Restoration & Safe Operations

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

MCGREW, D.L.

2001-10-31

This Requirements Verification Report provides the traceability of how Project W-314 fulfilled the Project Development Specification requirements for the AN Farm to 200E Waste Transfer System Upgrade package.

The structure and strength of public attitudes towards wind farm development

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bidwell, David Charles

A growing social science literature seeks to understand why, despite broad public support for wind energy, proposals for specific projects are often met with strong local opposition. This gap between general and specific attitudes is viewed as a significant obstacle to the deployment of wind energy technologies. This dissertation applies theoretical perspectives and methodological tools from social psychology to provide insights on the structure and strength of attitudes towards the potential development of commercial wind farm in three coastal areas of Michigan. A survey of attitudes was completed by 375 residents in these communities and structural equation modeling was used to explore the relationship among variables. The analysis found that attitudes towards wind farm development are shaped by anticipated economic benefits to the community, but expectations of economic benefit are driven by personal values. Social psychology has long recognized that all attitudes are not created equal. Weak attitudes are fleeting and prone to change, while strong attitudes are stable over time and resistant to change. There are two fundamental paths to strong attitudes: repeated experience with an attitude object or the application of deeply held principles or values to that object. Structural equation models were also used to understand the strength of attitudes among the survey respondents. Both the anticipated effects of wind farm development and personal values were found to influence the strength of attitudes towards wind farms. However, while expectations that wind farm development will have positive effects on the economy bolster two measures of attitude strength (collective identity and importance), these expectations are associated with a decline in a third measure (confidence). A follow-up survey asking identical questions was completed by completed by 187 respondents to the initial survey. Linear regressions models were used to determine the effects of attitude strength on the stability of attitudes towards wind farms. In this study, attitude strength did not have a major effect on the stability of attitudes. Perceived importance of the issue of wind farm development did result in slightly more stable attitudes towards renewable energy. These survey results were compared to responses provided by 28 residents who completed surveys before and after participating in an informational session about commercial wind farm development. A regression analysis found that participation in an informational event changed the substance and quality of participants' attitudes. Attitudes towards wind farm development became more positive, and confidence in those attitudes grew stronger. These findings suggest that the gap between general attitudes towards wind energy and attitudes towards specific wind farm proposals could be narrowed by providing information and opportunities for discussion in communities with potential for commercial wind farm development. Future research is needed to track local attitudes and attitude strength throughout a proposal and development process.

Evaluation of average daily gain predictions by the integrated farm system model for forage-finished beef steers

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Representing the performance of cattle finished on an all forage diet in process-based whole farm system models has presented a challenge. To address this challenge, a study was done to evaluate average daily gain (ADG) predictions of the Integrated Farm System Model (IFSM) for steers consuming all-...

77 FR 7558 - Withdrawal of Proposed Rule on Approval of Farm Credit System Lending Institutions in Federal...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2012-02-13

...-AI91 Withdrawal of Proposed Rule on Approval of Farm Credit System Lending Institutions in Federal... withdraws HUD's August 2011 rule that proposed to amend HUD's regulations to enable the direct lending... the direct lending institutions of the Farm Credit System to seek approval to participate in the FHA...

Centralization of dairy farming facilities for improved economics and environmental quality.

PubMed

Inaba, Rokuta; Furuichi, Tohru; Komatsu, Toshihiro; Tanikawa, Noboru; Ishii, Kazuei

2009-01-01

In Japan, most farm animal excreta has been stored directly on farmland. Runoff from this storage has often caused water pollution. Biogasification is anticipated as an important technology to manage excreta properly, but complex problems hinder its introduction. Economic aspects of management have been especially difficult for dairy farmers. For this study, structural problems regarding introduction of biogasification into dairy farming were identified. Subsequently, a desirable system of dairy farming including biogasification was suggested, and an evaluation model of the financial balance was constructed. A case study using current financial balances of several systems of dairy farming was evaluated using the constructed model and actual data. The systems were based on several policy alternatives including the suggested system mentioned above. Results show that a farmer can obtain sufficient income from a system featuring centralization of dairy housing and biogasification facilities and coordinated management by over six farmers.

12 CFR 614.4240 - Collateral definitions.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-01-01

....4240 Banks and Banking FARM CREDIT ADMINISTRATION FARM CREDIT SYSTEM LOAN POLICIES AND OPERATIONS... income and/or other collateral, absent the real estate, and the decision to extend credit was, in fact... staff evaluator from another Farm Credit System institution only if the employing institution is not...

12 CFR 614.4240 - Collateral definitions.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-01-01

....4240 Banks and Banking FARM CREDIT ADMINISTRATION FARM CREDIT SYSTEM LOAN POLICIES AND OPERATIONS... income and/or other collateral, absent the real estate, and the decision to extend credit was, in fact... staff evaluator from another Farm Credit System institution only if the employing institution is not...

12 CFR 614.4240 - Collateral definitions.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-01-01

....4240 Banks and Banking FARM CREDIT ADMINISTRATION FARM CREDIT SYSTEM LOAN POLICIES AND OPERATIONS... income and/or other collateral, absent the real estate, and the decision to extend credit was, in fact... staff evaluator from another Farm Credit System institution only if the employing institution is not...

12 CFR 614.4350 - Definitions.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-01-01

... and Banking FARM CREDIT ADMINISTRATION FARM CREDIT SYSTEM LOAN POLICIES AND OPERATIONS Lending and... indirectly. Excluded are a Farm Credit System association or other financing institution that comply with the... commitment to make a lease. (b) Commitment means a legally binding obligation to extend credit, enter into...

12 CFR 615.5045 - Definitions.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-01-01

... and Banking FARM CREDIT ADMINISTRATION FARM CREDIT SYSTEM FUNDING AND FISCAL AFFAIRS, LOAN POLICIES AND OPERATIONS, AND FUNDING OPERATIONS Collateral § 615.5045 Definitions. (a) Cost means the actual... accrued interest owed. (d) Secured interbank loan means a loan from one Farm Credit System bank to another...

12 CFR 614.4240 - Collateral definitions.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-01-01

....4240 Banks and Banking FARM CREDIT ADMINISTRATION FARM CREDIT SYSTEM LOAN POLICIES AND OPERATIONS... income and/or other collateral, absent the real estate, and the decision to extend credit was, in fact... staff evaluator from another Farm Credit System institution only if the employing institution is not...

Effect of sensor systems for cow management on milk production, somatic cell count, and reproduction.

PubMed

Steeneveld, W; Vernooij, J C M; Hogeveen, H

2015-06-01

To improve management on dairy herds, sensor systems have been developed that can measure physiological, behavioral, and production indicators on individual cows. It is not known whether using sensor systems also improves measures of health and production in dairy herds. The objective of this study was to investigate the effect of using sensor systems on measures of health and production in dairy herds. Data of 414 Dutch dairy farms with (n=152) and without (n=262) sensor systems were available. For these herds, information on milk production per cow, days to first service, first calving age, and somatic cell count (SCC) was provided for the years 2003 to 2013. Moreover, year of investment in sensor systems was available. For every farm year, we determined whether that year was before or after the year of investment in sensor systems on farms with an automatic milking system (AMS) or a conventional milking system (CMS), or whether it was a year on a farm that never invested in sensor systems. Separate statistical analyses were performed to determine the effect of sensor systems for mastitis detection (color, SCC, electrical conductivity, and lactate dehydrogenase sensors), estrus detection for dairy cows, estrus detection for young stock, and other sensor systems (weighing platform, rumination time sensor, fat and protein sensor, temperature sensor, milk temperature sensor, urea sensor, β-hydroxybutyrate sensor, and other sensor systems). The AMS farms had a higher average SCC (by 12,000 cells/mL) after sensor investment, and CMS farms with a mastitis detection system had a lower average SCC (by 10,000 cells/mL) in the years after sensor investment. Having sensor systems was associated with a higher average production per cow on AMS farms, and with a lower average production per cow on CMS farms in the years after investment. The most likely reason for this lower milk production after investment was that on 96% of CMS farms, the sensor system investment occurred together with another major change at the farm, such as a new barn or a new milking system. Most likely, these other changes had led to a decrease in milk production that could not be compensated for by the use of sensor systems. Having estrus detection sensor systems did not improve reproduction performance. Labor reduction was an important reason for investing in sensor systems. Therefore, economic benefits from investments in sensor systems can be expected more from the reduction in labor costs than from improvements in measures of health and production in dairy herds. Copyright © 2015 American Dairy Science Association. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

A systems approach to assess farm-scale nutrient and trace element dynamics: a case study at the Ojebyn dairy farm.

PubMed

Oborn, Ingrid; Modin-Edman, Anna-Karin; Bengtsson, Helena; Gustafson, Gunnela M; Salomon, Eva; Nilsson, S Ingvar; Holmqvist, Johan; Jonsson, Simon; Sverdrup, Harald

2005-06-01

A systems analysis approach was used to assess farmscale nutrient and trace element sustainability by combining full-scale field experiments with specific studies of nutrient release from mineral weathering and trace-element cycling. At the Ojebyn dairy farm in northern Sweden, a farm-scale case study including phosphorus (P), potassium (K), and zinc (Zn) was run to compare organic and conventional agricultural management practices. By combining different element-balance approaches (at farmgate, barn, and field scales) and further adapting these to the FARMFLOW model, we were able to combine mass flows and pools within the subsystems and establish links between subsystems in order to make farm-scale predictions. It was found that internal element flows on the farm are large and that there are farm internal sources (Zn) and loss terms (K). The approaches developed and tested at the Ojebyn farm are promising and considered generally adaptable to any farm.

uFarm: a smart farm management system based on RFID

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kim, Hyoungsuk; Lee, Moonsup; Jung, Jonghyuk; Lee, Hyunwook; Kim, Taehyoun

2007-12-01

Recently, the livestock industry in Korea has been threatened by many challenges such as low productivity due to labor intensiveness, global competition compelled by the Free Trade Agreement (FTA), and emerging animal disease issues such as BSE or foot-and-mouth. In this paper, we propose a smart farm management system, called uFarm, which would come up with such challenges by automating farm management. First, we automate labor-intensive jobs using equipments based on sensors and actuators. The automation subsystem can be controlled by remote user through wireless network. Second, we provide real-time traceability of information on farm animals using the radio-frequency identification (RFID) method and embedded data server with network connectivity.

12 CFR 614.4352 - Farm Credit Banks and agricultural credit banks.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-01-01

... 12 Banks and Banking 6 2011-01-01 2011-01-01 false Farm Credit Banks and agricultural credit banks. 614.4352 Section 614.4352 Banks and Banking FARM CREDIT ADMINISTRATION FARM CREDIT SYSTEM LOAN POLICIES AND OPERATIONS Lending and Leasing Limits § 614.4352 Farm Credit Banks and agricultural credit...

12 CFR 614.4352 - Farm Credit Banks and agricultural credit banks.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-01-01

... 12 Banks and Banking 6 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Farm Credit Banks and agricultural credit banks. 614.4352 Section 614.4352 Banks and Banking FARM CREDIT ADMINISTRATION FARM CREDIT SYSTEM LOAN POLICIES AND OPERATIONS Lending and Leasing Limits § 614.4352 Farm Credit Banks and agricultural credit...

Understanding the Strategic Decisions Women Make in Farming Families

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Farmar-Bowers, Quentin

2010-01-01

Decision-systems theory (DST) was developed from in-depth interviews with farming families and provides an interpretation of the processes farming families use in making strategic decisions in regard to the family members, the farm and the businesses the farming family run. Understanding the nature and justifications used for different decisions…

A mechanistic model for electricity consumption on dairy farms: definition, validation, and demonstration.

PubMed

Upton, J; Murphy, M; Shalloo, L; Groot Koerkamp, P W G; De Boer, I J M

2014-01-01

Our objective was to define and demonstrate a mechanistic model that enables dairy farmers to explore the impact of a technical or managerial innovation on electricity consumption, associated CO2 emissions, and electricity costs. We, therefore, (1) defined a model for electricity consumption on dairy farms (MECD) capable of simulating total electricity consumption along with related CO2 emissions and electricity costs on dairy farms on a monthly basis; (2) validated the MECD using empirical data of 1yr on commercial spring calving, grass-based dairy farms with 45, 88, and 195 milking cows; and (3) demonstrated the functionality of the model by applying 2 electricity tariffs to the electricity consumption data and examining the effect on total dairy farm electricity costs. The MECD was developed using a mechanistic modeling approach and required the key inputs of milk production, cow number, and details relating to the milk-cooling system, milking machine system, water-heating system, lighting systems, water pump systems, and the winter housing facilities as well as details relating to the management of the farm (e.g., season of calving). Model validation showed an overall relative prediction error (RPE) of less than 10% for total electricity consumption. More than 87% of the mean square prediction error of total electricity consumption was accounted for by random variation. The RPE values of the milk-cooling systems, water-heating systems, and milking machine systems were less than 20%. The RPE values for automatic scraper systems, lighting systems, and water pump systems varied from 18 to 113%, indicating a poor prediction for these metrics. However, automatic scrapers, lighting, and water pumps made up only 14% of total electricity consumption across all farms, reducing the overall impact of these poor predictions. Demonstration of the model showed that total farm electricity costs increased by between 29 and 38% by moving from a day and night tariff to a flat tariff. Copyright © 2014 American Dairy Science Association. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

12 CFR 616.6700 - Stock purchase requirements.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-01-01

... 12 Banks and Banking 6 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Stock purchase requirements. 616.6700 Section 616.6700 Banks and Banking FARM CREDIT ADMINISTRATION FARM CREDIT SYSTEM LEASING § 616.6700 Stock purchase requirements. (a) Each System institution, except the Farm Credit Leasing Services Corporation...

12 CFR 610.101 - Authority, purpose, and scope.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-01-01

... 610.101 Banks and Banking FARM CREDIT ADMINISTRATION FARM CREDIT SYSTEM REGISTRATION OF MORTGAGE LOAN ORIGINATORS § 610.101 Authority, purpose, and scope. (a) Authority. This part is issued pursuant to the Secure.... This part applies to any Farm Credit System lending institution that actually originates residential...

Vertical farming monitoring system using the internet of things (IoT)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chin, Yap Shien; Audah, Lukman

2017-09-01

Vertical farming had become a hot topic among peak development countries. However, vertical farming is hard to practice because minor changes on the surrounding would leave big impact to the productivity and quality of farming activity. Thus, the aim of this project is to provide a vertical farming monitoring system to help keeping track on the physical conditions of crops. In this system, varieties of sensors will be used to detect current physical conditions, and send the data to BeagleBone Black (BBB) microcontroller either in analog or digital input. Then, the data will be processed by BBB and upload to the Thingspeak Cloud. Furthermore, the system will record the position of equipment in used, which make it easier for maintenance when there is equipment broken down. The system also provide basic remote function where users could turn on/off the watering system, and the LED light via web-based application. The web-based application will also be designed to analyze and display data gathered in the form of graphs, charts or figures, for better understanding. With the improvement implemented on the vertical farming culture, it is expected that the productivity and quality of crops would increase significantly.

Mapping Farming Practices in Belgian Intensive Cropping Systems from Sentinel-1 SAR Time Series

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chome, G.; Baret, P. V.; Defourny, P.

2016-08-01

The environmental impact of the so-called conventional farming system calls for new farming practices reducing negative externalities. Emerging farming practices such as no-till and new inter-cropping management are promising tracks. The development of methods to characterize crop management across an entire region and to understand their spatial dimension offers opportunities to accompany the transition towards a more sustainable agriculture.This research takes advantage of the unmatched polarimetric and temporal resolutions of Sentinel-1 SAR C- band to develop a method to identify farming practices at the parcel level. To this end, the detection of changes in backscattering due to surface roughness modification (tillage, inter-crop cover destruction ...) is used to detect the farming management. The final results are compared to a reference dataset collected through an intensive field campaign. Finally, the performances are discussed in the perspective of practices monitoring of cropping systems through remote sensing.

Long-term effect of rice-based farming systems on soil health.

PubMed

Bihari, Priyanka; Nayak, A K; Gautam, Priyanka; Lal, B; Shahid, M; Raja, R; Tripathi, R; Bhattacharyya, P; Panda, B B; Mohanty, S; Rao, K S

2015-05-01

Integrated rice-fish culture, an age-old farming system, is a technology which could produce rice and fish sustainably at a time by optimizing scarce resource use through complementary use of land and water. An understanding of microbial processes is important for the management of farming systems as soil microbes are the living part of soil organic matter and play critical roles in soil C and N cycling and ecosystem functioning of farming system. Rice-based integrated farming system model for small and marginal farmers was established in 2001 at Central Rice Research Institute, Cuttack, Odisha. The different enterprises of farming system were rice-fish, fish-fingerlings, fruits, vegetables, rice-fish refuge, and agroforestry. This study was conducted with the objective to assess the soil physicochemical properties, microbial population, carbon and nitrogen fractions, soil enzymatic activity, and productivity of different enterprises. The effect of enterprises induced significant changes in the chemical composition and organic matter which in turn influenced the activities of enzymes (urease, acid, and alkaline phosphatase) involved in the C, N, and P cycles. The different enterprises of long-term rice-based farming system caused significant variations in nutrient content of soil, which was higher in rice-fish refuge followed by rice-fish enterprise. Highest microbial populations and enzymatic properties were recorded in rice-fish refuge system because of waterlogging and reduced condition prolonged in this system leading to less decomposition of organic matter. The maximum alkaline phosphatase, urease, and FDA were observed in rice-fish enterprise. However, highest acid phosphatase and dehydrogenase activity were obtained in vegetable enterprise and fish-fingerlings enterprise, respectively.

Spatial analysis and characteristics of pig farming in Thailand.

PubMed

Thanapongtharm, Weerapong; Linard, Catherine; Chinson, Pornpiroon; Kasemsuwan, Suwicha; Visser, Marjolein; Gaughan, Andrea E; Epprech, Michael; Robinson, Timothy P; Gilbert, Marius

2016-10-06

In Thailand, pig production intensified significantly during the last decade, with many economic, epidemiological and environmental implications. Strategies toward more sustainable future developments are currently investigated, and these could be informed by a detailed assessment of the main trends in the pig sector, and on how different production systems are geographically distributed. This study had two main objectives. First, we aimed to describe the main trends and geographic patterns of pig production systems in Thailand in terms of pig type (native, breeding, and fattening pigs), farm scales (smallholder and large-scale farming systems) and type of farming systems (farrow-to-finish, nursery, and finishing systems) based on a very detailed 2010 census. Second, we aimed to study the statistical spatial association between these different types of pig farming distribution and a set of spatial variables describing access to feed and markets. Over the last decades, pig population gradually increased, with a continuously increasing number of pigs per holder, suggesting a continuing intensification of the sector. The different pig-production systems showed very contrasted geographical distributions. The spatial distribution of large-scale pig farms corresponds with that of commercial pig breeds, and spatial analysis conducted using Random Forest distribution models indicated that these were concentrated in lowland urban or peri-urban areas, close to means of transportation, facilitating supply to major markets such as provincial capitals and the Bangkok Metropolitan region. Conversely the smallholders were distributed throughout the country, with higher densities located in highland, remote, and rural areas, where they supply local rural markets. A limitation of the study was that pig farming systems were defined from the number of animals per farm, resulting in their possible misclassification, but this should have a limited impact on the main patterns revealed by the analysis. The very contrasted distribution of different pig production systems present opportunities for future regionalization of pig production. More specifically, the detailed geographical analysis of the different production systems will be used to spatially-inform planning decisions for pig farming accounting for the specific health, environment and economical implications of the different pig production systems.

Use of Chemical Pesticides in Ethiopia: A Cross-Sectional Comparative Study on Knowledge, Attitude and Practice of Farmers and Farm Workers in Three Farming Systems.

PubMed

Negatu, Beyene; Kromhout, Hans; Mekonnen, Yalemtshay; Vermeulen, Roel

2016-06-01

Chemical pesticides, regardless of their inherent hazard, are used intensively in the fast changing agricultural sector of Ethiopia. We conducted a cross-sectional pesticide Knowledge, Attitude and Practice (KAP) survey among 601 farmers and farm workers (applicators and re-entry workers) in three farming systems [large-scale closed greenhouses (LSGH), large-scale open farms (LSOF), and small-scale irrigated farms (SSIF)]. Main observations were that 85% of workers did not attain any pesticide-related training, 81% were not aware of modern alternatives for chemical pesticides, 10% used a full set of personal protective equipment, and 62% did not usually bath or shower after work. Among applicators pesticide training attendance was highest in LSGH (35%) and was lowest in SSIF (4%). None of the female re-entry farm workers had received pesticide-related training. Personal protective equipment use was twice as high among pesticide applicators as among re-entry workers (13 versus 7%), while none of the small-scale farm workers used personal protection equipment. Stockpiling and burial of empty pesticide containers and discarding empty pesticide containers in farming fields were reported in both LSOF and by 75% of the farm workers in SSIF. Considerable increment in chemical pesticide usage intensity, illegitimate usages of DDT and Endosulfan on food crops and direct import of pesticides without the formal Ethiopian registration process were also indicated. These results point out a general lack of training and knowledge regarding the safe use of pesticides in all farming systems but especially among small-scale farmers. This in combination with the increase in chemical pesticide usage in the past decade likely results in occupational and environmental health risks. Improved KAP that account for institutional difference among various farming systems and enforcement of regulatory measures including the available occupational and environmental proclamations in Ethiopia are urgently needed. © The Author 2016. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the British Occupational Hygiene Society.

Variability of African Farming Systems from Phenological Analysis of NDVI Time Series

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Vrieling, Anton; deBeurs, K. M.; Brown, Molly E.

2011-01-01

Food security exists when people have access to sufficient, safe and nutritious food at all times to meet their dietary needs. The natural resource base is one of the many factors affecting food security. Its variability and decline creates problems for local food production. In this study we characterize for sub-Saharan Africa vegetation phenology and assess variability and trends of phenological indicators based on NDVI time series from 1982 to 2006. We focus on cumulated NDVI over the season (cumNDVI) which is a proxy for net primary productivity. Results are aggregated at the level of major farming systems, while determining also spatial variability within farming systems. High temporal variability of cumNDVI occurs in semiarid and subhumid regions. The results show a large area of positive cumNDVI trends between Senegal and South Sudan. These correspond to positive CRU rainfall trends found and relate to recovery after the 1980's droughts. We find significant negative cumNDVI trends near the south-coast of West Africa (Guinea coast) and in Tanzania. For each farming system, causes of change and variability are discussed based on available literature (Appendix A). Although food security comprises more than the local natural resource base, our results can perform an input for food security analysis by identifying zones of high variability or downward trends. Farming systems are found to be a useful level of analysis. Diversity and trends found within farming system boundaries underline that farming systems are dynamic.

12 CFR Appendix A to Part 630 - Supplemental Information Disclosure Guidelines

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-01-01

... 12 Banks and Banking 6 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Supplemental Information Disclosure Guidelines A Appendix A to Part 630 Banks and Banking FARM CREDIT ADMINISTRATION FARM CREDIT SYSTEM DISCLOSURE TO INVESTORS IN SYSTEMWIDE AND CONSOLIDATED BANK DEBT OBLIGATIONS OF THE FARM CREDIT SYSTEM Pt. 630...

12 CFR 615.5220 - Capitalization bylaws.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-01-01

....5220 Banks and Banking FARM CREDIT ADMINISTRATION FARM CREDIT SYSTEM FUNDING AND FISCAL AFFAIRS, LOAN POLICIES AND OPERATIONS, AND FUNDING OPERATIONS Issuance of Equities § 615.5220 Capitalization bylaws. (a) The board of directors of each System bank and association shall, pursuant to section 4.3A of the Farm...

12 CFR 615.5450 - Definitions.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-01-01

... and Banking FARM CREDIT ADMINISTRATION FARM CREDIT SYSTEM FUNDING AND FISCAL AFFAIRS, LOAN POLICIES AND OPERATIONS, AND FUNDING OPERATIONS Book-Entry Procedures for Farm Credit Securities § 615.5450... as agent for the Farm Credit banks and the Funding Corporation. (j) Federal Reserve Bank Operating...

Organic dairy production systems in Pennsylvania: a case study evaluation.

PubMed

Rotz, C A; Kamphuis, G H; Karsten, H D; Weaver, R D

2007-08-01

The current market demand and price for organic milk is encouraging dairy producers, particularly those on smaller farms, to consider organic production as a means for improving the economic viability of their operations. Organic production systems vary widely in scale, in practices, and across agroclimatic settings. Within this context, case studies of 4 actual organic dairy farms were used to characterize existing systems in Pennsylvania. Based on data from these farms, a whole-farm simulation model (Integrated Farm System Model) was used to compare 4 production systems representing organic grass, organic crop, conventional crop with grazing, and conventional confinement production. The performance of each of these systems was simulated over each year of 25 yr of central Pennsylvania weather data. Simulation results indicated that farm level accumulation of soil P and K may be a concern on organic farms that use poultry manure as a primary crop nutrient source, and that erosion and runoff loss of P may be of concern on organic farms producing annual crops because more tillage is required for weed control. Whole-farm budgets with prices that reflect recent conditions showed an economic advantage for organic over conventional production. A sensitivity analysis showed that this economic advantage depended on a higher milk price for producers of organic milk and was influenced by the difference in milk production maintained by herds using organic and conventional systems. Factors found to have little effect on the relative profitability of organic over conventional production included the differences between organic and conventional prices for seed, chemicals, forage, and animals and the overall costs or prices assumed for organic certification, machinery, pasture fencing, fuel, and labor. Thus, at the current organic milk price, relative to other prices, the case study organic production systems seem to provide an option for improving the economic viability of dairy operations of the scale considered in Pennsylvania. To motivate transition to organic systems, the economic advantage found requires the persistence of a substantial difference between conventional and organic raw milk prices.

Improving Environmental Management on Small-scale Farms: Perspectives of Extension Educators and Horse Farm Operators

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rebecca, Perry-Hill; Linda, Prokopy

2015-01-01

Although the number of small-scale farms is increasing in North America and Europe, few studies have been conducted to better understand environmental management in this sector. We investigate this issue by examining environmental management on horse farms from both the perspective of the "expert" extension educator and horse farm operator. We conducted a Delphi survey and follow-up interviews with extension educators in Indiana and Kentucky. We also conducted interviews and farm assessments with 15 horse farm operators in the two states. Our results suggest a disconnection between the perceptions of extension educators and horse farm operators. Extension educators believed that operators of small horse farms are unfamiliar with conservation practices and their environmental benefits and they found it difficult to target outreach to this audience. In the interviews with horse farm operators, we found that the majority were somewhat familiar with conservation practices like rotational grazing, soil testing, heavy use area protection, and manure composting. It was not common, however, for practices to be implemented to generally recognized standards. The horse farm respondents perceived these practices as interrelated parts of a system of farm management that has developed over time to best deal with the physical features of the property, needs of the horses, and available resources. Because conservation practices must be incorporated into a complex farm management system, traditional models of extension (i.e., diffusion of innovations) may be inappropriate for promoting better environmental management on horse farms.

Improving environmental management on small-scale farms: perspectives of extension educators and horse farm operators.

PubMed

Rebecca, Perry-Hill; Linda, Prokopy

2015-01-01

Although the number of small-scale farms is increasing in North America and Europe, few studies have been conducted to better understand environmental management in this sector. We investigate this issue by examining environmental management on horse farms from both the perspective of the "expert" extension educator and horse farm operator. We conducted a Delphi survey and follow-up interviews with extension educators in Indiana and Kentucky. We also conducted interviews and farm assessments with 15 horse farm operators in the two states. Our results suggest a disconnection between the perceptions of extension educators and horse farm operators. Extension educators believed that operators of small horse farms are unfamiliar with conservation practices and their environmental benefits and they found it difficult to target outreach to this audience. In the interviews with horse farm operators, we found that the majority were somewhat familiar with conservation practices like rotational grazing, soil testing, heavy use area protection, and manure composting. It was not common, however, for practices to be implemented to generally recognized standards. The horse farm respondents perceived these practices as interrelated parts of a system of farm management that has developed over time to best deal with the physical features of the property, needs of the horses, and available resources. Because conservation practices must be incorporated into a complex farm management system, traditional models of extension (i.e., diffusion of innovations) may be inappropriate for promoting better environmental management on horse farms.

The Challenge in Improving the Diets of Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program Recipients: A Historical Commentary.

PubMed

Popkin, Barry M

2017-02-01

This paper provides a historical background for the current nutrition issues faced by the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). The Food Stamp Program evolved into SNAP during a period when U.S. diets, particularly those of the poor, became less healthful. During the 1960s, the U.S. (Kennedy-Johnson era) addressed malnutrition first with a pilot project focused on retail sales and cash food stamps, which showed that low-income consumers purchased relatively healthy foods for a fairly high-quality diet. Southern politicians in the House of Representatives wanted a program similar to an earlier subsidized commodity distribution program. The pilot provided the evidence northern urban politicians sought, and they held the farm bill hostage until southern rural interests agreed to an unfettered Food Stamp Program that allowed purchases directly from retailers. A final Food Stamp Program law was incorporated into the farm bill and passed. This program shifted in 1977 to a full cash benefit system later, first using food stamps to act as cash and later an Electronic Benefit Transfer program. The program was designed at a time of a very healthful diet of lower-SES Americans. As diets of lower-income Americans changed and the entire food system shifted, the program has not been adjusted in any manner. Today, 50%-66% of the calories in the American diet, particularly that of low-SES Americans, come from highly processed foods containing excessive refined carbohydrates, sodium, unhealthy saturated fats, and added sugar. The SNAP design has not responded to these shifts in diet and the powerful interests controlling our food system. This twist in the U.S. diet and food system presents a major dilemma to those attempting to form a healthy food program based on the results of an effective pilot project. Copyright © 2016 American Journal of Preventive Medicine. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

The effect of organic farming systems on species diversity

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Leksono, Amin Setyo

2017-11-01

Organic farming systems have been well known to support the diversity of a wide range of taxa, including microorganisms, arable flora, invertebrates, birds, and mammals, which benefit from organic management leading to increases in abundance and/or species richness. The objective of this paper is to review the effect of organic farming on species diversity reported in several articles and compare this with the current study in Gondanglegi, Malang. A review of several studies showed that organic farming systems have been reported to increase species diversity, including that of mammals, birds, arthropods, vascular plants and arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi. The researchers about arthropod groups consisted of carabid beetles, butterflies, wasps, predators, and bees. Agricultural landscape, habitat type, farming system, landscape composition and connectivity all contribute to explaining species biodiversity and richness. Moreover, based on current and relevant studies, the results showed that the application of refugia blocks has increased arthropod diversity and composition.

Farm Management in Organic and Conventional Dairy Production Systems Based on Pasture in Southern Brazil and Its Consequences on Production and Milk Quality

PubMed Central

Kuhnen, Shirley; Stibuski, Rudinei Butka; Honorato, Luciana Aparecida; Pinheiro Machado Filho, Luiz Carlos

2015-01-01

Simple Summary This study provides the characteristics of the conventional high input (C-HI), conventional low input (C-LI), and organic low input (O-LI) pasture-based production systems used in Southern Brazil, and its consequences on production and milk quality. C-HI farms had larger farms and herds, annual pasture with higher inputs and milk yield, whereas O-LI had smaller farms and herds, perennial pastures with lowest input and milk yields; C-LI was in between. O-LI farms may contribute to eco-system services, but low milk yield is a major concern. Hygienic and microbiological milk quality was poor for all farms and needs to be improved. Abstract Pasture-based dairy production is used widely on family dairy farms in Southern Brazil. This study investigates conventional high input (C-HI), conventional low input (C-LI), and organic low input (O-LI) pasture-based systems and their effects on quantity and quality of the milk produced. We conducted technical site visits and interviews monthly over one year on 24 family farms (n = 8 per type). C-HI farms had the greatest total area (28.9 ha), greatest percentage of area with annual pasture (38.7%), largest number of lactating animals (26.2) and greatest milk yield per cow (22.8 kg·day−1). O-LI farms had the largest perennial pasture area (52.3%), with the greatest botanical richness during all seasons. Area of perennial pasture was positively correlated with number of species consumed by the animals (R2 = 0.74). Milk from O-LI farms had higher levels of fat and total solids only during the winter. Hygienic and microbiological quality of the milk was poor for all farms and need to be improved. C-HI farms had high milk yield related to high input, C-LI had intermediate characteristics and O-LI utilized a year round perennial pasture as a strategy to diminish the use of supplements in animal diets, which is an important aspect in ensuring production sustainability. PMID:26479369

Sea lice and salmon population dynamics: effects of exposure time for migratory fish.

PubMed

Krkosek, Martin; Morton, Alexandra; Volpe, John P; Lewis, Mark A

2009-08-07

The ecological impact of parasite transmission from fish farms is probably mediated by the migration of wild fishes, which determines the period of exposure to parasites. For Pacific salmon and the parasitic sea louse, Lepeophtheirus salmonis, analysis of the exposure period may resolve conflicting observations of epizootic mortality in field studies and parasite rejection in experiments. This is because exposure periods can differ by 2-3 orders of magnitude, ranging from months in the field to hours in experiments. We developed a mathematical model of salmon-louse population dynamics, parametrized by a study that monitored naturally infected juvenile salmon held in ocean enclosures. Analysis of replicated trials indicates that lice suffer high mortality, particularly during pre-adult stages. The model suggests louse populations rapidly decline following brief exposure of juvenile salmon, similar to laboratory study designs and data. However, when the exposure period lasts for several weeks, as occurs when juvenile salmon migrate past salmon farms, the model predicts that lice accumulate to abundances that can elevate salmon mortality and depress salmon populations. The duration of parasite exposure is probably critical to salmon-louse population dynamics, and should therefore be accommodated in coastal planning and management where fish farms are situated on wild fish migration routes.

Epidemiological modelling for the assessment of bovine tuberculosis surveillance in the dairy farm network in Emilia-Romagna (Italy).

PubMed

Rossi, Gianluigi; De Leo, Giulio A; Pongolini, Stefano; Natalini, Silvano; Vincenzi, Simone; Bolzoni, Luca

2015-06-01

Assessing the performance of a surveillance system for infectious diseases of domestic animals is a challenging task for health authorities. Therefore, it is important to assess what strategy is the most effective in identifying the onset of an epidemic and in minimizing the number of infected farms. The aim of the present work was to evaluate the performance of the bovine tuberculosis (bTB) surveillance system in the network of dairy farms in the Emilia-Romagna (ER) Region, Italy. A bTB-free Region since 2007, ER implements an integrated surveillance strategy based on three components, namely routine on-farm tuberculin skin-testing performed every 3 years, tuberculin skin-testing of cattle exchanged between farms, and post-mortem inspection at slaughterhouses. We assessed the effectiveness of surveillance by means of a stochastic network model of both within-farm and between-farm bTB dynamics calibrated on data available for ER dairy farms. Epidemic dynamics were simulated for five scenarios: the current ER surveillance system, a no surveillance scenario that we used as the benchmark to characterize epidemic dynamics, three additional scenarios in which one of the surveillance components was removed at a time so as to outline its significance in detecting the infection. For each scenario we ran Monte Carlo simulations of bTB epidemics following the random introduction of an infected individual in the network. System performances were assessed through the comparative analysis of a number of statistics, including the time required for epidemic detection and the total number of infected farms during the epidemic. Our analysis showed that slaughterhouse inspection is the most effective surveillance component in reducing the time for disease detection, while routine surveillance in reducing the number of multi-farms epidemics. On the other hand, testing exchanged cattle improved the performance of the surveillance system only marginally. Copyright © 2015 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

12 CFR 621.3 - Application of generally accepted accounting principles.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-01-01

... principles. 621.3 Section 621.3 Banks and Banking FARM CREDIT ADMINISTRATION FARM CREDIT SYSTEM ACCOUNTING... reports to the Farm Credit Administration, in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles... management and the Farm Credit Administration, in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles...

Measuring and explaining multi-directional inefficiency in the Malaysian dairy industry.

PubMed

Mohd Suhaimi, Nurul Aisyah Binti; de Mey, Yann; Oude Lansink, Alfons

2017-01-01

The purpose of this paper is to measure the technical inefficiency of dairy farms and subsequently investigate the factors affecting technical inefficiency in the Malaysian dairy industry. This study uses multi-directional efficiency analysis to measure the technical inefficiency scores on a sample of 200 farm observations and single-bootstrap truncated regression model to define factors affecting technical inefficiency. Managerial and program inefficiency scores are presented for intensive and semi-intensive production systems. The results reveal marked differences in the inefficiency scores across inputs and between production systems. Intensive systems generally have lowest managerial and program inefficiency scores in the Malaysian dairy farming sector. Policy makers could use this information to advise dairy farmers to convert their farming system to the intensive system. The results suggest that the Malaysian Government should redefine its policy for providing farm finance and should target young farmers when designing training and extension programs in order to improve the performance of the dairy sector. The existing literature on Southeast Asian dairy farming has neither focused on investigating input-specific efficiency nor on comparing managerial and program efficiency. This paper aims to fill this gap.

Soil Microbiome Is More Heterogeneous in Organic Than in Conventional Farming System

PubMed Central

Lupatini, Manoeli; Korthals, Gerard W.; de Hollander, Mattias; Janssens, Thierry K. S.; Kuramae, Eiko E.

2017-01-01

Organic farming system and sustainable management of soil pathogens aim at reducing the use of agricultural chemicals in order to improve ecosystem health. Despite the essential role of microbial communities in agro-ecosystems, we still have limited understanding of the complex response of microbial diversity and composition to organic and conventional farming systems and to alternative methods for controlling plant pathogens. In this study we assessed the microbial community structure, diversity and richness using 16S rRNA gene next generation sequences and report that conventional and organic farming systems had major influence on soil microbial diversity and community composition while the effects of the soil health treatments (sustainable alternatives for chemical control) in both farming systems were of smaller magnitude. Organically managed system increased taxonomic and phylogenetic richness, diversity and heterogeneity of the soil microbiota when compared with conventional farming system. The composition of microbial communities, but not the diversity nor heterogeneity, were altered by soil health treatments. Soil health treatments exhibited an overrepresentation of specific microbial taxa which are known to be involved in soil suppressiveness to pathogens (plant-parasitic nematodes and soil-borne fungi). Our results provide a comprehensive survey on the response of microbial communities to different agricultural systems and to soil treatments for controlling plant pathogens and give novel insights to improve the sustainability of agro-ecosystems by means of beneficial microorganisms. PMID:28101080

Neither "Family" nor "Corporate" Farming: Australian Tomato Growers as Farm Family Entrepreneurs

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Pritchard, Bill; Burch, David; Lawrence, Geoffrey

2007-01-01

For the past two decades there has been much debate about the future of family farming. The basic question on which this debate has turned is whether current pressures on family farm systems should be understood as symptomatic of a terminal condition, in which farmers are replaced progressively by corporate ownership; or whether family farms will…

76 FR 75542 - Rail Splitter Wind Farm, LLC v. Ameren Services Company Midwest Independent Transmission, System...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2011-12-02

... DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY Federal Energy Regulatory Commission [Docket No. EL12-11-000] Rail Splitter Wind Farm, LLC v. Ameren Services Company Midwest Independent Transmission, System Operator, Inc...) Rules of Practice and Procedures, 18 CFR 385.206, Rail Splitter Wind Farm, LLC (Rail Splitter or...

75 FR 68533 - Funding and Fiscal Affairs, Loan Policies and Operations, and Funding Operations; Capital...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2010-11-08

... banking regulators and with risks taken by Farm Credit System (FCS or System) institutions, taking into... FARM CREDIT ADMINISTRATION 12 CFR Part 615 RIN 3052-AC25 Funding and Fiscal Affairs, Loan Policies... Tier 2 AGENCY: Farm Credit Administration. ACTION: Advance notice of proposed rulemaking (ANPRM...

12 CFR 614.4125 - Funding and discount relationships between Farm Credit Banks or agricultural credit banks and...

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-01-01

..., Risk Management, Farm Credit System Insurance Corporation. (f) A direct lender association shall... Administration office that the Chief Examiner designates, and the Director, Risk Management, Farm Credit System... Credit Banks or agricultural credit banks and direct lender associations. 614.4125 Section 614.4125 Banks...

Organic farming benefits local plant diversity in vineyard farms located in intensive agricultural landscapes.

PubMed

Nascimbene, Juri; Marini, Lorenzo; Paoletti, Maurizio G

2012-05-01

The majority of research on organic farming has considered arable and grassland farming systems in Central and Northern Europe, whilst only a few studies have been carried out in Mediterranean agro-systems, such as vineyards, despite their economic importance. The main aim of the study was to test whether organic farming enhances local plant species richness in both crop and non-crop areas of vineyard farms located in intensive conventional landscapes. Nine conventional and nine organic farms were selected in an intensively cultivated region (i.e. no gradient in landscape composition) in northern Italy. In each farm, vascular plants were sampled in one vineyard and in two non-crop linear habitats, grass strips and hedgerows, adjacent to vineyards and therefore potentially influenced by farming. We used linear mixed models to test the effect of farming, and species longevity (annual vs. perennial) separately for the three habitat types. In our intensive agricultural landscapes organic farming promoted local plant species richness in vineyard fields, and grassland strips while we found no effect for linear hedgerows. Differences in species richness were not associated to differences in species composition, indicating that similar plant communities were hosted in vineyard farms independently of the management type. This negative effect of conventional farming was probably due to the use of herbicides, while mechanical operations and mowing regime did not differ between organic and conventional farms. In grassland strips, and only marginally in vineyards, we found that the positive effect of organic farming was more pronounced for perennial than annual species.

Fungal Diversity in Tomato Rhizosphere Soil under Conventional and Desert Farming Systems

PubMed Central

Kazerooni, Elham A.; Maharachchikumbura, Sajeewa S. N.; Rethinasamy, Velazhahan; Al-Mahrouqi, Hamed; Al-Sadi, Abdullah M.

2017-01-01

This study examined fungal diversity and composition in conventional (CM) and desert farming (DE) systems in Oman. Fungal diversity in the rhizosphere of tomato was assessed using 454-pyrosequencing and culture-based techniques. Both techniques produced variable results in terms of fungal diversity, with 25% of the fungal classes shared between the two techniques. In addition, pyrosequencing recovered more taxa compared to direct plating. These findings could be attributed to the ability of pyrosequencing to recover taxa that cannot grow or are slow growing on culture media. Both techniques showed that fungal diversity in the conventional farm was comparable to that in the desert farm. However, the composition of fungal classes and taxa in the two farming systems were different. Pyrosequencing revealed that Microsporidetes and Dothideomycetes are the two most common fungal classes in CM and DE, respectively. However, the culture-based technique revealed that Eurotiomycetes was the most abundant class in both farming systems and some classes, such as Microsporidetes, were not detected by the culture-based technique. Although some plant pathogens (e.g., Pythium or Fusarium) were detected in the rhizosphere of tomato, the majority of fungal species in the rhizosphere of tomato were saprophytes. Our study shows that the cultivation system may have an impact on fungal diversity. The factors which affected fungal diversity in both farms are discussed. PMID:28824590

Multiperiod planning tool for multisite pig production systems.

PubMed

Nadal-Roig, E; Plà, L M

2014-09-01

This paper presents a multiperiod planning tool for multisite pig production systems based on Linear Programming (LP). The aim of the model is to help pig managers of multisite systems in making short-term decisions (mainly related to pig transfers between farms and batch management in fattening units) and mid-term or long-term decisions (according to company targets and expansion strategy). The model skeleton follows the structure of a three-site system that can be adapted to any multisite system present in the modern pig industry. There are three basic phases, namely, piglet production, rearing pigs, and fattening. Each phase involves a different set of farms; therefore, transportation between farms and delivering of pigs to the abattoir are under consideration. The model maximizes the total gross margin calculated from the income of sales to the abattoir and the production costs over the time horizon considered. Production cost depends on each type of farm involved in the process. Parameters like number of farms per phase and distance, farm capacity, reproduction management policies, feeding and veterinary expenses, and transportation costs are taken into account. The model also provides a schedule of transfers between farms in terms of animals to be transported and number of trucks involved. The use of the model is illustrated with a case study based on a real instance of a company located in Catalonia (Spain).

Implementation of Wireless Sensor Networks Based Pig Farm Integrated Management System in Ubiquitous Agricultural Environments

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hwang, Jeonghwan; Lee, Jiwoong; Lee, Hochul; Yoe, Hyun

The wireless sensor networks (WSN) technology based on low power consumption is one of the important technologies in the realization of ubiquitous society. When the technology would be applied to the agricultural field, it can give big change in the existing agricultural environment such as livestock growth environment, cultivation and harvest of agricultural crops. This research paper proposes the 'Pig Farm Integrated Management System' based on WSN technology, which will establish the ubiquitous agricultural environment and improve the productivity of pig-raising farmers. The proposed system has WSN environmental sensors and CCTV at inside/outside of pig farm. These devices collect the growth-environment related information of pigs, such as luminosity, temperature, humidity and CO2 status. The system collects and monitors the environmental information and video information of pig farm. In addition to the remote-control and monitoring of the pig farm facilities, this system realizes the most optimum pig-raising environment based on the growth environmental data accumulated for a long time.

Organic agriculture in the twenty-first century.

PubMed

Reganold, John P; Wachter, Jonathan M

2016-02-03

Organic agriculture has a history of being contentious and is considered by some as an inefficient approach to food production. Yet organic foods and beverages are a rapidly growing market segment in the global food industry. Here, we examine the performance of organic farming in light of four key sustainability metrics: productivity, environmental impact, economic viability and social wellbeing. Organic farming systems produce lower yields compared with conventional agriculture. However, they are more profitable and environmentally friendly, and deliver equally or more nutritious foods that contain less (or no) pesticide residues, compared with conventional farming. Moreover, initial evidence indicates that organic agricultural systems deliver greater ecosystem services and social benefits. Although organic agriculture has an untapped role to play when it comes to the establishment of sustainable farming systems, no single approach will safely feed the planet. Rather, a blend of organic and other innovative farming systems is needed. Significant barriers exist to adopting these systems, however, and a diversity of policy instruments will be required to facilitate their development and implementation.

High Bee and Wasp Diversity in a Heterogeneous Tropical Farming System Compared to Protected Forest

PubMed Central

Schüepp, Christof; Rittiner, Sarah; Entling, Martin H.

2012-01-01

It is a globally important challenge to meet increasing demands for resources and, at the same time, protect biodiversity and ecosystem services. Farming is usually regarded as a major threat to biodiversity due to its expansion into natural areas. We compared biodiversity of bees and wasps between heterogeneous small-scale farming areas and protected forest in northern coastal Belize, Central America. Malaise traps operated for three months during the transition from wet to dry season. Farming areas consisted of a mosaic of mixed crop types, open habitat, secondary forest, and agroforestry. Mean species richness per site (alpha diversity), as well as spatial and temporal community variation (beta diversity) of bees and wasps were equal or higher in farming areas compared to protected forest. The higher species richness and community variation in farmland was due to additional species that did not occur in the forest, whereas most species trapped in forest were also found in farming areas. The overall regional species richness (gamma diversity) increased by 70% with the inclusion of farming areas. Our results suggest that small-scale farming systems adjacent to protected forest may not only conserve, but even favour, biodiversity of some taxonomic groups. We can, however, not exclude possible declines of bee and wasp diversity in more intensified farmland or in landscapes completely covered by heterogeneous farming systems. PMID:23300598

78 FR 37101 - Funding and Fiscal Affairs, Loan Policies and Operations, and Funding Operations; Liquidity and...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2013-06-20

... amends its liquidity regulation to strengthen liquidity risk management at Farm Credit System (System... regulation to strengthen liquidity risk management at Farm Credit System (System) banks, improve the quality...

Energy balance in olive oil farms: comparison of organic and conventional farming systems.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Moreno, Marta M.; Meco, Ramón; Moreno, Carmen

2013-04-01

The viability of an agricultural production system not only depends on the crop yields, but especially on the efficient use of available resources. However, the current agricultural systems depend heavily on non-renewable energy consumption in the form of fertilizers, fossil fuels, pesticides and machinery. In developed countries, the economic profitability of different productive systems is dependent on the granting of subsidies of diverse origin that affect both production factors (or inputs) and the final product (or output). Leaving such external aids, energy balance analysis reveals the real and most efficient form of management for each agroclimatic region, and is also directly related to the economic activity and the environmental state. In this work we compare the energy balance resulting from organic and conventional olive oil farms under the semi-arid conditions of Central Spain. The results indicate that the mean energy supplied to the organic farms was sensitively lower (about 30%) in comparison with the conventional management, and these differences were more pronounced for the biggest farms (> 15 ha). Mean energy outputs were about 20% lower in the organic system, although organic small farms (< 15 ha) resulted more productive than the conventional small ones. However, these lower outputs were compensated by the major market value obtained from the organic products. Chemical fertilizers and pesticides reached about 60% of the total energy inputs in conventional farming; in the organic farms, however, this ratio scarcely reached 25%. Human labor item only represented a very small amount of the total energy input in both cases (less than 1%). As conclusions, both management systems were efficient from an energy point of view. The value of the organic production should be focused on the environmental benefits it provides, which are not usually considered in the conventional management on not valuing the damage it produces to the environment. Organic farming would improve the energy efficiency in these environmental conditions, offering a sustainable production with minimal inputs.

The profitability of automatic milking on Dutch dairy farms.

PubMed

Bijl, R; Kooistra, S R; Hogeveen, H

2007-01-01

Several studies have reported on the profitability of automatic milking based on different simulation models, but a data-based study using actual farm data has been lacking. The objective of this study was to analyze the profitability of dairy farms having an automatic milking system (AMS) compared with farms using a conventional milking system (CMS) based on real accounting data. In total, 62 farms (31 using an AMS and 31 using a CMS) were analyzed for the year 2003 in a case control study. Differences between the years 2002 and 2003 also were analyzed by comparing a subgroup of 16 farms with an AMS and 16 farms with a CMS. Matching was based on the time of investment in a milking system (same year), the total milk production per year, and intensity of land use (kg/ha). Results from 2003 showed that the farms with an AMS used, on average, 29% less labor than farms with a CMS. In contrast, farms using a CMS grew faster (37,132 kg of milk quota and 5 dairy cows) than farms with an AMS (-3,756 kg milk quota and 0.5 dairy cows) between 2002 and 2003. Dairy farmers with a CMS had larger (euro7,899) revenues than those with an AMS. However, no difference in the margin on dairy production was detected, partly because of numerically greater (euro6,822) variable costs on CMS farms. Dairy farms were compared financially based on the amount of money that was available for rent, depreciation, interest, labor, and profit (RDILP). The CMS farms had more money (euro15,566) available for RDILP than the AMS farms. This difference was caused by larger fixed costs (excluding labor) for the AMS farms, larger contractor costs (euro6,422), and larger costs for gas, water, and electricity (euro1,549). Differences in costs for contractors and for gas, water, and electricity were statistically significant. When expressed per full-time employee, AMS farms had greater revenues, margins, and gross margins per full-time employee than did CMS farms. This resulted in a substantially greater (but not statistically significant) RDILP per full-time employee (euro12,953) for AMS farms compared with CMS farms. Depreciation and interest costs for automatic milking were not available but were calculated based on several assumptions. Assuming larger purchase costs and a shorter depreciation time for AMS than for CMS, costs for depreciation and interest were larger for AMS farms than for CMS farms. Larger fixed costs should be compensated for by the amount of labor that has become available after introducing the milking robot. Therefore, farm managers should decide whether the extra time acquired by automatic milking balances against the extra costs associated with an AMS.

Carbon footprint of dairy goat milk production in New Zealand.

PubMed

Robertson, Kimberly; Symes, Wymond; Garnham, Malcolm

2015-07-01

The aim of this study was to assess the cradle-to-farm gate carbon footprint of indoor and outdoor dairy goat farming systems in New Zealand, identifying hotspots and discussing variability and methodology. Our study was based on the International Organization for Standardization standards for life cycle assessment, although only results for greenhouse gas emissions are presented. Two functional units were included: tonnes of CO2-equivalents (CO2e) per hectare (ha) and kilograms of CO2e per kilogram of fat- and protein-corrected milk (FPCM). The study covered 5 farms, 2 farming systems, and 3yr. Two methods for the calculation of enteric methane emissions were assessed. The Lassey method, as used in the New Zealand greenhouse gas inventory, provided a more robust estimate of emissions from enteric fermentation and was used in the final calculations. The alternative dry matter intake method was shown to overestimate emissions due to use of anecdotal assumptions around actual consumption of feed. Economic allocation was applied to milk and co-products. Scenario analysis was performed on the allocation method, nitrogen content of manure, manure management, and supplementary feed choice. The average carbon footprint for the indoor farms (n=3) was 11.05 t of CO2e/ha and 0.81kg of CO2e/kg of FPCM. For the outdoor farms (n=2), the average was 5.38 t of CO2e/ha and 1.03kg of CO2e/kg of FPCM. The average for all 5 farms was 8.78 t of CO2e/ha and 0.90kg of CO2e/kg of FPCM. The results showed relatively high variability due to differences in management practices between farms. The 5 farms covered 10% of the total dairy goat farms but may not be representative of an average farm. Methane from enteric fermentation was a major emission source. The use of supplementary feed was highly variable but an important contributor to the carbon footprint. Nitrous oxide can contribute up to 18% of emissions. Indoor goat farming systems produced milk with a significantly higher carbon footprint per area of land farmed compared with outdoor farming systems, although the 2 systems were not significantly different when results were expressed per kilogram of FPCM, at 0.81kg CO2e and 1.03kg CO2e per kg of FPCM, respectively. Both systems had footprints less than other reported dairy goat carbon footprints and on par with those for New Zealand dairy cows. The methodology used to determine enteric methane is important for an accurate and meaningful assessment. The choice of manure management system and supplementary feed can substantially affect the carbon footprint. Copyright © 2015 American Dairy Science Association. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Parkinson's disease and occupation: differences in associations by case identification method suggest referral bias.

PubMed

Teschke, Kay; Marion, Stephen A; Tsui, Joseph K C; Shen, Hui; Rugbjerg, Kathrine; Harris, M Anne

2014-02-01

We used a population-based sample of 403 Parkinson's disease cases and 405 controls to examine risks by occupation. Results were compared to a previous clinic-based analysis. With censoring of jobs held within 10 years of diagnosis, the following had significantly or strongly increased risks: social science, law and library jobs (OR = 1.8); farming and horticulture jobs (OR = 2.0); gas station jobs (OR = 2.6); and welders (OR = 3.0). The following had significantly decreased risks: management and administration jobs (OR = 0.70); and other health care jobs (OR = 0.44). These results were consistent with other findings for social science and farming occupations. Risks for teaching, medicine and health occupations were not elevated, unlike our previous clinic-based study. This underscores the value of population-based over clinic-based samples. Occupational studies may be particularly susceptible to referral bias because social networks may spread preferentially via jobs. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Taxing Meat: Taking Responsibility for One’s Contribution to Antibiotic Resistance

PubMed Central

Giubilini, Alberto; Birkl, Patrick; Douglas, Thomas; Savulescu, Julian; Maslen, Hannah

2018-01-01

Antibiotic use in animal farming is one of the main drivers of antibiotic resistance both in animals and in humans. In this paper we propose that one feasible and fair way to address this problem is to tax animal products obtained with the use of antibiotics. We argue that such tax is supported both by (a) deontological arguments, which are based on the duty individuals have to compensate society for the antibiotic resistance to which they are contributing through consumption of animal products obtained with the use of antibiotics; and (b) a cost-benefit analysis of taxing such animal products and of using revenue from the tax to fund alternatives to use of antibiotics in animal farming. Finally, we argue that such a tax would be fair because individuals who consume animal products obtained with the use of antibiotics can be held morally responsible, i.e. blameworthy, for their contribution to antibiotic resistance, in spite of the fact that each individual contribution is imperceptible. PMID:29515330

SIMS(DAIRY): a modelling framework to identify sustainable dairy farms in the UK. Framework description and test for organic systems and N fertiliser optimisation.

PubMed

Del Prado, A; Misselbrook, T; Chadwick, D; Hopkins, A; Dewhurst, R J; Davison, P; Butler, A; Schröder, J; Scholefield, D

2011-09-01

Multiple demands are placed on farming systems today. Society, national legislation and market forces seek what could be seen as conflicting outcomes from our agricultural systems, e.g. food quality, affordable prices, a healthy environmental, consideration of animal welfare, biodiversity etc., Many of these demands, or desirable outcomes, are interrelated, so reaching one goal may often compromise another and, importantly, pose a risk to the economic viability of the farm. SIMS(DAIRY), a farm-scale model, was used to explore this complexity for dairy farm systems. SIMS(DAIRY) integrates existing approaches to simulate the effect of interactions between farm management, climate and soil characteristics on losses of nitrogen, phosphorus and carbon. The effects on farm profitability and attributes of biodiversity, milk quality, soil quality and animal welfare are also included. SIMS(DAIRY) can also be used to optimise fertiliser N. In this paper we discuss some limitations and strengths of using SIMS(DAIRY) compared to other modelling approaches and propose some potential improvements. Using the model we evaluated the sustainability of organic dairy systems compared with conventional dairy farms under non-optimised and optimised fertiliser N use. Model outputs showed for example, that organic dairy systems based on grass-clover swards and maize silage resulted in much smaller total GHG emissions per l of milk and slightly smaller losses of NO(3) leaching and NO(x) emissions per l of milk compared with the grassland/maize-based conventional systems. These differences were essentially because the conventional systems rely on indirect energy use for 'fixing' N compared with biological N fixation for the organic systems. SIMS(DAIRY) runs also showed some other potential benefits from the organic systems compared with conventional systems in terms of financial performance and soil quality and biodiversity scores. Optimisation of fertiliser N timings and rates showed a considerable scope to reduce the (GHG emissions per l milk too). Copyright © 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Economic and environmental feasibility of a perennial cow dairy farm.

PubMed

Rotz, C A; Zartman, D L; Crandall, K L

2005-08-01

More efficient and economical production systems are needed to improve the sustainability of dairy farms. One concept to consider is using perennial cows. Perennial cows are those that maintain a relatively high milk production for >or=2 yr without going through the typical dry period followed by calving. Farm records show that some cows have produced over 20 kg/d after 4 yr of continuous lactation. A farm simulation model was used to evaluate the long-term performance, environmental impact, and economics of a conceptual perennial cow production system on a typical dairy farm in Pennsylvania. Compared with a traditional 100-cow farm with replacement heifers produced on the farm, a perennial herd of 100 cows and purchased replacements provided environmental benefit but sustained a substantial economic loss. However, increasing the perennial herd to 128 cows better utilized the feed produced on the farm. Compared with the traditional 100-cow farm, use of the perennial 128-cow herd reduced supplemental protein and mineral feed purchases by 38%, increased annual milk sales by 21%, reduced nitrogen losses by 17%, maintained a phosphorus balance, and increased annual net return to farm management by 3200 dollars. A traditional 120-cow dairy farm with purchased replacements also used a similar amount of farm-produced feed. Compared with this option, the farm with 128 perennial cows reduced protein and mineral feed purchases by 36%, maintained similar annual milk sales, increased manure production by 7%, reduced N losses by 10%, and increased annual net return by 12,700 dollars. The economic feasibility of the perennial-cow dairy farm was very sensitive to the milk production maintained by the perennial herd and market prices for milk and perennial replacement animals. The analysis was relatively insensitive to the assumed useful life of perennial cows as long as they could be maintained in the herd for at least 3 yr. Thus, a perennial cow production system can improve the economic and environmental sustainability of a traditional dairy farm if a similar level in annual milk production per cow can be maintained.

Notes on Methods for Studying Farm Women.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Colman, Gould P.

1981-01-01

Supports several of Frances Hill's positions on research about farm women (RC 504 387). States that regarding farm and family as separate dynamic systems whose integration varies in differing situations provides a context for evaluating impacts on farm and family. Available from: Rural Sociological Society, 325 Morgan Hall, University of…

12 CFR 614.4570 - Recourse and security.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-01-01

... shall be proportional to the level of risk that the OFI poses to the Farm Credit Bank or agricultural....4570 Banks and Banking FARM CREDIT ADMINISTRATION FARM CREDIT SYSTEM LOAN POLICIES AND OPERATIONS Farm Credit Bank and Agricultural Credit Bank Financing of Other Financing Institutions § 614.4570 Recourse...

1986 Agricultural Chartbook. Agriculture Handbook No. 663.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Department of Agriculture, Washington, DC.

This book contains 310 charts, tables, and graphs containing statistical information about agriculture-related commodities and services, primarily in the United States, in 1986. The book is organized in seven sections that cover the following topics: (1) the farm (farm income, farm population, farm workers, food and fiber system, agriculture and…

12 CFR 620.10 - Preparing the quarterly report.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-01-01

... 620.10 Banks and Banking FARM CREDIT ADMINISTRATION FARM CREDIT SYSTEM DISCLOSURE TO SHAREHOLDERS... must: (1) Prepare and send, to the Farm Credit Administration, an electronic copy of its quarterly...) Publish a copy of its quarterly report on its Web site when it electronically sends the report to the Farm...

Monitoring and remediation of on-farm and off-farm ground current measured as step potential on a Wisconsin dairy farm: A case study.

PubMed

Stetzer, Dave; Leavitt, Adam M; Goeke, Charles L; Havas, Magda

2016-01-01

Ground current commonly referred to as "stray voltage" has been an issue on dairy farms since electricity was first brought to rural America. Equipment that generates high-frequency voltage transients on electrical wires combined with a multigrounded (electrical distribution) system and inadequate neutral returns all contribute to ground current. Despite decades of problems, we are no closer to resolving this issue, in part, due to three misconceptions that are addressed in this study. Misconception 1. The current standard of 1 V at cow contact is adequate to protect dairy cows; Misconception 2. Frequencies higher than 60 Hz do not need to be considered; and Misconception 3. All sources of ground current originate on the farm that has a ground current problem. This case study of a Wisconsin dairy farm documents, 1. how to establish permanent monitoring of ground current (step potential) on a dairy farm; 2. how to determine and remediate both on-farm and off-farm sources contributing to step potential; 3. which step-potential metrics relate to cow comfort and milk production; and 4. how these metrics relate to established standards. On-farm sources include lighting, variable speed frequency drives on motors, radio frequency identification system and off-farm sources are due to a poor primary neutral return on the utility side of the distribution system. A step-potential threshold of 1 V root mean square (RMS) at 60 Hz is inadequate to protect dairy cows as decreases of a few mV peak-peak at higher frequencies increases milk production, reduces milking time and improves cow comfort.

Low genetic variation in the salmon and trout parasite Loma salmonae (Microsporidia) supports marine transmission and clarifies species boundaries.

PubMed

Brown, Amanda M V; Kent, Michael L; Adamson, Martin L

2010-07-26

Loma salmonae is a microsporidian parasite prevalent in wild and farmed salmon species of the genus Oncorhynchus. This study compared ribosomal RNA (rDNA) and elongation factor-1 alpha (EF-1alpha) gene sequences to look for variation that may provide a basis for distinguishing populations. Specimens were collected from laboratory, captive (sea netpen farm and freshwater hatchery) and wild populations of fish. The host range included rainbow trout O. mykiss, Pacific salmon Oncorhynchus spp. and brook trout Salvelinus fontinalis from British Columbia, Prince Edward Island, Canada, from California, Colorado, Idaho, U.S.A. and from Chile. Both loci suggested that a variant in S. fontinalis (named 'SV') was a separate species. This was supported by the absence of similar variants in the source material (isolated from laboratory-held O. tshawytscha) and high divergence (1.4 to 2.3% in the rDNA and EF-1alpha) from L. salmonae in the type host and locality (0. mykiss in California). L. salmonae from freshwater and anadromous Oncorhynchus spp. were distinguished, providing a basis on which to evaluate possible sources of infection and suggesting geographic boundaries are important. Higher genetic variation occurred among samples of freshwater origin and from a sea netpen farm in Chile, suggesting these environments may present greater population diversity. Invariance in rDNA sequence across 17 samples from anadromous salmon in rivers, lakes, ocean, farms and hatcheries supports the hypothesis that marine transmission occurs and effectively prevents population substructuring caused by freshwater transmission.

A comparison of barriers to mental health support-seeking among farming and non-farming adults in rural South Australia.

PubMed

Hull, Melissa J; Fennell, Kate M; Vallury, Kari; Jones, Martin; Dollman, James

2017-12-01

To assess the differences between farming and non-farming rural adults in perceived barriers to mental health service use. A cross-sectional survey, modified from the Barriers to Help-Seeking Scale (BHSS), was conducted using a computer-assisted telephone interview. Respondents (age 52.6 ± 11.6 years) were recruited from three rural regions of South Australia. Approximately, 78 non-farmers and 45 farmers were included in analyses. 78 retired and two unemployed participants were excluded from the analyses. Farmers and non-farmers were compared on domain scores and individual item responses from the adapted BHSS that represent 'agrarian' attitudes to support-seeking for mental health: stoicism, self-reliance, minimisation of the problem, stigma and distrust of health professionals. In the analysis of domain scores, 'Need for Control and Self-Reliance' was a stronger barrier for farmers than non-farmers (P = 0.009) with a trend (P = 0.07) towards stronger barriers among farmers in the 'Minimising Problem and Resignation' domain. In the analysis of item-level responses, there was a difference (P = 0.03) between farmers and non-farmers in responses to 'I find it difficult to understand my doctor/health professional', with 24.4% of the farmers agreeing that this is a barrier compared with 15.3% of the non-farmers. Long-held stereotypes of stoicism and self-reliance among farmers were somewhat supported, in the context of mental health. Mental health services and professionals in rural Australia might need to adapt their practices to successfully engage this population. © 2017 National Rural Health Alliance Inc.

[The development of care farming for elderly people with cognitive impairment to enhance social inclusion: A feasibility study of rice-farming care for elderly people with cognitive impairment].

PubMed

Ura, Chiaki; Okamura, Tsuyoshi; Yamazaki, Sachiko; Ishiguro, Taichi; Ibe, Masumi; Miyazaki, Mayako; Torishima, Keisuke; Kawamuro, Yu

2018-01-01

The aim of this study was to assess the feasibility of rice-farming care among elderly people with cognitive impairment as a tool for social inclusion. Eight elderly individuals with cognitive impairment (7 men, 1 woman, mean age 68.3 years old) participated in the program over 25 weeks. The cognitive function, well-being, and depression were assessed before and after the program period. The degree of participants' independence during the program was also assessed. Semi-structured interviews with the participants and caregivers were held after the program period. The average participation rate was 93.0%. There were no unexpected events, and the subjects carried out farmwork almost independently. Regarding their well-being, two participants who scored below the cut-off criterion of mental health before the study scored above the cut-off after the study. Regarding depression, two participants who scored positive with a two-question case-finding instrument no longer scored positive after the study. Interviews with the participants showed that they enjoyed the program, especially because they had peers, a role, and gained positive emotions. Interviews with the caregivers showed that they had recognized for the first time what people can do with their skills. The results of the present study indicate that rice-farming was a feasible method of care with a positive impact on the well-being and depression of elderly people with cognitive impairment and enhanced their social participation, drawing out their individual strengths.

Whole Farm Net Greenhouse Gas Abatement from Establishing Kikuyu-Based Perennial Pastures in South-Western Australia

PubMed Central

Thomas, Dean T.; Sanderman, Jonathan; Eady, Sandra J.; Masters, David G.; Sanford, Paul

2012-01-01

Simple Summary Greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from ruminant livestock production (sheep, cattle and goats) have contributed to a common perception that a shift in the human diet from animal to plant-based products is environmentally responsible. In this study we found that the level of net emissions from livestock production systems is strongly influenced by the type of farming system that is used, and in fact GHG emission levels from some livestock production systems may be comparable with cropping systems. By introducing into farming systems ‘perennial’ pasture plants that are able to capture more atmospheric carbon, which is then stored in the soil, emission levels from livestock production can be substantially reduced. Abstract On-farm activities that reduce GHG emissions or sequester carbon from the atmosphere to compensate for anthropogenic emissions are currently being evaluated by the Australian Government as carbon offset opportunities. The aim of this study was to examine the implications of establishing and grazing Kikuyu pastures, integrated as part of a mixed Merino sheep and cropping system, as a carbon offset mechanism. For the assessment of changes in net greenhouse gas emissions, results from a combination of whole farm economic and livestock models were used (MIDAS and GrassGro). Net GHG emissions were determined by deducting increased emissions from introducing this practice change (increased methane and nitrous oxide emissions due to higher stocking rates) from the soil carbon sequestered from growing the Kikuyu pasture. Our results indicate that livestock systems using perennial pastures may have substantially lower net GHG emissions, and reduced GHG intensity of production, compared with annual plant-based production systems. Soil carbon accumulation by converting 45% of arable land within a farm enterprise to Kikuyu-based pasture was determined to be 0.80 t CO2-e farm ha−1 yr−1 and increased GHG emissions (leakage) was 0.19 t CO2-e farm ha−1 yr−1. The net benefit of this practice change was 0.61 t CO2-e farm ha−1 yr−1 while the rate of soil carbon accumulation remains constant. The use of perennial pastures improved the efficiency of animal production almost eight fold when expressed as carbon dioxide equivalent emissions per unit of animal product. The strategy of using perennial pasture to improve production levels and store additional carbon in the soil demonstrates how livestock should be considered in farming systems as both sources and sinks for GHG abatement. PMID:26487024

Incidence rate of pathogen-specific clinical mastitis on conventional and organic Canadian dairy farms.

PubMed

Levison, L J; Miller-Cushon, E K; Tucker, A L; Bergeron, R; Leslie, K E; Barkema, H W; DeVries, T J

2016-02-01

Mastitis is a common and costly production disease on dairy farms. In Canada, the incidence rate of clinical mastitis (IRCM) has been determined for conventionally managed dairy farms; however, no studies to date have assessed rates in organically managed systems. The objectives of this observational study were (1) to determine the producer-reported IRCM and predominant pathogen types on conventional and organic dairy farms in Southern Ontario, Canada, and (2) to evaluate the association of both mean overall IRCM and pathogen-specific IRCM with management system, housing type, and pasture access. Data from 59 dairy farms in Southern Ontario, Canada, distributed across conventional (n=41) and organic management (n=18) systems, were collected from April 2011 to May 2012. In addition to management system, farms were categorized by housing method (loose or tie-stall) and pasture access for lactating cows. Participating producers identified and collected samples from 936 cases of clinical mastitis. The most frequently isolated mastitis pathogens were coagulase-negative staphylococci, Bacillus spp., Streptococcus spp., Staphylococcus aureus, and Escherichia coli. The IRCM was higher on conventional farms than organic (23.7 vs. 13.2 cases per 100 cow-years) and was not associated with housing type (loose or tie-stall), pasture access, or herd-average milk yield. Bulk tank somatic cell count tended to be lower on conventional farms than organic (222,000 vs. 272,000 cells/mL). Pathogen-specific IRCM attributed to Staph. aureus, Bacillus spp., and E. coli was greater on conventional than organic farms, but was not associated with housing or any other factors. In conclusion, organic management was associated with reduced overall and pathogen-specific IRCM. Copyright © 2016 American Dairy Science Association. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Development of risk-based trading farm scoring system to assist with the control of bovine tuberculosis in cattle in England and Wales.

PubMed

Adkin, A; Brouwer, A; Simons, R R L; Smith, R P; Arnold, M E; Broughan, J; Kosmider, R; Downs, S H

2016-01-01

Identifying and ranking cattle herds with a higher risk of being or becoming infected on known risk factors can help target farm biosecurity, surveillance schemes and reduce spread through animal trading. This paper describes a quantitative approach to develop risk scores, based on the probability of infection in a herd with bovine tuberculosis (bTB), to be used in a risk-based trading (RBT) scheme in England and Wales. To produce a practical scoring system the risk factors included need to be simple and quick to understand, sufficiently informative and derived from centralised national databases to enable verification and assess compliance. A logistic regression identified herd history of bTB, local bTB prevalence, herd size and movements of animals onto farms in batches from high risk areas as being significantly associated with the probability of bTB infection on farm. Risk factors were assigned points using the estimated odds ratios to weight them. The farm risk score was defined as the sum of these individual points yielding a range from 1 to 5 and was calculated for each cattle farm that was trading animals in England and Wales at the start of a year. Within 12 months, of those farms tested, 30.3% of score 5 farms had a breakdown (sensitivity). Of farms scoring 1-4 only 5.4% incurred a breakdown (1-specificity). The use of this risk scoring system within RBT has the potential to reduce infected cattle movements; however, there are cost implications in ensuring that the information underpinning any system is accurate and up to date. Crown Copyright © 2015. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Simulation of Intra- or transboundary surface-water-rights hierarchies using the farm process for MODFLOW-2000

USGS Publications Warehouse

Schmid, W.; Hanson, R.T.

2007-01-01

Water-rights driven surface-water allocations for irrigated agriculture can be simulated using the farm process for MODFLOW-2000. This paper describes and develops a model, which simulates routed surface-water deliveries to farms limited by streamflow, equal-appropriation allotments, or a ranked prior-appropriation system. Simulated diversions account for deliveries to all farms along a canal according to their water-rights ranking and for conveyance losses and gains. Simulated minimum streamflow requirements on diversions help guarantee supplies to senior farms located on downstream diverting canals. Prior appropriation can be applied to individual farms or to groups of farms modeled as "virtual farms" representing irrigation districts, irrigated regions in transboundary settings, or natural vegetation habitats. The integrated approach of jointly simulating canal diversions, surface-water deliveries subject to water-rights constraints, and groundwater allocations is verified on numerical experiments based on a realistic, but hypothetical, system of ranked virtual farms. Results are discussed in light of transboundary water appropriation and demonstrate the approach's suitability for simulating effects of water-rights hierarchies represented by international treaties, interstate stream compacts, intrastate water rights, or ecological requirements. ?? 2007 ASCE.

Differences in sheep and goats milk fatty acid profile between conventional and organic farming systems.

PubMed

Tsiplakou, Eleni; Kotrotsios, Vaios; Hadjigeorgiou, Ioannis; Zervas, George

2010-08-01

The objective of this study was to investigate whether there is a difference in chemical composition and particularly in fatty acid (FA) profile, with emphasis on cis-9, trans-11 CLA, of milk obtained from conventional and organic dairy sheep and goats farms under the farming conditions practiced in Greece. Four dairy sheep and four dairy goat farms, representing common conventional production systems and another four dairy sheep and four dairy goat farms, organically certified, representing organic production and feeding systems were selected from all over Greece. One hundred and sixty two individual milk samples were collected from those farms in January-February 2009, about three months after parturition. The milk samples were analyzed for their main chemical constituents and their FA profile. The results showed that the production system affected milk chemical composition: in particular fat content was lower in the organic sheep and goats milk compared with the corresponding conventional. Milk from organic sheep had higher content in MUFA, PUFA, alpha-LNA, cis-9, trans-11 CLA, and omega-3 FA, whereas in milk from organic goats alpha-LNA and omega-3 FA content was higher than that in conventional one. These differences are, mainly, attributed to different feeding practices used by the two production systems. The results of this study show that the organic milk produced under the farming conditions practiced in Greece has higher nutritional value, due to its FA profile, compared with the respective conventional milk.

Evaluating the effect of Focus Farms on Ontario dairy producers' knowledge, attitudes, and behavior toward control of Johne's disease.

PubMed

Roche, S M; Jones-Bitton, A; Meehan, M; Von Massow, M; Kelton, D F

2015-08-01

This study evaluated a participatory-based, experiential learning program, Ontario Focus Farms (FF), which aimed to change dairy producer behavior to control Johne's disease (JD) in Ontario, Canada. The goals were to (1) assess the effect of FF on participating dairy producers' knowledge, attitudes, and behavior with regard to JD control; (2) compare changes in these factors among FF participants to changes among a group of nonparticipating dairy producers; and (3) describe the characteristics of producers who made at least one on-farm management change. Pre- and post-FF intervention questionnaires collected data on respondents' knowledge, attitudes, behavior, herd production, and demographic information; before and after JD-risk assessments were used to assess respondents' on-farm risk of JD transmission. Overall, 176 dairy producers participated in the FF process; 39.8% (70/176) of FF and 14.6% (52/357) of control participants responded to both the pre- and postintervention questionnaires. Upon comparison, FF respondents were more likely to be younger, have larger herds, and have higher management scores. The proportion of FF participants who reported making at least one on-farm change (81%) was significantly higher than that of control respondents (38%). Overall, FF respondents significantly changed their risk score in 4 out of 5 risk areas and had an average reduction of 13 points in their overall risk score between before and after risk assessments. Control respondents' risk assessment scores did not significantly change during the study period. In a JD knowledge assessment, FF and control respondents exhibited a moderate knowledge score before the intervention period, with median scores of 75.9% (22/29) in each group. The FF respondents significantly increased their score at the postintervention assessment, with a median of 82.8% (24/29); control-respondent scores did not significantly change. Both FF and control respondents held strong positive attitudes toward JD control and felt a moderate amount of social pressure from veterinarians and industry organizations to make on-farm changes. However, they questioned their ability to effectively control JD on the farm. Last, participating in FF, having a moderate herd management score, having a positive perception about the practicality of on-farm recommendations, and having a singular learning preference were associated with increased odds of making an on-farm change. Overall, the FF process appears to be effective at influencing producer behavior toward implementing on-farm management practices for JD control. Future JD control programs should consider implementing peer-learning extension processes, such as FF, in combination with other extension approaches, to influence producer behavior. Copyright © 2015 American Dairy Science Association. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

75 FR 23666 - Huron-Manistee National Forests, White Pines Wind Farm Project, Mason County, MI

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2010-05-04

... DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE Forest Service Huron-Manistee National Forests, White Pines Wind Farm... environmental impact statement for the White Pines Wind Farm Project on National Forest System (NFS) lands... terminates the environmental analysis process for the White Pines Wind Farm Project. DATES: The Notice of...

Simulating forage crop production in a northern climate with the Integrated Farm System Model

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Whole-farm simulation models are useful tools for evaluating the effect of management practices and climate variability on the agro-environmental and economic performance of farms. A few process-based farm-scale models have been developed, but none have been evaluated in a northern region with a sho...

Agriculture Education SimFarm(TM). Technology Learning Activity. Teacher Edition.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Oklahoma State Dept. of Vocational and Technical Education, Stillwater. Curriculum and Instructional Materials Center.

This Technology Learning Activity (TLA) for agriculture education in grades 6-10 is designed to help students learn the basic terminology of a farm system while they experience the responsibility of keeping a profitable farm in operation through use of the interactive SimFarm software. Introductory materials provide an overview of technology…

Survey of quantitative antimicrobial consumption in two different pig finishing systems.

PubMed

Moreno, M A

2012-09-29

The primary objectives of this study were to: (a) collect on-farm antimicrobial use (AMU) data in fattener pigs employing two questionnaire-based surveys; (b) assess different quantitative measures for quantifying AMU in fattener pigs; (c) compare AMU in fattener pigs between two different management systems producing finishers: farrow-to-finish (FtF) farms versus finisher farms. Two questionnaires were designed both containing five groups of questions focused on the responder, the farm and AMU (eg, in-feed, in-drinking water and parenteral); both surveys were carried out by means of personal face-to-face interviews. Both surveys started with a sample size of 108 potentially eligible farms per survey; nevertheless, finally 67 finisher farms and 49 FtF farms were recruited. Overall percentages of animals exposed to antimicrobials (AM) were high (90 per cent in finisher farms and 54 per cent FtF farms); colistin (61 per cent and 33 per cent) and doxycycline (62 per cent and 23 per cent) were the most common AMs, followed by amoxicillin (51 per cent and 19 per cent) and lincomycin (49 per cent), respectively. Questionnaire-based surveys using face-to-face interviews are useful for capturing information regarding AMU at the farm level. Farm-level data per administration route can be used for comparative AMU analysis between farms. Nevertheless, for the analysis of the putative relationships between AMU and AM resistance, measures based on exposed animals or exposure events are needed.

Wind farm topology-finding algorithm considering performance, costs, and environmental impacts.

PubMed

Tazi, Nacef; Chatelet, Eric; Bouzidi, Youcef; Meziane, Rachid

2017-06-05

Optimal power in wind farms turns to be a modern problem for investors and decision makers; onshore wind farms are subject to performance and economic and environmental constraints. The aim of this work is to define the best installed capacity (best topology) with maximum performance and profits and consider environmental impacts as well. In this article, we continue the work recently done on wind farm topology-finding algorithm. The proposed resolution technique is based on finding the best topology of the system that maximizes the wind farm performance (availability) under the constraints of costs and capital investments. Global warming potential of wind farm is calculated and taken into account in the results. A case study is done using data and constraints similar to those collected from wind farm constructors, managers, and maintainers. Multi-state systems (MSS), universal generating function (UGF), wind, and load charge functions are applied. An economic study was conducted to assess the wind farm investment. Net present value (NPV) and levelized cost of energy (LCOE) were calculated for best topologies found.

Research on large-scale wind farm modeling

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ma, Longfei; Zhang, Baoqun; Gong, Cheng; Jiao, Ran; Shi, Rui; Chi, Zhongjun; Ding, Yifeng

2017-01-01

Due to intermittent and adulatory properties of wind energy, when large-scale wind farm connected to the grid, it will have much impact on the power system, which is different from traditional power plants. Therefore it is necessary to establish an effective wind farm model to simulate and analyze the influence wind farms have on the grid as well as the transient characteristics of the wind turbines when the grid is at fault. However we must first establish an effective WTGs model. As the doubly-fed VSCF wind turbine has become the mainstream wind turbine model currently, this article first investigates the research progress of doubly-fed VSCF wind turbine, and then describes the detailed building process of the model. After that investigating the common wind farm modeling methods and pointing out the problems encountered. As WAMS is widely used in the power system, which makes online parameter identification of the wind farm model based on off-output characteristics of wind farm be possible, with a focus on interpretation of the new idea of identification-based modeling of large wind farms, which can be realized by two concrete methods.

Integrated Farm System Model Version 4.1 and Dairy Gas Emissions Model Version 3.1 software release and distribution

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Animal facilities are significant contributors of gaseous emissions including ammonia (NH3) and nitrous oxide (N2O). Previous versions of the Integrated Farm System Model (IFSM version 4.0) and Dairy Gas Emissions Model (DairyGEM version 3.0), two whole-farm simulation models developed by USDA-ARS, ...

Integrated Farm System Model Version 4.3 and Dairy Gas Emissions Model Version 3.3 Software development and distribution

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Modeling routines of the Integrated Farm System Model (IFSM version 4.2) and Dairy Gas Emission Model (DairyGEM version 3.2), two whole-farm simulation models developed and maintained by USDA-ARS, were revised with new components for: (1) simulation of ammonia (NH3) and greenhouse gas emissions gene...

Agricultural Innovation Systems and Farm Technology Adoption: Findings from a Study of the Ghanaian Plantain Sector

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Weyori, Alirah Emmanuel; Amare, Mulubrhan; Garming, Hildegard; Waibel, Hermann

2018-01-01

Purpose: We assess farm technology adoption in an integrated analysis of social networks and innovation in plantain production in Ghana. The paper explores the strength of social networks in the agricultural innovation systems (AISs) and the effect of AISs on adoption of improved farm technology. Methodology/Approach: The paper uses social network…

Assessing eco-efficiency: A metafrontier directional distance function approach using life cycle analysis

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Beltrán-Esteve, Mercedes, E-mail: mercedes.beltran@uv.es; Reig-Martínez, Ernest; Estruch-Guitart, Vicent

Sustainability analysis requires a joint assessment of environmental, social and economic aspects of production processes. Here we propose the use of Life Cycle Analysis (LCA), a metafrontier (MF) directional distance function (DDF) approach, and Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA), to assess technological and managerial differences in eco-efficiency between production systems. We use LCA to compute six environmental and health impacts associated with the production processes of nearly 200 Spanish citrus farms belonging to organic and conventional farming systems. DEA is then employed to obtain joint economic-environmental farm's scores that we refer to as eco-efficiency. DDF allows us to determine farms' globalmore » eco-efficiency scores, as well as eco-efficiency scores with respect to specific environmental impacts. Furthermore, the use of an MF helps us to disentangle technological and managerial eco-inefficiencies by comparing the eco-efficiency of both farming systems with regards to a common benchmark. Our core results suggest that the shift from conventional to organic farming technology would allow a potential reduction in environmental impacts of 80% without resulting in any decline in economic performance. In contrast, as regards farmers' managerial capacities, both systems display quite similar mean scores.« less

Estimating the sensitivity of passive surveillance for HPAI H5N1 in Bayelsa state, Nigeria.

PubMed

Ojimelukwe, Agatha E; Prakarnkamanant, Apisit; Rushton, Jonathan

2016-07-01

This study identified characteristics of poultry farming with a focus on practices that affect the detection of HPAI; and estimated the system sensitivity of passive surveillance for HPAI H5N1 in commercial and backyard chicken farms in Bayelsa-State, Nigeria. Field studies were carried out in Yenegoa and Ogbia local government areas in Bayelsa state. Willingness to report HPAI was highest in commercial poultry farms (13/13) than in Backyard farms (8/13). Poor means of dead bird disposal was common to both commercial and backyard farms. Administering some form of treatment to sick birds without prior consultation with a professional was higher in backyard farms (8/13) than in commercial farms (4/13). Consumption of sick birds was reported in 4/13 backyard farms and sale of dead birds was recorded in one commercial farm. The sensitivity of passive surveillance for HPAI was assessed using scenario tree modelling. A scenario tree model was developed and applied to estimate the sensitivity, i.e. the probability of detecting one or more infected chicken farms in Bayelsa state at different levels of disease prevalence. The model showed a median sensitivity of 100%, 67% and 23% for detecting HPAI by passive surveillance at a disease prevalence of 0.1%, a minimum of 10 and 3 infected poultry farms respectively. Passive surveillance system sensitivity at a design prevalence of 10 infected farms is increasable up to 86% when the disease detection in backyard chicken farms is enhanced. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Analysis of postural load during tasks related to milking cows-a case study.

PubMed

Groborz, Anna; Tokarski, Tomasz; Roman-Liu, Danuta

2011-01-01

The aim of this study was to analyse postural load during tasks related to milking cows of 2 farmers on 2 different farms (one with a manual milk transport system, the other with a fully automated milk transport system) as a case study. The participants were full-time farmers, they were both healthy and experienced in their job. The Ovako Working Posture Analyzing System (OWAS) was used to evaluate postural load and postural risk. Postural load was medium for the farmer on the farm with a manual milk transport system and high for the farmer working on the farm with a fully automated milk transport system. Thus, it can be concluded that a higher level of farm mechanization not always mean that the farmer's postural load is lower, but limitation of OWAS should be considered.

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Capece, John; Hanlon, Ed A.

The public purchase of farmlands in the EAA provides an opportunity for transforming farming systems into truly sustainable systems and these can support the Everglades restoration efforts. The concept proposed in this presentation is that by reducing the yield intensity of farms and adding ecosystem services, public farm lands can serve both restoration and the economy more effectively and more efficiently. This working hypothesis will be evaluated by applying systems analysis approaches including life cycle analysis and embodied energy analysis. The rationale for pursuing new approaches ranges from the fact that climate change threats are global, not local, to themore » fact that eliminating Florida farms and moving production elsewhere yields no net ecological benefit. Historic water flow from Lake Okeechobee to Everglades is shown and the current concept of moving water explained. Southern Flow Way Plan 6 is explained and sustainable farming system in this newly acquired land presented. To determine if an EAA pulse-way strategy would work and meet the sustainability criteria requires integrated analysis of several systems - water budget, soil & water nutrient dynamics, prospects for new sugarcane varieties, soil subsidence and overall energy and carbon budget.« less

Analysis to develop a program for energy-integrated farm systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Eakin, D. E.; Clark, M. A.; Inaba, L. K.; Johnson, K. I.

1981-09-01

A program to use renewable energy resources and possibly develop decentralization of energy systems for agriculture is discussed. The program's objective is determined by: (1) an analysis of the technologies that could be utilized to transform renewable farm resources to energy by the year 2000, (2) the quantity of renewable farm resources that are available, and (3) current energy-use patterns. Individual research, development, and demonstration projects are fit into a national program of energy-integrated farm systems on the basis of market need, conversion potential, technological opportunities, and acceptability. Quantification of these factors for the purpose of establishing program guidelines is conducted using the following four precepts: (1) market need is identified by current use of energy for agricultural production; (2) conversion potential is determined by the availability of renewable resources; and (3) technological opportunities are determined by the state-of-the-art methods, techniques, and processes that can convert renewable resources into farm energy.

76 FR 67440 - Market Access Agreement

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2011-11-01

... the Farm Credit System (System or FCS) and the Federal Farm Credit Banks Funding Corporation (Funding...-4020, TTY (703) 883-4020. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: System banks and the Funding Corporation entered... of each System bank by outlining each party's respective rights and responsibilities in the event the...

Life cycle assessment of manure management and nutrient recycling from a Chinese pig farm.

PubMed

Luo, Yiming; Stichnothe, Heinz; Schuchardt, Frank; Li, Guoxue; Huaitalla, Roxana Mendoza; Xu, Wen

2014-01-01

Driven by the growing numbers of intensified pig farms around cities in China, there are problems of nutrient surplus and shortage of arable land for utilising the manure. Hence, sustainable livestock systems with effective manure management are needed. The objective of this study is to compare the existing manure treatment of a typical pig farm in Beijing area (separate collection of faeces; 'Gan qing fen' system) with an alternative system and to identify the nutrients flow of the whole farm in order to quantify environmental burdens and to estimate the arable land required for sustainable nutrients recycling. Life cycle assessment is used for this purpose. Acidification potential (AP), eutrophication potential (EP) and global warming potential (GWP) are analysed in detail; the functional unit is the annual production of the pig farm. The results show that the cropland area demand for sustainable land application of the effluent can be reduced from 238 to 139 ha with the alternative system. It is possible to transfer 29% of total nitrogen, 87% of phosphorus, 34% of potassium and 75% of magnesium to the compost, and to reduce the total AP, EP and GWP of manure management on the farm by 64.1%, 96.7% and 22%, respectively, compared with the current system. Besides an effective manure management system, a full inventory of the regional nutrients flow is needed for sustainable development of livestock systems around big cities in China.

12 CFR 614.4540 - Other financing institution access to Farm Credit Banks and agricultural credit banks for funding...

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-01-01

...) Otherwise expose the Farm Credit Bank or agricultural credit bank to safety and soundness risks. (e) Notice... Credit Banks and agricultural credit banks for funding, discount, and other similar financial assistance. 614.4540 Section 614.4540 Banks and Banking FARM CREDIT ADMINISTRATION FARM CREDIT SYSTEM LOAN...

Farm simulation: a tool for evaluating the mitigation of greenhouse gas emissions and the adaptation of dairy production to climate change

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Process-level modeling at the farm scale provides a tool for evaluating both strategies for mitigating greenhouse gas emissions and strategies for adapting to climate change. The Integrated Farm System Model (IFSM) simulates representative crop, beef or dairy farms over many years of weather to pred...

Use of UNIX in large online processor farms

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Biel, Joseph R.

1990-08-01

There has been a recent rapid increase in the power of RISC computers running the UNIX operating system. Fermilab has begun to make use of these computers in the next generation of offline computer farms. It is also planning to use such computers in online computer farms. Issues involved in constructing online UNIX farms are discussed.

Concept identification for a power take-off shielding campaign.

PubMed

Tinc, P J; Madden, E; Park, S; Weil, R; Sorensen, J A

2015-01-01

ABSTRACT Machinery entanglements, specifically power take-off (PTO) entanglements, are a leading cause of injuries and fatalities on farms. In order to address this life-threatening issue, a social marketing campaign is being developed to reduce barriers and emphasize motivators to shielding. This article discusses the process of designing, testing, and selecting concepts to be used in the campaign. Small-group discussions (triads) were held to test 13 message concepts. Participants were asked to provide feedback and select the two messages that they believed to be most powerful. Upon completion, three message concepts were selected to be finalized.

Assessing the status of food safety management systems for fresh produce production in East Africa: evidence from certified green bean farms in Kenya and noncertified hot pepper farms in Uganda.

PubMed

Nanyunja, J; Jacxsens, L; Kirezieva, K; Kaaya, A N; Uyttendaele, M; Luning, P A

2015-06-01

The farms of fresh produce farmers are major sources of food contamination by microbiological organisms and chemical pesticides. In view of their choice for farming practices, producers are influenced by food safety requirements. This study analyzes the role of food safety standard certification toward the maturity of food safety management systems (FSMS) in the primary production of fresh produce. Kenya and Uganda are two East African countries that export green beans and hot peppers, respectively, to the European Union but have contrasting features in terms of agricultural practices and certification status. In the fresh produce chain, a diagnostic instrument for primary production was used to assess context factors, core control and assurance activities, and system output to measure the performance of FSMS for certified green bean farms in Kenya and noncertified hot pepper farms in Uganda. Overall, our findings show that in Uganda, noncertified hot pepper farms revealed only a "basic level of control and assurance" activities in their FSMS, which was not satisfactory, because no insight into potential pesticide microbial contamination was presented by these farmers. On the other hand, certified green bean farms in Kenya had an "average level of control and assurance," providing insight into the delivered food safety and quality by the farmers. Farm size did not impact the maturity level of FSMS. This study confirms the role played by food safety standard certification toward the maturity of FSMS implemented in developing countries and demonstrates the possibility of Ugandan farms to upgrade agricultural practices in the fresh produce sector.

ICPP tank farm closure study. Volume 2: Engineering design files

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

NONE

1998-02-01

Volume 2 contains the following topical sections: Tank farm heel flushing/pH adjustment; Grouting experiments for immobilization of tank farm heel; Savannah River high level waste tank 20 closure; Tank farm closure information; Clean closure of tank farm; Remediation issues; Remote demolition techniques; Decision concerning EIS for debris treatment facility; CERCLA/RCRA issues; Area of contamination determination; Containment building of debris treatment facility; Double containment issues; Characterization costs; Packaging and disposal options for the waste resulting from the total removal of the tank farm; Take-off calculations for the total removal of soils and structures at the tank farm; Vessel off-gas systems; Jet-groutedmore » polymer and subsurface walls; Exposure calculations for total removal of tank farm; Recommended instrumentation during retrieval operations; High level waste tank concrete encasement evaluation; Recommended heavy equipment and sizing equipment for total removal activities; Tank buoyancy constraints; Grout and concrete formulas for tank heel solidification; Tank heel pH requirements; Tank cooling water; Evaluation of conservatism of vehicle loading on vaults; Typical vault dimensions and approximately tank and vault void volumes; Radiological concerns for temporary vessel off-gas system; Flushing calculations for tank heels; Grout lift depth analysis; Decontamination solution for waste transfer piping; Grout lift determination for filling tank and vault voids; sprung structure vendor data; Grout flow properties through a 2--4 inch pipe; Tank farm load limitations; NRC low level waste grout; Project data sheet calculations; Dose rates for tank farm closure tasks; Exposure and shielding calculations for grout lines; TFF radionuclide release rates; Documentation of the clean closure of a system with listed waste discharge; and Documentation of the ORNL method of radionuclide concentrations in tanks.« less

Climate-Smart Livestock Systems: An Assessment of Carbon Stocks and GHG Emissions in Nicaragua.

PubMed

Gaitán, Lucía; Läderach, Peter; Graefe, Sophie; Rao, Idupulapati; van der Hoek, Rein

2016-01-01

Livestock systems in the tropics can contribute to mitigate climate change by reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and increasing carbon accumulation. We quantified C stocks and GHG emissions of 30 dual-purpose cattle farms in Nicaragua using farm inventories and lifecycle analysis. Trees in silvo-pastoral systems were the main C stock above-ground (16-24 Mg ha-1), compared with adjacent secondary forests (43 Mg C ha-1). We estimated that methane from enteric fermentation contributed 1.6 kg CO2-eq., and nitrous oxide from excreta 0.4 kg CO2-eq. per kg of milk produced. Seven farms that we classified as climate-smart agriculture (CSA) out of 16 farms had highest milk yields (6.2 kg cow-1day-1) and lowest emissions (1.7 kg CO2-eq. per kg milk produced). Livestock on these farms had higher-quality diets, especially during the dry season, and manure was managed better. Increasing the numbers of CSA farms and improving CSA technology will require better enabling policy and incentives such as payments for ecosystem services.

Farming of Vegetables in Space-Limited Environments

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

He, Jie

2015-10-01

Vegetables that contain most of the essential components of human nutrition are perishable and cannot be stocked. To secure vegetable supply in space limited cities such as Singapore, there are different farming methods to produce vegetables. These include low-cost urban community gardening and innovative rooftop and vertical farms integrated with various technologies such as hydroponics, aquaponics and aeroponics. However, for large-scale vegetable production in space-limited Singapore, we need to develop farming systems that not only increase productivity many-fold per unit of land but also produce all types of vegetable, all year-round for today and the future. This could be resolved through integrated vertical aeroponic farming system. Manipulation of root-zone (RZ) environments such as cooling the RZ, modifying mineral nutrients and introducing elevated RZ CO2 using aeroponics can further boost crop productivity beyond what can be achieved from more efficient use of land area. We could also adopt energy saving light emitting diodes (LEDs) for vertical aeroponic farming system to promote uniform growth and to improve the utilisation of limited space via shortening the growth cycle, thus improving vegetable production in a cost-effective manner.

Climate-Smart Livestock Systems: An Assessment of Carbon Stocks and GHG Emissions in Nicaragua

PubMed Central

Gaitán, Lucía; Läderach, Peter; Graefe, Sophie; Rao, Idupulapati; van der Hoek, Rein

2016-01-01

Livestock systems in the tropics can contribute to mitigate climate change by reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and increasing carbon accumulation. We quantified C stocks and GHG emissions of 30 dual-purpose cattle farms in Nicaragua using farm inventories and lifecycle analysis. Trees in silvo-pastoral systems were the main C stock above-ground (16–24 Mg ha-1), compared with adjacent secondary forests (43 Mg C ha-1). We estimated that methane from enteric fermentation contributed 1.6 kg CO2-eq., and nitrous oxide from excreta 0.4 kg CO2-eq. per kg of milk produced. Seven farms that we classified as climate-smart agriculture (CSA) out of 16 farms had highest milk yields (6.2 kg cow-1day-1) and lowest emissions (1.7 kg CO2-eq. per kg milk produced). Livestock on these farms had higher-quality diets, especially during the dry season, and manure was managed better. Increasing the numbers of CSA farms and improving CSA technology will require better enabling policy and incentives such as payments for ecosystem services. PMID:28030599

12 CFR 630.5 - Accuracy of reports and assessment of internal control over financial reporting.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-01-01

... 12 Banks and Banking 7 2014-01-01 2014-01-01 false Accuracy of reports and assessment of internal control over financial reporting. 630.5 Section 630.5 Banks and Banking FARM CREDIT ADMINISTRATION FARM CREDIT SYSTEM DISCLOSURE TO INVESTORS IN SYSTEMWIDE AND CONSOLIDATED BANK DEBT OBLIGATIONS OF THE FARM CREDIT SYSTEM General § 630.5 Accuracy of...

12 CFR 630.5 - Accuracy of reports and assessment of internal control over financial reporting.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-01-01

... 12 Banks and Banking 7 2012-01-01 2012-01-01 false Accuracy of reports and assessment of internal control over financial reporting. 630.5 Section 630.5 Banks and Banking FARM CREDIT ADMINISTRATION FARM CREDIT SYSTEM DISCLOSURE TO INVESTORS IN SYSTEMWIDE AND CONSOLIDATED BANK DEBT OBLIGATIONS OF THE FARM CREDIT SYSTEM General § 630.5 Accuracy of...

Analysis of economic benefit of wind power based on system dynamics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhao, Weibo; Han, Yaru; Niu, Dongxiao

2018-04-01

The scale of renewable power generation, such as wind power, has increased gradually in recent years. Considering that the economic benefits of wind farms are affected by many dynamic factors. The dynamic simulation model of wind power economic benefit system is established based on the system dynamics method. By comparing the economic benefits of wind farms under different setting scenarios through this model, the impact of different factors on the economic benefits of wind farms can be reflected.

Whole-farm models to quantify greenhouse gas emissions and their potential use for linking climate change mitigation and adaptation in temperate grassland ruminant-based farming systems.

PubMed

Del Prado, A; Crosson, P; Olesen, J E; Rotz, C A

2013-06-01

The farm level is the most appropriate scale for evaluating options for mitigating greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, because the farm represents the unit at which management decisions in livestock production are made. To date, a number of whole farm modelling approaches have been developed to quantify GHG emissions and explore climate change mitigation strategies for livestock systems. This paper analyses the limitations and strengths of the different existing approaches for modelling GHG mitigation by considering basic model structures, approaches for simulating GHG emissions from various farm components and the sensitivity of GHG outputs and mitigation measures to different approaches. Potential challenges for linking existing models with the simulation of impacts and adaptation measures under climate change are explored along with a brief discussion of the effects on other ecosystem services.

Poultry farm hygiene: microbiological quality assessment of drinking water used in layer chickens managed under the battery cage and deep litter systems at three poultry farms in southwestern Nigeria.

PubMed

Folorunso, O R; Kayode, Sule; Onibon, V O

2014-01-01

Water troughs from deep litter and caged chicken water troughs (drinkers) fixed to each of the different 3-tier cages containing layer chickens in Farms A, B and C were subjected to a 7-day study which involved the monitoring of poultry farm hygiene. Drinkers were washed before filling with water on Day 1. For Days 3, 5 and 7 water was served without prior washing. The occurrence and characterization of the bacteria isolates were investigated and data obtained were analyzed and compared. For the bacterial count on Day 1, for layer chickens on cage system, no significant differences (p > 0.05) among the farms and between the farms tier interactions. On Day 3, no significant difference (p > 0.05) among the parameters. On Day 5, there was significant difference (p<0.05) among the farms and on Day 7, there was high significant difference (p < 0.01) among the farms. On Days 5 and 7, there were no significant differences (p>0.05) among the tiers nor between the interactions of the farms and tiers. The bacterial count in water troughs of layer chickens in deep litter system, on Day 1, had no significant differences (p > 0.05) between the farms, water troughs and their interactions. On Day 3, no significant difference (p > 0.05) among the parameters. On Days 5 and 7, there were significant difference (p<0.05) and a high significant difference (p < 0.01) between the farms respectively. On Days 5 and 7, no significant differences between the water troughs and between the interaction of the farms and the water troughs. Farm A isolates contained Staphylococcus aureus, Proteus vulgaris, Streptococcus faecalis, Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus epidermis, Klebsiella sp., Salmonella sp., Bacillus subtilis, Lactobacillus salivarius and Corynebacterium sp. Farm B had Staphylococcus aureus, S. epidermis, Bacillus subtilis, Corynebacterium sp., Escherichia coli, Streptococcus faecalis and Klebsiella sp. while for Farm C, apart from the prevalent bacteria isolates obtained in Farms A and B, additional 2 bacterial isolates, Lactobacillus salivarius and Pseudomonas aeuriginosa were found. In conclusion, water troughs when cleaned on daily basis carry minimum bacterial load. Those left for 3, 5 and 7 days uncleaned had progressively high bacterial loads, suggesting that the flock of birds and the consumers of the eggs and meat from the chickens are at risk of bacterial infection unless strict farm hygiene is ensured through regular monitoring.

Risk assessment of pesticides used in rice-prawn concurrent systems in Bangladesh.

PubMed

Sumon, Kizar Ahmed; Rico, Andreu; Ter Horst, Mechteld M S; Van den Brink, Paul J; Haque, Mohammad Mahfujul; Rashid, Harunur

2016-10-15

The objectives of the current study were to determine the occupational health hazards posed by the application of pesticides in rice-prawn concurrent systems of south-west Bangladesh and to assess their potential risks for the aquatic ecosystems that support the culture of freshwater prawns (Macrobrachium rosenbergii). Information on pesticide use in rice-prawn farming was collected through structured interviews with 38 farm owners held between January and May of 2012. The risks of the pesticide use to human health were assessed through structured interviews. The TOXSWA model was used to calculate pesticide exposure (peak and time-weighted average concentrations) in surface waters of rice-prawn systems for different spray drift scenarios and a simple first tier risk assessment based on threshold concentrations derived from single species toxicity tests were used to assess the ecological risk in the form of risk quotients. The PERPEST model was used to refine the ecological risks when the first tier assessment indicated a possible risk. Eleven synthetic insecticides and one fungicide (sulphur) were recorded as part of this investigation. The most commonly reported pesticide was sulphur (used by 29% of the interviewed farmers), followed by thiamethoxam, chlorantraniliprole, and phenthoate (21%). A large portion of the interviewed farmers described negative health symptoms after pesticide applications, including vomiting (51%), headache (18%) and eye irritation (12%). The results of the first tier risk assessment indicated that chlorpyrifos, cypermethrin, alpha-cypermethrin, and malathion may pose a high to moderate acute and chronic risks for invertebrates and fish in all evaluated spray drift scenarios. The higher tier assessment using the PERPEST model confirmed the high risk of cypermethrin, alpha-cypermethrin, and chlorpyrifos for insects and macro- and micro-crustaceans thus indicating that these pesticides may have severe adverse consequences for the prawn production yields. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Soil erosion measurements under organic and conventional land use treatments and different tillage systems using micro-scale runoff plots and a portable rainfall simulator

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Seitz, Steffen; Goebes, Philipp; Song, Zhengshan; Wittwer, Raphaël; van der Heijden, Marcel; Scholten, Thomas

2015-04-01

Soil erosion is a major environmental problem of our time and negatively affects soil organic matter (SOM), aggregate stability or nutrient availability for instance. It is well known that agricultural practices have a severe influence on soil erosion by water. Several long-term field trials show that the use of low input strategies (e.g. organic farming) instead of conventional high-input farming systems leads to considerable changes of soil characteristics. Organic farming relies on crop rotation, absence of agrochemicals, green manure and weed control without herbicides. As a consequence, SOM content in the top soil layer is usually higher than on arable land under conventional use. Furthermore, the soil surface is better protected against particle detachment and overland flow due to a continuous vegetation cover and a well-developed root system increases soil stability. Likewise, tillage itself can cause soil erosion on arable land. In this respect, conservation and reduced tillage systems like No-Till or Ridge-Till provide a protecting cover from the previous year's residue and reduce soil disturbance. Many studies have been carried out on the effect of farming practices on soil erosion, but with contrasting results. To our knowledge, most of those studies rely on soil erosion models to calculate soil erosion rates and replicated experimental field measurement designs are rarely used. In this study, we performed direct field assessment on a farming system trial in Rümlang, Switzerland (FAST: Farming System and Tillage experiment Agroscope) to investigate the effect of organic farming practises and tillage systems on soil erosion. A portable single nozzle rainfall simulator and a light weight tent have been used with micro-scale runoff plots (0.4 m x 0.4 m). Four treatments (Conventional/Tillage, Conventional/No-Tillage, Organic/Tillage, Organic/Reduced-tillage) have been sampled with 8 replications each for a total of 32 runoff plots. All plots have been distributed randomly within the treatments. Linear mixed effect modelling was used to examine the effects of the treatments on sediment discharge and surface runoff. Results were compared with recent findings from erosion models and laboratory studies. Results show that sediment discharge is significantly higher (59 %, p=0.018) on conventional treatments (31.8 g/m2/h) than on organic treatments (20.0 g/m2/h). This finding supports results from several studies, which found soil erosion rates from 18 % to 184 % higher on conventional than on organic treatments. Under both farming systems, ploughed treatments show higher sediment discharge (conventional farming: 104 %, organic farming: 133 %, p=0.004) than treatments with reduced or no tillage. Runoff volume did not show significant effects in our treatments. An interaction between the farming practice and the tillage system could not be found, which strengthens the importance of both. With the help of a well-replicated micro-scale runoff plot design and a portable rainfall simulator we were able to gather reliable soil erosion data in situ in short term and without external parameterization. Our field assessment shows that organic farming and reduced tillage practices protect agricultural land best against soil erosion.

Supporting local farming communities and crop production resilience to climate change through giant reed (Arundo donax L.) cultivation: An Italian case study.

PubMed

Bonfante, A; Impagliazzo, A; Fiorentino, N; Langella, G; Mori, M; Fagnano, M

2017-12-01

Bioenergy crops are well known for their ability to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and increase the soil carbon stock. Although such crops are often held to be in competition with food crops and thus raise the question of current and future food security, at the same time mitigation measures are required to tackle climate change and sustain local farming communities and crop production. However, in some cases the actions envisaged for specific pedo-climatic conditions are not always economically sustainable by farmers. In this frame, energy crops with high environmental adaptability and yields, such as giant reed (Arundo donax L.), may represent an opportunity to improve farm incomes, making marginal areas not suitable for food production once again productive. In so doing, three of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of the United Nations would be met, namely SDG 2 on food security and sustainable agriculture, SDG 7 on reliable, sustainable and modern energy, and SDG 13 on action to combat climate change and its impacts. In this work, the response of giant reed in the marginal areas of an agricultural district of southern Italy (Destra Sele) and expected farm incomes under climate change (2021-2050) are evaluated. The normalized water productivity index of giant reed was determined (WP; 30.1gm -2 ) by means of a SWAP agro-hydrological model, calibrated and validated on two years of a long-term field experiment. The model was used to estimate giant reed response (biomass yield) in marginal areas under climate change, and economic evaluation was performed to determine expected farm incomes (woodchips and chopped forage). The results show that woodchip production represents the most profitable option for farmers, yielding a gross margin 50% lower than ordinary high-input maize cultivation across the study area. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Final Report DE-EE0005380: Assessment of Offshore Wind Farm Effects on Sea Surface, Subsurface and Airborne Electronic Systems

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Ling, Hao; Hamilton, Mark F.; Bhalla, Rajan

2013-09-30

Offshore wind energy is a valuable resource that can provide a significant boost to the US renewable energy portfolio. A current constraint to the development of offshore wind farms is the potential for interference to be caused by large wind farms on existing electronic and acoustical equipment such as radar and sonar systems for surveillance, navigation and communications. The US Department of Energy funded this study as an objective assessment of possible interference to various types of equipment operating in the marine environment where offshore wind farms could be installed. The objective of this project was to conduct a baselinemore » evaluation of electromagnetic and acoustical challenges to sea surface, subsurface and airborne electronic systems presented by offshore wind farms. To accomplish this goal, the following tasks were carried out: (1) survey electronic systems that can potentially be impacted by large offshore wind farms, and identify impact assessment studies and research and development activities both within and outside the US, (2) engage key stakeholders to identify their possible concerns and operating requirements, (3) conduct first-principle modeling on the interactions of electromagnetic signals with, and the radiation of underwater acoustic signals from, offshore wind farms to evaluate the effect of such interactions on electronic systems, and (4) provide impact assessments, recommend mitigation methods, prioritize future research directions, and disseminate project findings. This report provides a detailed description of the methodologies used to carry out the study, key findings of the study, and a list of recommendations derived based the findings.« less

The BaBar Data Reconstruction Control System

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Ceseracciu, A

2005-04-20

The BaBar experiment is characterized by extremely high luminosity and very large volume of data produced and stored, with increasing computing requirements each year. To fulfill these requirements a Control System has been designed and developed for the offline distributed data reconstruction system. The control system described in this paper provides the performance and flexibility needed to manage a large number of small computing farms, and takes full benefit of OO design. The infrastructure is well isolated from the processing layer, it is generic and flexible, based on a light framework providing message passing and cooperative multitasking. The system ismore » distributed in a hierarchical way: the top-level system is organized in farms, farms in services, and services in subservices or code modules. It provides a powerful Finite State Machine framework to describe custom processing models in a simple regular language. This paper describes the design and evolution of this control system, currently in use at SLAC and Padova on {approx}450 CPUs organized in 9 farms.« less

The BaBar Data Reconstruction Control System

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ceseracciu, A.; Piemontese, M.; Tehrani, F. S.; Pulliam, T. M.; Galeazzi, F.

2005-08-01

The BaBar experiment is characterized by extremely high luminosity and very large volume of data produced and stored, with increasing computing requirements each year. To fulfill these requirements a control system has been designed and developed for the offline distributed data reconstruction system. The control system described in this paper provides the performance and flexibility needed to manage a large number of small computing farms, and takes full benefit of object oriented (OO) design. The infrastructure is well isolated from the processing layer, it is generic and flexible, based on a light framework providing message passing and cooperative multitasking. The system is distributed in a hierarchical way: the top-level system is organized in farms, farms in services, and services in subservices or code modules. It provides a powerful finite state machine framework to describe custom processing models in a simple regular language. This paper describes the design and evolution of this control system, currently in use at SLAC and Padova on /spl sim/450 CPUs organized in nine farms.

Environmental and economic comparisons of manure application methods in farming systems.

PubMed

Rotz, C A; Kleinman, P J A; Dell, C J; Veith, T L; Beegle, D B

2011-01-01

Alternative methods for applying livestock manure to no-till soils involve environmental and economic trade-offs. A process-level farm simulation model (Integrated Farm System Model) was used to evaluate methods for applying liquid dairy (Bos taurus L.) and swine (Sus scrofa L.) manure, including no application, broadcast spreading with and without incorporation by tillage, band application with soil aeration, and shallow disk injection. The model predicted ammonia emissions, nitrate leaching, and phosphorus (P) runoff losses similar to those measured over 4 yr of field trials. Each application method was simulated over 25 yr of weather on three Pennsylvania farms. On a swine and cow-calf beef operation under grass production, shallow disk injection increased profit by $340 yr(-1) while reducing ammonia nitrogen and soluble P losses by 48 and 70%, respectively. On a corn (Zea mays L.)-and-grass-based grazing dairy farm, shallow disk injection reduced ammonia loss by 21% and soluble P loss by 76% with little impact on farm profit. Incorporation by tillage and band application with aeration provided less environmental benefit with a net decrease in farm profit. On a large corn-and-alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.)-based dairy farm where manure nutrients were available in excess of crop needs, incorporation methods were not economically beneficial, but they provided environmental benefits with relatively low annual net costs ($13 to $18 cow). In all farming systems, shallow disk injection provided the greatest environmental benefit at the least cost or greatest profit for the producer. With these results, producers are better informed when selecting manure application equipment.

12 CFR 619.9135 - Direct lender.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-01-01

... and Banking FARM CREDIT ADMINISTRATION FARM CREDIT SYSTEM DEFINITIONS § 619.9135 Direct lender. The term direct lender refers to Farm Credit banks and associations (production credit associations, agricultural credit associations, and Federal land credit associations) authorized to lend to eligible...

Molecular diversity of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi in onion roots from organic and conventional farming systems in the Netherlands.

PubMed

Galván, Guillermo A; Parádi, István; Burger, Karin; Baar, Jacqueline; Kuyper, Thomas W; Scholten, Olga E; Kik, Chris

2009-06-01

Diversity and colonization levels of naturally occurring arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) in onion roots were studied to compare organic and conventional farming systems in the Netherlands. In 2004, 20 onion fields were sampled in a balanced survey between farming systems and between two regions, namely, Zeeland and Flevoland. In 2005, nine conventional and ten organic fields were additionally surveyed in Flevoland. AMF phylotypes were identified by rDNA sequencing. All plants were colonized, with 60% for arbuscular colonization and 84% for hyphal colonization as grand means. In Zeeland, onion roots from organic fields had higher fractional colonization levels than those from conventional fields. Onion yields in conventional farming were positively correlated with colonization level. Overall, 14 AMF phylotypes were identified. The number of phylotypes per field ranged from one to six. Two phylotypes associated with the Glomus mosseae-coronatum and the G. caledonium-geosporum species complexes were the most abundant, whereas other phylotypes were infrequently found. Organic and conventional farming systems had similar number of phylotypes per field and Shannon diversity indices. A few organic and conventional fields had larger number of phylotypes, including phylotypes associated with the genera Glomus-B, Archaeospora, and Paraglomus. This suggests that farming systems as such did not influence AMF diversity, but rather specific environmental conditions or agricultural practices.

Farm-level economics of innovative tillage technologies: the case of no-till in the Altai Krai in Russian Siberia.

PubMed

Bavorova, Miroslava; Imamverdiyev, Nizami; Ponkina, Elena

2018-01-01

In the agricultural Altai Krai in Russian Siberia, soil degradation problems are prevalent. Agronomists recommend "reduced tillage systems," especially no-till, as a sustainable way to cultivate land that is threatened by soil degradation. In the Altai Krai, less is known about the technologies in practice. In this paper, we provide information on plant cultivation technologies used in the Altai Krai and on selected factors preventing farm managers in this region from adopting no-till technology based on our own quantitative survey conducted across 107 farms in 2015 and 2016. The results of the quantitative survey show that farm managers have high uncertainty regarding the use of no-till technology including its economics. To close this gap, we provide systematic analysis of factors influencing the economy of the plant production systems by using a farm optimization model (linear programming) for a real farm, together with expert estimations. The farm-specific results of the optimization model show that under optimal management and climatic conditions, the expert Modern Canadian no-till technology outperforms the farm min-till technology, but this is not the case for suboptimal conditions with lower yields.

12 CFR 615.5000 - General responsibilities.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-01-01

....5000 Banks and Banking FARM CREDIT ADMINISTRATION FARM CREDIT SYSTEM FUNDING AND FISCAL AFFAIRS, LOAN POLICIES AND OPERATIONS, AND FUNDING OPERATIONS Funding § 615.5000 General responsibilities. (a) The System... System's funding operations have a significant impact upon the investment community, the general public...

Intrinsic and extrinsic factors related to pathogen infection in wild small mammals in intensive milk cattle and swine production systems.

PubMed

Lovera, Rosario; Fernández, María Soledad; Jacob, Jens; Lucero, Nidia; Morici, Gabriel; Brihuega, Bibiana; Farace, María Isabel; Caracostantogolo, Jorge; Cavia, Regino

2017-06-01

Understanding the ecological processes that are involved in the transmission of zoonotic pathogens by small mammals may aid adequate and effective management measures. Few attempts have been made to analyze the ecological aspects that influence pathogen infection in small mammals in livestock production systems. We describe the infection of small mammals with Leptospira spp., Brucella spp., Trichinella spp. and Cysticercus fasciolaris and assess the related intrinsic and extrinsic factors in livestock production systems in central Argentina at the small mammal community, population and individual levels. Ten pig farms and eight dairy farms were studied by removal trapping of small mammals from 2008 to 2011. Each farm was sampled seasonally over the course of one year with cage and Sherman live traps. The 505 small mammals captured (14,359 trap-nights) included three introduced murine rodents, four native rodents and two opossums. Leptospira spp., anti-Brucella spp. antibodies and Trichinella spp. were found in the three murine rodents and both opossums. Rattus norvegicus was also infected with C. fasciolaris; Akodon azarae and Oligoryzomys flavescens with Leptospira spp.; anti-Brucella spp. antibodies were found in A. azarae. Two or more pathogens occurred simultaneously on 89% of the farms, and each pathogen was found on at least 50% of the farms. Pathogen infections increased with host abundance. Infection by Leptospira spp. also increased with precipitation and during warm seasons. The occurrence of anti-Brucella spp. antibodies was higher on dairy farms and during the winter and summer. The host abundances limit values, from which farms are expected to be free of the studied pathogens, are reported. Murine rodents maintain pathogens within farms, whereas other native species are likely dispersing pathogens among farms. Hence, we recommend preventing and controlling murines in farm dwellings and isolating farms from their surroundings to avoid contact with other wild mammals.

Intrinsic and extrinsic factors related to pathogen infection in wild small mammals in intensive milk cattle and swine production systems

PubMed Central

Lovera, Rosario; Fernández, María Soledad; Jacob, Jens; Caracostantogolo, Jorge

2017-01-01

Background Understanding the ecological processes that are involved in the transmission of zoonotic pathogens by small mammals may aid adequate and effective management measures. Few attempts have been made to analyze the ecological aspects that influence pathogen infection in small mammals in livestock production systems. We describe the infection of small mammals with Leptospira spp., Brucella spp., Trichinella spp. and Cysticercus fasciolaris and assess the related intrinsic and extrinsic factors in livestock production systems in central Argentina at the small mammal community, population and individual levels. Methodology/Principal findings Ten pig farms and eight dairy farms were studied by removal trapping of small mammals from 2008 to 2011. Each farm was sampled seasonally over the course of one year with cage and Sherman live traps. The 505 small mammals captured (14,359 trap-nights) included three introduced murine rodents, four native rodents and two opossums. Leptospira spp., anti-Brucella spp. antibodies and Trichinella spp. were found in the three murine rodents and both opossums. Rattus norvegicus was also infected with C. fasciolaris; Akodon azarae and Oligoryzomys flavescens with Leptospira spp.; anti-Brucella spp. antibodies were found in A. azarae. Two or more pathogens occurred simultaneously on 89% of the farms, and each pathogen was found on at least 50% of the farms. Pathogen infections increased with host abundance. Infection by Leptospira spp. also increased with precipitation and during warm seasons. The occurrence of anti-Brucella spp. antibodies was higher on dairy farms and during the winter and summer. The host abundances limit values, from which farms are expected to be free of the studied pathogens, are reported. Conclusions/Significance Murine rodents maintain pathogens within farms, whereas other native species are likely dispersing pathogens among farms. Hence, we recommend preventing and controlling murines in farm dwellings and isolating farms from their surroundings to avoid contact with other wild mammals. PMID:28665952

Life cycle assessment of Chinese shrimp farming systems targeted for export and domestic sales.

PubMed

Cao, Ling; Diana, James S; Keoleian, Gregory A; Lai, Qiuming

2011-08-01

We conducted surveys of six hatcheries and 18 farms for data inputs to complete a cradle-to-farm-gate life cycle assessment (LCA) to evaluate the environmental performance for intensive (for export markets in Chicago) and semi-intensive (for domestic markets in Shanghai) shrimp farming systems in Hainan Province, China. The relative contribution to overall environmental performance of processing and distribution to final markets were also evaluated from a cradle-to-destination-port perspective. Environmental impact categories included global warming, acidification, eutrophication, cumulative energy use, and biotic resource use. Our results indicated that intensive farming had significantly higher environmental impacts per unit production than semi-intensive farming in all impact categories. The grow-out stage contributed between 96.4% and 99.6% of the cradle-to-farm-gate impacts. These impacts were mainly caused by feed production, electricity use, and farm-level effluents. By averaging over intensive (15%) and semi-intensive (85%) farming systems, 1 metric ton (t) live-weight of shrimp production in China required 38.3 ± 4.3 GJ of energy, as well as 40.4 ± 1.7 t of net primary productivity, and generated 23.1 ± 2.6 kg of SO(2) equiv, 36.9 ± 4.3 kg of PO(4) equiv, and 3.1 ± 0.4 t of CO(2) equiv. Processing made a higher contribution to cradle-to-destination-port impacts than distribution of processed shrimp from farm gate to final markets in both supply chains. In 2008, the estimated total electricity consumption, energy consumption, and greenhouse gas emissions from Chinese white-leg shrimp production would be 1.1 billion kW·h, 49 million GJ, and 4 million metric tons, respectively. Improvements suggested for Chinese shrimp aquaculture include changes in feed composition, farm management, electricity-generating sources, and effluent treatment before discharge. Our results can be used to optimize market-oriented shrimp supply chains and promote more sustainable shrimp production and consumption.

[Energy flow characteristics of the compound agriculture-fruit farming system in Xipo Village, Shaanxi, Northwest China].

PubMed

Wu, Fa-Qi; Zhu, Li; Wang, Hong-Hong

2014-01-01

Taking the crop-fruit farming system in Xipo Village in Chunhua, Shaanxi Province as a case, the energy flow path, input and output structure, and the indices of energy cycle for the agriculture, fruit, stockbreeding and human subsystems were compared between 2008 and 2010. Results showed that during the study period the total investment to the agriculture-fruit farming system (CAF) decreased by 1.6%, while the total output increased by 56.7%, which led to a 59.4% increase of the output/input ratio. Energy output/input ratio of the agriculture, fruit, stockbreeding, human subsystems increased by 36.6%, 21.0%, 10.0% and 3.8%, respectively. The Xipo Village still needed to stabilize the agriculture, develop stockbreeding and strengthen fruit to upgrade the compound agriculture-fruit farming system.

Review: Milking robot utilization, a successful precision livestock farming evolution.

PubMed

John, A J; Clark, C E F; Freeman, M J; Kerrisk, K L; Garcia, S C; Halachmi, I

2016-09-01

Automatic milking systems (AMS), one of the earliest precision livestock farming developments, have revolutionized dairy farming around the world. While robots control the milking process, there have also been numerous changes to how the whole farm system is managed. Milking is no longer performed in defined sessions; rather, the cow can now choose when to be milked in AMS, allowing milking to be distributed throughout a 24 h period. Despite this ability, there has been little attention given to milking robot utilization across 24 h. In order to formulate relevant research questions and improve farm AMS management there is a need to determine the current knowledge gaps regarding the distribution of robot utilization. Feed, animal and management factors and their interplay on levels of milking robot utilization across 24 h for both indoor and pasture-based systems are here reviewed. The impact of the timing, type and quantity of feed offered and their interaction with the distance of feed from the parlour; herd social dynamics, climate and various other management factors on robot utilization through 24 h are provided. This novel review draws together both the opportunities and challenges that exist for farm management to use these factors to improved system efficiency and those that exist for further research.

Assessment of Primary Production of Horticultural Safety Management Systems of Mushroom Farms in South Africa.

PubMed

Dzingirayi, Garikayi; Korsten, Lise

2016-07-01

Growing global consumer concern over food safety in the fresh produce industry requires producers to implement necessary quality assurance systems. Varying effectiveness has been noted in how countries and food companies interpret and implement food safety standards. A diagnostic instrument (DI) for global fresh produce industries was developed to measure the compliancy of companies with implemented food safety standards. The DI is made up of indicators and descriptive grids for context factors and control and assurance activities to measure food safety output. The instrument can be used in primary production to assess food safety performance. This study applied the DI to measure food safety standard compliancy of mushroom farming in South Africa. Ten farms representing almost half of the industry farms and more than 80% of production were independently assessed for their horticultural safety management system (HSMS) compliance via in-depth interviews with each farm's quality assurance personnel. The data were processed using Microsoft Office Excel 2010 and are represented in frequency tables. The diagnosis revealed that the mushroom farming industry had an average food safety output. The farms were implementing an average-toadvanced HSMS and operating in a medium-risk context. Insufficient performance areas in HSMSs included inadequate hazard analysis and analysis of control points, low specificity of pesticide assessment, and inadequate control of suppliers and incoming materials. Recommendations to the industry and current shortcomings are suggested for realization of an improved industry-wide food safety assurance system.

Integrated farming: why organic farmers should use transgenic crops.

PubMed

Ammann, Klaus

2008-01-01

The concept of organic farming is summarised and compared as an example to farming with biotechnology-derived crops. If done within an ecological concept, both methods can be seen as environmentally acceptable. Organic farming does not offer consistent arguments for the rejection of transgenic crops. Some arguments (from genomics to biodiversity) are discussed in order to demonstrate that the contrast between both farming systems is rated too high and that it is possible to overcome the divide. In this way the ground is prepared for a proposal on how to merge those otherwise incompatible agricultural management systems, a proposal that also will have to build on a new concept of sustainability. It will be dealt with in the second part of the article in the next issue of New Biotechnology.

Upscaling Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Symbiosis and Related Agroecosystems Services in Smallholder Farming Systems

PubMed Central

Oruru, Marjorie Bonareri; Njeru, Ezekiel Mugendi

2016-01-01

Smallholder farming systems form unique ecosystems that can protect beneficial soil biota and form an important source of useful genetic resources. They are characterized by high level of agricultural diversity mainly focused on meeting farmers' needs. Unfortunately, these systems often experience poor crop production mainly associated with poor planning and resource scarcity. Soil fertility is among the primary challenges faced by smallholder farmers, which necessitate the need to come up with affordable and innovative ways of replenishing soils. One such way is the use of microbial symbionts such as arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF), a beneficial group of soil microbiota that form symbiotic associations with majority of cultivated crops and play a vital role in biological soil fertility, plant nutrition, and protection. AMF can be incorporated in smallholder farming systems to help better exploit chemical fertilizers inputs which are often unaffordable to many smallholder farmers. The present review highlights smallholder farming practices that could be innovatively redesigned to increase AMF symbiosis and related agroecosystem services. Indeed, the future of global food security depends on the success of smallholder farming systems, whose crop productivity depends on the services provided by well-functioning ecosystems, including soil fertility. PMID:26942194

Vacuum Pump System Optimization Saves Energy at a Dairy Farm

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

None

In 1998, S&S Dairy optimized the vacuum pumping system at their dairy farm in Modesto, California. In an effort to reduce energy costs, S&S Dairy evaluated their vacuum pumping system to determine if efficiency gains and energy savings were possible.

Exposure to non‐arsenic pesticides is associated with lymphoma among farmers in Spain

PubMed Central

van Balen, E; Font, R; Cavallé, N; Font, L; Garcia‐Villanueva, M; Benavente, Y; Brennan, P; de Sanjose, S

2006-01-01

Objectives To estimate the risk of lymphoma among farmers in Spain. Methods This is a multicentre case control study conducted in Spain. Cases were subjects diagnosed with lymphoma according to the World Health Organization (WHO) classification in four hospitals between 1998–2002. Hospital controls were frequency matched to the cases by sex, age, and centre. All subjects were interviewed about jobs ever held in lifetime for at least one year and the exposures in those jobs were recorded. The risk of lymphomas among subjects ever having had a job as a farmer was compared with all other occupations. Farmers were analysed according to the type of farming job performed: crop farming, animal farming, and general farming. Occupational exposure was summarised into 15 main categories: organic dust, radiation, contact with animals, PAH, non‐arsenic pesticides (carbamates, organophosphates, chlorinated hydrocarbons, triazines and triazoles, phenoxy herbicides, chlorophenols, dibenzodioxin, and dibenzofuran), arsenic pesticides, contact with meat, contact with children, solvents, asbestos, soldering fumes, organic colourants, polychlorinated biphenyls, ethylene oxide, and hair dyes. Results Although farmers were not at an increased risk of lymphoma as compared with all other occupations, farmers exposed to non‐arsenic pesticides were found to be at increased risk of lymphoma (OR = 1.8, 95% CI 1.1 to 2). This increased risk was observed among farmers working exclusively either as crop farmers or as animal farmers (OR = 2.8, 95% CI 1.3 to 5.8). Risk was highest for exposure to non‐arsenic pesticides for over nine years (OR = 2.4, 95% CI 1.2 to 2.8). Conclusions Long term exposure to non‐arsenic pesticides may induce lymphomagenesis among farmers. PMID:16757510

A novel iterative mixed model to remap three complex orthopedic traits in dogs

PubMed Central

Huang, Meng; Hayward, Jessica J.; Corey, Elizabeth; Garrison, Susan J.; Wagner, Gabriela R.; Krotscheck, Ursula; Hayashi, Kei; Schweitzer, Peter A.; Lust, George; Boyko, Adam R.; Todhunter, Rory J.

2017-01-01

Hip dysplasia (HD), elbow dysplasia (ED), and rupture of the cranial (anterior) cruciate ligament (RCCL) are the most common complex orthopedic traits of dogs and all result in debilitating osteoarthritis. We reanalyzed previously reported data: the Norberg angle (a quantitative measure of HD) in 921 dogs, ED in 113 cases and 633 controls, and RCCL in 271 cases and 399 controls and their genotypes at ~185,000 single nucleotide polymorphisms. A novel fixed and random model with a circulating probability unification (FarmCPU) function, with marker-based principal components and a kinship matrix to correct for population stratification, was used. A Bonferroni correction at p<0.01 resulted in a P< 6.96 ×10−8. Six loci were identified; three for HD and three for RCCL. An associated locus at CFA28:34,369,342 for HD was described previously in the same dogs using a conventional mixed model. No loci were identified for RCCL in the previous report but the two loci for ED in the previous report did not reach genome-wide significance using the FarmCPU model. These results were supported by simulation which demonstrated that the FarmCPU held no power advantage over the linear mixed model for the ED sample but provided additional power for the HD and RCCL samples. Candidate genes for HD and RCCL are discussed. When using FarmCPU software, we recommend a resampling test, that a positive control be used to determine the optimum pseudo quantitative trait nucleotide-based covariate structure of the model, and a negative control be used consisting of permutation testing and the identical resampling test as for the non-permuted phenotypes. PMID:28614352

Impact of water allocation strategies to manage groundwater resources in Western Australia: Equity and efficiency considerations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Iftekhar, Md Sayed; Fogarty, James

2017-05-01

In many parts of the world groundwater is being depleting at an alarming rate. Where groundwater extraction is licenced, regulators often respond to resource depletion by reducing all individual licences by a fixed proportion. This approach can be effective in achieving a reduction in the volume of water extracted, but the approach is not efficient. In water resource management the issue of the equity-efficiency trade-off has been explored in a number of contexts, but not in the context of allocation from a groundwater system. To contribute to this knowledge gap we conduct an empirical case study for Western Australia's most important groundwater system: the Gnangara Groundwater System (GGS). Resource depletion is a serious issue for the GGS, and substantial reductions in groundwater extraction are required to stabilise the system. Using an individual-based farm optimization model we study both the overall impact and the distributional impact of a fixed percentage water allocation cut to horticulture sector licence holders. The model is parameterised using water licence specific data on farm area and water allocation. The modelling shows that much of the impact of water allocation reductions can be mitigated through changing the cropping mix and the irrigation technology used. The modelling also shows that the scope for gains through the aggregation of holdings into larger farms is much greater than the potential losses due to water allocation reductions. The impact of water allocation cuts is also shown to impact large farms more than small farms. For example, the expected loss in net revenue per ha for a 10-ha farm is around three times the expected loss per ha for a 1-ha farm; and the expected loss per ha for a 25-ha farm is around five times the expected loss per ha for a 1-ha farm.

Data Farming in Support of NATO

DTIC Science & Technology

2014-03-01

What are your national/international experiences on data farming ? • Finland : Technology forecasting, indirect fire studies (19,000 different...from the military bringing their questions to the data farming community. • Which simulation systems have been used in the past? • Finland : SANDIS...sponsors. • Do you have standardized procedures to conduct a data farming experiment? • Finland : No standard procedure (ad hoc at the moment, still

Using a whole farm model to determine the impacts of mating management on the profitability of pasture-based dairy farms.

PubMed

Beukes, P C; Burke, C R; Levy, G; Tiddy, R M

2010-08-01

An approach to assessing likely impacts of altering reproductive performance on productivity and profitability in pasture-based dairy farms is described. The basis is the development of a whole farm model (WFM) that simulates the entire farm system and holistically links multiple physical performance factors to profitability. The WFM consists of a framework that links a mechanistic cow model, a pasture model, a crop model, management policies and climate. It simulates individual cows and paddocks, and runs on a day time-step. The WFM was upgraded to include reproductive modeling capability using reference tables and empirical equations describing published relationships between cow factors, physiology and mating management. It predicts reproductive status at any time point for individual cows within a modeled herd. The performance of six commercial pasture-based dairy farms was simulated for the period of 12 months beginning 1 June 2005 (05/06 year) to evaluate the accuracy of the model by comparison with actual outcomes. The model predicted most key performance indicators within an acceptable range of error (residual<10% of observed). The evaluated WFM was then used for the six farms to estimate the profitability of changes in farm "set-up" (farm conditions at the start of the farming year on 1 June) and mating management from 05/06 to 06/07 year. Among the six farms simulated, the 4-week calving rate emerged as an important set-up factor influencing profitability, while reproductive performance during natural bull mating was identified as an area with the greatest opportunity for improvement. The WFM presents utility to explore alternative management strategies to predict likely outcomes to proposed changes to a pasture-based farm system. Copyright (c) 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

12 CFR 611.1124 - Territorial adjustments.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-01-01

....1124 Banks and Banking FARM CREDIT ADMINISTRATION FARM CREDIT SYSTEM ORGANIZATION Mergers... apply to any request submitted to the Farm Credit Administration to modify association charters for the... date of the territory transfer to inform the transferor association of their decision to remain with...

The Challenge of Research on Farm Women.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Elbert, Sarah

1981-01-01

Researchers studying farm women must ask if successful integration of family and farm systems in the late 20th century involves feminism and, if so, what form of feminism. Available from: Rural Sociological Society, 325 Morgan Hall, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN 37916. (NEC)

Studies of Sub-Synchronous Oscillations in Large-Scale Wind Farm Integrated System

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yue, Liu; Hang, Mend

2018-01-01

With the rapid development and construction of large-scale wind farms and grid-connected operation, the series compensation wind power AC transmission is gradually becoming the main way of power usage and improvement of wind power availability and grid stability, but the integration of wind farm will change the SSO (Sub-Synchronous oscillation) damping characteristics of synchronous generator system. Regarding the above SSO problem caused by integration of large-scale wind farms, this paper focusing on doubly fed induction generator (DFIG) based wind farms, aim to summarize the SSO mechanism in large-scale wind power integrated system with series compensation, which can be classified as three types: sub-synchronous control interaction (SSCI), sub-synchronous torsional interaction (SSTI), sub-synchronous resonance (SSR). Then, SSO modelling and analysis methods are categorized and compared by its applicable areas. Furthermore, this paper summarizes the suppression measures of actual SSO projects based on different control objectives. Finally, the research prospect on this field is explored.

Estimation of matal balances a tool for improving of management in a farm from polluted area Copsa Mica

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Olimpia Vrinceanu, Nicoleta; Simota, Catalin; Motelica, Dumitru-Marian; Dumitru, Mihail; Ignat, Petru; Vrinceanu, Andrei; Mircea Rotaru, Lucian

2015-04-01

Long-term accumulation of heavy metals in arable ecosystems from Copsa Mica area negatively affecting soil fertility and product quality. A sustainable heavy metal management in these agro-ecosystems allows to ensure that the soils continues to fulfill its functions and to provide its ecosystem services (especially supporting and provisioning services). An analysis of the input and output flows of heavy metals in agro-ecosystems and of their resulting accumulation is necessary to define strategies that ensure sustainable management of these metals in agricultural systems. The aim of this study was to calculate the farm-gate and barn balances for the heavy metals (Cd, Pb and Zn) using the data from a farm located in polluted area Copşa Mică. For all heavy metals (Cd, Pb and Zn) farm-gate balances are negative; the export of metal in the farm was done mainly through the manure. The barn balance for cadmium was positive, indicating an accumulation of metal in the system. Inputs of cadmium in the system were estimated at 163.67 g Cd / year and losses of cadmium from the system were made mainly through manure (77.22g Cd / year). Both lead and zinc barn-gate balances are negative. Also externalization of lead and zinc in the system was achieved by manure (969 g Pb / year and 2390 g Zn / year). Monitoring metal balances at different scales (farm-gate, barn) proved to a successful way to identifying farm management issues not revealed by determining metal balances at the farm-gate alone. The main finding was that the substantial amounts of cadmium, lead and zinc were released from internal sources, mainly through fodder obtained from their own land (some plots are located in polluted area). The manure is the main contributor to outflows both for heavy metals. Using this manure as organic fertilizer could lead to accumulation of cadmium in soil with major risk on soil fertility and crop quality.

A bovine botulism outbreak associated with a suspected cross-contamination from a poultry farm.

PubMed

Souillard, R; Le Maréchal, C; Ballan, V; Mahé, F; Chemaly, M; Le Bouquin, S

2017-09-01

In October 2014, an outbreak of botulism type D/C occurred on two cattle farms in close proximity. A poultry farm located nearby with no history of botulism had transferred poultry manure to both bovine farms before the beginning of the outbreak. Given this context, epidemiological investigation was conducted to determine if the poultry farm was a reservoir of C. botulinum type D/C and to identify the source of contamination on the cattle farms. Environmental samples were collected at three houses on the poultry farm (boot swabs from the surroundings, swabs from the ventilation system, boot swabs from the poultry litter and darkling beetles samples), and on the two cattle farms (silage samples, boot swabs from the cattle stalls, boot swabs from the cattle pasture and poultry manure samples). These samples were analyzed using real-time PCR after an enrichment step to detect C. botulinum type D/C. On the poultry farm, three boot swabs from the surroundings, two swabs from the ventilation system, one boot swab from the litter and one sample of darkling beetles were detected positive. On one cattle farm, C. botulinum type D/C was identified in a sample of silage made from grass grown on a field on which the poultry manure had previously been stored and in a boot swab from a pasture. On the other cattle farm, C. botulinum type D/C was detected in a sample of poultry manure stored on the cattle farm and in a boot swab from a pasture. This investigation shows that the healthy poultry farm might have been the reservoir of C. botulinum type D/C and that cross-contamination between poultry and cattle likely occurred, resulting in the botulism outbreak on the two cattle farms. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Metabolite profiling on wheat grain to enable a distinction of samples from organic and conventional farming systems.

PubMed

Bonte, Anja; Neuweger, Heiko; Goesmann, Alexander; Thonar, Cécile; Mäder, Paul; Langenkämper, Georg; Niehaus, Karsten

2014-10-01

Identification of biomarkers capable of distinguishing organic and conventional products would be highly welcome to improve the strength of food quality assurance. Metabolite profiling was used for biomarker search in organic and conventional wheat grain (Triticum aestivum L.) of 11 different old and new bread wheat cultivars grown in the DOK system comparison trial. Metabolites were extracted using methanol and analysed by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. Altogether 48 metabolites and 245 non-identified metabolites (TAGs) were detected in the cultivar Runal. Principal component analysis showed a sample clustering according to farming systems and significant differences in peak areas between the farming systems for 10 Runal metabolites. Results obtained from all 11 cultivars indicated a greater influence of the cultivar than the farming system on metabolite concentrations. Nevertheless, a t-test on data of all cultivars still detected 5 metabolites and 11 TAGs with significant differences between the farming systems. Based on individual cultivars, metabolite profiling showed promising results for the categorization of organic and conventional wheat. Further investigations are necessary with wheat from more growing seasons and locations before definite conclusions can be drawn concerning the feasibility to evolve a combined set of biomarkers for organically grown wheat using metabolite profiles. © 2014 Society of Chemical Industry.

A global synthesis of the effects of diversified farming systems on arthropod diversity within fields and across agricultural landscapes.

PubMed

Lichtenberg, Elinor M; Kennedy, Christina M; Kremen, Claire; Batáry, Péter; Berendse, Frank; Bommarco, Riccardo; Bosque-Pérez, Nilsa A; Carvalheiro, Luísa G; Snyder, William E; Williams, Neal M; Winfree, Rachael; Klatt, Björn K; Åström, Sandra; Benjamin, Faye; Brittain, Claire; Chaplin-Kramer, Rebecca; Clough, Yann; Danforth, Bryan; Diekötter, Tim; Eigenbrode, Sanford D; Ekroos, Johan; Elle, Elizabeth; Freitas, Breno M; Fukuda, Yuki; Gaines-Day, Hannah R; Grab, Heather; Gratton, Claudio; Holzschuh, Andrea; Isaacs, Rufus; Isaia, Marco; Jha, Shalene; Jonason, Dennis; Jones, Vincent P; Klein, Alexandra-Maria; Krauss, Jochen; Letourneau, Deborah K; Macfadyen, Sarina; Mallinger, Rachel E; Martin, Emily A; Martinez, Eliana; Memmott, Jane; Morandin, Lora; Neame, Lisa; Otieno, Mark; Park, Mia G; Pfiffner, Lukas; Pocock, Michael J O; Ponce, Carlos; Potts, Simon G; Poveda, Katja; Ramos, Mariangie; Rosenheim, Jay A; Rundlöf, Maj; Sardiñas, Hillary; Saunders, Manu E; Schon, Nicole L; Sciligo, Amber R; Sidhu, C Sheena; Steffan-Dewenter, Ingolf; Tscharntke, Teja; Veselý, Milan; Weisser, Wolfgang W; Wilson, Julianna K; Crowder, David W

2017-11-01

Agricultural intensification is a leading cause of global biodiversity loss, which can reduce the provisioning of ecosystem services in managed ecosystems. Organic farming and plant diversification are farm management schemes that may mitigate potential ecological harm by increasing species richness and boosting related ecosystem services to agroecosystems. What remains unclear is the extent to which farm management schemes affect biodiversity components other than species richness, and whether impacts differ across spatial scales and landscape contexts. Using a global metadataset, we quantified the effects of organic farming and plant diversification on abundance, local diversity (communities within fields), and regional diversity (communities across fields) of arthropod pollinators, predators, herbivores, and detritivores. Both organic farming and higher in-field plant diversity enhanced arthropod abundance, particularly for rare taxa. This resulted in increased richness but decreased evenness. While these responses were stronger at local relative to regional scales, richness and abundance increased at both scales, and richness on farms embedded in complex relative to simple landscapes. Overall, both organic farming and in-field plant diversification exerted the strongest effects on pollinators and predators, suggesting these management schemes can facilitate ecosystem service providers without augmenting herbivore (pest) populations. Our results suggest that organic farming and plant diversification promote diverse arthropod metacommunities that may provide temporal and spatial stability of ecosystem service provisioning. Conserving diverse plant and arthropod communities in farming systems therefore requires sustainable practices that operate both within fields and across landscapes. © 2017 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Soil biota and agriculture production in conventional and organic farming

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Schrama, Maarten; de Haan, Joj; Carvalho, Sabrina; Kroonen, Mark; Verstegen, Harry; Van der Putten, Wim

2015-04-01

Sustainable food production for a growing world population requires a healthy soil that can buffer environmental extremes and minimize its losses. There are currently two views on how to achieve this: by intensifying conventional agriculture or by developing organically based agriculture. It has been established that yields of conventional agriculture can be 20% higher than of organic agriculture. However, high yields of intensified conventional agriculture trade off with loss of soil biodiversity, leaching of nutrients, and other unwanted ecosystem dis-services. One of the key explanations for the loss of nutrients and GHG from intensive agriculture is that it results in high dynamics of nutrient losses, and policy has aimed at reducing temporal variation. However, little is known about how different agricultural practices affect spatial variation, and it is unknown how soil fauna acts this. In this study we compare the spatial and temporal variation of physical, chemical and biological parameters in a long term (13-year) field experiment with two conventional farming systems (low and medium organic matter input) and one organic farming system (high organic matter input) and we evaluate the impact on ecosystem services that these farming systems provide. Soil chemical (N availability, N mineralization, pH) and soil biological parameters (nematode abundance, bacterial and fungal biomass) show considerably higher spatial variation under conventional farming than under organic farming. Higher variation in soil chemical and biological parameters coincides with the presence of 'leaky' spots (high nitrate leaching) in conventional farming systems, which shift unpredictably over the course of one season. Although variation in soil physical factors (soil organic matter, soil aggregation, soil moisture) was similar between treatments, but averages were higher under organic farming, indicating more buffered conditions for nutrient cycling. All these changes coincide with pronounced shifts in soil fauna composition (nematodes, earthworms) and an increase in earthworm activity. Hence, more buffered conditions and shifts in soil fauna composition under organic farming may underlie the observed reduction in spatial variation of soil chemical and biological parameters, which in turn correlates positively with a long-term increase in yield. Our study highlights the need for both policymakers and farmers alike to support spatial stability-increasing farming.

Capturing farm diversity with hypothesis-based typologies: An innovative methodological framework for farming system typology development

PubMed Central

Alvarez, Stéphanie; Timler, Carl J.; Michalscheck, Mirja; Paas, Wim; Descheemaeker, Katrien; Tittonell, Pablo; Andersson, Jens A.; Groot, Jeroen C. J.

2018-01-01

Creating typologies is a way to summarize the large heterogeneity of smallholder farming systems into a few farm types. Various methods exist, commonly using statistical analysis, to create these typologies. We demonstrate that the methodological decisions on data collection, variable selection, data-reduction and clustering techniques can bear a large impact on the typology results. We illustrate the effects of analysing the diversity from different angles, using different typology objectives and different hypotheses, on typology creation by using an example from Zambia’s Eastern Province. Five separate typologies were created with principal component analysis (PCA) and hierarchical clustering analysis (HCA), based on three different expert-informed hypotheses. The greatest overlap between typologies was observed for the larger, wealthier farm types but for the remainder of the farms there were no clear overlaps between typologies. Based on these results, we argue that the typology development should be guided by a hypothesis on the local agriculture features and the drivers and mechanisms of differentiation among farming systems, such as biophysical and socio-economic conditions. That hypothesis is based both on the typology objective and on prior expert knowledge and theories of the farm diversity in the study area. We present a methodological framework that aims to integrate participatory and statistical methods for hypothesis-based typology construction. This is an iterative process whereby the results of the statistical analysis are compared with the reality of the target population as hypothesized by the local experts. Using a well-defined hypothesis and the presented methodological framework, which consolidates the hypothesis through local expert knowledge for the creation of typologies, warrants development of less subjective and more contextualized quantitative farm typologies. PMID:29763422

Capturing farm diversity with hypothesis-based typologies: An innovative methodological framework for farming system typology development.

PubMed

Alvarez, Stéphanie; Timler, Carl J; Michalscheck, Mirja; Paas, Wim; Descheemaeker, Katrien; Tittonell, Pablo; Andersson, Jens A; Groot, Jeroen C J

2018-01-01

Creating typologies is a way to summarize the large heterogeneity of smallholder farming systems into a few farm types. Various methods exist, commonly using statistical analysis, to create these typologies. We demonstrate that the methodological decisions on data collection, variable selection, data-reduction and clustering techniques can bear a large impact on the typology results. We illustrate the effects of analysing the diversity from different angles, using different typology objectives and different hypotheses, on typology creation by using an example from Zambia's Eastern Province. Five separate typologies were created with principal component analysis (PCA) and hierarchical clustering analysis (HCA), based on three different expert-informed hypotheses. The greatest overlap between typologies was observed for the larger, wealthier farm types but for the remainder of the farms there were no clear overlaps between typologies. Based on these results, we argue that the typology development should be guided by a hypothesis on the local agriculture features and the drivers and mechanisms of differentiation among farming systems, such as biophysical and socio-economic conditions. That hypothesis is based both on the typology objective and on prior expert knowledge and theories of the farm diversity in the study area. We present a methodological framework that aims to integrate participatory and statistical methods for hypothesis-based typology construction. This is an iterative process whereby the results of the statistical analysis are compared with the reality of the target population as hypothesized by the local experts. Using a well-defined hypothesis and the presented methodological framework, which consolidates the hypothesis through local expert knowledge for the creation of typologies, warrants development of less subjective and more contextualized quantitative farm typologies.

40 CFR 355.31 - What types of releases are exempt from the emergency release notification requirements of this...

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-07-01

... other than a liquid manure handling system. (12) 30,000 ducks (if the farm uses other than a liquid manure handling system). (13) 5,000 ducks (if the farm uses a liquid manure handling system). (h) Any...

40 CFR 355.31 - What types of releases are exempt from the emergency release notification requirements of this...

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-07-01

... other than a liquid manure handling system. (12) 30,000 ducks (if the farm uses other than a liquid manure handling system). (13) 5,000 ducks (if the farm uses a liquid manure handling system). (h) Any...

40 CFR 355.31 - What types of releases are exempt from the emergency release notification requirements of this...

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-07-01

... other than a liquid manure handling system. (12) 30,000 ducks (if the farm uses other than a liquid manure handling system). (13) 5,000 ducks (if the farm uses a liquid manure handling system). (h) Any...

40 CFR 355.31 - What types of releases are exempt from the emergency release notification requirements of this...

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-07-01

... other than a liquid manure handling system. (12) 30,000 ducks (if the farm uses other than a liquid manure handling system). (13) 5,000 ducks (if the farm uses a liquid manure handling system). (h) Any...

40 CFR 355.31 - What types of releases are exempt from the emergency release notification requirements of this...

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-07-01

... other than a liquid manure handling system. (12) 30,000 ducks (if the farm uses other than a liquid manure handling system). (13) 5,000 ducks (if the farm uses a liquid manure handling system). (h) Any...

Project Design Concept for Monitoring and Control System

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

MCGREW, D.L.

2000-10-02

This Project Design Concept represents operational requirements established for use in design the tank farm Monitoring and Control System. These upgrades are included within the scope of Project W-314, Tank Farm Restoration and Safe Operations.

78 FR 55074 - Farm Credit System Insurance Corporation Board; Regular Meeting

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2013-09-09

... CONTACT: Dale L. Aultman, Secretary to the Farm Credit System Insurance Corporation Board, (703) 883-4009... Progress Review and Setting of Premium Range Guidance for 2014 Dated: September 4, 2013. Dale L. Aultman...

Evaluation of the sustainability of contrasted pig farming systems: economy.

PubMed

Ilari-Antoine, E; Bonneau, M; Klauke, T N; Gonzàlez, J; Dourmad, J Y; De Greef, K; Houwers, H W J; Fabrega, E; Zimmer, C; Hviid, M; Van der Oever, B; Edwards, S A

2014-12-01

The aim of this paper is to present an efficient tool for evaluating the economy part of the sustainability of pig farming systems. The selected tool IDEA was tested on a sample of farms from 15 contrasted systems in Europe. A statistical analysis was carried out to check the capacity of the indicators to illustrate the variability of the population and to analyze which of these indicators contributed the most towards it. The scores obtained for the farms were consistent with the reality of pig production; the variable distribution showed an important variability of the sample. The principal component analysis and cluster analysis separated the sample into five subgroups, in which the six main indicators significantly differed, which underlines the robustness of the tool. The IDEA method was proven to be easily comprehensible, requiring few initial variables and with an efficient benchmarking system; all six indicators contributed to fully describe a varied and contrasted population.

SD simulation study on degraded farmland policy on farming-pastoral area under the constrains of water resources-Taking Tongliao City of Inner Mongolia as example

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Xu, D. P.; Zhao, B.; Li, T. S.; Zhu, J. W.; Yu, M. M.

2017-08-01

Water resources are the primary factor in restricting the sustainable development of farming-pastoral regions. To support the sustainable development of water resources, whether or not the land uses patterns of farming-pastoral areas is a reasonably important issue. This paper takes Tongliao city as example for the purpose of sustainably developing the farming-pastoral area in the north. Several scientific preductions and evaluations were conducted to study the farming-pastoral landuse pattern, which is the key problem that effects sustainable development of farming-pastoral areas. The paper then proposes that 1:7 landuse pattern is suitable for the sustainable development of farming-pastotal area. Based on the analysis of the research findings on sustainable development of farming-pastoral area, the paper established a suitability evaluation indicators system of degraded farmland policies in Tongliao city, and used an Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) method to determine the weight to run system dynamic (SD) model. The simulation results were then obtained on social economic ecological development in Tongliao city under different degraded farmland policies, and used the comprehensive evaluation model to optimize the results. It is concluded that stabilizing the policy of degraded farmland policy is the preferential policy in Tongliao, which provides useful theoretical research for the sustainable development of farming-pastoral area.

Assessing the impact of pluriactivity on sustainable agriculture. A case study in rural areas of Beotia in Greece.

PubMed

Giourga, Christina; Loumou, Angeliki

2006-06-01

Pluriactivity of farms, or part-time farming, is a common feature of agriculture in all countries regardless of their socioeconomic system and level of development. Currently, pluriactivity is related to the values of sustainable agriculture. The objective of this study is to delineate those specific characteristics of pluriactive farms that contribute to sustainable agriculture. In rural areas of Boetia in Greece, a socioeconomic survey was carried out on 114 farms to determine the types of farming applied. The results demonstrate that pluriactivity is a stable component of the agricultural structure in the rural areas of Boetia. It is widespread in plains, but its presence is more important in mountainous and semimountainous areas. The choice of young farmers is to opt for pluriactivity. Farm size does not differ between pluriactive and full-time farms. Pluriactive and full- time farms use the same level of input and get the same output for the same type of crop. However, pluriactive farmers under the same land-productive conditions are oriented toward a more extensive farming system, managing their land with crops that need less inputs. Considering these findings, it can be claimed that pluriactivity can contribute to diminishing the demand on natural resources in favored (level and irrigated) areas, to continue agricultural production in unfavorable (mountainous and semimountainous) areas, and to help the sustenance of the rural population.

12 CFR 619.9185 - Funding Corporation.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-01-01

... 12 Banks and Banking 7 2013-01-01 2013-01-01 false Funding Corporation. 619.9185 Section 619.9185 Banks and Banking FARM CREDIT ADMINISTRATION FARM CREDIT SYSTEM DEFINITIONS § 619.9185 Funding Corporation. The term Funding Corporation refers to the Federal Farm Credit Banks Funding Corporation...

12 CFR 619.9185 - Funding Corporation.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-01-01

... 12 Banks and Banking 6 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Funding Corporation. 619.9185 Section 619.9185 Banks and Banking FARM CREDIT ADMINISTRATION FARM CREDIT SYSTEM DEFINITIONS § 619.9185 Funding Corporation. The term Funding Corporation refers to the Federal Farm Credit Banks Funding Corporation...

12 CFR 619.9185 - Funding Corporation.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-01-01

... 12 Banks and Banking 7 2014-01-01 2014-01-01 false Funding Corporation. 619.9185 Section 619.9185 Banks and Banking FARM CREDIT ADMINISTRATION FARM CREDIT SYSTEM DEFINITIONS § 619.9185 Funding Corporation. The term Funding Corporation refers to the Federal Farm Credit Banks Funding Corporation...

12 CFR 619.9185 - Funding Corporation.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-01-01

... 12 Banks and Banking 7 2012-01-01 2012-01-01 false Funding Corporation. 619.9185 Section 619.9185 Banks and Banking FARM CREDIT ADMINISTRATION FARM CREDIT SYSTEM DEFINITIONS § 619.9185 Funding Corporation. The term Funding Corporation refers to the Federal Farm Credit Banks Funding Corporation...

12 CFR 619.9185 - Funding Corporation.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-01-01

... 12 Banks and Banking 6 2011-01-01 2011-01-01 false Funding Corporation. 619.9185 Section 619.9185 Banks and Banking FARM CREDIT ADMINISTRATION FARM CREDIT SYSTEM DEFINITIONS § 619.9185 Funding Corporation. The term Funding Corporation refers to the Federal Farm Credit Banks Funding Corporation...

12 CFR 615.5456 - Authority of Federal Reserve Banks.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-01-01

... banks and the Funding Corporation; (3) To effect transfer of book-entry securities between participants... Section 615.5456 Banks and Banking FARM CREDIT ADMINISTRATION FARM CREDIT SYSTEM FUNDING AND FISCAL AFFAIRS, LOAN POLICIES AND OPERATIONS, AND FUNDING OPERATIONS Book-Entry Procedures for Farm Credit...

12 CFR 615.5456 - Authority of Federal Reserve Banks.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-01-01

... banks and the Funding Corporation; (3) To effect transfer of book-entry securities between participants... Section 615.5456 Banks and Banking FARM CREDIT ADMINISTRATION FARM CREDIT SYSTEM FUNDING AND FISCAL AFFAIRS, LOAN POLICIES AND OPERATIONS, AND FUNDING OPERATIONS Book-Entry Procedures for Farm Credit...

12 CFR 615.5456 - Authority of Federal Reserve Banks.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-01-01

... banks and the Funding Corporation; (3) To effect transfer of book-entry securities between participants... Section 615.5456 Banks and Banking FARM CREDIT ADMINISTRATION FARM CREDIT SYSTEM FUNDING AND FISCAL AFFAIRS, LOAN POLICIES AND OPERATIONS, AND FUNDING OPERATIONS Book-Entry Procedures for Farm Credit...

12 CFR 615.5456 - Authority of Federal Reserve Banks.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-01-01

... banks and the Funding Corporation; (3) To effect transfer of book-entry securities between participants... Section 615.5456 Banks and Banking FARM CREDIT ADMINISTRATION FARM CREDIT SYSTEM FUNDING AND FISCAL AFFAIRS, LOAN POLICIES AND OPERATIONS, AND FUNDING OPERATIONS Book-Entry Procedures for Farm Credit...

12 CFR 615.5456 - Authority of Federal Reserve Banks.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-01-01

... banks and the Funding Corporation; (3) To effect transfer of book-entry securities between participants... Section 615.5456 Banks and Banking FARM CREDIT ADMINISTRATION FARM CREDIT SYSTEM FUNDING AND FISCAL AFFAIRS, LOAN POLICIES AND OPERATIONS, AND FUNDING OPERATIONS Book-Entry Procedures for Farm Credit...

12 CFR 618.8005 - Eligibility.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-01-01

... 12 Banks and Banking 6 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Eligibility. 618.8005 Section 618.8005 Banks and Banking FARM CREDIT ADMINISTRATION FARM CREDIT SYSTEM GENERAL PROVISIONS Related Services § 618.8005 Eligibility. (a) Farm Credit Banks and associations may offer related services appropriate to on...

Organic and low input farming: Pros and cons for soil health

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Organic and low input farming practices have both advantages and disadvantages in building soil health and maintaining productivity. Examining the effects of farming practices on soil health parameters can aid in developing whole system strategies that promote sustainability. Application of specific...

12 CFR 619.9000 - The Act.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-01-01

... 12 Banks and Banking 6 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false The Act. 619.9000 Section 619.9000 Banks and Banking FARM CREDIT ADMINISTRATION FARM CREDIT SYSTEM DEFINITIONS § 619.9000 The Act. The Farm Credit Act of 1971; Pub. L. 92-181 and amendments. ...

Farm Animal Welfare and Human Health.

PubMed

Goldberg, Alan M

2016-09-01

The paper examines the relationship between farm animal welfare, industrial farm animal production, and human health consequences. The data suggest that when the animal welfare of land-based farm animals is compromised, there are resulting significant negative human health consequences due to environmental degradation, the use of non-therapeutic levels of antibiotics for growth promotion, and the consequences of intensification. This paper accepts that even if meat and fish consumption is reduced, meat and fish will be part of the diet of the future. Industrial production modified from the current intensified systems will still be required to feed the world in 2050 and beyond. This paper identifies the concept of sustainable intensification and suggests that if farm animal welfare is improved, many of the human health consequences of intensified industrial production can be eliminated or reduced. In water-based farm animal production, many new systems are resulting in a product that actually protects the environment and can be done at industrial levels without the use of antibiotics.

Strategies for improving water use efficiency of livestock production in rain-fed systems.

PubMed

Kebebe, E G; Oosting, S J; Haileslassie, A; Duncan, A J; de Boer, I J M

2015-05-01

Livestock production is a major consumer of fresh water, and the influence of livestock production on global fresh water resources is increasing because of the growing demand for livestock products. Increasing water use efficiency of livestock production, therefore, can contribute to the overall water use efficiency of agriculture. Previous studies have reported significant variation in livestock water productivity (LWP) within and among farming systems. Underlying causes of this variation in LWP require further investigation. The objective of this paper was to identify the factors that explain the variation in LWP within and among farming systems in Ethiopia. We quantified LWP for various farms in mixed-crop livestock systems and explored the effect of household demographic characteristics and farm assets on LWP using ANOVA and multilevel mixed-effect linear regression. We focused on water used to cultivate feeds on privately owned agricultural lands. There was a difference in LWP among farming systems and wealth categories. Better-off households followed by medium households had the highest LWP, whereas poor households had the lowest LWP. The variation in LWP among wealth categories could be explained by the differences in the ownership of livestock and availability of family labor. Regression results showed that the age of the household head, the size of the livestock holding and availability of family labor affected LWP positively. The results suggest that water use efficiency could be improved by alleviating resource constraints such as access to farm labor and livestock assets, oxen in particular.

Development of livestock production in the tropics: farm and farmers' perspectives.

PubMed

Oosting, S J; Udo, H M J; Viets, T C

2014-08-01

Because of an increasing demand for animal-source foods, an increasing desire to reduce poverty and an increasing need to reduce the environmental impact of livestock production, tropical farming systems with livestock must increase their productivity. An important share of the global human and livestock populations are found within smallholder mixed-crop-livestock systems, which should, therefore, contribute significantly towards this increase in livestock production. The present paper argues that increased livestock production in smallholder mixed-crop-livestock systems faces many constraints at the level of the farm and the value chain. The present paper aims to describe and explain the impact of increased production from the farm and farmers' perspective, in order to understand the constraints for increased livestock production. A framework is presented that links farming systems to livestock value chains. It is concluded that farming systems that pass from subsistence to commercial livestock production will: (1) shift from rural to urban markets; (2) become part of a different value chain (with lower prices, higher demands for product quality and increased competition from peri-urban producers and imports); and (3) have to face changes in within-farm mechanisms and crop-livestock relationships. A model study showed that feed limitation, which is common in tropical farming systems with livestock, implies that maximum herd output is achieved with small herd sizes, leaving low-quality feeds unutilised. Maximal herd output is not achieved at maximal individual animal output. Having more animals than required for optimal production - which is often the case as a larger herd size supports non-production functions of livestock, such as manure production, draught, traction and capital storage - goes at the expense of animal-source food output. Improving low-quality feeds by treatment allows keeping more animals while maintaining the same level of production. Ruminant methane emission per kg of milk produced is mainly determined by the level of milk production per cow. Part of the methane emissions, however, should be attributed to the non-production functions of ruminants. It was concluded that understanding the farm and farmers' perceptions of increased production helps with the understanding of productivity increase constraints and adds information to that reported in the literature at the level of technology, markets and institutions.

Anthropogenically-Mediated Density Dependence in a Declining Farmland Bird

PubMed Central

Dunn, Jenny C.; Hamer, Keith C.; Benton, Tim G.

2015-01-01

Land management intrinsically influences the distribution of animals and can consequently alter the potential for density-dependent processes to act within populations. For declining species, high densities of breeding territories are typically considered to represent productive populations. However, as density-dependent effects of food limitation or predator pressure may occur (especially when species are dependent upon separate nesting and foraging habitats), high territory density may limit per-capita productivity. Here, we use a declining but widespread European farmland bird, the yellowhammer Emberiza citrinella L., as a model system to test whether higher territory densities result in lower fledging success, parental provisioning rates or nestling growth rates compared to lower densities. Organic landscapes held higher territory densities, but nests on organic farms fledged fewer nestlings, translating to a 5 times higher rate of population shrinkage on organic farms compared to conventional. In addition, when parental provisioning behaviour was not restricted by predation risk (i.e., at times of low corvid activity), nestling provisioning rates were higher at lower territory densities, resulting in a much greater increase in nestling mass in low density areas, suggesting that food limitation occurred at high densities. These findings in turn suggest an ecological trap, whereby preferred nesting habitat does not provide sufficient food for rearing nestlings at high population density, creating a population sink. Habitat management for farmland birds should focus not simply on creating a high nesting density, but also on ensuring heterogeneous habitats to provide food resources in close proximity to nesting birds, even if this occurs through potentially restricting overall nest density but increasing population-level breeding success. PMID:26431173

An Introduction to Biogas Production on the Farm.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

National Center for Appropriate Technology, Butte, MT.

This three-section report provides introductory information about biogas production and its application to farm environments. The first section discusses the various components of a biogas production system (a system that converts organic wastes into a usable form of energy), explains the system's benefits and liabilities, and provides a brief…

12 CFR 609.940 - Internal systems and controls.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-01-01

... business plan objectives and policies and procedures requirements regarding E-commerce; and (b) Prevent and... 12 Banks and Banking 7 2012-01-01 2012-01-01 false Internal systems and controls. 609.940 Section 609.940 Banks and Banking FARM CREDIT ADMINISTRATION FARM CREDIT SYSTEM ELECTRONIC COMMERCE Standards...

12 CFR 609.940 - Internal systems and controls.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-01-01

... business plan objectives and policies and procedures requirements regarding E-commerce; and (b) Prevent and... 12 Banks and Banking 7 2013-01-01 2013-01-01 false Internal systems and controls. 609.940 Section 609.940 Banks and Banking FARM CREDIT ADMINISTRATION FARM CREDIT SYSTEM ELECTRONIC COMMERCE Standards...

12 CFR 609.940 - Internal systems and controls.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-01-01

... business plan objectives and policies and procedures requirements regarding E-commerce; and (b) Prevent and... 12 Banks and Banking 6 2011-01-01 2011-01-01 false Internal systems and controls. 609.940 Section 609.940 Banks and Banking FARM CREDIT ADMINISTRATION FARM CREDIT SYSTEM ELECTRONIC COMMERCE Standards...

12 CFR 609.940 - Internal systems and controls.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-01-01

... business plan objectives and policies and procedures requirements regarding E-commerce; and (b) Prevent and... 12 Banks and Banking 6 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Internal systems and controls. 609.940 Section 609.940 Banks and Banking FARM CREDIT ADMINISTRATION FARM CREDIT SYSTEM ELECTRONIC COMMERCE Standards...

12 CFR 609.940 - Internal systems and controls.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-01-01

... business plan objectives and policies and procedures requirements regarding E-commerce; and (b) Prevent and... 12 Banks and Banking 7 2014-01-01 2014-01-01 false Internal systems and controls. 609.940 Section 609.940 Banks and Banking FARM CREDIT ADMINISTRATION FARM CREDIT SYSTEM ELECTRONIC COMMERCE Standards...

12 CFR 609.950 - Electronic communications.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-01-01

... with E-SIGN, System institutions may communicate electronically in business, consumer, or commercial transactions. E-commerce transactions require the agreement of all parties when you do business. (b....950 Banks and Banking FARM CREDIT ADMINISTRATION FARM CREDIT SYSTEM ELECTRONIC COMMERCE General...

12 CFR 609.950 - Electronic communications.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-01-01

... with E-SIGN, System institutions may communicate electronically in business, consumer, or commercial transactions. E-commerce transactions require the agreement of all parties when you do business. (b....950 Banks and Banking FARM CREDIT ADMINISTRATION FARM CREDIT SYSTEM ELECTRONIC COMMERCE General...

12 CFR 609.950 - Electronic communications.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-01-01

... with E-SIGN, System institutions may communicate electronically in business, consumer, or commercial transactions. E-commerce transactions require the agreement of all parties when you do business. (b....950 Banks and Banking FARM CREDIT ADMINISTRATION FARM CREDIT SYSTEM ELECTRONIC COMMERCE General...

12 CFR 609.950 - Electronic communications.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-01-01

... with E-SIGN, System institutions may communicate electronically in business, consumer, or commercial transactions. E-commerce transactions require the agreement of all parties when you do business. (b....950 Banks and Banking FARM CREDIT ADMINISTRATION FARM CREDIT SYSTEM ELECTRONIC COMMERCE General...

12 CFR 609.950 - Electronic communications.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-01-01

... with E-SIGN, System institutions may communicate electronically in business, consumer, or commercial transactions. E-commerce transactions require the agreement of all parties when you do business. (b....950 Banks and Banking FARM CREDIT ADMINISTRATION FARM CREDIT SYSTEM ELECTRONIC COMMERCE General...

Environmental impacts of organic and conventional agricultural products--are the differences captured by life cycle assessment?

PubMed

Meier, Matthias S; Stoessel, Franziska; Jungbluth, Niels; Juraske, Ronnie; Schader, Christian; Stolze, Matthias

2015-02-01

Comprehensive assessment tools are needed that reliably describe environmental impacts of different agricultural systems in order to develop sustainable high yielding agricultural production systems with minimal impacts on the environment. Today, Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) is increasingly used to assess and compare the environmental sustainability of agricultural products from conventional and organic agriculture. However, LCA studies comparing agricultural products from conventional and organic farming systems report a wide variation in the resource efficiency of products from these systems. The studies show that impacts per area farmed land are usually less in organic systems, but related to the quantity produced impacts are often higher. We reviewed 34 comparative LCA studies of organic and conventional agricultural products to analyze whether this result is solely due to the usually lower yields in organic systems or also due to inaccurate modeling within LCA. Comparative LCAs on agricultural products from organic and conventional farming systems often do not adequately differentiate the specific characteristics of the respective farming system in the goal and scope definition and in the inventory analysis. Further, often only a limited number of impact categories are assessed within the impact assessment not allowing for a comprehensive environmental assessment. The most critical points we identified relate to the nitrogen (N) fluxes influencing acidification, eutrophication, and global warming potential, and biodiversity. Usually, N-emissions in LCA inventories of agricultural products are based on model calculations. Modeled N-emissions often do not correspond with the actual amount of N left in the system that may result in potential emissions. Reasons for this may be that N-models are not well adapted to the mode of action of organic fertilizers and that N-emission models often are built on assumptions from conventional agriculture leading to even greater deviances for organic systems between the amount of N calculated by emission models and the actual amount of N available for emissions. Improvements are needed regarding a more precise differentiation between farming systems and regarding the development of N emission models that better represent actual N-fluxes within different systems. We recommend adjusting N- and C-emissions during farmyard manure management and farmyard manure fertilization in plant production to the feed ration provided in the animal production of the respective farming system leading to different N- and C-compositions within the excrement. In the future, more representative background data on organic farming systems (e.g. N content of farmyard manure) should be generated and compiled so as to be available for use within LCA inventories. Finally, we recommend conducting consequential LCA - if possible - when using LCA for policy-making or strategic environmental planning to account for different functions of the analyzed farming systems. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Identifying sources of metal exposure in organic and conventional dairy farming.

PubMed

López-Alonso, M; Rey-Crespo, F; Herrero-Latorre, C; Miranda, M

2017-10-01

In humans the main route of exposure to toxic metals is through the diet, and there is therefore a clear need for this source of contamination to be minimized, particularly in food of animal origin. For this purpose, the various sources of toxic metals in livestock farming (which vary depending on the production system) must be taken into account. The objectives of the present study were to establish the profile of metal exposure in dairy cattle in Spain and to determine, by chemometric (multivariate statistical) analysis, any differences between organic and conventional systems. Blood samples from 522 cows (341 from organic farms and 181 from conventional farms) were analysed by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry to determine the concentrations of 14 elements: As, Cd, Co, Cr, Cu, Fe, Hg, I, Mn, Mo, Ni, Pb, Se and Zn. In conventional systems the generally high and balanced trace element concentrations in the mineral-supplemented concentrate feed strongly determined the metal status of the cattle. However, in organic systems, soil ingestion was an important contributing factor. Our results demonstrate that general information about the effects of mineral supplementation in conventional farming cannot be directly extrapolated to organic farming and special attention should be given to the contribution of ingestion of soil during grazing and/or ingestion of soil contaminated forage. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

A quantitative risk assessment for the safety of carcase storage systems for scrapie infected farms.

PubMed

Adkin, A; Jones, D L; Eckford, R L; Edwards-Jones, G; Williams, A P

2014-10-01

To determine the risk associated with the use of carcase storage vessels on a scrapie infected farm. A stochastic quantitative risk assessment was developed to determine the rate of accumulation and fate of scrapie in a novel low-input storage system. For an example farm infected with classical scrapie, a mean of 10(3·6) Ovine Oral ID50 s was estimated to accumulate annually. Research indicates that the degradation of any prions present may range from insignificant to a magnitude of one or two logs over several months of storage. For infected farms, the likely partitioning of remaining prion into the sludge phase would necessitate the safe operation and removal of resulting materials from these systems. If complete mixing could be assumed, on average, the concentrations of infectivity are estimated to be slightly lower than that measured in placenta from infected sheep at lambing. This is the first quantitative assessment of the scrapie risk associated with fallen stock on farm and provides guidance to policy makers on the safety of one type of storage system and the relative risk when compared to other materials present on an infected farm. © 2014 Crown Copyright. Journal of Applied Microbiology © 2014 Society for Applied Microbiology This article is published with the permission of the Controller of HMSO and the Queen's Printer for Scotland.

Exposure to Inhalable Dust, Endotoxin, and Total Volatile Organic Carbons on Dairy Farms Using Manual and Automated Feeding Systems.

PubMed

Basinas, Ioannis; Cronin, Garvin; Hogan, Victoria; Sigsgaard, Torben; Hayes, James; Coggins, Ann Marie

2017-04-01

Agricultural workers tend to have high exposures to organic dusts which may induce or exacerbate respiratory disorders. Studies investigating the effect of work tasks and farm characteristics on organic dust exposures among farm workers suggest that handling of animal feed is an important exposure determinant; however, the effect of the animal feeding system has not been explored in any detail. To measure the exposure of Irish dairy farmers to inhalable dust, endotoxin, and total volatile organic compounds (TVOCs) during parlour work and to explore whether levels of exposure to these agents depend on the applied feeding system in the farms. Thirty-eight personal exposure measurements were collected from farmers across seven dairy farms. The farms used manual, loft, or semi-automated feeding systems. Information on worker tasks and farm characteristics was collected during the surveys. Associations between exposure concentrations and feeding systems, worker tasks, and other farm characteristics were explored in linear mixed-effect regression models with farmer identity treated as a random effect. Exposure concentrations were variable and had a geometric mean (GM; geometric standard deviation) of 1.5 mg m-3 (1.8) for inhalable dust and 128 EU m-3 (2.5) for endotoxin. More than 50% of the exposure measurements for endotoxin, and organic dust exceeded recommended health-based occupational exposure limits. Endotoxin levels were somewhat lower in farms using semi-automatic feeding systems when compared to those using manual feeding systems but in multivariate regression analysis associations were not statistically significant (β = -0.54, P = 0.4). Performance of activities related to handling and spreading of hay or straw was the strongest determinant for both inhalable dust and endotoxin exposure (β = 0.78, P ≤ 0.001; β = 0.72, P = 0.02, respectively). The level of dust exposure increased also as a consequence of a lower outdoor temperature, and higher ratio of distributed feed per cow (P = 0.01). Stationary measurements of TVOC and CO2 concentrations inside the dairy parlours had a GM of 180 ppb (1.9) and 589 ppb (1.3), respectively. The use of cow teat disinfectants and building ventilation were both strong predictors of TVOC concentrations within parlours. Dairy farm workers can be exposed to high and variable levels of inhalable dust and endotoxin and may be at risk of respiratory disease. Results from this study suggest that exposure control strategies for organic dusts and TVOCs exposures should consider building ventilation and work tasks such as spreading of bedding material, using spray disinfectants and animal feeding. Until effective permanent engineering controls are established farm workers should be encouraged to wear respiratory protective equipment during these tasks. © The Author 2017. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the British Occupational Hygiene Society.

7 CFR 407.9 - Group risk plan common policy.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-01-01

... Provisions. Conventional farming practice. A system or process for producing an agricultural commodity, excluding organic farming practices, that is necessary to produce the crop that may be, but is not required... practice allows the crop to make normal progress toward maturity. Good farming practices. The production...

7 CFR 407.9 - Group risk plan common policy.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-01-01

... Provisions. Conventional farming practice. A system or process for producing an agricultural commodity, excluding organic farming practices, that is necessary to produce the crop that may be, but is not required... practice allows the crop to make normal progress toward maturity. Good farming practices. The production...

12 CFR 618.8430 - Internal controls.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-01-01

... 12 Banks and Banking 6 2011-01-01 2011-01-01 false Internal controls. 618.8430 Section 618.8430 Banks and Banking FARM CREDIT ADMINISTRATION FARM CREDIT SYSTEM GENERAL PROVISIONS Internal Controls § 618.8430 Internal controls. Each Farm Credit institution's board of directors must adopt an internal...

12 CFR 618.8430 - Internal controls.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-01-01

... 12 Banks and Banking 6 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Internal controls. 618.8430 Section 618.8430 Banks and Banking FARM CREDIT ADMINISTRATION FARM CREDIT SYSTEM GENERAL PROVISIONS Internal Controls § 618.8430 Internal controls. Each Farm Credit institution's board of directors must adopt an internal...

12 CFR 618.8430 - Internal controls.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-01-01

... 12 Banks and Banking 7 2013-01-01 2013-01-01 false Internal controls. 618.8430 Section 618.8430 Banks and Banking FARM CREDIT ADMINISTRATION FARM CREDIT SYSTEM GENERAL PROVISIONS Internal Controls § 618.8430 Internal controls. Each Farm Credit institution's board of directors must adopt an internal...

12 CFR 618.8430 - Internal controls.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-01-01

... 12 Banks and Banking 7 2014-01-01 2014-01-01 false Internal controls. 618.8430 Section 618.8430 Banks and Banking FARM CREDIT ADMINISTRATION FARM CREDIT SYSTEM GENERAL PROVISIONS Internal Controls § 618.8430 Internal controls. Each Farm Credit institution's board of directors must adopt an internal...

12 CFR 623.4 - Suspension and debarment.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-01-01

... Banks and Banking FARM CREDIT ADMINISTRATION FARM CREDIT SYSTEM PRACTICE BEFORE THE FARM CREDIT... the FCA or may deny, temporarily or permanently, the privilege of any person to practice before the..., contemptuous, contumacious or other unethical or improper conduct before FCA; or (4) To have willfully violated...

12 CFR 611.510 - Approval procedures.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-01-01

... 12 Banks and Banking 6 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Approval procedures. 611.510 Section 611.510 Banks and Banking FARM CREDIT ADMINISTRATION FARM CREDIT SYSTEM ORGANIZATION Transfer of Authorities § 611.510 Approval procedures. (a) Upon receipt of approval of a resolution by the Farm Credit...

A survey of dairy calf management practices among farms using manual and automated milk feeding systems in Canada.

PubMed

Medrano-Galarza, Catalina; LeBlanc, Stephen J; DeVries, Trevor J; Jones-Bitton, Andria; Rushen, Jeffrey; Marie de Passillé, Anne; Haley, Derek B

2017-08-01

Dairy calves in North America traditionally are housed individually and fed by manual milk feeding (MMF) systems with buckets or bottles. Automated milk feeders (AMF) allow for more natural milk feeding frequencies and volumes, and calves are usually housed in groups. The objectives of this study were to (1) determine the prevalence of various milk-fed calf management and feeding practices and (2) compare these practices between dairy farms using MMF and AMF systems. A national online survey was performed from January to May 2015 to quantify management practices for the care of milk-fed dairy calves in Canada. A total of 670 responses were received (6% of all dairy farms in Canada). Among respondents, 16% used AMF and 84% used MMF. Seventy percent of the farms using AMF had freestall barns compared with only 48% of those using MMF. A greater proportion of AMF farms (30%) also had automatic milking systems (AMS) compared with MMF farms (8%). Among tiestall farms, a herd size of >80 milking cows was associated with having an AMF [odds ratio (OR) = 3.8; 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.6-11.4]. For freestall or bedded-pack farms, a herd size of >80 milking cows (OR = 3.5; CI: 1.8-6.6), having an AMS (OR = 3.1; CI: 1.6-5.7), and use of cow brushes (OR = 3.1; CI: 1.3-6.9) were associated with having an AMF. Calves fed with AMS typically were housed in groups of 10 to 15, whereas almost 76% of the farms with MMF housed calves individually. Although both AMF and MMF farms fed similar amounts of milk in the first week of life (median = 6 L/d), the cumulative volume fed in the first 4 wk differed significantly, with a median of 231 versus 182 L for AMF and MMF, respectively. Median peak milk allowance was higher for AMF than for MMF (10 vs. 8 L/d, respectively). In summary, farms using AMF were larger, provided more milk to calves, and used more automation in general (i.e., in other areas of their operation). These data provide insights into calf-rearing practices across Canada and into how the use of AMF is affecting calf feeding and management on dairy farms. Copyright © 2017 American Dairy Science Association. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

77 FR 59050 - Disclosure to Investors in System-Wide and Consolidated Bank Debt Obligations of the Farm Credit...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2012-09-26

... FARM CREDIT ADMINISTRATION 12 CFR Part 630 RIN 3052-AC77 Disclosure to Investors in System-Wide... operations of System institutions and to govern the disclosure of financial information to shareholders of... the safety and soundness of the System; and Disclosure of resources used by, and the composition of...

[Nitrogen balance in dairy farm: research progress].

PubMed

Lü, Chao; Qin, Wen-Xiao; Gao, Teng-Yun; Wang, Xiao-Xiao; Han, Zhi-Guo; Li, Jia

2013-01-01

Large dairy farm with intensive management has high stocking density, but generally does not have enough space and normative feces disposal system, resulting in the discharged nitrogen surpassed the environmental carrying capacity of unit area land. Dairy farm is one of the major emission sources of nitrogen discharges in agriculture, where the nitrogen balance has being aroused attention by the experts abroad. The research on the nitrogen flow and nitrogen balance in dairy farm is the basis of the dairy farm nitrogen cycling and management study, as well as the basis for the construction of environmental laws, regulations and policies. The most reliable indicators to evaluate the nitrogen flow and nitrogen balance in dairy farm are nitrogen surplus and nitrogen use efficiency. This paper introduced the concept of nitrogen balance on farm-scale and the nitrogen flow within farm, compared the application scope of nitrogen surplus and nitrogen use efficiency, analyzed the factors affecting the nitrogen balance in dairy farm, and summarized the effective strategies to reduce the nitrogen discharges from dairy farm, aimed to provide references for the nitrogen management of dairy farm in China.

Assessing factors that may predispose Minnesota farms to wolf predation on cattle

USGS Publications Warehouse

Mech, L.D.; Harper, E.K.; Meier, T.J.; Paul, W.J.

2000-01-01

Wolf (Canis lupus) depredations on livestock cause considerable conflict and expense in Minnesota. Furthermore, claims are made that such depredations are fostered by the type of animal husbandry practiced. Thus, we tried to detect factors that might predispose farms in Minnesota to wolf depredations. We compared results of interviews with 41 cattle farmers experiencing chronic cattle losses to wolves (chronic farms) with results from 41 nearby matched farms with no wolf losses to determine farm characteristics or husbandry practices that differed and that therefore might have affected wolf depredations. We also used a Geographic Information System (GIS) to detect any habitat differences between the 2 types of farms. We found no differences between chronic and matched farms in the 11 farm characteristics and management practices that we surveyed, except that farms with chronic losses were larger, had more cattle, and had herds farther from human dwellings. Habitat types were the same around farms with and without losses. The role of proper carcass disposal as a possible factor predisposing farms to wolf depredations remains unclear

A Descriptive Study of Farm-Related Injuries Presenting to Emergency Departments in North Carolina: 2008-2012.

PubMed

Allen, Daniel Landon; Kearney, Gregory D; Higgins, Sheila

2015-01-01

Farming is among the most dangerous industries for fatal and nonfatal injuries. A comprehensive agricultural injury surveillance system is absent in North Carolina (NC), and data sets traditionally used to provide estimates of nonfatal farm injuries surveillance in the United States are relatively incomplete. In the absence of a comprehensive farm injury surveillance system, individual local administrative data sources can provide a useful profile of the epidemiology of injuries in a population. The objective of this study was to use emergency department data to help describe the burden of farm-related injuries in NC and explore its usefulness in conducting work-related injury surveillance. Emergency department data from the North Carolina Disease Event Tracking and Epidemiologic Collection Tool (NC DETECT) was utilized to identify farm injury cases. The study sample included all farm injury cases for the period of 2008-2012 that contained International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision, Clinical Modification (ICD-9-CM) E code 919.0 (agricultural machinery) or 849.1 (place of occurrence = farm; this E code excludes farm house and home premises of farm). Results indicated that an average of 459 cases of farm injury occurred annually from 2008 to 2012, with no significant change between years. Among the patients, 79.7% were male, 74.7% were between 18 and 64 years old, and 28.1% had no form of insurance coverage. Injuries were more heavily concentrated in the Piedmont and Coastal Plains regions (41.3% and 42.2%, respectively). Of farm-coded incidents, 73.2% were given injury- or poisoning-related primary diagnosis codes, and of these, the most frequent specific codes were related to open wounds of upper limbs (16.2%), contusions (12.0%), and sprains and strains (9.3%). Some significant relationships between diagnoses and sex, region, and age are also identified. Injuries occurring on a farm have been well documented and constitute a significant public health problem. Exploring emergency department data provides an opportunity to better characterize nonfatal farm-related injuries in NC for prevention purposes. The data provided by this study may serve to direct prevention programs, whereas the methods used offer a potential farm-related injury surveillance tool.

Effects of feed delivery frequency in different environmental conditions on time budget of lactating dairy cows.

PubMed

Mattachini, Gabriele; Bava, Luciana; Sandrucci, Anna; Tamburini, Alberto; Riva, Elisabetta; Provolo, Giorgio

2017-08-01

This study aimed to examine the influence of feed delivery frequency and environmental conditions on daily time budget of lactating dairy cows. The study was carried out in two commercial dairy farms with Holstein herds. Fifty lactating dairy cows milked in automatic milking units (AMS farm) and 96 primiparous lactating dairy cows milked in a conventional milking parlour (conventional farm) were exposed to different frequencies of feed delivery replicated in different periods of the year (warm and mild) that were characterized by different temperature-humidity indices (THI). On each farm, feeding treatments consisted of two different feed delivery frequencies (1× and 2× on the AMS farm; 2× and 3× on the conventional farm). All behaviours of the cows were monitored for the last 8 d of each treatment period using continuous video recording. The two data sets from different farm systems were considered separately for analysis. On both farms, environmental conditions expressed as THI affected time budgets and the pattern of the behavioural indices throughout the day. The variation in the frequency of feed delivery seems to affect the cow's time budget only in a limited way. Standing time of cows on the conventional farm and the time spent by cows in the milking waiting area on the AMS farm both increased in response to increased feeding frequency. Although feed delivery frequency showed limited influence on cow's time budget, the effect on standing time could be carefully considered, especially on farms equipped with AMS where the type of cow traffic system (e.g., milking first) might amplify the negative consequences of more frequent feed delivery. Further investigations are required to evaluate the effect of THI and feed delivery frequency on other aspects of behavioural activity.

Economic Performance and Sustainability of a Novel Intercropping System on the North China Plain

PubMed Central

Huang, Chengdong; Liu, Quanqing; Heerink, Nico; Stomph, TjeerdJan; Li, Baoshen; Liu, Ruili; Zhang, Hongyan; Wang, Chong; Li, Xiaolin; Zhang, Chaochun; van der Werf, Wopke; Zhang, Fusuo

2015-01-01

Double cropping of wheat and maize is common on the North China Plain, but it provides limited income to rural households due to the small farm sizes in the region. Local farmers in Quzhou County have therefore innovated their production system by integration of watermelon as a companion cash crop into the system. We examine the economic performance and sustainability of this novel intercropping system using crop yield data from 2010 to 2012 and farm household survey data collected in 2012. Our results show that the gross margin of the intercropping system exceeded that of the double cropping system by more than 50% in 2012. Labor use in the intercropping system was more than three times that in double cropping. The lower returns per labor hour in intercropping, however, exceeded the average off-farm wage in the region by a significant margin. Nutrient surpluses and irrigation water use are significant larger under the intercropping system. We conclude that the novel wheat-maize/watermelon intercropping system contributes to rural poverty alleviation and household-level food security, by raising farm incomes and generating more employment, but needs further improvement to enhance its sustainability. PMID:26275297

Economic Performance and Sustainability of a Novel Intercropping System on the North China Plain.

PubMed

Huang, Chengdong; Liu, Quanqing; Heerink, Nico; Stomph, TjeerdJan; Li, Baoshen; Liu, Ruili; Zhang, Hongyan; Wang, Chong; Li, Xiaolin; Zhang, Chaochun; van der Werf, Wopke; Zhang, Fusuo

2015-01-01

Double cropping of wheat and maize is common on the North China Plain, but it provides limited income to rural households due to the small farm sizes in the region. Local farmers in Quzhou County have therefore innovated their production system by integration of watermelon as a companion cash crop into the system. We examine the economic performance and sustainability of this novel intercropping system using crop yield data from 2010 to 2012 and farm household survey data collected in 2012. Our results show that the gross margin of the intercropping system exceeded that of the double cropping system by more than 50% in 2012. Labor use in the intercropping system was more than three times that in double cropping. The lower returns per labor hour in intercropping, however, exceeded the average off-farm wage in the region by a significant margin. Nutrient surpluses and irrigation water use are significant larger under the intercropping system. We conclude that the novel wheat-maize/watermelon intercropping system contributes to rural poverty alleviation and household-level food security, by raising farm incomes and generating more employment, but needs further improvement to enhance its sustainability.

Energy balance in rainfed herbaceous crops in a semiarid environment for a 15-year experiment. 1. Impact of farming systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Moreno, M. M.; Moreno, C.; Lacasta, C.; Tarquis, A. M.; Meco, R.

2012-04-01

During the last years, agricultural practices have led to increase yields by means of the massive consumption on non-renewable fossil energy. However, the viability of a production system does not depend solely on crop yield, but also on its efficiency in the use of available resources. This work is part of a larger study assessing the effects of three farming systems (conventional, conservation with zero tillage, and organic) and four barley-based crop rotations (barley monoculture and in rotation with vetch, sunflower and fallow) on the energy balance of crop production under the semi-arid conditions over a 15 year period. However, the present work is focused on the farming system effect, so crop rotations and years are averaged. Experiments were conducted at "La Higueruela" Experimental Farm (4°26' W, 40°04' N, altitude 450 m) (Spanish National Research Council, Santa Olalla, Toledo, central Spain). The climate is semi-arid Mediterranean, with an average seasonal rainfall of 480 mm irregularly distributed and a 4-month summer drought period. Conventional farming included the use of moldboard plow for tillage, chemical fertilizers and herbicides. Conservation farming was developed with zero tillage, direct sowing and chemical fertilizers and herbicides. Organic farming included the use of cultivator and no chemical fertilizers or herbicides. The energy balance method used required the identification and quantification of all the inputs and outputs implied, and the conversion to energy values by corresponding coefficients. The parameters considered were (i) energy inputs (EI) (diesel, machines, fertilizers, herbicides, seeds) (ii) energy outputs (EO) (energy in the harvested biomass), (iii) net energy produced (NE) (EI - EO), (iv) the energy output/input ratio (O/I), and (v) energy productivity (EP) (Crop yield/EI). EI was 3.0 and 3.5 times higher in conservation (10.4 GJ ha-1 year-1) and conventional (11.7 GJ ha-1 year-1) than in organic farming (3.41 GJ ha-1 year-1). The difference between conservation and conventional systems was as result of the greater use of machinery and, consequently, of fuel in conventional, though the use of herbicides was slightly lower. In both systems, fertilizer was the most important energy input. EO was lower for organic (17.9 GJ ha-1 year-1) than for either conventional or conservation systems (25.7 and 23.4 GJ ha-1 year-1, respectively), a result of the lower barley grain and vetch hay yields. The highest NE was obtained in organic (14.5 GJ ha-1 year-1), and the lowest in conservation (13.0 GJ ha-1 year-1). In relation to O/I, organic farming were about 2.3 times more energetically efficient (5.36) than either the conventional or conservation systems (about 2.35). EP ranged from 400 kg GJ-1 in organic to 177 kg GJ-1 in conventional. No differences in all the energy variables considered were recorded between the conventional and conservation managements. As conclusions and in terms of energy efficiency, farming systems requiring agrochemicals in semi-arid Mediterranean conditions, whether conventional or conservation, appeared to be little efficient. Chemical fertilizer was the most important energy input in these two systems, but their use did not lead to an equivalent increase in yield because of the irregular distribution in many years. Organic farming would improve the energy efficiency in these environmental conditions, offering a sustainable production with minimal inputs.

31 CFR 306.23 - Securities eligible to be held in the Legacy Treasury Direct® Book-entry Securities System.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-07-01

... Legacy Treasury Direct® Book-entry Securities System. 306.23 Section 306.23 Money and Finance: Treasury... Securities eligible to be held in the Legacy Treasury Direct® Book-entry Securities System. (a) Eligible... book-entry securities system. (b) Conversion of Registered Security to book-entry form to be held in...

12 CFR 609.925 - Definitions.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-01-01

... systems. (c) Electronic business (E-business) or electronic commerce (E-commerce) means buying, selling, producing, or working in an electronic medium. (d) Electronic mail (E-mail) means: (1) To send or submit... Banking FARM CREDIT ADMINISTRATION FARM CREDIT SYSTEM ELECTRONIC COMMERCE Interpretations and Definitions...

12 CFR 609.925 - Definitions.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-01-01

... systems. (c) Electronic business (E-business) or electronic commerce (E-commerce) means buying, selling, producing, or working in an electronic medium. (d) Electronic mail (E-mail) means: (1) To send or submit... Banking FARM CREDIT ADMINISTRATION FARM CREDIT SYSTEM ELECTRONIC COMMERCE Interpretations and Definitions...

12 CFR 609.925 - Definitions.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-01-01

... systems. (c) Electronic business (E-business) or electronic commerce (E-commerce) means buying, selling, producing, or working in an electronic medium. (d) Electronic mail (E-mail) means: (1) To send or submit... Banking FARM CREDIT ADMINISTRATION FARM CREDIT SYSTEM ELECTRONIC COMMERCE Interpretations and Definitions...

12 CFR 609.925 - Definitions.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-01-01

... systems. (c) Electronic business (E-business) or electronic commerce (E-commerce) means buying, selling, producing, or working in an electronic medium. (d) Electronic mail (E-mail) means: (1) To send or submit... Banking FARM CREDIT ADMINISTRATION FARM CREDIT SYSTEM ELECTRONIC COMMERCE Interpretations and Definitions...

12 CFR 609.925 - Definitions.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-01-01

... systems. (c) Electronic business (E-business) or electronic commerce (E-commerce) means buying, selling, producing, or working in an electronic medium. (d) Electronic mail (E-mail) means: (1) To send or submit... Banking FARM CREDIT ADMINISTRATION FARM CREDIT SYSTEM ELECTRONIC COMMERCE Interpretations and Definitions...

Freshwater Institute: Focused on improving recirculating aquaculture system technology

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Recirculating aquaculture system (RAS) technologies help to overcome barriers to domestic aquaculture expansion and enhance the sustainability of the modern fish farming industry through reduction in environmental impacts. With RAS, fish farm expansion is no longer highly constrained by competition ...

The Impact of Input and Output Prices on The Household Economic Behavior of Rice-Livestock Integrated Farming System (Rlifs) and Non Rlifs Farmers

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lindawati, L.; Kusnadi, N.; Kuntjoro, S. U.; Swastika, D. K. S.

2018-02-01

Integrated farming system is a system that emphasized linkages and synergism of farming units waste utilization. The objective of the study was to analyze the impact of input and output prices on both Rice Livestock Integrated Farming System (RLIFS) and non RLIFS farmers. The study used econometric model in the form of a simultaneous equations system consisted of 36 equations (18 behavior and 18 identity equations). The impact of changes in some variables was obtained through simulation of input and output prices on simultaneous equations. The results showed that the price increasing of the seed, SP-36, urea, medication/vitamins, manure, bran, straw had negative impact on production of the rice, cow, manure, bran, straw and household income. The decrease in the rice and cow production, production input usage, allocation of family labor, rice and cow business income was greater in RLIFS than non RLIFS farmers. The impact of rising rice and cow cattle prices in the two groups of farmers was not too much different because (1) farming waste wasn’t used effectively (2) manure and straw had small proportion of production costs. The increase of input and output price didn’t have impact on production costs and household expenditures on RLIFS.

Rural Development: Part 7, (1) Balanced National Growth Policy; (2) National Rural Development Program; (3) S. 1612, The Rural Community Development Revenue Sharing Act of 1971; (4) Reorganization of U.S. Department of Agriculture and Related Agencies. Hearing Before the Subcommittee on Rural Development of the Committee on Agriculture and Forestry, 92d Congress, 1st Session, December 14, 1971, Bowling Green, Ohio.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Congress of the U.S., Washington, DC. Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry.

Transcripts of the 1971 Senate hearings on rural development held in Bowling Green, Ohio are presented in this document. These hearings include statements of private citizens, State and Federal legislators (Ohio, Oregon, and Minnesota), and representatives from: (1) Southern Ohio and Kentucky United Farm Workers Organizing Committee; (2) La Raza…

Intensive grazing and maize silage to enhance the sustainability of small-scale dairy systems in the highlands of Mexico.

PubMed

Prospero-Bernal, Fernando; Martínez-García, Carlos Galdino; Olea-Pérez, Rafael; López-González, Felipe; Arriaga-Jordán, Carlos Manuel

2017-10-01

The effects of two innovative feeding strategies-intensive grazing (GR) and maize silage (MS)-on the sustainability of small-scale dairy systems (SSDS) were assessed in the highlands of central Mexico. On a total of 24 farms, four innovations were adopted between 2011 and 2014. Five farms continued their conventional feeding strategy (CC) of cut-and-carry pasture supplemented with commercial concentrate and ground corn grain, as well as straws (maize, oat, and wheat) in the dry season of feed scarcity; six farms implemented MS in the dry season; six farms GR of pastures; and seven farms implemented both GR and MS. Assessment in 2015 showed that farms which implemented both GR and MS had a higher local diversity score (P ≤ 0.001), higher scores for ethics and human development, and a higher score in economic independence (P ≤ 0.05) than farms that implemented only one of the innovations. The overall sustainability score (with range 0-100) was 46 for CC, 47 for MS, 52 for GR, and 55 for GR + MS. The innovations reduced feeding costs and enhanced sustainability, particularly when GR + MS were both implemented.

12 CFR 619.9020 - Agricultural credit banks.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-01-01

... 12 Banks and Banking 6 2011-01-01 2011-01-01 false Agricultural credit banks. 619.9020 Section 619.9020 Banks and Banking FARM CREDIT ADMINISTRATION FARM CREDIT SYSTEM DEFINITIONS § 619.9020 Agricultural credit banks. Agricultural credit banks are those banks created by the merger of a Farm Credit...

77 FR 37283 - General Provisions; Operating and Strategic Business Planning; Effective Date

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2012-06-21

... directors of each Farm Credit System institution to adopt an operational and strategic business plan to... FARM CREDIT ADMINISTRATION 12 CFR Part 618 RIN 3052-AC66 General Provisions; Operating and Strategic Business Planning; Effective Date AGENCY: Farm Credit Administration. ACTION: Notice of effective...

12 CFR 615.5173 - Stock of the Federal Agricultural Mortgage Corporation.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-01-01

... Corporation. 615.5173 Section 615.5173 Banks and Banking FARM CREDIT ADMINISTRATION FARM CREDIT SYSTEM FUNDING... Capital, and Other Investments § 615.5173 Stock of the Federal Agricultural Mortgage Corporation. Banks... the Federal Agricultural Mortgage Corporation pursuant to section 8.4 of the Farm Credit Act. [58 FR...

Brazilian Soybean Production: Emergy Analysis with an Expanded Scope

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ortega, Enrique; Cavalett, Otavio; Bonifacio, Robert; Watanabe, Marcos

2005-01-01

This article offers the results of emergy analysis used to evaluate four different soybean production systems in Brazil that were divided into two main categories: biological models (organic and ecological farms) and industrial models (green-revolution chemical farms and herbicide with no-tillage farms). The biological models show better…

The economics of potential reduction of the rural road system in Kansas : technical summary.

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2011-11-01

The increasing size of farms in Kansas has led to increasing farm vehicle size as well. Tractor and combine weight and width has increased and the majority of farmers deliver their grain in semi-trucks. Tandem axle trucks are used to deliver farm sup...

12 CFR 615.5462 - Restrictive endorsement of bearer securities.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-01-01

.... 615.5462 Section 615.5462 Banks and Banking FARM CREDIT ADMINISTRATION FARM CREDIT SYSTEM FUNDING AND FISCAL AFFAIRS, LOAN POLICIES AND OPERATIONS, AND FUNDING OPERATIONS Book-Entry Procedures for Farm... restrictive endorsement shall be placed thereon in substantially the same manner and with the same effects as...

12 CFR 615.5462 - Restrictive endorsement of bearer securities.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-01-01

.... 615.5462 Section 615.5462 Banks and Banking FARM CREDIT ADMINISTRATION FARM CREDIT SYSTEM FUNDING AND FISCAL AFFAIRS, LOAN POLICIES AND OPERATIONS, AND FUNDING OPERATIONS Book-Entry Procedures for Farm... restrictive endorsement shall be placed thereon in substantially the same manner and with the same effects as...

12 CFR 615.5462 - Restrictive endorsement of bearer securities.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-01-01

.... 615.5462 Section 615.5462 Banks and Banking FARM CREDIT ADMINISTRATION FARM CREDIT SYSTEM FUNDING AND FISCAL AFFAIRS, LOAN POLICIES AND OPERATIONS, AND FUNDING OPERATIONS Book-Entry Procedures for Farm... restrictive endorsement shall be placed thereon in substantially the same manner and with the same effects as...

12 CFR 615.5462 - Restrictive endorsement of bearer securities.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-01-01

.... 615.5462 Section 615.5462 Banks and Banking FARM CREDIT ADMINISTRATION FARM CREDIT SYSTEM FUNDING AND FISCAL AFFAIRS, LOAN POLICIES AND OPERATIONS, AND FUNDING OPERATIONS Book-Entry Procedures for Farm... restrictive endorsement shall be placed thereon in substantially the same manner and with the same effects as...

12 CFR 615.5462 - Restrictive endorsement of bearer securities.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-01-01

.... 615.5462 Section 615.5462 Banks and Banking FARM CREDIT ADMINISTRATION FARM CREDIT SYSTEM FUNDING AND FISCAL AFFAIRS, LOAN POLICIES AND OPERATIONS, AND FUNDING OPERATIONS Book-Entry Procedures for Farm... restrictive endorsement shall be placed thereon in substantially the same manner and with the same effects as...

An Inventory and Use Analysis of Information Systems on Small Farms in Pennsylvania

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Adams, Jean S.

2007-01-01

Across the United States, today's farm operators face continuing challenges from global competition, increasing production costs, changing technology, increased regulations, scarce resources, and lower profit margins. To face these challenges, farm operators need to gather and utilize information allowing them to make informed decisions. Several…

Evaluating the mitigation of greenhouse gas emissions and adaptation in dairy production.

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Process-level modeling at the farm scale provides a tool for evaluating strategies for both mitigating greenhouse gas emissions and adapting to climate change. The Integrated Farm System Model (IFSM) simulates representative crop, beef or dairy farms over many years of weather to predict performance...

12 CFR 620.10 - Preparing the quarterly report.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-01-01

... 12 Banks and Banking 6 2011-01-01 2011-01-01 false Preparing the quarterly report. 620.10 Section 620.10 Banks and Banking FARM CREDIT ADMINISTRATION FARM CREDIT SYSTEM DISCLOSURE TO SHAREHOLDERS... must: (1) Prepare and send, to the Farm Credit Administration, an electronic copy of its quarterly...

Farms and Learning Partnerships in Farming Systems Projects: A Response to the Challenges of Complexity in Agricultural Innovation

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Crawford, Anne; Nettle, Ruth; Paine, Mark; Kabore, Carolyn

2007-01-01

Managing the competing interests of productivity growth, environmental concerns, landscape change and societal expectations presents challenges for agricultural industries. Innovation projects supporting knowledge development to address these challenges often involve partnerships with commercial farms, a methodology which promises much but has…

Economic and phosphorus-related effects of precision feeding and forage management at a farm scale

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

A system-level redesign of farm management is needed to maintain economic viability of the farm while addressing phosphorous imbalance problems caused by many current practices. One innovative strategy, precision feed management (PFM), reduces soil-phosphorus build-up by limiting feed and fertilizer...

Economic assessments of potato production systems in Maine

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Using an integrated enterprise and whole-farm budget model for a 324-ha medium-sized potato farm, the profitability of potatoes grown in combination with fifteen common potato rotation crops in Maine are evaluated. Enterprise budgets for all sixteen crops are calculated while a whole-farm budget syn...

Exploring Extension Involvement in Farm to School Program Activities

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Benson, Matthew C.

2014-01-01

The study reported here examined Extension professionals' involvement in farm-to-school program activities. Results of an online survey distributed to eight state Extension systems indicate that on average, Extension professionals are involved with one farm to school program activity, with most supporting school or community garden programs.…

12 CFR 613.3200 - International lending.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-01-01

... 12 Banks and Banking 6 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false International lending. 613.3200 Section 613.3200 Banks and Banking FARM CREDIT ADMINISTRATION FARM CREDIT SYSTEM ELIGIBILITY AND SCOPE OF FINANCING Financing for Banks Operating Under Title III of the Farm Credit Act § 613.3200 International lending. (a...

12 CFR 619.9020 - Agricultural credit banks.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-01-01

... 12 Banks and Banking 6 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Agricultural credit banks. 619.9020 Section 619.9020 Banks and Banking FARM CREDIT ADMINISTRATION FARM CREDIT SYSTEM DEFINITIONS § 619.9020 Agricultural credit banks. Agricultural credit banks are those banks created by the merger of a Farm Credit...

Consumer Choice between Food Safety and Food Quality: The Case of Farm-Raised Atlantic Salmon

PubMed Central

Haghiri, Morteza

2016-01-01

Since the food incidence of polychlorinated biphenyls in farm-raised Atlantic salmon, its market demand has drastically changed as a result of consumers mistrust in both the quality and safety of the product. Policymakers have been trying to find ways to ensure consumers that farm-raised Atlantic salmon is safe. One of the suggested policies is the implementation of integrated traceability methods and quality control systems. This article examines consumer choice between food safety and food quality to purchase certified farm-raised Atlantic salmon, defined as a product that has passed through various stages of traceability systems in the province of Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada. PMID:28231118

Lunar Farming: Achieving Maximum Yield for the Exploration of Space

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Salisbury, Frank B.

1991-01-01

A look at what it might be like on a lunar farm in the year 2020 is provided from the point of view of the farmer. Of necessity, the farm would be a Controlled Ecological (or Environment) Life-Support System (CELSS) or a bioregenerative life-support system. Topics covered in the imaginary trip through the farm are the light, water, gasses, crops, the medium used for plantings, and the required engineering. The CELSS is designed with four functioning parts: (1) A plant-production facility with higher plants and algae; (2) food technology kitchens; (3) waste processing and recycling facilities; and (4) control systems. In many cases there is not yet enough information to be sure about matters discussed, but the exercise in imagination pinpoints a number of areas that still need considerable research to resolve the problems perceived.

Dairy farm cost efficiency in leading milk-producing regions in Poland.

PubMed

Sobczyński, T; Klepacka, A M; Revoredo-Giha, C; Florkowski, W J

2015-12-01

This paper examines the cost efficiency of dairy farms in 2 important regions of commercial milk production in Poland (i.e., Wielkopolskie and Podlaskie). Both regions gained importance following the market-driven resource allocation mechanism adopted after Poland's transition to the market economy in 1989 and accession to the European Union (EU) in 2004. The elimination of the dairy quota system in the EU in 2015 offers new expansion opportunities. The analysis of trends in cow numbers, milk production, and yield per cow shows different patterns of expansion of the dairy sector in the 2 regions. We selected dairy farm data from the Farm Accounts Data Network database for both regions and applied the cost frontier estimation model to calculate the relative cost-efficiency index for the period 2004 to 2009. The indexes compare each farm in the sample to the most efficient dairy farm in each region separately. Additionally, the top 5% of dairy farms with the highest relative cost efficiency index from each region were compared in terms of production costs with published results from a study using the representative farm approach. The comparison of results from 2 different studies permits a conclusion that Wielkopolskie and Podlaskie dairy farms are able to compete with farms from the 4 largest milk-producing countries in the EU. Although both regions can improve yields per cow, especially Podlaskie, both regions are likely to take advantage of the expansion opportunities offered by the 2015 termination of the milk quota system. Copyright © 2015 American Dairy Science Association. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

78 FR 25740 - Meridian Energy USA, Inc. v. California Independent System Operator Corporation; Notice of Filing

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2013-05-02

... Energy USA, Inc. v. California Independent System Operator Corporation; Notice of Filing Take notice that... Appendix Y of the California Independent System Operator Corp. (CAISO) tariff to defer the second posting of Interconnection Financial Security for the Jacobs Canal Solar Farm, Laurel West Solar Farm, and...

Designing Albaha Internet of Farming Architecture

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Alahmadi, A.

2017-04-01

Up to now, most farmers in Albaha, Saudi Arabia are still practicing traditional way, which is not optimized in term of water usage, quality of product, etc. At the same time, nowadays ICT becomes a key driver for Innovation in Farming. In this project, we propose a smart Internet of farming system to assist farmers in Albaha to optimize their farm productivity by providing accurate information to the farmers the right time prediction to harvest, to fertilize, to watering and other activities related to the farming/agriculture technology. The proposed system utilizes wireless sensor cloud to capture remotely important data such as temperature, humidity, soil condition (moisture, water level), etc., and then they are sent to a storage servers at Albaha University cloud. An adaptive knowledge engine will process the captured data into knowledge and the farmers can retrieve the knowledge using their smartphones via the Internet.

Occurrence of Eimeria Species Parasites on Small-Scale Commercial Chicken Farms in Africa and Indication of Economic Profitability

PubMed Central

Fornace, Kimberly M.; Clark, Emily L.; Macdonald, Sarah E.; Namangala, Boniface; Karimuribo, Esron; Awuni, Joseph A.; Thieme, Olaf; Blake, Damer P.; Rushton, Jonathan

2013-01-01

Small-scale commercial poultry production is emerging as an important form of livestock production in Africa, providing sources of income and animal protein to many poor households, yet the occurrence and impact of coccidiosis on this relatively new production system remains unknown. The primary objective of this study was to examine Eimeria parasite occurrence on small-scale commercial poultry farms in Ghana, Tanzania and Zambia. Additionally, farm economic viability was measured by calculating the farm gross margin and enterprise budget. Using these economic measures as global assessments of farm productivity, encompassing the diversity present in regional husbandry systems with a measure of fundamental local relevance, we investigated the detection of specific Eimeria species as indicators of farm profitability. Faecal samples and data on production parameters were collected from small-scale (less than 2,000 birds per batch) intensive broiler and layer farms in peri-urban Ghana, Tanzania and Zambia. All seven Eimeria species recognised to infect the chicken were detected in each country. Furthermore, two of the three genetic variants (operational taxonomic units) identified previously in Australia have been described outside of Australia for the first time. Detection of the most pathogenic Eimeria species associated with decreased farm profitability and may be considered as an indicator of likely farm performance. While a causal link remains to be demonstrated, the presence of highly pathogenic enteric parasites may pose a threat to profitable, sustainable small-scale poultry enterprises in Africa. PMID:24391923

Occurrence of Eimeria species parasites on small-scale commercial chicken farms in Africa and indication of economic profitability.

PubMed

Fornace, Kimberly M; Clark, Emily L; Macdonald, Sarah E; Namangala, Boniface; Karimuribo, Esron; Awuni, Joseph A; Thieme, Olaf; Blake, Damer P; Rushton, Jonathan

2013-01-01

Small-scale commercial poultry production is emerging as an important form of livestock production in Africa, providing sources of income and animal protein to many poor households, yet the occurrence and impact of coccidiosis on this relatively new production system remains unknown. The primary objective of this study was to examine Eimeria parasite occurrence on small-scale commercial poultry farms in Ghana, Tanzania and Zambia. Additionally, farm economic viability was measured by calculating the farm gross margin and enterprise budget. Using these economic measures as global assessments of farm productivity, encompassing the diversity present in regional husbandry systems with a measure of fundamental local relevance, we investigated the detection of specific Eimeria species as indicators of farm profitability. Faecal samples and data on production parameters were collected from small-scale (less than 2,000 birds per batch) intensive broiler and layer farms in peri-urban Ghana, Tanzania and Zambia. All seven Eimeria species recognised to infect the chicken were detected in each country. Furthermore, two of the three genetic variants (operational taxonomic units) identified previously in Australia have been described outside of Australia for the first time. Detection of the most pathogenic Eimeria species associated with decreased farm profitability and may be considered as an indicator of likely farm performance. While a causal link remains to be demonstrated, the presence of highly pathogenic enteric parasites may pose a threat to profitable, sustainable small-scale poultry enterprises in Africa.

Effect of different agronomic management practices on greenhouse gas emissions and nutrient cycling in a long-term field trial

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Koal, Philipp; Schilling, Rolf; Gerl, Georg; Pritsch, Karin; Munch, Jean Charles

2015-04-01

In order to achieve a reduction of greenhouse gas emissions, modern agronomic management practices need to be established. Therefore, to assess the effect of different farming practices on greenhouse gas emissions, reliable data are required. The experiment covers and compares two main aspects of agricultural management for a better implementation of sustainable land use. The focus lies on the determination and interpretation of greenhouse gas emissions, however, regarding in each case a different agricultural management system, namely an organic farming system and an integrated farming system where the effect of diverse tillage systems and fertilisation practices are observed. In addition, with analysis of the alterable biological, physical and chemical soil properties a link between the impact of different management systems on greenhouse gas emissions and the observed cycle of matter in the soil, especially the nitrogen and carbon cycle, will be enabled. Measurements have been carried out on long-term field trials at the Research Farm Scheyern located in a Tertiary hilly landscape approximately 40 km north of Munich (South Germany). The long-term field trials of the organic and integrated farming system were started in 1992. Since then parcels of land (each around 0.2-0.4 ha) with a particular interior plot set-up have been conducted with the same crop rotation, tillage and fertilisation practice referring to organic and integrated farming management. Thus, the management impacts on the soil of more than 20 years are being examined. Fluxes of CH4, N2O and CO2 have been monitored since 2007 for the integrated farming system trial and since 2012 for the organic farming system trial using an automated system which consists of chambers (0.4 m2 area) with a motor-driven lid, an automated gas sampling unit, an on-line gas chromatographic analysis system, and a control and data logging unit. Precipitation and temperature data have been observed for each experimental field to include weather effects. The main outcomes are the analysis of temporal and spatial dynamics of greenhouse gas emissions influenced by management practice events (i.a. fertilisation, crop incorporation and tillage) and weather effects (drying-rewetting, freezing-thawing, intense rainfall and dry periods) and the creation of impact studies comparing the farming systems (organic vs integrated) and the management practices (minimum tillage vs conventional tillage; high vs low fertilisation). Physical, chemical and biological soil properties (i.a. texture, mineral nitrogen, soil organic carbon and microbial biomass) have been examined in short time intervals to aggregate the parameters and processes influencing the greenhouse gas emissions and to build a linkage between soil organic matter and greenhouse gas emissions. Moreover, with the comparison of the investigated similar long-term field experiments and the collected agronomic data (harvest, tillage and fertilisation practices) the study could contribute to a contemporary set of "best management practices" and could provide a help to create decision tools for stakeholders such as farmers.

Assessing carbon footprints of dairy production systems

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

The farm-gate carbon footprint of milk quantifies the net greenhouse gas emissions of a dairy production system. Published values vary widely depending upon farm management practices and the calculation method used. Standard procedures for calculating the carbon footprint of milk are now established...

Dermanyssus gallinae in layer farms in Kosovo: a high risk for Salmonella prevalence.

PubMed

Hamidi, Afrim; Sherifi, Kurtesh; Muji, Skender; Behluli, Behlul; Latifi, Fatgzim; Robaj, Avni; Postoli, Rezart; Hess, Claudia; Hess, Michael; Sparagano, Olivier

2011-07-15

The poultry red mite (PRM), Dermanyssus gallinae (D.g.) is a serious ectoparasitic pest of poultry and potential pathogen vector. The prevalence of D. g. and the prevalence of Salmonella spp. within mites on infested laying poultry farms were investigated in Kosovo. In total, 14 populated layer farms located in the Southern Kosovo were assessed for D. g. presence. Another two farms in this region were investigated 6 months after depopulation. Investigated flocks were all maintained in cages, a common housing system in Kosovo. A total of eight farms were found to be infested with D. g. (50%) at varying levels, including the two depopulated farms. The detection of Salmonella spp. from D. g. was carried out using PCR. Out of the eight layer farms infested with D. g., Salmonella spp. was present in mites on three farms (37.5%). This study confirms the high prevalence of D. g. in layer flocks in Kosovo and demonstrates the link between this mite and the presence of Salmonella spp. on infested farms.

Land Use Change on Coffee Farms in Southern Guatemala and its Environmental Consequences

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Haggar, Jeremy; Medina, Byron; Aguilar, Rosa Maria; Munoz, Claudia

2013-04-01

Changes in commodity prices, such as the fall in coffee prices from 2000 to 2004, affect land use decisions on farms, and the environmental services they provide. A survey of 50 farms showed a 35 % loss in the area under coffee between 2000 and 2004 below 700 m with the majority of this area (64 %) being coffee agroforest systems that included native forest species. Loss of coffee only occurred on large and medium-scale farms; there was no change in area on cooperatives. Coffee productivity declined below 1,100 m altitude for sun and Inga shade coffee, but only below 700 m altitude for agroforest coffee. Coffee productivity was 37-53 % lower under agroforests than other systems. Increases in rubber and pasture were related to low altitude large-scale farms, and bananas and timber plantations to mid-altitude farms. Average aboveground carbon stocks for coffee agroforests of 39 t C ha-1 was similar to rubber plantations, but one-third to one half that of natural forest and timber plantations, respectively. Coffee agroforests had the highest native tree diversity of the productive systems (7-12 species ha-1) but lower than natural forest (31 species ha-1). Conversion of coffee agroforest to other land uses always led to a reduction in the quality of habitat for native biodiversity, especially avian, but was concentrated among certain farm types. Sustaining coffee agroforests for biodiversity conservation would require targeted interventions such as direct payments or market incentives specifically for biodiversity.

Land use change on coffee farms in southern Guatemala and its environmental consequences.

PubMed

Haggar, Jeremy; Medina, Byron; Aguilar, Rosa Maria; Munoz, Claudia

2013-04-01

Changes in commodity prices, such as the fall in coffee prices from 2000 to 2004, affect land use decisions on farms, and the environmental services they provide. A survey of 50 farms showed a 35% loss in the area under coffee between 2000 and 2004 below 700 m with the majority of this area (64 %) being coffee agroforest systems that included native forest species. Loss of coffee only occurred on large and medium-scale farms; there was no change in area on cooperatives. Coffee productivity declined below 1,100 m altitude for sun and Inga shade coffee, but only below 700 m altitude for agroforest coffee. Coffee productivity was 37-53% lower under agroforests than other systems. Increases in rubber and pasture were related to low altitude large-scale farms, and bananas and timber plantations to mid-altitude farms. Average aboveground carbon stocks for coffee agroforests of 39 t C ha(-1) was similar to rubber plantations, but one-third to one half that of natural forest and timber plantations, respectively. Coffee agroforests had the highest native tree diversity of the productive systems (7-12 species ha(-1)) but lower than natural forest (31 species ha(-1)). Conversion of coffee agroforest to other land uses always led to a reduction in the quality of habitat for native biodiversity, especially avian, but was concentrated among certain farm types. Sustaining coffee agroforests for biodiversity conservation would require targeted interventions such as direct payments or market incentives specifically for biodiversity.

A Method for Semi-quantitative Assessment of Exposure to Pesticides of Applicators and Re-entry Workers: An Application in Three Farming Systems in Ethiopia.

PubMed

Negatu, Beyene; Vermeulen, Roel; Mekonnen, Yalemtshay; Kromhout, Hans

2016-07-01

To develop an inexpensive and easily adaptable semi-quantitative exposure assessment method to characterize exposure to pesticide in applicators and re-entry farmers and farm workers in Ethiopia. Two specific semi-quantitative exposure algorithms for pesticides applicators and re-entry workers were developed and applied to 601 farm workers employed in 3 distinctly different farming systems [small-scale irrigated, large-scale greenhouses (LSGH), and large-scale open (LSO)] in Ethiopia. The algorithm for applicators was based on exposure-modifying factors including application methods, farm layout (open or closed), pesticide mixing conditions, cleaning of spraying equipment, intensity of pesticide application per day, utilization of personal protective equipment (PPE), personal hygienic behavior, annual frequency of application, and duration of employment at the farm. The algorithm for re-entry work was based on an expert-based re-entry exposure intensity score, utilization of PPE, personal hygienic behavior, annual frequency of re-entry work, and duration of employment at the farm. The algorithms allowed estimation of daily, annual and cumulative lifetime exposure for applicators, and re-entry workers by farming system, by gender, and by age group. For all metrics, highest exposures occurred in LSGH for both applicators and female re-entry workers. For male re-entry workers, highest cumulative exposure occurred in LSO farms. Female re-entry workers appeared to be higher exposed on a daily or annual basis than male re-entry workers, but their cumulative exposures were similar due to the fact that on average males had longer tenure. Factors related to intensity of exposure (like application method and farm layout) were indicated as the main driving factors for estimated potential exposure. Use of personal protection, hygienic behavior, and duration of employment in surveyed farm workers contributed less to the contrast in exposure estimates. This study indicated that farmers' and farm workers' exposure to pesticides can be inexpensively characterized, ranked, and classified. Our method could be extended to assess exposure to specific active ingredients provided that detailed information on pesticides used is available. The resulting exposure estimates will consequently be used in occupational epidemiology studies in Ethiopia and other similar countries with few resources. © The Author 2016. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the British Occupational Hygiene Society.

Application of the Welfare Quality® assessment system on European beef bull farms.

PubMed

Kirchner, M K; Schulze Westerath, H; Knierim, U; Tessitore, E; Cozzi, G; Pfeiffer, C; Winckler, C

2014-05-01

Welfare concerns for intensive beef production have often been raised, but on-farm welfare assessment studies are rare. The aim of this study was to apply the Welfare Quality® (WQ) welfare assessment system for fattening cattle on beef bull farms to evaluate the state of welfare at the level of WQ measures and of aggregated scores, as well as overall classification. In addition, the purpose was to evaluate two ways of providing feedback information to the farmers with regard to possible welfare improvements on the farms. The study was conducted in Austria, Germany and Italy on a total of 63 beef bull farms with deep litter or cubicle-housing systems. Assessments were carried out 3 times (1 month and 7 months apart from the initial visit). In every country, farmers were assigned to two treatment groups (feedback from initial visit as written report, F, written feedback plus oral advice, FA) and a control group (C), which did not receive any feedback. At the criterion level, the highest average welfare scores were obtained from 'Absence of prolonged hunger' (94/100 points) followed by 'Absence of pain induced by management procedures' (88/100) and 'Comfort around resting' (77/100). Most welfare concerns related to the criteria 'Absence of disease' (40/100), 'Expression of social behaviour' (44/100) and 'Positive emotional state' (48/100), thus indicating room for improvements. Two-thirds of the farms achieved the 'Enhanced' level, about one-third was judged 'Acceptable' and only one farm 'Excellent'. After 6 months of monitoring period, there was no significant welfare improvement in both the treatment groups as compared with the control group. Reasons for the lack of effect may mainly be seen in the short monitoring period and a lack of external incentives. In conclusion, the WQ assessment system revealed areas for improvement, but longer term studies and investigations on alternative ways of transferring outcomes from on-farm welfare assessments to farmers should be carried out in future.

Do differences in food web structure between organic and conventional farms affect the ecosystem service of pest control?

PubMed

Macfadyen, Sarina; Gibson, Rachel; Polaszek, Andrew; Morris, Rebecca J; Craze, Paul G; Planqué, Robert; Symondson, William O C; Memmott, Jane

2009-03-01

While many studies have demonstrated that organic farms support greater levels of biodiversity, it is not known whether this translates into better provision of ecosystem services. Here we use a food-web approach to analyse the community structure and function at the whole-farm scale. Quantitative food webs from 10 replicate pairs of organic and conventional farms showed that organic farms have significantly more species at three trophic levels (plant, herbivore and parasitoid) and significantly different network structure. Herbivores on organic farms were attacked by more parasitoid species on organic farms than on conventional farms. However, differences in network structure did not translate into differences in robustness to simulated species loss and we found no difference in percentage parasitism (natural pest control) across a variety of host species. Furthermore, a manipulative field experiment demonstrated that the higher species richness of parasitoids on the organic farms did not increase mortality of a novel herbivore used to bioassay ecosystem service. The explanation for these differences is likely to include inherent differences in management strategies and landscape structure between the two farming systems.

Longitudinal Study of the Persistence of Antimicrobial-Resistant Campylobacter Strains in Distinct Swine Production Systems on Farms, at Slaughter, and in the Environment

PubMed Central

Quintana-Hayashi, Macarena P.

2012-01-01

The objectives of this study were to compare and characterize the prevalence of antimicrobial-resistant (AR) Campylobacter in conventional and antimicrobial-free (ABF) production systems on farms, at slaughter, and in the environment. Fecal and environmental samples were collected from ABF farms (pigs, 1,239; environment, 797) and conventional farms (pigs, 1,650; environment, 1,325). At slaughter, we collected samples from carcasses, including postevisceration swabs, postchill swabs, and mesenteric lymph nodes from ABF systems (postevisceration swabs, 182; postchill swabs, 199; mesenteric lymph nodes, 184) and conventional systems (postevisceration swabs, 272; postchill swabs, 271; mesenteric lymph nodes, 255) at separate processing facilities. We also sampled the processing plant environment, including truck and lairage floor swab samples (ABF, 115; conventional, 90). Overall, a total of 2,908 Campylobacter isolates, including Campylobacter coli (farm, 2,557, 99.8%; slaughter, 341, 98.3%) and Campylobacter jejuni (farm, 4, 0.2%; slaughter, 6, 1.7%), were isolated in the study. There was no significant difference in the prevalence of Campylobacter between ABF and conventionally raised pigs (farrowing, P = 0.20; nursery, P = 0.06; finishing, P = 0.24) and the environment (P = 0.37). At slaughter, Campylobacter was isolated from all of the stages, including postchill. The highest frequencies of resistance were exhibited against tetracycline (ABF, 48.2%; conventional, 88.3%). Ciprofloxacin-resistant C. coli isolates were observed in conventionally raised (17.1%) and ABF (1.2%) pigs (P = 0.11). Antimicrobial use data from conventional farms indicated significant associations between oxytetracycline use and tetracycline resistance in the nursery pigs (P = 0.01), between tiamulin exposure and azithromycin and erythromycin resistance in nursery (P < 0.01) and finishing (P < 0.01) pigs, and between enrofloxacin exposure and ciprofloxacin and nalidixic acid resistance in farrowing (P < 0.01) and nursery (P < 0.01) pigs. Identical antimicrobial resistance profiles were observed in the pigs and their environments on farms and at slaughter. In summary, our results highlight the persistence and dissemination of AR Campylobacter from farm to slaughter in ABF and conventionally raised pigs and their environments. PMID:22307299

Farm factors associated with the use of antibiotics in pig production.

PubMed

van der Fels-Klerx, H J; Puister-Jansen, L F; van Asselt, E D; Burgers, S L G E

2011-06-01

The aim of this study was to investigate farm-level economic and technical factors that are associated with the use of antibiotics on pig farms. Identification of such factors, like farm size and net farm result, may help to increase epidemiological knowledge and to specify farm advice and policy making to reduce inappropriate use of antibiotics. The study used over 300 farm-year records collected during 2004 to 2007 from pig farms in the Netherlands. Data included economic and technical factors as well as antibiotic administration. Data were statistically analyzed for factors associated with antibiotic use, both for fattening pig and sow farms (piglets only), separately. The response variable was the average number of daily dosages per average pig year. Statistical analysis was performed on 16 and 19 potential explanatory factors for the fattening pig and sow farms, respectively. The results showed that, both on the fattening pig and sow farms, the average use of antibiotics increased from 2004 to 2006, but decreased during 2007, but the effect of year was not significant (P > 0.05). Use of antibiotics varied between individual farms. Large farm repeatability for the use of antibiotics in the different years was found. Factors associated (P < 0.05) with the use of antibiotics included: farm system, number of pigs, and population density in the region of the farm (for sow farms only). As these factors are easy to collect and to register, they can be used to specify farm advice and investigation, as well as for policy making. The majority of the technical and economic factors were not significantly (P > 0.05) related to the on-farm use of antibiotics. Therefore, it is recommended to focus future research on the potential role of socioeconomic factors associated with antibiotic use on pig farms.

Treatment options for tank farms long-length contaminated equipment

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Josephson, W.S.

1995-10-16

This study evaluated a variety of treatment and disposal technologies for mixed waste (MW) meeting the following criteria: 1. Single-Shell and Double-Shell Tank System (tank farms) equipment and other debris; 2. length greater than 12 feet; and contaminated with listed MW from the tank farms. This waste stream, commonly referred to as tank farms long-length contaminated equipment (LLCE), poses a unique and costly set of challenges during all phases of the waste management lifecycle.

Fodder Resource Uses and Assessment of Nitrogen Flows on Livestock Farming with Crop Production

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shirahase, Kyoko; Kobayashi, Hisashi

With understanding the livestock farming on cattle breeding practiced increasing of self-production of fodders by the farmland's operation as “Livestock Farming with crop production”, we investigated the utilizations of actual fodder resources and farmland for two selected different types of livestock farming systems: “Multiple Type” which practices cattle raising with fodder cultivation, and “Grazing Type” which practices grazing and fodder cultivation with similar feed self-sufficiency rates. We also prepared and compared material and nitrogen flow of both livestock farming systems. The amount of nitrogen flow is clearly different between the two types though feed self-sufficiency rates are at similar level. Moreover, we defined “Internal Nitrogen Rate (INR)” which indicates the rate of internal nitrogen use to total nitrogen use in cattle raising, “Internal Nitrogen Circulation Rate (NCR)” which indicates the ratio of nitrogen amount in internal circulation to the nitrogen amount introduced from outside, and Nitrogen Outflow Potential (Op), which is the balance of nitrogen amount between input to farmlands and uptake by plants, and analyzed the balance of the amounts of nitrogen flows in both livestock farming type. It is suggested that “Grazing type”, which had the values of relatively high NCR and absolutely low Op, was the livestock farming type with high rates of nitrogen procurement from the interregional farming and low risk of nitrogen outflow.

The Growing Season, but Not the Farming System, Is a Food Safety Risk Determinant for Leafy Greens in the Mid-Atlantic Region of the United States

PubMed Central

Marine, Sasha C.; Pagadala, Sivaranjani; Wang, Fei; Pahl, Donna M.; Melendez, Meredith V.; Kline, Wesley L.; Oni, Ruth A.; Walsh, Christopher S.; Everts, Kathryne L.; Buchanan, Robert L.

2015-01-01

Small- and medium-size farms in the mid-Atlantic region of the United States use varied agricultural practices to produce leafy greens during spring and fall, but the impact of preharvest practices on food safety risk remains unclear. To assess farm-level risk factors, bacterial indicators, Salmonella enterica, and Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli (STEC) from 32 organic and conventional farms were analyzed. A total of 577 leafy greens, irrigation water, compost, field soil, and pond sediment samples were collected. Salmonella was recovered from 2.2% of leafy greens (n = 369) and 7.7% of sediment (n = 13) samples. There was an association between Salmonella recovery and growing season (fall versus spring) (P = 0.006) but not farming system (organic or conventional) (P = 0.920) or region (P = 0.991). No STEC was isolated. In all, 10% of samples were positive for E. coli: 6% of leafy greens, 18% of irrigation water, 10% of soil, 38% of sediment, and 27% of compost samples. Farming system was not a significant factor for levels of E. coli or aerobic mesophiles on leafy greens but was a significant factor for total coliforms (TC) (P < 0.001), with higher counts from organic farm samples. Growing season was a factor for aerobic mesophiles on leafy greens (P = 0.004), with higher levels in fall than in spring. Water source was a factor for all indicator bacteria (P < 0.001), and end-of-line groundwater had marginally higher TC counts than source samples (P = 0.059). Overall, the data suggest that seasonal events, weather conditions, and proximity of compost piles might be important factors contributing to microbial contamination on farms growing leafy greens. PMID:25616798

Coupling dairy manure storage with injection to improve nitrogen management: whole-farm simulation using the integrated farm system Model

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Application of livestock manure to farm soils represents a priority nutrient management concern in the Chesapeake Bay Watershed. Historically strong emphasis has been placed on adding manure storage to dairy operations, and, there has been recognition that manure application methods can be improved....

78 FR 13870 - Roberto Sella; Notice of Declaration of Intention and Soliciting Comments, Protests, and/or...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2013-03-01

... DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY Federal Energy Regulatory Commission [Docket No. DI13-3-000] Roberto Sella... 7, 2012. d. Applicant: Roberto Sella. e. Name of Project: Hydro-electric and Geothermal Alternative Energy System at Paper Hill Farm (Paper Hill Farm). f. Location: The proposed Paper Hill Farm project...

12 CFR 614.4600 - Insolvency of an OFI.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-01-01

... 12 Banks and Banking 6 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Insolvency of an OFI. 614.4600 Section 614.4600 Banks and Banking FARM CREDIT ADMINISTRATION FARM CREDIT SYSTEM LOAN POLICIES AND OPERATIONS Farm Credit Bank and Agricultural Credit Bank Financing of Other Financing Institutions § 614.4600 Insolvency of an...

Factors Influencing the Integration of Alternative Farm Enterprises into the Agro-Food System

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Barlas, Y.; Damianos, D.; Dimara, E.; Kasimis, C.; Skuras, D.

2001-01-01

Financial stress and general crisis in European agriculture recently have generated a widespread interest in alternative paths of farm business development and structural adjustment. One of the options suggested by policy makers and adopted by farmers was the development of alternative farm enterprises (AFEs), in which farmers recombine resources…

12 CFR 613.3005 - Lending objective.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-01-01

... 12 Banks and Banking 6 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Lending objective. 613.3005 Section 613.3005 Banks and Banking FARM CREDIT ADMINISTRATION FARM CREDIT SYSTEM ELIGIBILITY AND SCOPE OF FINANCING Financing Under Titles I and II of the Farm Credit Act § 613.3005 Lending objective. It is the objective of...

12 CFR 618.8430 - Internal controls.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-01-01

... 12 Banks and Banking 7 2012-01-01 2012-01-01 false Internal controls. 618.8430 Section 618.8430 Banks and Banking FARM CREDIT ADMINISTRATION FARM CREDIT SYSTEM GENERAL PROVISIONS Internal Controls § 618.8430 Internal controls. Each Farm Credit institution's board of directors must adopt an internal control policy, providing adequate direction to...

The use of hand-held 35 mm color infrared imagery for estimates of suspended solids - A progress report. [in water pollution monitoring

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Miller, W. F.; Whisler, F. D.; Robinette, H. R.; Finnie, D.; Cannon, T.

1975-01-01

A cost-effective aerial surveillance technique is proposed for detection and identification of suspended solids which would be operational for both governmental monitoring organizations and private individuals operating catfish farms. Sixteen catfish ponds were flown daily for seven days using two hand-held 35 mm cameras with both Kodachrome X and Ektachrome infrared film. Hue, value, and chroma designations were recorded for each pond on each date by three interpreters, and the accepted color was that recorded by at least two of the interpreters, or if there was a three hue range, the median was accepted. Relations between suspended solids and color designations were analyzed graphically, and chroma was discarded due to an apparent lack of correlation. The data obtained were then analyzed by multiple regression. Significant correlations were revealed between hue and value and total and inorganic suspended solids. If perfected, this technique could be developed to sufficent accuracy for large-scale reconnaissance surveys to monitor the quality of rivers and streams.

Evaluation of the sustainability of contrasted pig farming systems: development of a market conformity tool for pork products based on technological quality traits.

PubMed

Gonzàlez, J; Gispert, M; Gil, M; Hviid, M; Dourmad, J Y; de Greef, K H; Zimmer, C; Fàbrega, E

2014-12-01

A market conformity tool, based on technological meat quality parameters, was developed within the Q-PorkChains project, to be included in a global sustainability evaluation of pig farming systems. The specific objective of the market conformity tool was to define a scoring system based on the suitability of meat to elaborate the main pork products, according to their market shares based on industry requirements, in different pig farming systems. The tool was based on carcass and meat quality parameters that are commonly used for the assessment of technological quality, which provide representative and repeatable data and are easily measurable. They were the following: cold carcass weight; lean meat percentage; minimum subcutaneous back fat depth at m. gluteus medius level, 45 postmortem and ultimate pH (measured at 24-h postmortem) in m. longissimus lumborum and semimembranosus; meat colour; drip losses and intramuscular fat content in a m. longissimus sample. Five categories of pork products produced at large scale in Europe were considered in the study: fresh meat, cooked products, dry products, specialties and other meat products. For each of the studied farming systems, the technological meat quality requirements, as well as the market shares for each product category within farming system, were obtained from the literature and personal communications from experts. The tool resulted in an overall conformity score that enabled to discriminate among systems according to the degree of matching of the achieved carcass and meat quality with the requirements of the targeted market. In order to improve feasibility, the tool was simplified by selecting ultimate pH at m. longissimus or semimembranosus, minimum fat thickness measured at the left half carcass over m. gluteus medius and intramuscular fat content in a m. longissimus sample as iceberg indicators. The overall suitability scores calculated by using both the complete and the reduced tools presented good correlation and the results obtained were similar. The tool could be considered as robust enough to discriminate among different systems, since it was tested in a wide range of them. It also can be used to detect improvement opportunities to enhance sustainability of pig farming systems. The final objective of the study was achieved, since the market suitability tool could be used in an integrated sustainability analysis of pig farming systems.

Fish farming in land-based closed-containment systems

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

'An International Summit on Fish Farming in Land-Based Closed-Containment Systems' was hosted by the Conservation Fund's Freshwater Institute, the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation (GBMF), the Atlantic Salmon Federation (ASF), and Tides Canada (TC) at the National Conservation Training Center in She...

Limited irrigation research and infrared thermometry for detecting water stress

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

The USDA-ARS Limited Irrigation Research Farm, located outside of Greeley Colorado, is an experiment evaluating management perspectives of limited irrigation water. An overview of the farm systems is shown, including drip irrigation systems, water budgeting, and experimental design, as well as preli...

12 CFR 615.5215 - Distribution of earnings.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-01-01

....5215 Banks and Banking FARM CREDIT ADMINISTRATION FARM CREDIT SYSTEM FUNDING AND FISCAL AFFAIRS, LOAN POLICIES AND OPERATIONS, AND FUNDING OPERATIONS Capital Adequacy § 615.5215 Distribution of earnings. The boards of directors of System institutions may not reduce the permanent capital of the institution...

12 CFR 615.5355 - Purpose and scope.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-01-01

... Banks and Banking FARM CREDIT ADMINISTRATION FARM CREDIT SYSTEM FUNDING AND FISCAL AFFAIRS, LOAN POLICIES AND OPERATIONS, AND FUNDING OPERATIONS Issuance of a Capital Directive § 615.5355 Purpose and... improve management information and measurement systems; or (5) A combination of any of these or similar...

12 CFR 611.1217 - Plain language requirements.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-01-01

... 12 Banks and Banking 6 2011-01-01 2011-01-01 false Plain language requirements. 611.1217 Section 611.1217 Banks and Banking FARM CREDIT ADMINISTRATION FARM CREDIT SYSTEM ORGANIZATION Termination of System Institution Status § 611.1217 Plain language requirements. (a) Plain language presentation. All...

12 CFR 611.1217 - Plain language requirements.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-01-01

... 12 Banks and Banking 6 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Plain language requirements. 611.1217 Section 611.1217 Banks and Banking FARM CREDIT ADMINISTRATION FARM CREDIT SYSTEM ORGANIZATION Termination of System Institution Status § 611.1217 Plain language requirements. (a) Plain language presentation. All...

Green farming systems for the Southeast USA using manure-to-energy conversion platforms

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Livestock operations in the Southeastern USA are faced with implementing holistic solutions to address effective manure treatment through efficient energy management and safeguarding of supporting natural resources. By integrating waste-to-energy conversion platforms, future green farming systems ca...

75 FR 45600 - Information Collection; Customer Data Worksheet Request for Service Center Information Management...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2010-08-03

... DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE Farm Service Agency Information Collection; Customer Data Worksheet Request for Service Center Information Management System (SCIMS) Record Changes AGENCY: Farm Service... Customer Data Worksheet Request for Service Center Information Management System (SCIMS) that contains the...

Educational and Training Opportunities in Sustainable Agriculture. 5th Edition.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gates, Jane Potter

This directory lists 151 programs in alternative farming systems (systems that aim at maintaining agricultural productivity and profitability, while protecting natural resources, especially sustainable, low-input, regenerative, biodynamic or organic farming and gardening). It includes programs conducted by colleges and universities, research…

Estimating occupational illness, injury, and mortality in food production in the United States: A farm-to-table analysis

PubMed Central

Leon, Juan S.; Newman, Lee S.

2015-01-01

Objectives The study provides a novel model and more comprehensive estimates of the burden of occupational morbidity and mortality in food-related industries, using a farm-to-table approach. Methods The authors analyzed 2008–2010 US Bureau of Labor Statistics data for private industries in the different stages of the farm-to-table model (production; processing; distribution and storage; retail and preparation). Results The morbidity rate for food system industries were significantly higher than the morbidity rate for non-food system industries (Rate Ratio (RR)=1.62, 95% Confidence Interval (CI): 1.30–2.01). Furthermore, the occupational mortality rate for food system industries was significantly higher than the national non-food occupational mortality rate (RR=9.51, 95% CI: 2.47–36.58). Conclusions This is the first use of the farm-to-table model to assess occupational morbidity and mortality, and these findings highlighting specific workplace hazards across food system industries. PMID:25970031

Investment appraisal of automatic milking and conventional milking technologies in a pasture-based dairy system.

PubMed

Shortall, J; Shalloo, L; Foley, C; Sleator, R D; O'Brien, B

2016-09-01

The successful integration of automatic milking (AM) systems and grazing has resulted in AM becoming a feasible alternative to conventional milking (CM) in pasture-based systems. The objective of this study was to identify the profitability of AM in a pasture-based system, relative to CM herringbone parlors with 2 different levels of automation, across 2 farm sizes, over a 10-yr period following initial investment. The scenarios which were evaluated were (1) a medium farm milking 70 cows twice daily, with 1 AM unit, a 12-unit CM medium-specification (MS) parlor and a 12-unit CM high-specification (HS) parlor, and (2) a large farm milking 140 cows twice daily with 2 AM units, a 20-unit CM MS parlor and a 20-unit CM HS parlor. A stochastic whole-farm budgetary simulation model combined capital investment costs and annual labor and maintenance costs for each investment scenario, with each scenario evaluated using multiple financial metrics, such as annual net profit, annual net cash flow, total discounted net profitability, total discounted net cash flow, and return on investment. The capital required for each investment was financed from borrowings at an interest rate of 5% and repaid over 10-yr, whereas milking equipment and building infrastructure were depreciated over 10 and 20 yr, respectively. A supporting labor audit (conducted on both AM and CM farms) showed a 36% reduction in labor demand associated with AM. However, despite this reduction in labor, MS CM technologies consistently achieved greater profitability, irrespective of farm size. The AM system achieved intermediate profitability at medium farm size; it was 0.5% less profitable than HS technology at the large farm size. The difference in profitability was greatest in the years after the initial investment. This study indicated that although milking with AM was less profitable than MS technologies, it was competitive when compared with a CM parlor of similar technology. Copyright © 2016 American Dairy Science Association. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Dairy cows welfare quality in tie-stall housing system with or without access to exercise.

PubMed

Popescu, Silvana; Borda, Cristin; Diugan, Eva Andrea; Spinu, Marina; Groza, Ioan Stefan; Sandru, Carmen Dana

2013-06-01

Tie-stall housing of dairy cows is used extensively worldwide, despite of the welfare concerns regarding the restriction of voluntary movement and limitation of expression of the cows' natural behaviour. The aim of this study was to compare the welfare quality of dairy cows kept in two types of tie-stall housing systems: with regular outdoor exercise and without access to exercise. In addition, the study investigated the relationship between different welfare measures of dairy cows kept in tie-stalls. 3,192 lactating cows were assessed using the Welfare Quality® assessment protocol for cattle in 80 commercial dairy farms, half of the farms providing outdoor access for the animals to exercise. The descriptive statistical indicators were determined for the assessed measures and for the welfare criteria and principle scores. The data obtained in the two housing types were compared and the correlation coefficients were calculated between the different welfare measures. The significant differences found between the two housing systems for the majority of the animal based measures indicate the positive effect of exercise on the welfare of tethered cows. Many of the animal welfare parameters correlated with each other. For the farms allowing the cows' turnout in a paddock, pasture or both, the mean scores for the welfare criteria and principles were higher than for the farms with permanent tethering of the cows, except the criteria absence of prolonged hunger and expression of social behaviours. The lowest scores were obtained for the criterion positive emotional state, in both housing systems. With regard to the overall classification, none of the farms were considered excellent. In the not classified category were only farms with all-year-round tethering of the animals and in the enhanced category only farms where the cows had outdoor access. The welfare quality of the investigated dairy cows was significantly better in the tie-stall farms which allow exercise for cows (paddocks, pasture or both) than in those which do not. In the light of our results we consider that dairy cattle welfare is not necessarily poor in tie-stall housing systems, its quality depending on the management practices.

Dairy cows welfare quality in tie-stall housing system with or without access to exercise

PubMed Central

2013-01-01

Background Tie-stall housing of dairy cows is used extensively worldwide, despite of the welfare concerns regarding the restriction of voluntary movement and limitation of expression of the cows’ natural behaviour. The aim of this study was to compare the welfare quality of dairy cows kept in two types of tie-stall housing systems: with regular outdoor exercise and without access to exercise. In addition, the study investigated the relationship between different welfare measures of dairy cows kept in tie-stalls. Methods 3,192 lactating cows were assessed using the Welfare Quality® assessment protocol for cattle in 80 commercial dairy farms, half of the farms providing outdoor access for the animals to exercise. The descriptive statistical indicators were determined for the assessed measures and for the welfare criteria and principle scores. The data obtained in the two housing types were compared and the correlation coefficients were calculated between the different welfare measures. Results The significant differences found between the two housing systems for the majority of the animal based measures indicate the positive effect of exercise on the welfare of tethered cows. Many of the animal welfare parameters correlated with each other. For the farms allowing the cows’ turnout in a paddock, pasture or both, the mean scores for the welfare criteria and principles were higher than for the farms with permanent tethering of the cows, except the criteria absence of prolonged hunger and expression of social behaviours. The lowest scores were obtained for the criterion positive emotional state, in both housing systems. With regard to the overall classification, none of the farms were considered excellent. In the not classified category were only farms with all-year-round tethering of the animals and in the enhanced category only farms where the cows had outdoor access. Conclusions The welfare quality of the investigated dairy cows was significantly better in the tie-stall farms which allow exercise for cows (paddocks, pasture or both) than in those which do not. In the light of our results we consider that dairy cattle welfare is not necessarily poor in tie-stall housing systems, its quality depending on the management practices. PMID:23724804

Effect of farming system on donkey milk composition.

PubMed

Valle, Emanuela; Pozzo, Luisa; Giribaldi, Marzia; Bergero, Domenico; Gennero, Maria Silvia; Dezzutto, Daniela; McLean, Amy; Borreani, Giorgio; Coppa, Mauro; Cavallarin, Laura

2018-05-01

Donkey milk is considered as a functional food for sensitive consumers, such as children who are allergic to cow milk. No information is available regarding the effect of farming systems on the quality of donkey milk. The present study aimed to evaluate the effect of the farming system and lactation stage on donkey milk with respect to gross composition, as well as fat-soluble vitamins and fatty acids (FA). Individual milk samples were collected from lactating jennies (n = 53) on the six of the largest farms located in North West Italy. The performance of lactating jennies, herd characteristics and feeding strategies were recorded at each milk sampling. The gross composition of the milk, along with the fat-soluble vitamin content, differed in accordance with the farming system. The lactation stage had limited effects on milk quality. A higher milk fat content corresponded to a higher amount of fresh herbage proportion in the diet, with the highest polyunsaturated fatty acid (PUFA), C18:1c9, C18:3n-3, n-3 FA, retinol and α-tocopherol content and the lowest concentrations of the FA that are less favorable for human health in the milk of animals fed on only forage diets. Extensive farming of dairy donkeys increased the fat content and fat-soluble vitamin concentration of milk and also altered the FA composition to a more favorable profile for human nutrition. © 2017 Society of Chemical Industry. © 2017 Society of Chemical Industry.

Professional transitions towards sustainable farming systems: The development of farmers' professional worlds.

PubMed

Coquil, Xavier; Dedieu, Benoît; Béguin, Pascal

2017-01-01

While farming in France and generally in Europe is continuing to intensify, at the expense of its environmental sustainability, promising alternatives are emerging. The processes whereby farmers change and transform their own work, to shift from an intensive mode of production to a self-sufficient and autonomous one, need to be formalized if we are to further our understanding of why and how these forms of sustainable farming activity emerge. We use the development of professional worlds theory, a systemic representation of workers' activity, whereby their experience is formalized. This can be explained as the praxis1, conceptual and axiological underpinnings form a system with the object of the action. The development of a professional world is analyzed according to the evolution of its components and the search for pragmatic coherence within it. We analyzed professional transitions towards self-sufficient and autonomous mixed farming through a case study. Our findings showed that the transition is initiated by the discovery of the unthinkable, awareness of a discrepancy between what the farmers think and what they do, the appearance of problems, and the response to external constraints. Professional transition is a non-teleological and non-incremental process; it corresponds to a comparison with reality, and a resolution of difficulties. This process is stimulated by the use of artifacts instrumented by the farmers. New perspectives are opened up by this formalization of transitions, in terms of (i) support towards sustainable farming and (ii) the design of sustainable farming systems.

Project Turnover Deliverables for the SY Farm Enraf Annulus Leak Detectors

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

SCAIEF, C.C.

2000-09-19

This document identifies the deliverables that ensure the end user of the SY Farm Enraf Annulus Leak Detectors (ALD) has all the documentation and training required for operating and maintaining the new system. All deliverable items checked on the Acceptance For Beneficial Use (ABU) form have been completed and are available to the end user. This document was written as required by HNF-IP-0842, Volume IV section 3.12 Acceptance of Structures, Systems, and Components for Beneficial Use. This document applies to the deliverable documentation required to operate and maintain the SY Farm Enraf ALD System. Appendix A provides a copy ofmore » the ABU form as listed in the appendix of TWR-4092, Engineering Task Plan for the New SY Farm Annulus Leak Detectors. This document attests that all required deliverable items checked on the ABU have been completed and are available to the end user.« less

Assessment of the risk of salmonellosis from internally contaminated shell eggs following initial storage at 18 °C (65 °F), compared with 7 °C (45 °F).

PubMed

Pouillot, R; Hoelzer, K; Ramirez, G A; deGraft-Hanson, J; Dennis, S B

2014-10-01

In the U.S., chicken-breeder farms that supply hatcheries typically store and transport eggs intended for broiler production at a temperature of 18.3 °C (65 °F). However, in case of surplus, some of these eggs may be diverted to human consumption. According to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's 'Egg Safety Final Rule,' shell eggs intended for human consumption are required to be held or transported at or below 7.2 °C (45 °F) ambient temperature beginning 36 h after time of lay. We adapted a risk assessment model developed by the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Food Safety Inspection Service, to quantify human exposure to Salmonella Enteritidis and the risk of human salmonellosis if eggs are held and transported at 18.3 °C for up to 5.5 days after time of lay, as has been observed when hatchery eggs are diverted to human consumption, rather than held and transported at 7.2 °C within 36 h after time of lay. Storage at 18.3 °C leads to considerable bacterial growth in internally contaminated eggs. The model predicted that more than 10% of internally contaminated eggs would remain contaminated after in-shell pasteurization resulting in a 5-log10 reduction, and that some bacteria would survive after home-cooking. The model predicted that, alternatively, eggs stored at 7.2 °C after lay would have limited bacterial growth prior to pasteurization, and Salmonella would be very unlikely to be present after pasteurization. The predicted risk of salmonellosis from the consumption of eggs held and transported at 18.3 °C and subsequently diverted to human consumption is 25 times higher than the risk when eggs are held and transported at 7.2 °C. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

A stochastic frontier approach to study the relationship between gastrointestinal nematode infections and technical efficiency of dairy farms.

PubMed

van der Voort, Mariska; Van Meensel, Jef; Lauwers, Ludwig; Vercruysse, Jozef; Van Huylenbroeck, Guido; Charlier, Johannes

2014-01-01

The impact of gastrointestinal (GI) nematode infections in dairy farming has traditionally been assessed using partial productivity indicators. But such approaches ignore the impact of infection on the performance of the whole farm. In this study, efficiency analysis was used to study the association of the GI nematode Ostertagia ostertagi on the technical efficiency of dairy farms. Five years of accountancy data were linked to GI nematode infection data gained from a longitudinal parasitic monitoring campaign. The level of exposure to GI nematodes was based on bulk-tank milk ELISA tests, which measure the antibodies to O. ostertagi and was expressed as an optical density ratio (ODR). Two unbalanced data panels were created for the period 2006 to 2010. The first data panel contained 198 observations from the Belgian Farm Accountancy Data Network (Brussels, Belgium) and the second contained 622 observations from the Boerenbond Flemish farmers' union (Leuven, Belgium) accountancy system (Tiber Farm Accounting System). We used the stochastic frontier analysis approach and defined inefficiency effect models specified with the Cobb-Douglas and transcendental logarithmic (Translog) functional form. To assess the efficiency scores, milk production was considered as the main output variable. Six input variables were used: concentrates, roughage, pasture, number of dairy cows, animal health costs, and labor. The ODR of each individual farm served as an explanatory variable of inefficiency. An increase in the level of exposure to GI nematodes was associated with a decrease in technical efficiency. Exposure to GI nematodes constrains the productivity of pasture, health, and labor but does not cause inefficiency in the use of concentrates, roughage, and dairy cows. Lowering the level of infection in the interquartile range (0.271 ODR) was associated with an average milk production increase of 27, 19, and 9L/cow per year for Farm Accountancy Data Network farms and 63, 49, and 23L/cow per year for Tiber Farm Accounting System farms in the low- (0-90), medium- (90-95), and high- (95-99) efficiency score groups, respectively. The potential milk increase associated with reducing the level of infection was higher for highly efficient farms (6.7% of the total possible milk increase when becoming fully technically efficient) than for less efficient farms (3.8% of the total possible milk increase when becoming fully technically efficient). Copyright © 2014 American Dairy Science Association. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Ammonia emission model for whole farm evaluation of dairy production systems.

PubMed

Rotz, C Alan; Montes, Felipe; Hafner, Sasha D; Heber, Albert J; Grant, Richard H

2014-07-01

Ammonia (NH) emissions vary considerably among farms as influenced by climate and management. Because emission measurement is difficult and expensive, process-based models provide an alternative for estimating whole farm emissions. A model that simulates the processes of NH formation, speciation, aqueous-gas partitioning, and mass transfer was developed and incorporated in a whole farm simulation model (the Integrated Farm System Model). Farm sources included manure on the floor of the housing facility, manure in storage (if used), field-applied manure, and deposits on pasture (if grazing is used). In a comprehensive evaluation of the model, simulated daily, seasonal, and annual emissions compared well with data measured over 2 yr for five free stall barns and two manure storages on dairy farms in the eastern United States. In a further comparison with published data, simulated and measured barn emissions were similar over differing barn designs, protein feeding levels, and seasons of the year. Simulated emissions from manure storage were also highly correlated with published emission data across locations, seasons, and different storage covers. For field applied manure, the range in simulated annual emissions normally bounded reported mean values for different manure dry matter contents and application methods. Emissions from pastures measured in northern Europe across seasons and fertilization levels were also represented well by the model. After this evaluation, simulations of a representative dairy farm in Pennsylvania illustrated the effects of animal housing and manure management on whole farm emissions and their interactions with greenhouse gas emissions, nitrate leaching, production costs, and farm profitability. Copyright © by the American Society of Agronomy, Crop Science Society of America, and Soil Science Society of America, Inc.

Intensive Farming: Evolutionary Implications for Parasites and Pathogens

PubMed Central

Nilsen, Frank; Ebert, Dieter; Skorping, Arne

2010-01-01

An increasing number of scientists have recently raised concerns about the threat posed by human intervention on the evolution of parasites and disease agents. New parasites (including pathogens) keep emerging and parasites which previously were considered to be ‘under control’ are re-emerging, sometimes in highly virulent forms. This re-emergence may be parasite evolution, driven by human activity, including ecological changes related to modern agricultural practices. Intensive farming creates conditions for parasite growth and transmission drastically different from what parasites experience in wild host populations and may therefore alter selection on various traits, such as life-history traits and virulence. Although recent epidemic outbreaks highlight the risks associated with intensive farming practices, most work has focused on reducing the short-term economic losses imposed by parasites, such as application of chemotherapy. Most of the research on parasite evolution has been conducted using laboratory model systems, often unrelated to economically important systems. Here, we review the possible evolutionary consequences of intensive farming by relating current knowledge of the evolution of parasite life-history and virulence with specific conditions experienced by parasites on farms. We show that intensive farming practices are likely to select for fast-growing, early-transmitted, and hence probably more virulent parasites. As an illustration, we consider the case of the fish farming industry, a branch of intensive farming which has dramatically expanded recently and present evidence that supports the idea that intensive farming conditions increase parasite virulence. We suggest that more studies should focus on the impact of intensive farming on parasite evolution in order to build currently lacking, but necessary bridges between academia and decision-makers. PMID:21151485

Economic efficiency analysis of different strategies to control post-weaning multi-systemic wasting syndrome and porcine circovirus type 2 subclinical infection in 3-weekly batch system farms

PubMed Central

Alarcon, Pablo; Rushton, Jonathan; Nathues, Heiko; Wieland, Barbara

2013-01-01

The study assessed the economic efficiency of different strategies for the control of post-weaning multi-systemic wasting syndrome (PMWS) and porcine circovirus type 2 subclinical infection (PCV2SI), which have a major economic impact on the pig farming industry worldwide. The control strategies investigated consisted on the combination of up to 5 different control measures. The control measures considered were: (1) PCV2 vaccination of piglets (vac); (2) ensuring age adjusted diet for growers (diets); (3) reduction of stocking density (stock); (4) improvement of biosecurity measures (bios); and (5) total depopulation and repopulation of the farm for the elimination of other major pathogens (DPRP). A model was developed to simulate 5 years production of a pig farm with a 3-weekly batch system and with 100 sows. A PMWS/PCV2SI disease and economic model, based on PMWS severity scores, was linked to the production model in order to assess disease losses. This PMWS severity scores depends on the combination post-weaning mortality, PMWS morbidity in younger pigs and proportion of PCV2 infected pigs observed on farms. The economic analysis investigated eleven different farm scenarios, depending on the number of risk factors present before the intervention. For each strategy, an investment appraisal assessed the extra costs and benefits of reducing a given PMWS severity score to the average score of a slightly affected farm. The net present value obtained for each strategy was then multiplied by the corresponding probability of success to obtain an expected value. A stochastic simulation was performed to account for uncertainty and variability. For moderately affected farms PCV2 vaccination alone was the most cost-efficient strategy, but for highly affected farms it was either PCV2 vaccination alone or in combination with biosecurity measures, with the marginal profitability between ‘vac’ and ‘vac + bios’ being small. Other strategies such as ‘diets’, ‘vac + diets’ and ‘bios + diets’ were frequently identified as the second or third best strategy. The mean expected values of the best strategy for a moderately and a highly affected farm were £14,739 and £57,648 after 5 years, respectively. This is the first study to compare economic efficiency of control strategies for PMWS and PCV2SI. The results demonstrate the economic value of PCV2 vaccination, and highlight that on highly affected farms biosecurity measures are required to achieve optimal profitability. The model developed has potential as a farm-level decision support tool for the control of this economically important syndrome. PMID:23375866

Perspectives from the Third International Summit on Medical Nutrition Education and Research

PubMed Central

Crowley, Jennifer Jean; Laur, Celia; Carter, Harrison David Edward; Jones, Glenys; Ray, Sumantra

2018-01-01

Nutrition is an important component of public health and health care, including in education and research, and in the areas of policy and practice. This statement was the overarching message during the third annual International Summit on Medical Nutrition Education and Research, held at Wolfson College, University of Cambridge, United Kingdom, in August 2017. This summit encouraged attendees to think more broadly about the impact of nutrition policy on health and communities, including the need to visualize the complete food system from “pre-farm to post-fork.” Evidence of health issues related to food and nutrition were presented, including the need for translation of knowledge into policy and practice. Methods for this translation included the use of implementation and behavior change techniques, recognizing the needs of health-care professionals, policy makers, and the public. In all areas of nutrition and health, clear and effective messages, supported by open data, information, and actionable knowledge, are also needed along with strong measures of impact centered on an ultimate goal: to improve nutritional health and wellbeing for patients and the public. PMID:29629367

Perspectives from the Third International Summit on Medical Nutrition Education and Research.

PubMed

Crowley, Jennifer Jean; Laur, Celia; Carter, Harrison David Edward; Jones, Glenys; Ray, Sumantra

2018-01-01

Nutrition is an important component of public health and health care, including in education and research, and in the areas of policy and practice. This statement was the overarching message during the third annual International Summit on Medical Nutrition Education and Research, held at Wolfson College, University of Cambridge, United Kingdom, in August 2017. This summit encouraged attendees to think more broadly about the impact of nutrition policy on health and communities, including the need to visualize the complete food system from "pre-farm to post-fork." Evidence of health issues related to food and nutrition were presented, including the need for translation of knowledge into policy and practice. Methods for this translation included the use of implementation and behavior change techniques, recognizing the needs of health-care professionals, policy makers, and the public. In all areas of nutrition and health, clear and effective messages, supported by open data, information, and actionable knowledge, are also needed along with strong measures of impact centered on an ultimate goal: to improve nutritional health and wellbeing for patients and the public.

12 CFR 1402.15 - Business information.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-01-01

... 12 Banks and Banking 9 2012-01-01 2012-01-01 false Business information. 1402.15 Section 1402.15... of the Farm Credit System Insurance Corporation § 1402.15 Business information. (a) Business information provided to the Farm Credit System Insurance Corporation by a business submitter shall not be...

12 CFR 1402.15 - Business information.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-01-01

... 12 Banks and Banking 10 2014-01-01 2014-01-01 false Business information. 1402.15 Section 1402.15... of the Farm Credit System Insurance Corporation § 1402.15 Business information. (a) Business information provided to the Farm Credit System Insurance Corporation by a business submitter shall not be...

12 CFR 1402.15 - Business information.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-01-01

... 12 Banks and Banking 7 2011-01-01 2011-01-01 false Business information. 1402.15 Section 1402.15... of the Farm Credit System Insurance Corporation § 1402.15 Business information. (a) Business information provided to the Farm Credit System Insurance Corporation by a business submitter shall not be...

12 CFR 1402.15 - Business information.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-01-01

... 12 Banks and Banking 9 2013-01-01 2013-01-01 false Business information. 1402.15 Section 1402.15... of the Farm Credit System Insurance Corporation § 1402.15 Business information. (a) Business information provided to the Farm Credit System Insurance Corporation by a business submitter shall not be...

12 CFR 618.8015 - Policy guidelines.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-01-01

... 12 Banks and Banking 6 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Policy guidelines. 618.8015 Section 618.8015 Banks and Banking FARM CREDIT ADMINISTRATION FARM CREDIT SYSTEM GENERAL PROVISIONS Related Services § 618.8015 Policy guidelines. (a) The board of directors of each System bank or association providing...

12 CFR 615.5450 - Definitions.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-01-01

... AND OPERATIONS, AND FUNDING OPERATIONS Book-Entry Procedures for Farm Credit Securities § 615.5450... the claimant for another person to hold, transfer, or deal with the security. (b) Book-entry security means a Farm Credit security issued or maintained in the Book-entry System. (c) Book-entry System means...

Soil health improvement in an organic orchard production system in Northwest Missouri

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Prairie Birthday Farm (PBF), a diversified, organic enterprise on the loess hill landscape in northwestern Missouri, was previously managed as a conventional corn-soybean production system. Transition to organic farming began in 1995 and included soil organic matter restoration with native prairie e...

12 CFR 1403.2 - Definitions.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-01-01

...) Individual means a citizen of the United States or an alien lawfully admitted for permanent residence; (c... Banking FARM CREDIT SYSTEM INSURANCE CORPORATION PRIVACY ACT REGULATIONS § 1403.2 Definitions. For the purposes of this part: (a) Agency means the Farm Credit System Insurance Corporation. It does not include...

Rice production systems and avian influenza: Interactions between mixed-farming systems, poultry and wild birds

USGS Publications Warehouse

Muzaffar, S.B.; Takekawa, John Y.; Prosser, D.J.; Newman, S.H.; Xiao, X.

2010-01-01

Wild waterfowl are the reservoir for avian influenza viruses (AIVs), a family of RNA viruses that may cause mild sickness in waterbirds. Emergence of H5N1, a highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) strain, causing severe disease and mortality in wild birds, poultry and humans, had raised concerns about the role of wild birds in possible transmission of the disease. In this review, the link between rice production systems, poultry production systems, and wild bird ecology is examined to assess the extent to which these interactions could contribute towards the persistence and evolution of HPAI H5N1. The rice (Oryza sativa) and poultry production systems in Asia described, and then migration and movements of wild birds discussed. Mixed farming systems in Asia and wild bird movement and migration patterns create opportunities for the persistence of low pathogenic AIVs in these systems. Nonetheless, there is no evidence of long-term persistence of HPAI viruses (including the H5N1 subtype) in the wild. There are still significant gaps in the understanding of how AIVs circulate in rice systems. A better understanding of persistence of AIVs in rice farms, particularly of poultry origins, is essential in limiting exchange of AIVs between mixed-farming systems, poultry and wild birds.

Distributed Offline Data Reconstruction in BaBar

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Pulliam, Teela M

The BaBar experiment at SLAC is in its fourth year of running. The data processing system has been continuously evolving to meet the challenges of higher luminosity running and the increasing bulk of data to re-process each year. To meet these goals a two-pass processing architecture has been adopted, where 'rolling calibrations' are quickly calculated on a small fraction of the events in the first pass and the bulk data reconstruction done in the second. This allows for quick detector feedback in the first pass and allows for the parallelization of the second pass over two or more separate farms.more » This two-pass system allows also for distribution of processing farms off-site. The first such site has been setup at INFN Padova. The challenges met here were many. The software was ported to a full Linux-based, commodity hardware system. The raw dataset, 90 TB, was imported from SLAC utilizing a 155 Mbps network link. A system for quality control and export of the processed data back to SLAC was developed. Between SLAC and Padova we are currently running three pass-one farms, with 32 CPUs each, and nine pass-two farms with 64 to 80 CPUs each. The pass-two farms can process between 2 and 4 million events per day. Details about the implementation and performance of the system will be presented.« less

Priority regions for research on dryland cereals and legumes

PubMed Central

Hyman, Glenn; Barona, Elizabeth; Biradar, Chandrashekhar; Guevara, Edward; Dixon, John; Beebe, Steve; Castano, Silvia Elena; Alabi, Tunrayo; Gumma, Murali Krishna; Sivasankar, Shoba; Rivera, Ovidio; Espinosa, Herlin; Cardona, Jorge

2016-01-01

Dryland cereals and legumes  are important crops in farming systems across the world.  Yet they are frequently neglected among the priorities for international agricultural research and development, often due to lack of information on their magnitude and extent. Given what we know about the global distribution of dryland cereals and legumes, what regions should be high priority for research and development to improve livelihoods and food security? This research evaluated the geographic dimensions of these crops and the farming systems where they are found worldwide. The study employed geographic information science and data to assess the key farming systems and regions for these crops. Dryland cereal and legume crops should be given high priority in 18 farming systems worldwide, where their cultivated area comprises more than 160 million ha. These regions include the dryer areas of South Asia, West and East Africa, the Middle East and North Africa, Central America and other parts of Asia. These regions are prone to drought and heat stress, have limiting soil constraints, make up half of the global population and account for 60 percent of the global poor and malnourished. The dryland cereal and legume crops and farming systems merit more research and development attention to improve productivity and address development problems. This project developed an open access dataset and information resource that provides the basis for future analysis of the geographic dimensions of dryland cereals and legumes. PMID:27303632

Altitude effects on technology and productivity of small bovine farms (milk meat) in Veracruz (Gulf of Mexico).

PubMed

Ruíz-Guevara, C; De León-González, F; Soriano-Robles, R; Pérez-Carrera, A L; García-Hernández, L A

2018-03-01

The dual-purpose bovine system represents 98.4% of the bovine livestock of Veracruz, the main cattle-producing state of Mexico. This system supplies calves to meat companies, a sector in which Veracruz has been the national leader in the last decade. The objective of the present study was to analyze the effect of the altitudinal zonation of farms on livestock technology and productivity in a microbasin of the Gulf of Mexico where small farms predominate. Structured interviews were applied to producers located in three altitudinal zones (at average altitudes of 50, 140, and 450 m, respectively, for lower, middle, and upper zones). Sample size was 135 farms having similar land surface (within a range of 15-22 ha). The results indicated multiple differences among farms located in the three zones. Farms in the middle and lower zones presented higher productive indicators than those in the upper zone. Differences in herd structure and management resulted in important differences in productivity, income, and profits in milk and calf production. We concluded from this study that altitudinal zonation in Veracruz had a clear effect on the differentiation of small farms, which are representative of dual-purpose cattle. The upper zone performs cattle activity under conditions with greater disadvantages in the analyzed region.

Soil health indicators: A case study with smallholder coffee farmers in Uganda

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mentler, Axel; Pohl, Walther; Okalany, Emmanuel; Probst, Lorenz; Zechmeister-Boltenstern, Sophie; Schomakers, Jasmin

2013-04-01

The study aims to determine soil health indicators of 46 coffee smallholder farmers in the area of Mbale, Mount Elgon region (1200m ~ 1900m) in the southeast of Uganda. Forty of these farmers are working under an organic farmers association and are certified. They are compared to six conventional coffee production systems. The organic farms are agroforestry systems, whereas the conventional coffee farms have nearly no shading trees. Topsoil and subsoil samples, in a depth of 0-20 and 20-40 cm were collected from each farm and analyzed. The following parameters were determined: pH (H2O), electric conductivity (EC), organic matter (OM), dissolved organic carbon (DOC), nitrate (NO3), phosphate (PO4) , sulfate (SO4) carbonate, dissolved total nitrogen (TN), plant available phosphorus (PO4 CAL), plant available potassium (K CAL) and cation exchange capacity (CEC). These parameters were used as indicators for soil health. A set of 33 quantitative and qualitative indicators was exclusively developed for coffee farmers to best describe a functioning ecosystem through social, economic and ecological indicators. These ecosystem-indicators were assessed through a questionnaire, carried out parallel to the soil sampling and further transformed into a scoring matrix where a scoring system from 0 to 100 points was used to normalize the collected data. There is a significant difference between the soil health indicators of organic and conventional coffee producers. The soil samples of conventional farms show higher pH values than those of organic farming systems referring to high turnover rates of the organic material. DOC release is on average higher in organic production systems. A major difference in the system is the higher plant available phosphate content, as well as a higher CEC in organic systems, which is due to the high organic matter input. The soil health indicator systems allowed to differentiate and to evaluate organic farms. Outlook Through the different management system of organic farmers they are able to create an ecofriendly environment and benefit through higher biological biodiversity in the farm ecosystem. The approach of agro-ecosystem health and soil health highlights the challenges of farmers in certain regions and can support certification schemes and therefore assist as a planning tool for regional development.

The impact of broiler production system practices on consumer perceptions of animal welfare.

PubMed

de Jonge, Janneke; van Trijp, Hans C M

2013-12-01

This research explores the extent to which different farm management practices influence the perceived animal friendliness of broiler production systems, and how this differs between individuals. Using a conjoint design with paired comparisons, respondents evaluated broiler production systems that were described on the basis of 7 animal welfare-related practices. It was found that practices in the area of outdoor access, stocking density, and day-night rhythm were overall perceived to have a larger impact on perceptions of animal friendliness than other practices, such as transport duration or the type of breed used. However, individuals differed regarding the extent to which they believed the different farm management practices influenced the animal friendliness of the production system. Differences between individuals regarding their knowledge about and familiarity with livestock farming, degree of anthropomorphism, and their moral beliefs regarding animal welfare partly explained the relative importance individuals attached to farm management practices. The obtained insight into which welfare-related farm management practices, in consumers' minds, most strongly contribute to animal welfare, and the existence of differences between consumers, can be helpful in the development of animal welfare-based certification schemes that are appealing to consumers, as well as the positioning of welfare concepts in the market.

Biological exhaust air treatment systems as a potential microbial risk for farm animals assessed with a computer simulation.

PubMed

Seedorf, Jens

2013-09-01

Livestock operations are under increasing pressure to fulfil minimum environmental requirements and avoid polluting the atmosphere. In regions with high farm animal densities, new farm buildings receive building permission only when biological exhaust air treatment systems (BEATS) are in place, such as biofilters. However, it is currently unknown whether BEATS can harbour pathogens such as zoonotic agents, which are potentially emitted via the purified gas. Because BEATS are located very close to the livestock building, it is assumed that BEATS-related microorganisms are aerially transported to farm animals via the inlet system of the ventilation system. To support this hypothesis, a computer simulation was applied to calculate the wind field around a facility consisting of a virtual livestock house and an adjacent biofilter. Under the chosen wind conditions (speed and direction), it can be shown that turbulences and eddies may occur in the near surrounding of a livestock building with an adjacent biofilter. Consequently, this might cause the entry of the released biofilter's purified gas into the barn, including possible microorganisms within this purified gas. If field investigations verify the results of the simulations, counter-measures must be taken to ensure biosecurity on farms with BEATS. © 2013 Society of Chemical Industry.

Spatial organization of agricultural landscape, farming activities and hydrological risk assessment

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Viaud, V.; Merot, P.

2003-04-01

Agriculture intensification is considered as a major cause of water pollution since it has gone both with an increasing use of fertilisers and significant changes in land-use patterns. Among the prescriptions for pollution control, the management of buffer zones at the landscape scale is supported by the environmental policies, but often without consideration of the systems of human activities they are aimed at. Agricultural landscapes, with fields potentially source of pollution and buffer zones, are spatially organized and managed by farming activities. In a perspective of sustainable management, an integrating approach of environmental issues and farming activities is thus required. This approach was applied to bocage landscapes (landscapes with cultivated fields surrounded by hedgerow systems) in Brittany (Western France). Bocage landscapes are frequently encountered, especially in Europe, and many studies put forward their hydrological and hydrochemical buffer functions. Those results provide informations on the link between spatial organization of hedgerow systems and their environmental effectiveness. They enable to design models of functional bocage landscapes. The objective of this work was to pick out, among those theoretical models, the models compatible with the farming activities. The results will be presented and the additional constraints for the farming systems created by a functional landscape, from a hydrological and hydrochemical perspective, will be discussed.

Prevalence of lameness and leg lesions of lactating dairy cows housed in southern Brazil: Effects of housing systems.

PubMed

Costa, Joao H C; Burnett, Tracy A; von Keyserlingk, Marina A G; Hötzel, Maria J

2018-03-01

Within the last few decades, the North American and European dairy industries have been collecting information about lameness and leg injury prevalence on dairy farms and have tried to develop solutions to mitigate these ailments. Few published articles report the prevalence of lameness and leg lesions in areas outside of those 2 regions, or how alternative housing systems, such as compost-bedded packs, affect the prevalence of these maladies. The objectives of this study were to compare the prevalence of lameness and leg lesions on confined dairies that used freestall, compost-bedded packs, or a combination of these 2 systems in Brazil. Data were collected in the autumn and winter of 2016 from 50 dairy farms located in Paraná state, including 12 compost-bedded pack dairies (CB), 23 freestall dairies (FS), and 15 freestall dairies that used compost-bedded packs for vulnerable cows (FS+C). A visit to the farm consisted of a management questionnaire, an inspection of the housing areas as well as the milking parlor, and an evaluation of all lactating cows as they exited the parlor for lameness (score 1-5), hygiene (score 0-2), body condition score (score 1-5), and hock and knee lesions (score 0-1). Median 1-way chi-squared test was used to compare production systems. We found no difference between farm types in management practices related to hoof health management or average daily milk production per cow [31 (29-33.9) kg/d; median (quartile 1-3)], percentage of Holstein cattle in the herd [100% (90-100%)], conception rate [35.8% (30.2-38%)], or pregnancy rate [15% (13.7-18%)]. The CB farms were smaller [85 (49.5-146.5) milking cows] than both the FS [270 (178-327.5) milking cows] and FS+C farms [360 (150-541.5) milking cows). The overall prevalence of severe lameness (score 4 and 5) across all farms was 21.2% (15.2-28.5%) but was lower on the CB farms [14.2% (8.45-15.5%)] in comparison to the FS [22.2% (16.8-26.7%)] and the FS+C farms [22.2% (17.4-32.8%)]. Less than 1% of all cows scored on CB farms were observed with swollen or wounded knees (or both), which was lower than either the FS or FS+C farms [7.4% (3.6-11.9%) and 6.4% (2.6-11.8%) of all cows scored, respectively]. The same pattern was found for hock lesions, where the farm-level prevalence within the 3 different housing types was 0.5% (0-0.9%), 9.9% (0.8-15.3%), and 5.7% (2.6-10.9%) for CB, FS, and FS+C farms, respectively. No differences between farm systems were observed for hygiene or body condition score. On average, 2.7% (0.8-10.9%) of lactating cows had a soiled side, 15.4% (2.1-37.4%) had dirty legs and 1.7% (0-9.3%) had dirty udders. The average herd-level body condition score across farms was 2.9 (2.9-3), with 0.86% of the all cows scored having a body condition score <2.5. These results indicate that lameness prevalence on confined dairies in Brazil is high and highlight the need for remedial changes in environmental design and management practices. We found that CB farms in this region had reduced lameness and lesions in relation to FS or FS+C dairies. Copyright © 2018 American Dairy Science Association. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Progress of solar technology and potential farm uses

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Heid, W. G., Jr.; Trotter, W. K.

1982-09-01

The efficient use of solar energy on farms for space heating and cooling of livestock buildings, drying crops, and heating farm homes is discussed. Low cost, homemade solar collectors, having multiple uses and a payback of less than 5 years, are the most popular systems. In contrast, most commercially produced systems are still too expensive for agricultural uses, partly because they fail to qualify for tax credits as large as those allowed for residential uses. The solar industry has shown little interest in marketing the low cost technologies specifically developed for agriculture.

Customized recommendations for production management clusters of North American automatic milking systems.

PubMed

Tremblay, Marlène; Hess, Justin P; Christenson, Brock M; McIntyre, Kolby K; Smink, Ben; van der Kamp, Arjen J; de Jong, Lisanne G; Döpfer, Dörte

2016-07-01

Automatic milking systems (AMS) are implemented in a variety of situations and environments. Consequently, there is a need to characterize individual farming practices and regional challenges to streamline management advice and objectives for producers. Benchmarking is often used in the dairy industry to compare farms by computing percentile ranks of the production values of groups of farms. Grouping for conventional benchmarking is commonly limited to the use of a few factors such as farms' geographic region or breed of cattle. We hypothesized that herds' production data and management information could be clustered in a meaningful way using cluster analysis and that this clustering approach would yield better peer groups of farms than benchmarking methods based on criteria such as country, region, breed, or breed and region. By applying mixed latent-class model-based cluster analysis to 529 North American AMS dairy farms with respect to 18 significant risk factors, 6 clusters were identified. Each cluster (i.e., peer group) represented unique management styles, challenges, and production patterns. When compared with peer groups based on criteria similar to the conventional benchmarking standards, the 6 clusters better predicted milk produced (kilograms) per robot per day. Each cluster represented a unique management and production pattern that requires specialized advice. For example, cluster 1 farms were those that recently installed AMS robots, whereas cluster 3 farms (the most northern farms) fed high amounts of concentrates through the robot to compensate for low-energy feed in the bunk. In addition to general recommendations for farms within a cluster, individual farms can generate their own specific goals by comparing themselves to farms within their cluster. This is very comparable to benchmarking but adds the specific characteristics of the peer group, resulting in better farm management advice. The improvement that cluster analysis allows for is characterized by the multivariable approach and the fact that comparisons between production units can be accomplished within a cluster and between clusters as a choice. Copyright © 2016 American Dairy Science Association. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Short communication: Determination of Salmonella clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats (CRISPR) diversity on dairy farms in Wisconsin and Minnesota.

PubMed

Wehnes, C A; Rehberger, T G; Barrangou, R; Smith, A H

2014-10-01

Salmonella enterica ssp. enterica is a foodborne pathogen able to cause disease in both humans and animals. Diverse serovars of this pathogen exist, some of which are host specific, causing a range of clinical symptoms from asymptomatic infection through morbidity and mortality. According to a 2007 survey by the USDA National Animal Health Monitoring System, fecal shedding of Salmonella from healthy cows occurs on 39.7% of dairy farms in the United States. Certain serovars are frequently isolated from dairy farms and the majority of isolates from the National Animal Health Monitoring System study were represented by 5 serovars; however, genotypic diversity was not examined. The objective of this study was to determine the diversity of clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats (CRISPR) loci in Salmonella collected from 8 dairy farms with a previous history of salmonellosis. None of the cows or calves sampled on 2 of the 8 dairy farms were shedding Salmonella, although Salmonella was detected in a cow bedding sample on 1 of these farms. Salmonella populations were discrete on each farm, according to CRISPR typing, with the exception of an Anatum var. 15+ type on farms 5 and 6 and the Montevideo type on farms 1 and 2. One to 4 distinct CRISPR genotypes were identified per farm. The CRISPR typing differed within serovars, as Montevideo, Anatum var. 15+, and Muenster serovars had no overlap of spacer content, even on the same farm, reflecting between- and within-serovar genetic diversity. The dynamic nature of Salmonella populations was shown in a farm that was sampled longitudinally over 13.5 mo. Changes in serovar from 3,19:-:z27 to Montevideo was observed between the first sampling time and 8 mo later, with concomitant change in CRISPR alleles. The results indicate that Salmonella strains present in smaller dairy herds (<500 head) are specific to that farm and new Salmonella strains may emerge over time. Copyright © 2014 American Dairy Science Association. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

76 FR 53362 - Approval of Farm Credit System Lending Institutions in FHA Mortgage Insurance Programs

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2011-08-26

... rates, and provide financial services and advice to those persons and businesses. Federal oversight by... Agricultural Credit Associations that, in turn, provide short-, intermediate-, and long-term credit to farmers... financial strength of all of the Farm Credit banks stands behind the debt issued on behalf of the Farm...

The Restructuring of Southern Agriculture: Data Needs for Economic and Policy Research.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Skees, Jerry R.; Reed, Michael R.

The changing structure of Southern farming amid the pressures of the farm crisis produces an information gap that has forced policymakers to rely on trial and error in institutional design. Existing data systems monitoring the farm sector either use the county as the primary observation unit, or they survey different individual farmers each year.…

Projecting carbon footprint of Canadian dairy farms under future climate conditions with the integrated farm system model

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Dairy farms are an important sector of Canadian agriculture, and there is an on-going effort to assess their environmental impact. In Canada, like many northern areas of the world, climate change is expected to increase agricultural productivity. This will likely come along with changes in environme...

Farm Business Management Analysis. Unit I: Establishing a Farm Accounting System. Revised. Volume 25, Number 3.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Riley, Jim

The lessons in this unit are designed primarily for Missouri vocational agriculture instructors participating in the Farm Business Management Analysis program. Each of the 10 lessons in the unit is a self-contained instructional package and includes material for monthly classroom sessions for young and adult farmers and for individualized…

Reducing psychological distress and obesity in Australian farmers by promoting physical activity

PubMed Central

2011-01-01

Background Studies have confirmed that the rate of mental illness is no higher in rural Australians than that of urban Australians. However, the rate of poor mental health outcomes, and in particular suicide, is significantly raised in rural populations. This is thought to be due to lack of early diagnosis, health service access, the distance-decay effect, poor physical health determinants and access to firearms. Research conducted by the National Centre for Farmer Health between 2004 and 2009 reveals that there is a correlation between obesity and psychological distress among the farming community where suicide rates are recognised as high. Chronic stress overstimulates the regulation of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis that is associated with abdominal obesity. Increasing physical activity may block negative thoughts, increase social contact, positively influence brain chemistry and improve both physical and mental health. This paper describes the design of the Farming Fit study that aims to identify the effect of physical activity on psychological distress, obesity and health behaviours such as diet patterns and smoking in farm men and women. Methods/Design For this quasi-experimental (convenience sample) control-intervention study, overweight (Body Mass Index ≥25 kg/m2) farm men and women will be recruited from Sustainable Farm Families™ (SFF) programs held across Victoria, Australia. Baseline demographic data, health data, depression anxiety stress scale (DASS) scores, dietary information, physical activity data, anthropometric data, blood pressure and biochemical analysis of plasma and salivary cortisol levels will be collected. The intervention group will receive an exercise program and regular phone coaching in order to increase their physical activity. Analysis will evaluate the impact of the intervention by longitudinal data (baseline and post intervention) comparison of intervention and control groups. Discussion This study is designed to examine the effect of physical activity on psychological health and other co-morbidities such as obesity, impaired glucose tolerance, hypertension and dyslipidaemia within a high-risk cohort. The outcomes of this research will be relevant to further research and service delivery programs, in particular those tailored to rural communities. Trial registration ACTRN12610000827033 PMID:21600058

Reducing psychological distress and obesity in Australian farmers by promoting physical activity.

PubMed

Brumby, Susan; Chandrasekara, Ananda; McCoombe, Scott; Torres, Susan; Kremer, Peter; Lewandowski, Paul

2011-05-23

Studies have confirmed that the rate of mental illness is no higher in rural Australians than that of urban Australians. However, the rate of poor mental health outcomes, and in particular suicide, is significantly raised in rural populations. This is thought to be due to lack of early diagnosis, health service access, the distance-decay effect, poor physical health determinants and access to firearms. Research conducted by the National Centre for Farmer Health between 2004 and 2009 reveals that there is a correlation between obesity and psychological distress among the farming community where suicide rates are recognised as high. Chronic stress overstimulates the regulation of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis that is associated with abdominal obesity. Increasing physical activity may block negative thoughts, increase social contact, positively influence brain chemistry and improve both physical and mental health. This paper describes the design of the Farming Fit study that aims to identify the effect of physical activity on psychological distress, obesity and health behaviours such as diet patterns and smoking in farm men and women. For this quasi-experimental (convenience sample) control-intervention study, overweight (Body Mass Index ≥25 kg/m(2)) farm men and women will be recruited from Sustainable Farm Families™ (SFF) programs held across Victoria, Australia. Baseline demographic data, health data, depression anxiety stress scale (DASS) scores, dietary information, physical activity data, anthropometric data, blood pressure and biochemical analysis of plasma and salivary cortisol levels will be collected. The intervention group will receive an exercise program and regular phone coaching in order to increase their physical activity. Analysis will evaluate the impact of the intervention by longitudinal data (baseline and post intervention) comparison of intervention and control groups. This study is designed to examine the effect of physical activity on psychological health and other co-morbidities such as obesity, impaired glucose tolerance, hypertension and dyslipidaemia within a high-risk cohort. The outcomes of this research will be relevant to further research and service delivery programs, in particular those tailored to rural communities. ACTRN12610000827033.

Species-specific patterns of aggregation of wild fish around fish farms

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dempster, T.; Sanchez-Jerez, P.; Uglem, I.; Bjørn, P.-A.

2010-01-01

Fish-farming structures are widespread in coastal waters and are highly attractive to wild fish. Several studies have estimated that tons to tens of tons of wild fish aggregate around fish farms. These estimates assumed that the majority of wild fish are concentrated immediately beneath farms, although this assumption has never been explicitly tested. We tested the hypothesis that abundances of wild fish would be greatest immediately beneath farms and progressively diminish with distance at 4 full-scale coastal salmon ( Salmo salar) farms in Norway. At each farm, fish were counted with a video-camera system at 5 different distances from the cages (farm = 0 m, 25, 50, 100 and 200 m) throughout the water column on three separate days. Combined across all locations and times, the total abundance of wild fish was 20 times greater at the farm than at the 200 m sampling distance. Saithe ( Pollachius virens) dominated assemblages at all 4 farms and were consistently significantly more abundant at the farm than at the 25-200 m distances. This 'tight aggregation' around farms corresponds to the reliance of saithe on waste feed when they school near farms. In contrast, patterns of distribution of both cod ( Gadus morhua) and poor cod ( Trisopterus minutus) varied among farms, with either highest abundances at the farm or a more even distribution of abundance across all 5 distances sampled. No specific pattern of aggregation was evident for the bottom-dwelling haddock ( Melanogrammus aeglefinus). Our results suggest that the present 100 m no-fishing zone around salmon farms protects the greatest proportion of farm-aggregated saithe and cod from fishing during the daytime. However, whether this reduces their overall susceptibility to fishing requires further research regarding nighttime distribution and movements.

Molecular farming on the rise--GMO regulators still walking a tightrope.

PubMed

Spök, Armin

2007-02-01

Recent increases in EU commercial and academic activities in molecular farming, and the proximity to market-stage of the first plant-made pharmaceuticals, represent a call to action for EU regulators. Drawing on the North American debate on molecular farming, it will be argued that both the rationale and the risks of molecular farming will differ significantly from those of first generation GM crops. Based on these differences, the suitability of the existing regulatory frameworks, which were developed in response to the arrival of earlier products, is discussed, and specific options for adapting the already complex EU regulatory system to cater for molecular farming are examined.

Thresholds of whole-blood β-hydroxybutyrate and glucose concentrations measured with an electronic hand-held device to identify ovine hyperketonemia.

PubMed

Pichler, M; Damberger, A; Schwendenwein, I; Gasteiner, J; Drillich, M; Iwersen, M

2014-03-01

Metabolic disorders, especially hyperketonemia, are very common in dairy sheep. The whole-blood concentrations of β-hydroxybutyrate (BHBA) and glucose can be determined by commercially available electronic hand-held devices, which are used in human medicine and for the detection of ketosis in dairy cows. The aim of this study was to evaluate the suitability of the hand-held device Precision Xceed (PX; Abbott Diabetes Care Inc., Abbott Park, IL) to detect hyperketonemia in ewes. An additional objective of this study was to evaluate the agreement between samples obtained by minimal invasive venipuncture of an ear vein and measurements of whole-blood samples from the jugular vein (vena jugularis, v. jug.). Blood samples taken from the v. jug. were collected from 358 ewes on 4 different farms. These samples and a blood drop obtained from an ear vein were analyzed simultaneously on farm with the PX. For method comparison, the samples obtained from the v. jug. were also analyzed by standard methods, which served as the gold standard at the Central Laboratory of the University of Veterinary Medicine Vienna, Austria. The correlation coefficients between the serum BHBA concentration and the concentrations measured with the hand-held meter in the whole blood from an ear vein and the v. jug. were 0.94 and 0.96, respectively. The correlation coefficients of plasma and whole-blood glucose concentration were 0.68 for the v. jug. and 0.47 for the ear vein. The mean glucose concentration was significantly lower in animals classified as hyperketonemic (BHBA ≥ 1.6 mmol/L) compared with healthy ewes. Whole-blood concentrations of BHBA and glucose measured with the PX from v. jug. showed a constant negative bias of 0.15 mmol/L and 8.4 mg/dL, respectively. Hence, a receiver operating characteristic analysis was performed to determine thresholds for the PX to detect hyperketonemia in ewes. This resulted in thresholds for moderate ketosis of BHBA concentrations of 0.7 mmol/L in blood from an ear vein and the v. jug. Cutoffs of 1.0 mmol/L (ear vein) and 1.1 mmol/L (v. jug.) BHBA were determined to detect animals at greater risk to develop severe hyperketonemia. Applying these thresholds, excellent test characteristics, with sensitivities of 1.00 for both samples and specificities of 0.98 for the ear vein and 0.97 for the v. jug. were determined. These results demonstrate that the PX is a useful tool for detection of hyperketonemia in ewes. Copyright © 2014 American Dairy Science Association. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

12 CFR 615.5030 - Borrowings from commercial banks.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-01-01

... 12 Banks and Banking 6 2011-01-01 2011-01-01 false Borrowings from commercial banks. 615.5030 Section 615.5030 Banks and Banking FARM CREDIT ADMINISTRATION FARM CREDIT SYSTEM FUNDING AND FISCAL... commercial banks. Each System bank board, by resolution, shall authorize all commercial bank borrowings by...

Does differential growth affect the distribution and recovery of Listeria spp. in pasture-raised broiler farm soils?

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Listeria spp. represent an important foodborne pathogen, but relatively little is known about its environmental prevalence on poultry farms. Considering the environmental exposure inherent with pasture-raised production systems, these types of alternative poultry management systems represent an idea...

12 CFR 616.6200 - Out-of-territory leasing.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-01-01

... 12 Banks and Banking 7 2014-01-01 2014-01-01 false Out-of-territory leasing. 616.6200 Section 616.6200 Banks and Banking FARM CREDIT ADMINISTRATION FARM CREDIT SYSTEM LEASING § 616.6200 Out-of-territory leasing. A System institution may make leases outside its chartered territory. ...

12 CFR 616.6200 - Out-of-territory leasing.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-01-01

... 12 Banks and Banking 7 2012-01-01 2012-01-01 false Out-of-territory leasing. 616.6200 Section 616.6200 Banks and Banking FARM CREDIT ADMINISTRATION FARM CREDIT SYSTEM LEASING § 616.6200 Out-of-territory leasing. A System institution may make leases outside its chartered territory. ...

12 CFR 616.6200 - Out-of-territory leasing.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-01-01

... 12 Banks and Banking 7 2013-01-01 2013-01-01 false Out-of-territory leasing. 616.6200 Section 616.6200 Banks and Banking FARM CREDIT ADMINISTRATION FARM CREDIT SYSTEM LEASING § 616.6200 Out-of-territory leasing. A System institution may make leases outside its chartered territory. ...

12 CFR 616.6200 - Out-of-territory leasing.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-01-01

... 12 Banks and Banking 6 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Out-of-territory leasing. 616.6200 Section 616.6200 Banks and Banking FARM CREDIT ADMINISTRATION FARM CREDIT SYSTEM LEASING § 616.6200 Out-of-territory leasing. A System institution may make leases outside its chartered territory. ...

12 CFR 616.6200 - Out-of-territory leasing.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-01-01

... 12 Banks and Banking 6 2011-01-01 2011-01-01 false Out-of-territory leasing. 616.6200 Section 616.6200 Banks and Banking FARM CREDIT ADMINISTRATION FARM CREDIT SYSTEM LEASING § 616.6200 Out-of-territory leasing. A System institution may make leases outside its chartered territory. ...

IS THE DISTRIBUTION OF LISTERIA SPP. ISOLATED FROM ALL-NATURAL, MIXED SPECIES, PASTURED-RAISED BROILER FARMS RELATED TO DIFFERENTIAL GROWTH?

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Background: Listeria spp. represent an important foodborne pathogen, but relatively little is known about its environmental prevalence on poultry farms. Considering the environmental exposure inherent with pasture-raised production systems, these types of alternative poultry management systems repr...

Greenhouse Gas Emissions Calculator for Grain and Biofuel Farming Systems

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

McSwiney, Claire P.; Bohm, Sven; Grace, Peter R.; Robertson, G. Philip

2010-01-01

Opportunities for farmers to participate in greenhouse gas (GHG) credit markets require that growers, students, extension educators, offset aggregators, and other stakeholders understand the impact of agricultural practices on GHG emissions. The Farming Systems Greenhouse Gas Emissions Calculator, a web-based tool linked to the SOCRATES soil…

12 CFR 618.8030 - Out-of-territory related services.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-01-01

... 12 Banks and Banking 6 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Out-of-territory related services. 618.8030 Section 618.8030 Banks and Banking FARM CREDIT ADMINISTRATION FARM CREDIT SYSTEM GENERAL PROVISIONS Related Services § 618.8030 Out-of-territory related services. (a) System banks and associations may offer...

Development of Rural Road Bridge Weigh-in-Motion System to Assess Weight and Configuration of Farm-to-Market Vehicles

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2018-05-01

The weights and configurations of large vehicles traveling the primary interstate system are known with relative certainty due to the information collected at numerous weigh stations. It is uncommon, however, that farm-to-market vehicles and other im...

12 CFR 1403.6 - Special procedures for medical records.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-01-01

... Section 1403.6 Banks and Banking FARM CREDIT SYSTEM INSURANCE CORPORATION PRIVACY ACT REGULATIONS § 1403.6 Special procedures for medical records. Medical records in the custody of the Farm Credit System Insurance... the individual to whom they pertain or that person's authorized or legal representative or to a...

12 CFR 1402.11 - Current index.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-01-01

... 12 Banks and Banking 7 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Current index. 1402.11 Section 1402.11 Banks... the Farm Credit System Insurance Corporation § 1402.11 Current index. The Farm Credit System Insurance Corporation will make available for public inspection and copying a current index to provide identifying...

12 CFR 1402.21 - Categories of requesters-fees.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-01-01

... searches made by computer, the Farm Credit System Insurance Corporation will determine the hourly cost of... the cost of search (including the operator time and the cost of operating the computer to process a... 1402.21 Banks and Banking FARM CREDIT SYSTEM INSURANCE CORPORATION RELEASING INFORMATION Fees for...

12 CFR 1402.21 - Categories of requesters-fees.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-01-01

... searches made by computer, the Farm Credit System Insurance Corporation will determine the hourly cost of... the cost of search (including the operator time and the cost of operating the computer to process a... 1402.21 Banks and Banking FARM CREDIT SYSTEM INSURANCE CORPORATION RELEASING INFORMATION Fees for...

12 CFR 1402.21 - Categories of requesters-fees.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-01-01

... searches made by computer, the Farm Credit System Insurance Corporation will determine the hourly cost of... the cost of search (including the operator time and the cost of operating the computer to process a... 1402.21 Banks and Banking FARM CREDIT SYSTEM INSURANCE CORPORATION RELEASING INFORMATION Fees for...

12 CFR 1402.21 - Categories of requesters-fees.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-01-01

... searches made by computer, the Farm Credit System Insurance Corporation will determine the hourly cost of... the cost of search (including the operator time and the cost of operating the computer to process a... 1402.21 Banks and Banking FARM CREDIT SYSTEM INSURANCE CORPORATION RELEASING INFORMATION Fees for...

12 CFR 1402.21 - Categories of requesters-fees.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-01-01

... searches made by computer, the Farm Credit System Insurance Corporation will determine the hourly cost of... the cost of search (including the operator time and the cost of operating the computer to process a... 1402.21 Banks and Banking FARM CREDIT SYSTEM INSURANCE CORPORATION RELEASING INFORMATION Fees for...

12 CFR 615.5350 - General-Applicability.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-01-01

....5350 Banks and Banking FARM CREDIT ADMINISTRATION FARM CREDIT SYSTEM FUNDING AND FISCAL AFFAIRS, LOAN... condition of System institutions with which it has significant business relationships or in which it has... market value of its capital due to a change in interest rates and/or the exercising of embedded or...

12 CFR 615.5350 - General-Applicability.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-01-01

....5350 Banks and Banking FARM CREDIT ADMINISTRATION FARM CREDIT SYSTEM FUNDING AND FISCAL AFFAIRS, LOAN... condition of System institutions with which it has significant business relationships or in which it has... market value of its capital due to a change in interest rates and/or the exercising of embedded or...

12 CFR 615.5350 - General-Applicability.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-01-01

....5350 Banks and Banking FARM CREDIT ADMINISTRATION FARM CREDIT SYSTEM FUNDING AND FISCAL AFFAIRS, LOAN... condition of System institutions with which it has significant business relationships or in which it has... market value of its capital due to a change in interest rates and/or the exercising of embedded or...

12 CFR 615.5350 - General-Applicability.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-01-01

....5350 Banks and Banking FARM CREDIT ADMINISTRATION FARM CREDIT SYSTEM FUNDING AND FISCAL AFFAIRS, LOAN... condition of System institutions with which it has significant business relationships or in which it has... market value of its capital due to a change in interest rates and/or the exercising of embedded or...

12 CFR 615.5030 - Borrowings from commercial banks.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-01-01

... commercial banks. (a) Each System bank board, by resolution, shall authorize all commercial bank borrowings... 12 Banks and Banking 6 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Borrowings from commercial banks. 615.5030 Section 615.5030 Banks and Banking FARM CREDIT ADMINISTRATION FARM CREDIT SYSTEM FUNDING AND FISCAL...

12 CFR 611.1220 - Termination resolution.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-01-01

... 12 Banks and Banking 6 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Termination resolution. 611.1220 Section 611.1220 Banks and Banking FARM CREDIT ADMINISTRATION FARM CREDIT SYSTEM ORGANIZATION Termination of System Institution Status § 611.1220 Termination resolution. No more than 1 week before you submit your plan of...

Sustainable Agriculture in Print: Current Books. Special Reference Briefs: SRB 95-02.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

National Agricultural Library, Beltsville, MD.

Prepared by the Alternative Farming Systems Information Center (AFSIC) staff and volunteers, this annotated bibliography provides a list of 85 recently published books pertaining to sustainable agriculture. AFSIC focuses on alternative farming systems (e.g., sustainable, low-input, regenerative, biodynamic, and organic) that maintain agricultural…

78 FR 63379 - Registration of Mortgage Loan Originators; Effective Date

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2013-10-24

... FARM CREDIT ADMINISTRATION 12 CFR Part 610 RIN 3052-AC78 Registration of Mortgage Loan Originators... loan originators employed by Farm Credit System (FCS or System) institutions. We repealed these... Enforcement for Mortgage Licensing Act (S.A.F.E. Act), which require residential mortgage loan originators at...

Simulating landscape catena effects in no-till dryland agroecosystems using GPFARM

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Alternative agricultural management systems in the semi-arid Great Plains are receiving increasing attention. GPFARM is a farm/ranch decision support system (DSS) designed to assist in strategic management planning for land units from the field to the whole-farm level. This study evaluated the site...

Modeling Hydrological Services in Shade Grown Coffee Systems: Case Study of the Pico Duarte Region of the Dominican Republic

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Erickson, J. D.; Gross, L.; Agosto Filion, N.; Bagstad, K.; Voigt, B. G.; Johnson, G.

2010-12-01

The modification of hydrologic systems in coffee-dominated landscapes varies widely according to the degree of shade trees incorporated in coffee farms. Compared to mono-cropping systems, shade coffee can produce both on- and off-farm benefits in the form of soil retention, moderation of sediment transport, and lower hydropower generating costs. The Pico Duarte Coffee Region and surrounding Madres de Las Aguas (Mother of Waters) Conservation Area in the Dominican Republic is emblematic of the challenges and opportunities of ecosystem service management in coffee landscapes. Shade coffee poly-cultures in the region play an essential role in ensuring ecosystem function to conserve water resources, as well as provide habitat for birds, sequester carbon, and provide consumptive resources to households. To model the provision, use, and flow of ecosystem services from coffee farms in the region, an application of the Artificial Intelligence for Ecosystem Services (ARIES) model was developed with particular focus on sediment regulation. ARIES incorporates an array of techniques from data mining, image analysis, neural networks, Bayesian statistics, information theory, and expert systems to model the production, delivery, and demand for ecosystem services. Geospatial data on slope, soils, and vegetation cover is combined with on-farm data collection of coffee production, tree diversity, and intercropping of household food. Given hydropower production and river recreation in the region, the management of sedimentation through on-farm practices has substantial, currently uncompensated value that has received recent attention as the foundation for a payment for ecosystem services system. Scenario analysis of the implications of agro-forestry management choices on farmer livelihoods and the multiple beneficiaries of farm-provided hydrological services provide a foundation for ongoing discussions in the region between local, national, and international interests.

Effect of inter-annual variability in pasture growth and irrigation response on farm productivity and profitability based on biophysical and farm systems modelling.

PubMed

Vogeler, Iris; Mackay, Alec; Vibart, Ronaldo; Rendel, John; Beautrais, Josef; Dennis, Samuel

2016-09-15

Farm system and nutrient budget models are increasingly being used in analysis to inform on farm decision making and evaluate land use policy options at regional scales. These analyses are generally based on the use of average annual pasture yields. In New Zealand (NZ), like in many countries, there is considerable inter-annual variation in pasture growth rates, due to climate. In this study a modelling approach was used to (i) include inter-annual variability as an integral part of the analysis and (ii) test the approach in an economic analysis of irrigation in a case study within the Hawkes Bay Region of New Zealand. The Agricultural Production Systems Simulator (APSIM) was used to generate pasture dry matter yields (DMY) for 20 different years and under both dryland and irrigation. The generated DMY were linked to outputs from farm-scale modelling for both Sheep and Beef Systems (Farmaxx Pro) and Dairy Systems (Farmax® Dairy Pro) to calculate farm production over 20 different years. Variation in DMY and associated livestock production due to inter-annual variation in climate was large, with a coefficient of variations up to 20%. Irrigation decreased this inter-annual variation. On average irrigation, with unlimited available water, increased income by $831 to 1195/ha, but when irrigation was limited to 250mm/ha/year income only increased by $525 to 883/ha. Using pasture responses in individual years to capturing the inter-annual variation, rather than the pasture response averaged over 20years resulted in lower financial benefits. In the case study income from irrigation based on an average year were 10 to >20% higher compared with those obtained from individual years. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Development of FAST.Farm: A New Multiphysics Engineering Tool for Wind Farm Design and Analysis: Preprint

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Jonkman, Jason; Annoni, Jennifer; Hayman, Greg

2017-01-01

This paper presents the development of FAST.Farm, a new multiphysics tool applicable to engineering problems in research and industry involving wind farm performance and cost optimization that is needed to address the current underperformance, failures, and expenses plaguing the wind industry. Achieving wind cost-of-energy targets - which requires improvements in wind farm performance and reliability, together with reduced uncertainty and expenditures - has been eluded by the complicated nature of the wind farm design problem, especially the sophisticated interaction between atmospheric phenomena and wake dynamics and array effects. FAST.Farm aims to balance the need for accurate modeling of the relevantmore » physics for predicting power performance and loads while maintaining low computational cost to support a highly iterative and probabilistic design process and system-wide optimization. FAST.Farm makes use of FAST to model the aero-hydro-servo-elastics of distinct turbines in the wind farm, and it is based on some of the principles of the Dynamic Wake Meandering (DWM) model, but avoids many of the limitations of existing DWM implementations.« less