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Sample records for post adoption on-farm

  1. Adoption of On-farm and Post-harvest Rice Quality Enhancing Technologies in Nigeria

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Tiamiyu, SA.

    2014-01-01

    Full Text Available This paper examines the rate and determinants of adoption of improved rice quality enhancing technologies among a randomly selected sample of 150 farmers and 18 rice processors from six rice producing areas of Niger State. Data were collected through interview schedule using questionnaires. Descriptive statistics and regression model were adopted to analyze data. Results show that adoption of quality enhancing technologies was low among the selected sample of these rice value chain actors. The adoption indices of on-farm and post-harvest quality enhancing practices were 0.46 and 0.37 respectively. Some socioeconomic attributes including: Age, level of education, contact with extension, access to credit and level of commercialization were statistically significant determining factors (P≤0.05 influencing adoption at farm level, while post-harvest technology adoption was determined by level of education, access to credit and membership of cooperatives. Promotion of quality enhanced technologies among these actors in the rice value chain is recommended.

  2. Adoption and perspectives of precision farming in Denmark

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Pedersen, Søren Marcus; Fountas, Spyros; Blackmore, Simon

    2004-01-01

    Precision farming (PF) and site-specific input application based on GPS has been a management tool and option for arable farmers for about 10 years. About 400 Danish farmers have already adopted some PF-practices on their farms. This adoption and the technical and economic perspectives of PF have...

  3. Constraints in the adoption of Indigenous farming practices

    OpenAIRE

    K Kanagasabapathi; V Sakthivel

    2017-01-01

    Indigenous farming is a production system, based on renewal of ecological processes and strengthening of ecological functions of farm ecosystem to produce safe, healthy and sustainable food. Indigenous agriculture is being adopted by the farmers of Kolli Hills in centre Tamil Nadu for different reasons. However, a lot of constraints prevent the farmers in adopting indigenous farming practices, that include poor yield, poor marketing facilities, higher production cost and urbanization

  4. Constraints in the adoption of Indigenous farming practices

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    K Kanagasabapathi

    2017-09-01

    Full Text Available Indigenous farming is a production system, based on renewal of ecological processes and strengthening of ecological functions of farm ecosystem to produce safe, healthy and sustainable food. Indigenous agriculture is being adopted by the farmers of Kolli Hills in centre Tamil Nadu for different reasons. However, a lot of constraints prevent the farmers in adopting indigenous farming practices, that include poor yield, poor marketing facilities, higher production cost and urbanization

  5. IMPACT OF ROW-PLANTING ADOPTION ON PRODUCTIVITY OF RICE FARMING IN NORTHERN GHANA

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    Emmanuel DONKOR

    2016-11-01

    Full Text Available This paper employed the endogenous switching regression and propensity score matching methods to analyse the impact of row-planting technology on rice productivity using 470 rice farms in Northern Ghana. The empirical findings showed that the adoption of row-planting technology exerted greater positive impact on rice yields of smallholder farmers. In addition, rice yields of adopters and non-adopters are driven by farm inputs, socioeconomic, institutional and technological factors. We suggest that achieving self-sufficiency in rice and rural economic transformation in sub-Saharan Africa requires promotion of agricultural technologies including row-planting. Different specific policy interventions are also required to promote rice yields for adopters and non-adopters.

  6. The Welfare Effects of Farm Household Activity Choices in Post-War Mozambique

    OpenAIRE

    Brück, Tilman

    2004-01-01

    This paper analyses the effects of activity choices on farm household income and consumption in a war-affected developing country. The study uses household survey data from Mozambique and controls for the endogeneity of activity choices with instrumental variables. War-time activity choices (such as subsistence farming) are shown to enhance welfare in the post-war period. Market and social exchange induce only limited welfare gains. Cotton adoption reduces household welfare, which contradicts...

  7. Logistic Regression Analysis on Factors Affecting Adoption of Rice-Fish Farming in North Iran

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    Seyyed Ali NOORHOSSEINI-NIYAKI

    2012-06-01

    Full Text Available We evaluated the factors influencing the adoption of rice-fish farming in the Tavalesh region near the Caspian Sea in northern Iran. We conducted a survey with open-ended questions. Data were collected from 184 respondents (61 adopters and 123 non-adopters randomly sampled from selected villages and analyzed using logistic regression and multi-response analysis. Family size, number of contacts with an extension agent, participation in extension-education activities, membership in social institutions and the presence of farm workers were the most important socio-economic factors for the adoption of rice-fish farming system. In addition, economic problems were the most common issue reported by adopters. Other issues such as lack of access to appropriate fish food, losses of fish, lack of access to high quality fish fingerlings and dehydration and poor water quality were also important to a number of farmers.

  8. The Effect of Socio-Economic Factors on Adoption of Innovations in Dairy Farms

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Aysun Yener

    2017-10-01

    Full Text Available The research was conducted with the aim of determining the social and economic factors which are effective on the adoption of new technologies at dairy farms in the province of Konya. The data used in the research was obtained on a volunteer basis by questionnaire technique from 128 dairy farms determined with stratified sampling method that is one of random sampling method. 51.56% of enterprises investigated were high innovators and 48.44% of enterprises were low innovators. In conclusion, it was determined that the milk yield, enterprise income, education of enterpriser, family size, number of animals, existence of land, case of receiving services of consultancy and frequency of using mass media tools made positive contributions to adoption of innovations by enterprises in the research field. But the training level decreased as the age of enterpriser increased in the research field. This case retards the adoption process of innovations and deescalates the use of new technologies in the enterprises. The young farmers come to the forefront in the adoption and implementation of innovations.

  9. The Impact of Renewable Energy Policies on the Adoption of Anaerobic Digesters with Farm-Fed Wastes in Great Britain

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    Baboo Lesh Gowreesunker

    2016-12-01

    Full Text Available This paper explores the effects of the feed-in tariff (FiT and renewable heat incentive (RHI schemes on the adoption of anaerobic digesters (AD, and the potential energy generation from farm-fed wastes in Great Britain. This paper adopts a linear programming model, developed in the International Energy Agency (IEA TIMES platform, aiming to quantify the degree of adoption of AD and the type of energy generation technologies that can be driven by digester biogas to reduce farm energy costs. The results show that the adoption of AD is cost-beneficial for all farms, but different rates of the FiT and RHI schemes will influence the competitiveness between the implementation of combined heat and power (CHP systems and the utilisation of biogas to only generate heat. The choice of technology is further dependent on the electricity/heat use ratio of the farms and the energy content of the feedstock. The results show that pig farms will more readily adopt CHP, because of its relatively higher electricity-to-heat use ratio, compared to other types of farms, which will favour biogas boilers.

  10. Determinants of wind and solar energy system adoption by U.S. farms: A multilevel modeling approach

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Borchers, Allison M.; Xiarchos, Irene; Beckman, Jayson

    2014-01-01

    This article offers the first national examination of the determinants of adoption of wind and solar energy generation on U.S. farming operations. The inclusion of state policies and characteristics in a multilevel modeling approach distinguishes this study from past research utilizing logit models of technology adoption which focus only on the characteristics of the farm operation. Results suggest the propensity to adopt is higher for livestock operations, larger farms, operators with internet access, organic operations, and newer farmers. The results find state characteristics such as solar resources, per capita income levels, and predominantly democratic voting increasing the odds of farm adoption. This research suggests the relevance of state policy variables in explaining farm level outcomes is limited, although in combination best practice net metering and interconnection policies—policies designed to encourage the development of small scale distributed applications—are shown to increase the likelihood of farm solar and wind adoption. The prevalence of electric cooperatives—which are often not subject to state renewable energy policies and often service farms—is negatively related with the propensity to adopt and suggests that policy design may be a factor. - Highlights: • This is the first national examination of wind and solar energy adoption on U.S. farms. • Controlling for state policies distinguishes this study from past research of technology adoption. • We find net metering and interconnection policies increase the likelihood of farm adoption. • Results suggest that the design of renewable energy policies may limit their impact on farms

  11. Non-farm Activities and Adoption of Improved Cassava and Beans Varieties in South- Kivu, DR Congo

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Dontsop-Nguezet, PM.

    2016-01-01

    Full Text Available Non-farm activities have been generally considered as important strategy for overcoming credit constraints faced by rural households as well as for reducing poverty through income effect. This paper employs binary probit and average treatment effect to estimate the impact of participation in non-farm activities on adoption of improved cassava and beans varieties in South-Kivu, DR Congo. Results showed on one hand that the participation rate in non-farm activities in South-Kivu was 38% and 52.1% respectively for crafts and small businesses. On the other hand, the rate of adoption of new cassava and beans varieties were 14 and 28% respectively. Factors affecting the adoption rate were gender, education, household size, the presence of non-farm activities, household assets in terms of livestock owned, market access and access to the information on new technologies. These results demonstrate the tendency of rural households to include the practice of non-farm activities among their strategies for survival and diversify their sources of income or supplement farm income. Results of this study indicate a positive relationship between engagement of rural households in non-farm activities and their propensity to adopt improved varieties. There is still a huge gap between potential adoption rate and actual rate of adoption for cassava and beans improved varieties in the study area. Therefore, actors involved in the development of the agricultural sector have to be aware of the importance of these factors even when they are working for the promotion of purely agricultural activities.

  12. Adoption of Small-Scale Irrigation Farming as a Climate-Smart Agriculture Practice and Its Influence on Household Income in the Chinyanja Triangle, Southern Africa

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    Nelson Mango

    2018-04-01

    Full Text Available This article is concerned with the adoption of small-scale irrigation farming as a climate-smart agriculture practice and its influence on household income in the Chinyanja Triangle. Chinyanja Triangle is a region that is increasingly experiencing mid-season dry spells and an increase in occurrence of drought, which is attributed largely to climate variability and change. This poses high agricultural production risks, which aggravate poverty and food insecurity. For this region, adoption of small-scale irrigation farming as a climate-smart agriculture practice is very important. Through a binary logistic and ordinary least squares regression, this article determines factors that influence the adoption of small-scale irrigation farming as a climate-smart agriculture practice and its influence on income among smallholder farmers. The results show that off-farm employment, access to irrigation equipment, access to reliable water sources and awareness of water conservation practices, such as rainwater harvesting, have a significant influence on the adoption of small-scale irrigation farming. On the other hand, the farmer’s age, distance travelled to the nearest market and nature of employment negatively influence the adoption of small-scale irrigation farming decisions. Ordinary least squares regression results showed that the adoption of small-scale irrigation farming as a climate-smart agriculture practice has a significant positive influence on agricultural income. We therefore conclude that to empower smallholder farmers to respond quickly to climate variability and change, practices that will enhance the adoption of small-scale irrigation farming in the Chinyanja Triangle are critical, as this will significantly affect agricultural income. In terms of policy, we recommend that the governments of Zambia, Malawi and Mozambique, which cover the Chinyanja Triangle, formulate policies that will enhance the adoption of sustainable small scale

  13. Bridging the Divide: Openness in Adoption and Post-adoption Psychosocial Adjustment among Birth and Adoptive Parents

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ge, Xiaojia; Natsuaki, Misaki N.; Martin, David; Leve, Leslie; Neiderhiser, Jenae; Shaw, Daniel S.; Villareal, Georgette; Scaramella, Laura; Reid, John; Reiss, David

    2008-01-01

    Using 323 matched parties of birth mothers and adoptive parents, this study examined the association between the degree of adoption openness (e.g., contact and knowledge between parties) and birth and adoptive parents’ post-adoption adjustment shortly after the adoption placement (6 to 9 months). Data from birth fathers (N=112), an understudied sample, also were explored. Openness was assessed by multiple informants. Results indicated that openness was significantly related to satisfaction with adoption process among adoptive parents and birth mothers. Increased openness was positively associated with birth mothers’ post-placement adjustment as indexed by birth mothers’ self reports and the interviewers’ impression of birth mothers’ adjustment. Birth fathers’ report of openness was associated with their greater satisfaction with the adoption process and better post-adoption adjustment. PMID:18729667

  14. The impact of biogas technology adoption for farm households – empirical evidence from mixed crop and livestock farming systems in Indonesia

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Putra, Ahmad Romadhoni Surya; Liu, Zhen; Lund, Mogens

    2017-01-01

    This paper aims to study the impact of biogas technology adoption as a livestock waste technology to support Mixed Crop and Livestock (MCL) farming among smallholder farmers in Indonesia. A cross sectional survey was conducted to collect data from 351 farm households (171 biogas adopters and 180...

  15. Adoption Level of IFAD Project Recommended Farming Practices ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    E M IGBOKWE

    the respondents respectively identified low counterpart funding, untimely disbursement of funds and inadequate mobility of extension staff as the major constraints to the effective implementation of the programme. Generally, there was a high level of adoption of the recommended farming practices among the participating.

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

    Science.gov (United States)

    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…

  17. Factors influencing adoption of farm management practices in three agrobiodiversity hotspots in India: an analysis using the Count Data Model

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    Prabhakaran T. Raghu

    2014-07-01

    Full Text Available Sustainable agricultural practices require, among other factors, adoption of improved nutrient management techniques, pest mitigation technology and soil conservation measures. Such improved management practices can be tools for enhancing crop productivity. Data on micro-level farm management practices from developing countries is either scarce or unavailable, despite the importance of their policy implications with regard to resource allocation. The present study investigates adoption of some farm management practices and factors influencing the adoption behavior of farm households in three agrobiodiversity hotspots in India: Kundra block in the Koraput district of Odisha, Meenangadi panchayat in the Wayanad district of Kerala and Kolli Hills in the Namakkal district of Tamil Nadu. Information on farm management practices was collected from November 2011 to February 2012 from 3845 households, of which the data from 2726 farm households was used for analysis. The three most popular farm management practices adopted by farmers include: application of chemical fertilizers, farm yard manure and green manure for managing nutrients; application of chemical pesticides, inter-cropping and mixed cropping for mitigating pests; and contour bunds, grass bunds and trenches for soil conservation. A Negative Binomial count data regression model was used to estimate factors influencing decision-making by farmers on farm management practices. The regression results indicate that farmers who received information from agricultural extension are statistically significant and positively related to the adoption of farm management practices. Another key finding shows the negative relationship between cultivation of local varieties and adoption of farm management practices.

  18. Post-Adoption Services: Needs of the Family

    Science.gov (United States)

    Anderson, Denise

    2005-01-01

    This study, conducted in an agency providing post-adoption services, describes the demographic characteristics of parents and children in post-adoptive families and assesses the differences in perceptions between mothers and fathers, as well as other characteristics of families who adopt children with special needs. (Contains 3 tables.)

  19. An analysis of policy scenario effects on the adoption of energy production on the farm: A case study in Emilia–Romagna (Italy)

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Bartolini, Fabio; Viaggi, Davide

    2012-01-01

    The agriculture sector’s contribution to energy production is a central issue in ongoing policy debates, and one of the central elements of the development of Bioeconomy sector. The Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) is one of the main determinants of the different farm strategies of European farmers. The CAP is now undergoing a thorough revision process which necessarily includes a debate of the role of the policy in rural areas and the effectiveness of the various CAP policy mechanisms. The objective of this paper is to assess the impact of alternative CAP scenarios in the light of the possible changes in 2013 and the willingness to adopt energy plants for energy crops in the Province of Bologna (Italy). This is pursued using both survey information and farm-household mathematical programming models, hence using stated intentions and simulated profitability to analyse the adopt of new technologies for energy production. The results underscore the relevance of the CAP scenarios in altering intentions with regard to the adoption of energy production and the relevant effect of uncertainty in delaying the diffusion of energy production systems. - Highlights: ► We analyse policy effects on adoption of energy production by the farms. ► CAP scenario strongly affects the intention to adopt energy productions. ► Uncertainty in decision variables have the effect to postpone the decision on energy productions.

  20. Limitations and barriers for adopting sustainable management practices in different farm types across Europe

    Science.gov (United States)

    Guzmán, Gema; Portero, Ángela; Vanwalleghem, Tom; Pedrera, Ana; Jesús Gaitán, Antonio; Ten Berge, Hein

    2014-05-01

    Although apparently the conservation of natural resources such as water and soil does not represent important concerns for our society, the evolution of the world population and the degradation of these resources pose a challenge to improving agricultural food production capacity and conserving, and in some cases restoring, the environmental quality. Unfortunately, the history contains numerous examples of abandonment of these resources (McNeill 1992, Montgomery 2007). Although most of the agronomic conservation practices have been known for millennia, their implementation has often been hindered by non-agricultural motives (Davis et al. 2012). The European project CATCH-C (ten Berge 2011) started last year with the aim of evaluating sustainable soil management practices and exploring the difficulties for their adoption, both at farm and institutional level, to overcome them in the near future. As a first step with that purpose, a selection of best management practices (BMPs) based on interviews with advisors and scientific knowledge were proposed for each of the considered farm typologies: arable crops, permanent crops and pasture. These farm types are representative of the Mediterranean area in terms of agroecological properties, extension, economical importance and soil degradation problems. Semi-structured interviews were carried out by addressing different profiles of farmers to identify in a qualitative way the main limitations for adopting these BMPs on their farms. Different questionnaires were prepared based on the farmers' responses and launched at a larger scale, with the aim of achieving approximately 100 responses per each farm typology. Finally, responses from the questionnaires will be analyzed to explore the causes that hinder or impede the adoption of BMPs in different farm typologies. References: Davis A.S. et al. 2012. Plos ONE 7(10): e4719. doi:10.1371/journalpone.0047149. McNeill, J.R. 1992. The mountains of the Mediterranean world. Cambridge

  1. Factors Affecting Adoption of Improved Rice Varieties among Rural Farm Households in Central Nepal

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    Raju Ghimire

    2015-01-01

    Full Text Available The use of improved high yielding crop varieties is an important avenue for reducing hunger and food insecurity in developing countries. Using cross-sectional data obtained from a survey conducted during 2013 crop season, we performed a probit model (plot-level analysis to determine the probability of adopting new improved rice varieties (NIRVs by smallholder farmers particularly from two main agro-ecological regions (hills and tropical plain terai regions of Central Nepal. The results revealed that education, extension services and seed access play significant roles in adoption decisions. Additionally, farm and field characteristic variables such as farm size, endowment of favorable land type (e.g. lowlands, and animal power (e.g. oxen are the key factors influencing the probability of adopting NIRVs. The results showed that technology specific variables (e.g. yield potential and acceptability are significant for explaining adoption behavior, implying that it is important to take farmers’ preferences to varietal characteristics into consideration in the design of a research and development program. Given the significant role played by extension and access related variables, increased emphasis on information dissemination, field demonstration, and farmers’ participatory research and training programs to popularize new rice varieties and enhance their adoption rate are required. This also suggests that policy intervention should be made on improving the educational status of farming households, and developing programs on varietal package of rice seed which offer farmers a variety of choices among the appropriate pools of germplasm. Such programs ultimately help farmers develop more profit-oriented behavior which are necessary to enhance adoption rate, production and food security in the long run.

  2. Farm and operator characteristics affecting adoption of precision agriculture in Denmark and Germany

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Tamirat, Tseganesh Wubale; Pedersen, Søren Marcus; Lind, Kim Martin Hjorth

    2018-01-01

    Precision Agriculture (PA) has been advocated as a promising technology and management philosophy that provides multidimensional benefits for producers and consumers while being environmentally friendly. In Europe, private stakeholders (farm advisors, farm equipment producers, decision support...... like attending workshops and exhibitions significantly influence farmers’ adoption decision....

  3. Effect of Wind Farm Noise on Local Residents' Decision to Adopt Mitigation Measures.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Botelho, Anabela; Arezes, Pedro; Bernardo, Carlos; Dias, Hernâni; Pinto, Lígia M Costa

    2017-07-11

    Wind turbines' noise is frequently pointed out as the reason for local communities' objection to the installation of wind farms. The literature suggests that local residents feel annoyed by such noise and that, in many instances, this is significant enough to make them adopt noise-abatement interventions on their homes. Aiming at characterizing the relationship between wind turbine noise, annoyance, and mitigating actions, we propose a novel conceptual framework. The proposed framework posits that actual sound pressure levels of wind turbines determine individual homes' noise-abatement decisions; in addition, the framework analyzes the role that self-reported annoyance, and perception of noise levels, plays on the relationship between actual noise pressure levels and those decisions. The application of this framework to a particular case study shows that noise perception and annoyance constitutes a link between the two. Importantly, however, noise also directly affects people's decision to adopt mitigating measures, independently of the reported annoyance.

  4. Effect of Wind Farm Noise on Local Residents’ Decision to Adopt Mitigation Measures

    Science.gov (United States)

    Botelho, Anabela; Bernardo, Carlos; Dias, Hernâni; Pinto, Lígia M. Costa

    2017-01-01

    Wind turbines’ noise is frequently pointed out as the reason for local communities’ objection to the installation of wind farms. The literature suggests that local residents feel annoyed by such noise and that, in many instances, this is significant enough to make them adopt noise-abatement interventions on their homes. Aiming at characterizing the relationship between wind turbine noise, annoyance, and mitigating actions, we propose a novel conceptual framework. The proposed framework posits that actual sound pressure levels of wind turbines determine individual homes’ noise-abatement decisions; in addition, the framework analyzes the role that self-reported annoyance, and perception of noise levels, plays on the relationship between actual noise pressure levels and those decisions. The application of this framework to a particular case study shows that noise perception and annoyance constitutes a link between the two. Importantly, however, noise also directly affects people’s decision to adopt mitigating measures, independently of the reported annoyance. PMID:28696404

  5. Factors influencing Adoption of Napier Grass in Smallholder Dairy Farming in Kiambu District, Kenya

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Irungu, P.; Mbogoh, S.; Staai, S.; Thorpe, W.; Njubi, D.

    1999-01-01

    Smallholder dairy farming in Kenya accounts for over 70% of the total marketed milk, which amounts to US$400 million at the current exchange rate. Milk production on smallholder dairy farms is usually low. This is mainly attributed to poor nutrition. Planting forages may improve the level of feeding and nutrition and thus raise both farm productivity and overall supply of milk to the growing urban markets. Data from 365 households in Kiambu District were gathered through questionnaire interviews with farmers between June and July 1996 and economic models used to quantitatively evaluate socio-economic and institutional factors postulated to influence the adoption of Napier grass as a forage in the experience and-or channeling interventions thorough dairy co-operative societies and farmer organisations may result in higher adoption rates of dairy cattle fodder. Thus, efforts aimed at promoting planted fodder in other highland areas of Kenya could utilise the results obtained in the present study

  6. Farm-level adoption and impact of agricultural technology: the case ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    The findings are reported of a study undertaken to describe the adoption and impact of Russian wheat aphid (RWA) resistant cultivars developed by the South African Agricultural Research Council. The analyses employed farm-level data from surveys conducted in 1997 in the Central and Eastern Free State of South Africa.

  7. Factors affecting farmers' adoption of integrated rice-fish farming systems in the Mekong delta, Vietnam

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Bosma, R.H.; Nhan, D.K.; Udo, H.M.J.; Kaymak, U.

    2012-01-01

    This study investigated the determinants of the adoption of improved rice–fish farming systems in the Mekong delta to support policy making, agricultural land-use planning and extension of integrated rice–fish farming. Recently these systems have been referred to as adaptations to climate change,

  8. Mitigation of greenhouse gas emissions by adopting anaerobic digestion technology on dairy, sow and pig farms in Finland

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Kaparaju, P.; Rintala, J. [Department of Biological and Environmental Science, University of Jyvaeskylae, P.O. Box 35, FIN-40014 Jyvaeskylae (Finland)

    2011-01-15

    The impact of anaerobic digestion (AD) technology on mitigating greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from manure management on typical dairy, sow and pig farms in Finland was compared. Firstly, the total annual GHG emissions from the farms were calculated using IPCC guidelines for a similar slurry type manure management system. Secondly, laboratory-scale experiments were conducted to estimate methane (CH{sub 4}) potentials and process parameters for semi-continuous digestion of manures. Finally, the obtained experimental data were used to evaluate the potential renewable energy production and subsequently, the possible GHG emissions that could be avoided through adoption of AD technology on the studied farms. Results showed that enteric fermentation (CH{sub 4}) and manure management (CH{sub 4} and N{sub 2}O) accounted for 231.3, 32.3 and 18.3 Mg of CO{sub 2} eq. yr{sup -1} on dairy, sow and pig farms, respectively. With the existing farm data and experimental methane yields, an estimated renewable energy of 115.2, 36.3 and 79.5 MWh of heat yr{sup -1} and 62.8, 21.8 and 47.7 MWh of electricity yr{sup -1} could be generated in a CHP plant on these farms respectively. The total GHG emissions that could be offset on the studied dairy cow, sow and pig farms were 177, 87.7 and 125.6 Mg of CO{sub 2} eq. yr{sup -1}, respectively. The impact of AD technology on mitigating GHG emissions was mainly through replaced fossil fuel consumption followed by reduced emissions due to reduced fertilizer use and production, and from manure management. (author)

  9. Farm Studies and Post-Medieval Rural Archaeology in Denmark: Comments on the Past, the Present and the Future

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Kristiansen, Mette Svart

    2012-01-01

    legislation and administrative practice, has left the post-medieval cultural heritage in a rather peculiar and to some extent neglected position. This paper will address research on post-medieval rural buildings and farms in particular and discuss the current challenges within post-medieval rural archaeology...

  10. Adoption of Farm Management Systems for Cross Compliance - An empirical case in Germany.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Knuth, Ulrike; Amjath-Babu, T S; Knierim, Andrea

    2018-08-15

    In Germany, Farm Management Systems (FMS) have been introduced as a support to farmers' compliance with environmental and other regulations, aiming at the increase of farm level performance and sustainable farming practices. Different kinds of FMS were developed and promulgated with various approaches, determined by each federal state's agricultural advisory system. Knowledge on the FMS' uptake and effectiveness has been lacking so far. The overall aim of this paper is to provide an analysis of the implementation process and selected outcomes of the policy-driven instrumental innovation of FMS. In particular, the objectives are i) to reveal how and with what success the introduction of FMS has been realised in Germany and ii) to analyse and discuss the FMS' adoption in the federal state of Brandenburg. For the first part of the study, we elaborate a situational analysis of the policy implementation through a desk study and expert interviews. In the second part, selected results from a farmers' survey in Brandenburg are presented and a switching regression model is developed to assess the factors responsible for the uptake of FMS and to understand the role of FMS in improving the confidence in complying with Cross Compliance regulations. We found a high degree of diversity among FMS developed in the different federal states. FMS adoption rates varied, but were generally low. Institutional environment seems to have a significant influence as the same FMS had very different adoption rates among federal states. For Brandenburg, our findings show that farmers' confidence to face CC check was increased by the adoption of FMS. However, counterfactual scenario analysis proved that especially farmers who did not adopt FMS would have benefitted most if they had adopted the tool. Our study shows that there is a need for systems supporting farmers in dealing with bureaucratic requirements. Future FMS should be easy to understand, adaptable to individual farmers' needs and be

  11. Farm and socio-economic characteristics of smallholder milk producers and their influence on technology adoption in Central Mexico.

    Science.gov (United States)

    García, Carlos Galdino Martínez; Dorward, Peter; Rehman, Tahir

    2012-08-01

    In order to identify the factors influencing adoption of technologies promoted by government to small-scale dairy farmers in the highlands of central Mexico, a field survey was conducted. A total of 115 farmers were grouped through cluster analysis (CA) and divided into three wealth status categories (high, medium and low) using wealth ranking. Chi-square analysis was used to examine the association of wealth status with technology adoption. Four groups of farms were differentiated in terms of farms' dimensions, farmers' education, sources of incomes, wealth status, management of herd, monetary support by government and technological availability. Statistical differences (p technologies identified, six of which focused on crop or forage production and 11 of which were related to animal husbandry. Relatives and other farmers played an important role in knowledge diffusion and technology adoption. Although wealth status had a significant association (p technology to farmers, usefulness and productive benefits of innovations together with farmers' knowledge of them, were important. It is concluded that the analysis of the information per group and wealth status was useful to identify suitable crop or forage related and animal husbandry technologies per group and wealth status of farmers. Therefore the characterizations of farmers could provide a useful starting point for the design and delivery of more appropriate and effective extension.

  12. Determinant factors in adopting socio-environmental certifications in coffee farms¹

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Eduardo Cesar Silva

    2014-09-01

    Full Text Available Certified coffee production is an opportunity for the grower to differ his product. However, the number of certified producers is still relatively small. In order to contribute to the dissemination of accreditation among farmers, the objective of this study is to identify the factors that determine its adoption, based on a sample of certified and non-certified growers from the south of Minas Gerais, Brazil. Quantitative data were analyzed through logistic regression. Results showed that five variables were significant in explaining the certification adoption: grower's age; role of coffee in family income; attending courses and events; computer use in the farm and crop yield. These results expand the existing knowledge about coffee certifications and can guide actions to increase the number of certified producers.

  13. The Determinants Factors of Biogas Technology Adoption in Cattle Farming: Evidences from Pati, Indonesia

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jatmiko Wahyudi

    2017-11-01

    Full Text Available Even though biogas technology has been introduced in Indonesia since 1990’s and having the potential, the rate of biogas adoption in Indonesia runs slowly. It is important to understand factors encouraging or discouraging potential adopters to build biogas plant. The development of livestock sector especially cattle farming in Indonesia can be seen as the opportunity to increase the rate of biogas adoption. This study investigated the factors affecting households of cattle farmer to adopt or not to adopt biogas technology. A cross-sectional research survey was carried out by using structured questionnaires as the primary tool to collect data from both biogas adopters and non biogas adopters in Pati regency, Indonesia. Socioeconomic characteristic of potential biogas adopters plays an important role to ensure the adoption of biogas technology sustainable. Socioeconomic characteristic regarding having high social status determines individual to adopt biogas relatively earlier than other members of a social system. Having high income and education enables traditional farmers to finance biogas plant by their own money or access aid from the government or other agencies. Among other attributes of innovation, relative advantage of installing biogas plant is the most determinant attribute to speed the rate of biogas adoption. Having biogas plant was perceived as better option and generated more benefits compared to previous technology or method. Article History: Received May 17th 2017; Received in revised form August 5th  2017; Accepted Sept 6th 2017; Available online How to Cite This Article: Wahyudi, J. (2017 The Determinant Factors of Biogas Technology Adoption in Cattle Farming: Evidences from Pati, Indonesia, 6(3, 235-240. https://doi.org/10.14710/ijred.6.3.235-240

  14. Nutrient surpluses on integrated arable farms

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Schröder, J.J.; Asperen, van P.; Dongen, van G.J.M.; Wijnands, F.G.

    1996-01-01

    From 1990 to 1993 nutrient fluxes were monitored on 38 private arable farms that had adopted farming strategies aiming at reduced nutrient inputs and substitution of mineral fertilizers by organic fertilizers. The nutrient surplus was defined as the difference between inputs (including inputs

  15. Integrated agriculture enhances farm productivity and livelihoods in ...

    International Development Research Centre (IDRC) Digital Library (Canada)

    2016-04-29

    Apr 29, 2016 ... Farm productivity and Livelihoods in Agro Biodiversity. Farmers in Tamil Nadu adopted locally-adapted cassava, boosting agro-biodiversity while enhancing ... Reducing post-harvest losses in South Asia's mango orchards.

  16. Yield Perceptions, Determinants and Adoption Impact of on Farm Varietal Mixtures for Common Bean and Banana in Uganda

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Rose Nankya

    2017-07-01

    Full Text Available Crop variety mixtures (different varieties of a crop grown together in a single plot have been successfully deployed in pathogen and pest management for several crops including wheat, common bean and rice. Despite the available evidence, promotion of this approach has remained limited in many countries, including Uganda. The factors that influence farmers’ adoption of varietal mixtures for common bean and banana were assessed, as well as the perceptions of farmers on the effects of mixtures on yields, through household surveys and statistical modelling. A three-year yield increase in both common bean and banana varietal mixtures in farmer fields, of 5.2% and 28.6%, respectively, is realized using robust OLS estimates. The study reveals that accessing knowledge on the importance of crop varietal mixtures and the skills relating to the approach are crucial for their adoption. Location of the farm significantly determined the perceived yield change, which calls for more research into mixtures’ suitability under particular contexts in respect to compatibility of genotypes, management practices and appropriate acreage for maximum impact. The positive effects of mixtures on yields make it an effective bioeconomy strategy. Policies that minimize the adoption barriers could improve the adoption of crop varietal mixtures on a wider scale.

  17. 08 Richardson - On-farm demonstrations - gereed vir publik…

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    lynette

    regular face-to-face exchanges and feedback, these were accomplished through e-mail .... evidence that such time consuming methods such as on-farm tests and field ... adopting new farm management practices, personal communication was.

  18. Adoption of Small-Scale Irrigation Farming as a Climate-Smart Agriculture Practice and Its Influence on Household Income in the Chinyanja Triangle, Southern Africa

    OpenAIRE

    Nelson Mango; Clifton Makate; Lulseged Tamene; Powell Mponela; Gift Ndengu

    2018-01-01

    This article is concerned with the adoption of small-scale irrigation farming as a climate-smart agriculture practice and its influence on household income in the Chinyanja Triangle. Chinyanja Triangle is a region that is increasingly experiencing mid-season dry spells and an increase in occurrence of drought, which is attributed largely to climate variability and change. This poses high agricultural production risks, which aggravate poverty and food insecurity. For this region, adoption of s...

  19. Adoption of information and communication technologies as source of information on agricultural innovations among farm households in Nigeria: evidence from Benue state”

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Iorliam, T.,

    2012-12-01

    Full Text Available The study analyzed adoption of ICTs as source of information on agricultural innovations in Nigeria. Data were collected through a structured questionnaire administered to one hundred and twenty (120 Agricultural Development Programme (ADP farmers sampled in Benue State. Results show that Radio (46.7%, Newspapers (45.8%, contact farmers (42.5%, and extension agents (41.7% ranked first, second, third and fourth respectively in terms of adoption by farmers. Level of education, and incomes were the significant (P<0.05 determinants of ICT adoption. Enabling policy environment that would encourage utilization of ICTs through deliberate programmes that expose farming communities to ICTs and support incomes such as highly subsidized ICT trainings and increased credit facilities to rural farmers would enhance adoption of ICTs in Nigeria.

  20. Biosecurity practices on Australian commercial layer and meat chicken farms: Performance and perceptions of farmers.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Scott, Angela Bullanday; Singh, Mini; Groves, Peter; Hernandez-Jover, Marta; Barnes, Belinda; Glass, Kathryn; Moloney, Barbara; Black, Amanda; Toribio, Jenny-Ann

    2018-01-01

    This paper describes the level of adoption of biosecurity practices performed on Australian commercial chicken meat and layer farms and farmer-perceived importance of these practices. On-farm interviews were conducted on 25 free range layer farms, nine cage layer farms, nine barn layer farms, six free range meat chicken farms and 15 barn meat chicken farms in the Sydney basin bioregion and South East Queensland. There was a high level of treatment of drinking water across all farm types; town water was the most common source. In general, meat chicken farms had a higher level of adoption of biosecurity practices than layer farms. Cage layer farms had the shortest median distance between sheds (7.75m) and between sheds and waterbodies (30m). Equipment sharing between sheds was performed on 43% of free range meat chicken farms compared to 92% of free range layer farms. There was little disinfection of this shared equipment across all farm types. Footbaths and visitor recording books were used by the majority of farms for all farm types except cage layer farms (25%). Wild birds in sheds were most commonly reported in free range meat chicken farms (73%). Dogs and cats were kept across all farm types, from 56% of barn layer farms to 89% of cage layer farms, and they had access to the sheds in the majority (67%) of cage layer farms and on the range in some free range layer farms (44%). Most biosecurity practices were rated on average as 'very important' by farmers. A logistic regression analysis revealed that for most biosecurity practices, performing a practice was significantly associated with higher perceived farmer importance of that biosecurity practice. These findings help identify farm types and certain biosecurity practices with low adoption levels. This information can aid decision-making on efforts used to improve adoption levels.

  1. Economic consequences of investing in sensor systems on dairy farms

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

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

    2015-01-01

    The objective of this study was to investigate the impact of investment in sensor systems on productivity change, using farm accounting data. Farm accounting data for the years 2008–2013 was available for 217 Dutch dairy farms. In addition, information was available on the adoption of sensor systems

  2. ECONOMIC EFFECTS OF INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY ON DAIRY FARMS IN THE NETHERLANDS AND ISRAEL

    OpenAIRE

    Van Asseldonk, Marcel A.P.M.; Huirne, Ruud B.M.; Dijkhuizen, Aalt A.; Tomaszewski, Michael A.; Gelb, Ehud M.

    1998-01-01

    Effects of a number of information technology applications were quantified empirically which were implemented on Dutch and Israeli dairy farms. Data comprised annual farm performances from 1987 to 1996, and included both adopters and nonadopters as well as farm results before and after adoption. Significant effects were estimated, making a differentiation between the different technologies.

  3. Factors Influencing Adoption of Cocoa Technologies Disseminated ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Factors Influencing Adoption of Cocoa Technologies Disseminated by Olam Organisation in ... Journal of Agricultural Research and Development ... level, household size, no of farm family assisting on the farm, management system adopted, ...

  4. Adoption Patterns for the Digital Post System by Danish Municipalities and Citizens

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Berger, Jesper B.; Hertzum, Morten

    2014-01-01

    The value of e-government, services to citizens by public institutions through the internet, is dependent on the mutual adoption of e-government by both the public institution and the citizens. This paper describes a longitudinal study of e-government adoption by municipalities and citizens...... Post. The adoption patterns among citizens were less distinct. We calculated the realized savings to only 20% of the anticipated savings, leading to a deficit of nearly €5 million in 2013. Municipal funding was reduced according to the anticipated savings. In addition, the variation in adoption...

  5. Regional drivers of on-farm energy production in Bavaria

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Schaffer, Axel; Düvelmeyer, Claudia

    2016-01-01

    Bavaria's energy policy seeks to increase the share of power supply from renewable sources related to on-farm energy production (agricultural biogas, wind- and solar energy) from currently 15% to more than 30% in 2021. It is therefore of particular interest for policy-makers to identify regional drivers of and barriers to this concept. The presented study addresses this issue and applies a spatial regression analysis to Bavaria’s 71 rural counties. The findings indicate significant impacts of technological regional transformation ability, agricultural structure (degree of professionalization and consolidation of organic farming) and neighborhood effects. This is in contrast to most geographical factors, which seem to be of minor relevance. - Highlights: •Energy transition is largely carried by farmers’ adoption of renewable energy (RE). •Adoption of RE generally follows an s-shaped diffusion curve. •Drivers are regions’ transformation ability and professionalization of agriculture. •Adoption of RE conflicts with organic farming.

  6. Effects of hand-hoe tilled conservation farming on soil quality and carbon stocks under on-farm conditions in Zambia

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Martinsen, V; Shitumbanuma, V; Mulder, J

    2017-01-01

    Conservation farming (CF) has been promoted in Zambia since the 1980s. Despite long-term practice of CF in Zambia, its effect on soil fertility, including the storage of soil organic matter (SOM), on smallholder farms are inconclusive. Here, we assess the effect of CF as compared to conventional....... Overall, our results show small differences in the soil quality parameters between the CF and conventional practices at smallholder farms after maximum 12 years since adoption of CF....... tillage on soil quality parameters on smallholder farms in the Eastern province (EP, 20 sites, two to six years of CF) and Central province (CP, 20 sites, four to twelve years of CF) in Zambia. Soils under CF (minimum tillage hoe basins, crop rotation and residue retention) were compared with adjacent...

  7. Whole farm quantification of GHG emissions within smallholder farms in developing countries

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Seebauer, Matthias

    2014-01-01

    The IPCC has compiled the best available scientific methods into published guidelines for estimating greenhouse gas emissions and emission removals from the land-use sector. In order to evaluate existing GHG quantification tools to comprehensively quantify GHG emissions and removals in smallholder conditions, farm scale quantification was tested with farm data from Western Kenya. After conducting a cluster analysis to identify different farm typologies GHG quantification was exercised using the VCS SALM methodology complemented with IPCC livestock emission factors and the cool farm tool. The emission profiles of four farm clusters representing the baseline conditions in the year 2009 are compared with 2011 where farmers adopted sustainable land management practices (SALM). The results demonstrate the variation in both the magnitude of the estimated GHG emissions per ha between different smallholder farm typologies and the emissions estimated by applying two different accounting tools. The farm scale quantification further shows that the adoption of SALM has a significant impact on emission reduction and removals and the mitigation benefits range between 4 and 6.5 tCO 2  ha −1  yr −1 with significantly different mitigation benefits depending on typologies of the crop–livestock systems, their different agricultural practices, as well as adoption rates of improved practices. However, the inherent uncertainty related to the emission factors applied by accounting tools has substantial implications for reported agricultural emissions. With regard to uncertainty related to activity data, the assessment confirms the high variability within different farm types as well as between different parameters surveyed to comprehensively quantify GHG emissions within smallholder farms. (paper)

  8. Farm-economic analysis of reducing antimicrobial use whilst adopting improved management strategies on farrow-to-finish pig farms.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rojo-Gimeno, Cristina; Postma, Merel; Dewulf, Jeroen; Hogeveen, Henk; Lauwers, Ludwig; Wauters, Erwin

    2016-07-01

    Due to increasing public health concerns that food animals could be reservoirs for antibiotic resistant organisms, calls for reduced current antibiotic use on farms are growing. Nevertheless, it is challenging for farmers to perform this reduction without negatively affecting technical and economic performance. As an alternative, improved management practices based on biosecurity and vaccinations have been proven useful to reduce antimicrobial use without lowering productivity, but issues with insufficient experimental design possibilities have hindered economic analysis. In the present study a quasi-experimental approach was used for assessing the economic impact of reduction of antimicrobial use coupled with improved management strategies, particularly biosecurity strategies. The research was performed on farrow-to-finish pig farms in Flanders (northern region of Belgium). First, to account for technological progress and to avoid selection bias, propensity score analysis was used to compare data on technical parameters. The treatment group (n=48) participated in an intervention study whose aim was to improve management practices to reduce the need for use of antimicrobials. Before and after the change in management, data were collected on the technical parameters, biosecurity status, antimicrobial use, and vaccinations. Treated farms were matched without replacement with control farms (n=69), obtained from the Farm Accountancy Data Network, to estimate the difference in differences (DID) of the technical parameters. Second, the technical parameters' DID, together with the estimated costs of the management intervention and the price volatility of the feed, meat of the finisher pigs, and piglets served as a basis for modelling the profit of 11 virtual farrow-to-finish pig farms representative of the Flemish sector. Costs incurred by new biosecurity measures (median +€3.96/sow/year), and new vaccinations (median €0.00/sow/year) did not exceed the cost reduction

  9. Values in Organic Farming

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Kjærgård, Bente; Pedersen, Kirsten Bransholm; Land, Birgit

    The study focuses on the recent debate about what is, or what constitutes, organic farming and what is the right path for organic farming in the future. The study is based on a critical discourse analysis of the controversy about suspending the private standard for organic farming adopted by the ...

  10. Post-adoption behaviour of farmers towards soil and water conservation technologies of watershed management in India

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Gopal Lal Bagdi

    2015-09-01

    Full Text Available The Indian Institute of Soil and Water Conservation (IISWC and its Research Centres have developed many successful model watershed projects in India in the past and implemented many Soil and Water Conservation (SWC technologies for sustainable watershed management. While many evaluation studies were conducted on these projects in the past, there has been no assessment of the post-adoption status of the SWC technologies over a longer period. It was imperative to appraise the behaviour of the farmers with regard to the continuance or discontinuance of the technologies adopted, diffusion or infusion that took place and technological gaps that occurred in due course of time in the post watershed programme. Therefore, it was realized that the post-adoption behaviour of beneficiary farmers who have adopted different soil and water conservation technologies for watershed management projects should be studied in detail. The research study was initiated in 2012 as a core project at Vasad as the lead Centre along with IISWC headquarter Dehradun, and Centres Agra, Bellary, Chandigarh, Datia, Kota & Ooty, with the specific objectives of the study to measure the extent of post-adoption behaviour (continued-adoption, discontinuance, technological gap, diffusion and infusion of farmers towards the adopted SWC technologies of watershed management. In the present study various indices regarding continued adoption, dis-adoption (discontinuance, technological gap, diffusion, infusion regarding soil and water conservation technologies for watershed management were developed for measurement of post-adoption behaviour of farmers. It was revealed that a little less than three-fourth (73% of SWC technologies continued to be adopted and more than one-fourth (27% were discontinued by farmers. Out of the total continue adopted SWC technologies by farmers, a little less than one-fifth (19% of technologies continued to be adopted with a technological gap. More than one

  11. Study on Development Strategy of DIY Farm Based on SWOT Analysis

    Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

    2011-01-01

    SWOT analysis method is adopted to analyze current development situations of DIY farms in China from strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats. On the basis of analyses, we put forward strategies for sustainable development of DIY farms, including market investigation and research, full utilization of resources, human-based management, diversified and characteristic services, as well as low price and public-oriented development, etc.

  12. Development of a framework and tool to asses on-farm energy uses of cotton production

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Chen Guangnan; Baillie, Craig

    2009-01-01

    Within highly mechanised agricultural productions systems such as the Australian cotton industry, operational energy inputs represent a major cost to the growers. In this paper, a framework to assess the operational energy inputs of various production systems and the relative performance of a grower within an adopted system is developed. It divides energy usage of cotton production into six broadly distinct processes, including fallow, planting, in-crop, irrigation, harvesting and post harvest. This enables both the total energy inputs and the energy usage of each production processes to be assessed. This framework is later implemented and incorporated into an online energy assessment tool (EnergyCalc). Using the developed software, seven farm audits are conducted. It is found that overall, depending on the management and operation methods adopted, the total energy inputs for these farms range from 3.7 to 15.2 GJ/ha of primary energy, which corresponds to $80-310/ha and 275-1404 kg CO 2 equivalent/ha greenhouse gas emissions. Among all the farming practices, irrigation water energy use is found to be the highest and is typically 40-60% of total energy costs. Energy use of the harvesting operation is also significant, accounting for approximately 20% of overall direct energy use. If a farmer moves from conventional tillage to minimum tillage, there is a potential saving of around 10% of the overall fuel used on the farm. Compared with cotton, energy uses by other crops are generally much smaller, due to less intensive management practices, and reduced irrigation requirements.

  13. The Socioecology of Territory Size and a "Work-Around" Hypothesis for the Adoption of Farming

    Science.gov (United States)

    Freeman, Jacob

    2016-01-01

    This paper combines theory from ecology and anthropology to investigate variation in the territory sizes of subsistence oriented agricultural societies. The results indicate that population and the dependence of individuals within a society on “wild” foods partly determine the territory sizes of agricultural societies. In contrast, the productivity of an agroecosystem is not an important determinant of territory size. A comparison of the population-territory size scaling dynamics of agricultural societies and human foragers indicates that foragers and farmers face the same constraints on their ability to expand their territory and intensify their use of resources within a territory. However, the higher density of food in an agroecosystem allows farmers, on average, to live at much higher population densities than human foragers. These macroecological patterns are consistent with a “work-around hypothesis” for the adoption of farming. This hypothesis is that as residential groups of foragers increase in size, farming can sometimes better reduce the tension between an individual’s autonomy over resources and the need for social groups to function to provide public goods like defense and information. PMID:27391955

  14. Modelling the adoption of automatic milking systems in Noord-Holland

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Matteo Floridi

    2013-05-01

    Full Text Available Innovation and new technology adoption represent two central elements for the business and industry development process in agriculture. One of the most relevant innovations in dairy farms is the robotisation of the milking process through the adoption of Automatic Milking Systems (AMS. The purpose of this paper is to assess the impact of selected Common Agricultural Policy measures on the adoption of AMS in dairy farms. The model developed is a dynamic farm-household model that is able to simulate the adoption of AMS taking into account the allocation of productive factors between on-farm and off-farm activities. The model simulates the decision to replace a traditional milking system with AMS using a Real Options approach that allows farmers to choose the optimal timing of investments. Results show that the adoption of AMS, and the timing of such a decision, is strongly affected by policy uncertainty and market conditions. The effect of this uncertainty is to postpone the decision to adopt the new technology until farmers have gathered enough information to reduce the negative effects of the technological lock-in. AMS adoption results in an increase in farm size and herd size due to the reduction in the labour required for milking operations.

  15. Does “Convenience Agriculture” Affect Off‐farm Labor Allocation Decisions?

    OpenAIRE

    Uematsu, Hiroki; Mishra, Ashok K.; Chintawar, Sachin

    2010-01-01

    The objective of this study is to examine the effect of adoption intensity of GM crops on off‐farm labor supply by farm households. Using ARMS data in 2004, 2005 and 2006, we estimate a two stage simultaneous Tobit model and find that adoption intensity of GM crops has a negative impact on off‐farm labor supply by operators and a positive impact on off‐farm labor supply by spouse. This may be due to the comparative advantage of operators and spouses. Our results find that GM crops adoption ha...

  16. Influences of IT substitutes and user experience on post-adoption user switching : An empirical investigation

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Ye, C.; Seo, D.; Desouza, K.C.; Papagari, S.; Jha, S.

    2008-01-01

    This study examines factors that influence individual users' post-adoption switching behavior between information technology products that are near perfect substitutes. The introduction and popularity of Mozilla Firefox Web browser provided an ideal empirical setting for this study. Drawing upon

  17. Influences of IT substitutes and user experience on post-adoption user switching : An empirical investigation

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Ye, C.; Seo, D.; Desouza, K.C.; Papagari, S.; Jha, S.

    This study examines factors that influence individual users' post-adoption switching behavior between information technology products that are near perfect substitutes. The introduction and popularity of Mozilla Firefox Web browser provided an ideal empirical setting for this study. Drawing upon

  18. Post-adoption contact, adoption communicative openness, and satisfaction with contact as predictors of externalizing behavior in adolescence and emerging adulthood.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Grotevant, Harold D; Rueter, Martha; Von Korff, Lynn; Gonzalez, Christopher

    2011-05-01

    This study examined the relation between three variables related to adoptive family relationships (post-adoption contact between adoptive and birth family members, adoption communicative openness, and satisfaction with contact) and adoptee externalizing behavior in adolescence and emerging adulthood. The study included 190 families of infant-placed, domestic adoptees during childhood, adolescence, and emerging adulthood. Structural equation modeling (SEM) was used to analyze predictors of externalizing behavior from contact (adoptive parents and adolescent reports), adoption communicative openness (adoptive mothers), and satisfaction with contact (adoptive parents and adolescent). Externalizing behavior showed moderate stability across childhood, adolescence, and emerging adulthood. Contact and adoption communicative openness were related to each other, but not to externalizing behaviors in adolescence or emerging adulthood. Controlling for the effect of Childhood Externalizing, adoptive families most satisfied with contact reported relative declines in adoptee externalizing behavior during adolescence compared to those in less satisfied families. Satisfaction was also indirectly associated with Emerging Adult Externalizing, through its effect on Adolescent Externalizing. Although contact and adoption communicative openness were highly correlated with each other, neither was related to adoptees' externalizing behavior in adolescence or emerging adulthood. Family-level satisfaction with contact was more predictive of externalizing outcomes. © 2010 The Authors. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry © 2010 Association for Child and Adolescent Mental Health.

  19. Institutional care and iron deficiency increase ADHD symptomology and lower IQ 2.5-5 years post-adoption.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Doom, Jenalee R; Georgieff, Michael K; Gunnar, Megan R

    2015-05-01

    Increased ADHD symptomology and lower IQ have been reported in internationally adopted (IA) children compared to non-adopted peers (Hostinar, Stellern, Schaefer, Carlson & Gunnar, 2012; Kreppner, O'Connor & Rutter, 2001). However, it is unclear whether these outcomes are due to institutional deprivation specifically or to co-occurring micronutrient deficiencies that disrupt brain development (Fuglestad, Rao & Georgieff, 2008b). In this study, IA children were compared to children raised in their biological families to examine differences in ADHD symptomology and IQ 2.5-5 years post-adoption and to assess the contributions of iron deficiency (ID) and duration of deprivation to these cognitive outcomes. ADHD symptoms (parent- and experimenter-reported) and IQ were evaluated in 88 IA (M = 62.1 months, SD = 2.4) and 35 non-adopted children (M = 61.4 months, SD = 1.6). IA children were assessed 29-64 months post-adoption (M = 41.9 months, SD = 10.2). ID was assessed during the initial post-adoption medical visit in 69 children, and children were classified into four groups by iron status, ranging from normal to ID anemia (most severe). IA children had greater ADHD symptomology, p IQ, p = .001, than non-adopted children. Within the IA group, children with more severe ID at adoption had greater ADHD symptomology, r(69) = 0.40, p = .001, and lower IQ, r(68) = -0.28, p IQ, r(85) = -.08, p = .52. Longitudinal results indicate improvement in IQ from 12 months post-adoption to age 5 for children with greater ID severity at adoption and longer duration of institutional care but no improvement in ADHD symptoms. These results signify continuing effects of early deprivation and ID on ADHD symptoms and IQ years after adoption. A video abstract of this article can be viewed at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vUFDAS3DD1c. © 2014 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

  20. Modelling the adoption of automatic milking systems in Noord-Holland

    OpenAIRE

    Matteo Floridi; Fabio Bartolini; Jack Peerlings; Nico Polman; Davide Viaggi

    2013-01-01

    Innovation and new technology adoption represent two central elements for the business and industry development process in agriculture. One of the most relevant innovations in dairy farms is the robotisation of the milking process through the adoption of Automatic Milking Systems (AMS). The purpose of this paper is to assess the impact of selected Common Agricultural Policy measures on the adoption of AMS in dairy farms. The model developed is a dynamic farm-household model that is able to si...

  1. Information-seeking behaviour and adoption of organic farming practices among vegetable farmers in South Western Nigeria / Sijuwade Adebukola Adebayo

    OpenAIRE

    Adebayo, Sijuwade Adebukola

    2013-01-01

    This study analyzed information-seeking behaviour and adoption of organic .farming practices among vegetable farmers in South-Western Nigeria. This is based on the fact that conventional intensive agricultural systems have side-effects which compromise food production in terms of quality and safety. As a result many are now stating that conventional agriculture represents an unsuitable long-term option. Specifically, the study identified the personal characteristics of the farmers, profile or...

  2. Farm-economic analysis of reducing antimicrobial use whilst adopting improved management strategies on farrow-to-finish pig farms

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Rojo-Gimeno, Cristina; Postma, Merel; Dewulf, Jeroen; Hogeveen, Henk; Lauwers, Ludwig; Wauters, Erwin

    2016-01-01

    Due to increasing public health concerns that food animals could be reservoirs for antibiotic resistant organisms, calls for reduced current antibiotic use on farms are growing. Nevertheless, it is challenging for farmers to perform this reduction without negatively affecting technical and

  3. An Assessment of Direct on-Farm Energy Use for High Value Grain Crops Grown under Different Farming Practices in Australia

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Tek Maraseni

    2015-11-01

    Full Text Available Several studies have quantified the energy consumption associated with crop production in various countries. However, these studies have not compared the energy consumption from a broad range of farming practices currently in practice, such as zero tillage, conventional tillage and irrigated farming systems. This study examines direct on-farm energy use for high value grain crops grown under different farming practices in Australia. Grain farming processes are identified and “typical” farming operation data are collected from several sources, including published and unpublished literature, as well as expert interviews. The direct on-farm energy uses are assessed for 27 scenarios, including three high value grain crops―wheat, barley and sorghum―for three regions (Northern, Southern and Western Australia under three farming conditions with both dryland (both for conventional and zero-tillage and irrigated conditions. It is found that energy requirement for farming operations is directly related to the intensity and frequency of farming operations, which in turn is related to tillage practices, soil types, irrigation systems, local climate, and crop types. Among the three studied regions, Western Australia requires less direct on-farm energy for each crop, mainly due to the easily workable sandy soils and adoption of zero tillage systems. In irrigated crops, irrigation energy remains a major contributor to the total on-farm energy demand, accounting for up to 85% of total energy use.

  4. On-farm Campylobacter and Escherichia coli in commercial broiler chickens: Re-used bedding does not influence Campylobacter emergence and levels across sequential farming cycles

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chinivasagam, H. N.; Estella, W.; Rodrigues, H.; Mayer, D. G.; Weyand, C.; Tran, T.; Onysk, A.; Diallo, I.

    2016-01-01

    Limitations in quality bedding material have resulted in the growing need to re-use litter during broiler farming in some countries, which can be of concern from a food-safety perspective. The aim of this study was to compare the Campylobacter levels in ceca and litter across three litter treatments under commercial farming conditions. The litter treatments were (a) the use of new litter after each farming cycle; (b) an Australian partial litter re-use practice; and (c) a full litter re-use practice. The study was carried out on two farms over two years (Farm 1, from 2009–2010 and Farm 2, from 2010–2011), across three sheds (35,000 to 40,000 chickens/shed) on each farm, adopting three different litter treatments across six commercial cycles. A random sampling design was adopted to test litter and ceca for Campylobacter and Escherichia coli, prior to commercial first thin-out and final pick-up. Campylobacter levels varied little across litter practices and farming cycles on each farm and were in the range of log 8.0–9.0 CFU/g in ceca and log 4.0–6.0 MPN/g for litter. Similarly the E. coli in ceca were ∼log 7.0 CFU/g. At first thin-out and final pick-up, the statistical analysis for both litter and ceca showed that the three-way interaction (treatments by farms by times) was highly significant (P litter treatments across the six farming cycles on both farms. Either C. jejuni or C. coli could be the dominant species across litter and ceca, and this phenomenon could not be attributed to specific litter treatments. Irrespective of the litter treatments in place, cycle 2 on Farm 2 remained Campylobacter-free. These outcomes suggest that litter treatments did not directly influence the time of emergence and levels of Campylobacter and E. coli during commercial farming. PMID:26908887

  5. Structural and economic dynamics in diversified Italian farms

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Cristina Salvioni

    2013-12-01

    Full Text Available Objective of this work is to investigate the structural change and economic dynamics of farms pursuing diversification and differentiation strategies in Italy. The analysis was performed on a panel of data built on the basis of information collected by the Italian FADN between 2003-2009. For the purpose of the analysis, we divided the population of commercial Italian farms into a five-fold farm typology based on size and the extent of diversification and differentiation strategies adopted by the farms. In detail, farms are defined as differentiated when they make use of a system of quality certification, while they are defined as diversified when they take up non farming activities (agritourism, social farms etc.. The findings show that conventional farms remain by far the largest category within the population of Italian commercial farms, while only 13% of the total commercial farms are classified as differentiated and/or diversified. Farms adopting product differentiation strategies are found to have an income growth path similar to that of conventional farms. Yet the category of diversified farms is the only one showing an upward trend with regard to income per worker in the observed years, while farms relying entirely on agricultural products appear to perform poorly in terms of labour productivity.

  6. Effect Of Credit Constraint On Production Efficiency Of Farm ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Credit constraint in agriculture affects not only the purchasing power of producers to procure farm inputs and to cover operating costs in the short run, but also their capacity to make farm-related investments as well as risk behavior in technology choice and adoption. These, in turn, influence technical efficiencies of the ...

  7. Post-Adoption Problem Behaviours in Adolescent and Adult Dogs Rehomed through a New Zealand Animal Shelter

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    M. Carolyn Gates

    2018-06-01

    Full Text Available Problem behaviours in dogs rehomed through animal shelters can jeopardise the long-term success of adoptions. In this study, data from 61 adolescent and adult dog adoptions that occurred through an animal shelter in Auckland, New Zealand, from 1 November 2015 to 31 July 2016 were analysed to describe the frequency of problem behaviours and level of adopter concern at different time points post-adoption. Amongst the 57 dogs with behavioural information available, 40 (70% had at least one reported problem behaviour, and the most frequently reported problem behaviours were poor manners (46%, destruction of household items (30%, and excessively high energy (28%. Very few dogs showed territorial aggression when objects or food items were removed (2% and 4%, respectively. However, aggression toward people or other dogs was frequently reported (19% and 19%, respectively. Of the 54 adopters that provided a response about their level of concern over their dog’s problem behaviours, 24 (44% were not concerned at all, 23 (43% were a little concerned, 4 (7% were moderately concerned, and 3 (6% were very concerned. Based on our interpretation of these findings, post-adoption support programmes targeted toward teaching adopters how to correctly train their dogs may be beneficial to increasing adoption satisfaction.

  8. Farm family effects of adopting improved and hybrid sorghum seed in the Sudan Savanna of West Africa.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Smale, Melinda; Assima, Amidou; Kergna, Alpha; Thériault, Véronique; Weltzien, Eva

    2018-01-01

    Uptake of improved sorghum varieties in the Sudan Savanna of West Africa has been limited, despite the economic importance of the crop and long-term investments in sorghum improvement. One reason why is that attaining substantial yield advantages has been difficult in this harsh, heterogeneous growing environment. Release in Mali of the first sorghum hybrids in Sub-Saharan Africa that have been developed primarily from local germplasm has the potential to change this situation. Utilizing plot data collected in Mali, we explain the adoption of improved seed with an ordered logit model and apply a multivalued treatment effects model to measure impacts on farm families, differentiating between improved varieties and hybrids. Since farm families both consume and sell their sorghum, we consider effects on consumption patterns as well as productivity. Status within the household, conferred by gender combined with marital status, generation, and education, is strongly related to the improvement status of sorghum seed planted in these extended family households. Effects of hybrid use on yields are large, widening the range of food items consumed, reducing the share of sorghum in food purchases, and contributing to a greater share of the sorghum harvest sold. Use of improved seed appears to be associated with a shift toward consumption of other cereals, and also to greater sales shares. Findings support on-farm research concerning yield advantages, also suggesting that the use of well-adapted sorghum hybrids could contribute to diet diversification and the crop's commercialization by smallholders.

  9. Fun on the farm: evaluation of a lesson to teach students about the spread of infection on school farm visits.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Meredith K D Hawking

    Full Text Available BACKGROUND: School visits to farms are a positive educational experience but pose risks due to the spread of zoonotic infections. A lesson plan to raise awareness about microbes on the farm and preventative behaviours was developed in response to the Griffin Investigation into the E. coli outbreak associated with Godstone Farm in 2009. This study evaluated the effectiveness of the delivery of the lesson plan in increasing knowledge about the spread of infection on the farm, amongst school students. METHODS: Two hundred and twenty-five 9-11 year old students from seven junior schools in England participated. Two hundred and ten students filled in identical questionnaires covering microbes, hand hygiene, and farm hygiene before and after the lesson. Statistical analysis assessed knowledge change using difference in percentage correct answers. RESULTS: Significant knowledge improvement was observed for all sections. In the 'Farm Hygiene' section, girls and boys demonstrated 18% (p<0.001 and 11% (p<0.001 improvement, respectively (girls vs. boys p<0.004. As girls had lower baseline knowledge the greater percentage improvement resulted in similar post intervention knowledge scores between genders (girls 80%, boys 83%. CONCLUSIONS: The lesson plan was successful at increasing awareness of microbes on the farm and infection prevention measures and should be used by teachers in preparation for a farm visit.

  10. Current strategies in the farm practices and post-harvest pesticidal defence

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Luciano Suss

    2008-04-01

    Full Text Available Today, people often talk about biologic agriculture and Integrated Production (IP, even if the real meaning of these terms is altered. In both cases, they deal with production methods characterized by a particular attention to the reduction of the environmental impact of all the farm practices used, especially for defence from adversities, being the element of major concern for environment and consumers’ health.Farm practice evolution, especially those about pest defence, is based on important conceptual change, accurate scientific analysis and organization of technical assistance, rationalization of agri-pharmaceutical product use is one of the main objective of Integrated Production Specifications (IPS. The quantitative reduction is the first objective, obtained by various means such as the use of efficient equipment and the qualitative selection based on the priority use of minor impact means, effectiveness being equal. At post-harvest, the anti-parasitary defence is undergoing deep changes in our country. Once, pesticides very toxic and persistent were used; however, in the last years the availability of active principles (a.p. usable on foodstuffs or in productive environments; for instance, methyl bromide use has been progressively reduced till its banishment because it is recognized to damage the ozone layer. Thus, on the whole we can talk about “integrated pest management” even for the post-harvest sector. However, substantial differences exist between agriculture and post-harvest, thus the integrated pest management in food production environment has to be designed in a different way. The fundamental element of this technique is to identify a tolerance threshold to pest attack but for the defence of food industries and stored foodstuffs is very difficult, if not impossible, to fix a limit to insect presence after which intervening is compulsory. Monitoring of pest attacks and the implementation of prevention practices is

  11. Determinants of continuance intention in a post-adoption satisfaction evaluation of a clinical information system.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hadji, Brahim; Dupuis, Isabelle; Leneveut, Laurence; Heudes, Didier; Wagner, Jean-François; Degoulet, Patrice

    2014-01-01

    The evaluation of end-user satisfaction is an essential part of any clinical information system (CIS) project. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the determinants of CIS continuance intention in a late post-adoption phase at the Georges Pompidou University Hospital (HEGP) in Paris. We designed an electronic survey instrument based on an IT post-adoption model (ITPAM) developed from three previous models, i.e., the Delone and McLean Information Success Model, the Davis TAM model and the Bhattacherjee information system continuance intention model. 419 questionnaires were collected from CIS users directly involved in patient care. The perceived CIS quality, usefulness and user satisfaction are significantly lower for medical professions than other professional groups. Continuance intention is very high within all professional subgroups. In a multiple regression analysis, the global satisfaction (R(2) = .780) was positively and significantly correlated with CIS quality, confirmation of expectations and perceived CIS usefulness. The continuance intention (R(2) = .392) was positively and significantly correlated with perceived CIS usefulness, confirmation of expectations and global satisfaction. In a late post-adoption CIS deployment phase, continuance intention does not significantly depend on individual end user characteristics but is significantly associated with the perceived CIS usefulness, confirmation of expectations and global satisfaction.

  12. Farm Typology in the Berambadi Watershed (India: Farming Systems Are Determined by Farm Size and Access to Groundwater

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Marion Robert

    2017-01-01

    Full Text Available Farmers’ production decisions and agricultural practices directly and indirectly influence the quantity and quality of natural resources, some being depleted common resources such as groundwater. Representing farming systems while accounting for their flexibility is needed to evaluate targeted, regional water management policies. Farmers’ decisions regarding investing in irrigation and adopting cropping systems are inherently dynamic and must adapt to changes in climate and agronomic, economic and social, and institutional, conditions. To represent this diversity, we developed a typology of Indian farmers from a survey of 684 farms in Berambadi, an agricultural watershed in southern India (state of Karnataka. The survey provided information on farm structure, the cropping system and farm practices, water management for irrigation, and economic performances of the farm. Descriptive statistics and multivariate analysis (Multiple Correspondence Analysis and Agglomerative Hierarchical Clustering were used to analyze relationships between observed factors and establish the farm typology. We identified three main types of farms: (1 large diversified and productivist farms; (2 small and marginal rainfed farms, and (3 small irrigated marketing farms. This typology represents the heterogeneity of farms in the Berambadi watershed.

  13. A Regional Approach of the Information Technology Adoption in the Romanian Agricultural Farms

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Liliana Mihaela MOGA

    2012-01-01

    Full Text Available The aim of this paper is to evaluate the stage of Information Technology implementation in the agricultural farms in Romania. At the level of each Romanian development region it was performed a research for identifying the use of Information Technology. In addition, it was conducted a study on the management applied in the agricultural farms, the market of information solutions developed for farms specific needs and of the politics that promote the investments in the Information Technology. The research had as result the identification of the main factors that lead to a reduced Information Technology penetration rate in the Romanian agriculture such as: the reduced number of agricultural farms with legal personality, the decreased investment potential of agricultural farms, the lack of interest of software developer enterprises in providing Farm Management Information Systems and the poor professional skills of farm managers and their employees in the Information Technology field.

  14. FACTORS FOR KMS POST ADOPTION: THE EXPLORATORY STUDY IN OIL AND GAS INDUSTRY IN MALAYSIA

    OpenAIRE

    Sureena Matayong; Ahmad Kamil Bin Mahmood

    2011-01-01

    This paper presents the analytical factors that influence Knowledge Management System (KMS) adoption at the individual level known as post adoption phase. Though many organizations have increasingly recognized KMS significance and started to implement it but its adoption has proved to be very difficult and many organizations are still facing with challenges. The analysis of Grounded Theory (GT) process provides results of the individual factors influence the adoption. These factors offer insi...

  15. CONSEQUENCES OF ORGANIC FARMING ON THE SUSTAINABLE SOCIETY - ROMANIA AND EU

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    BURJA CAMELIA

    2017-02-01

    Full Text Available A major trend adopted by the European Union member countries that are making efforts for sustainable development is the development of organic farming. The article studies the influences generated by the organic farming development in the EU countries, in the period 2006-2014, in terms of sustainable society. The statistical analysis is based on the use of certain variables that have a significant influence on the components of sustainable society. The identification of estimators for panelling data showed the favourable consequences of increasing the organic area for many indicators underpinning the economic, environmental and human wellbeing. The results confirm that the organic farming is a viable alternative to the conventional agriculture for raising the quality of life. The paper essentially quantifies the multiple effects of the organic farming for sustainable development and demonstrates that one of the directions to accelerate the development of the European economy on a sustainable basis is to stimulate the organic farming.

  16. Effects of information technology on dairy farms in The Netherlands: an empirical analysis of milk production records.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Van Asseldonk, M A; Huirne, R B; Dijkhuizen, A A; Tomaszewski, M A; Harbers, A G

    1998-10-01

    This study empirically quantified the effects of the adoption of an automated concentrate feeder, on-line measurement of milk production, and activity measurement on milk production and reproduction. The data comprised annual results of Dutch farms operating in a milk quota system from 1987 to 1996; data included both adopters and nonadopters as well as farm results before and after adoption. The use of an automated concentrate feeder improved the annual carrier production of milk, milk protein, and milk fat (102, 4.95, and 5.52 kg per cow, respectively). In contrast, on-line measurement of milk production did not significantly affect milk production records. Calving interval was shortened by 5.7 d after the adoption of an activity measurement system but was not affected by the adoption of an automated concentrate feeder or by the measurement of on-line milk production.

  17. Characterisation of adopters and non-adopters of dairy technologies in Ethiopia and Kenya

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Kebebe, E.G.; Oosting, S.J.; Baltenweck, I.; Duncan, A.J.

    2017-01-01

    While there is a general consensus that using dairy technologies, such as improved breeds of dairy cows, can substantially increase farm productivity and income, adoption of such technologies has been generally low in developing countries. The underlying reasons for non-adoption of beneficial

  18. Socio-Economic Factors Assessment Affecting the Adoption of Soil Conservation Technologies on Rwenzori Mountain

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Nabalegwa Wambede Muhamud

    2015-06-01

    Full Text Available This study analysed the role of socio-economic factors in influencing farmers’ adoption to soil conservation technologies in Bugoye Sub-county, Rwenzori Mountain. A cross sectional household survey design was used in this study, using systematic sampling to obtain 150 household samples. Qualitative analysis and chi-square tests were used to analyze these data. Results indicated that only 54% of the sampled households have adopted soil conservation, and revealed that eight of the nine factors significantly influenced farmers’ adoption, which are slope, farm size, farm distance from home, education level, family income, training, membership to NGOs, and credit accessibility. Only family size was insignificant. Other constraints are labour demands, cost of conservation work, land fragmentation, crop pests, and the limited agricultural extension services. It is recommended to perform training for farmers on designing soil conservation structures. Policies for empowering farmers with extra income are crucial to increase the adoption of soil conservation efforts.

  19. The proceedings of farm-in/farm-out adopted by ANP; O processo de solicitacao de 'cessao de direitos' em contratos de concessao sob a otica da ANP

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Quintella, Josie; Braga, Luciana [Agencia Nacional do Petroleo, Gas Natural e Biocombustiveis (ANP), Rio de Janeiro, RJ (Brazil)

    2008-07-01

    The opening of the oil and gas market (Constitutional Amendment n. 9, from 1995 and Law n. 9.478/97 - Petroleum Law), inserted in our order some elements and practices already existing in world oil industry, among which we point out the farm in/farm out contracts. It made possible that the company which has the concession of exploratory and production of oil, to give total or partial rights to other participants, through approval of regulatory institution. In Brazil, this practice is identified as 'Cessao de Direitos'. This work will present the proceedings adopted by the National Agency of Petroleum, Natural Gas and Biofuels (ANP) for executing this current practice (89 requests within the last twelve months) in the Brazilian Petroleum Industry. (author)

  20. Gender differences in adoption of recommended improved cassava ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Gender differences in adoption of recommended improved cassava production ... (39%) are involved in full time farm employment and the incidence of single parenthood ... The females on the other hand recorded higher adoption rates of the ...

  1. Modelling the smart farm

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Michael J. O'Grady

    2017-09-01

    Full Text Available Smart farming envisages the harnessing of Information and Communication Technologies as an enabler of more efficient, productive, and profitable farming enterprises. Such technologies do not suffice on their own; rather they must be judiciously combined to deliver meaningful information in near real-time. Decision-support tools incorporating models of disparate farming activities, either on their own or in combination with other models, offer one popular approach; exemplars include GPFARM, APSIM, GRAZPLAN amongst many others. Such models tend to be generic in nature and their adoption by individual farmers is minimal. Smart technologies offer an opportunity to remedy this situation; farm-specific models that can reflect near real-time events become tractable using such technologies. Research on the development, and application of farm-specific models is at a very early stage. This paper thus presents an overview of models within the farming enterprise; it then reviews the state-of the art in smart technologies that promise to enable a new generation of enterprise-specific models that will underpin future smart farming enterprises.

  2. Juridical aspects of post mortem adoption

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Sergio Rodrigo Martinez

    2015-12-01

    Full Text Available The legislature, with the enactment of the Statute of Children and Adolescents, now provides the named posthumous adoption, allowing the death of the adopter, in the course of the procedure does not generate the extinction pleaded adoption. Has the purpose to show that, notwithstanding the absence of such law, the construction of new adopters and adopted by families are recognized, since permeated the socially demonstrated affection, even in passing the death of the person occurs before you have to start legal formalization of the adoption petition, thus characterizing the figure of posthumous adoption without prior judicial manifestation.

  3. Farm level evaluation of biomass energy operated seed dryer at selected sites of Bangladesh

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Rahman, S.M.M.; Bhuiyan, M.G.K.; Rahman, M.A.; Baqui, M.A.; Bala, B.K.

    2006-01-01

    Drying is one of the major problem in post harvest and processing of farm produce specially paddy seed in Bangladesh resulting tremendous shortage of quality seed. Evaluation through demonstrations was undertaken for the resource poor farmers at the selected sites to have practical experience of the IRRI-BRRI seed dryer. Viability of the dried paddy was more than 90% after six months of storage. The farmers were satisfied on the performance of the dryer. 68-100% farmers were motivated to hire the dyer during Boro and Aus seasons. Thus, the farm level evaluation and adoption of seed dryer will give a better alternative, aware and motivate the farmers on producing quality seed through proper drying and will contribute increased production

  4. A Diagnosis of Biophysical and Socio-Economic Factors Influencing Farmers' Choice to Adopt Organic or Conventional Farming Systems for Cotton Production.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Riar, Amritbir; Mandloi, Lokendra S; Poswal, Randhir S; Messmer, Monika M; Bhullar, Gurbir S

    2017-01-01

    Organic agriculture is one of the most widely known alternative production systems advocated for its benefits to soil, environment, health and economic well-being of farming communities. Rapid increase in the market demand for organic products presents a remarkable opportunity for expansion of organic agriculture. A thorough understanding of the context specific motivations of farmers for adoption of organic farming systems is important so that appropriate policy measures are put in place. With an aim of understanding the social and biophysical motivations of organic and conventional cotton farmers for following their respective farming practices, a detailed farm survey was conducted in Nimar valley of Madhya Pradesh state in central India. The study area was chosen for being an important region for cotton production, where established organic and conventional farms operate under comparable circumstances. We found considerable variation among organic and conventional farmers for their social and biophysical motivations. Organic farmers were motivated by the sustainability of cotton production and growing safer food without pesticides, whereas conventional farmers were sensitive about their reputation in community. Organic farmers with larger holdings were more concerned about closed nutrient cycles and reducing their dependence on external inputs, whereas medium and small holding organic farmers were clearly motivated by the premium price of organic cotton. Higher productivity was the only important motivation for conventional farmers with larger land holdings. We also found considerable yield gaps among different farms, both under conventional and organic management, that need to be addressed through extension and training. Our findings suggest that research and policy measures need to be directed toward strengthening of extension services, local capacity building, enhancing availability of suitable inputs and market access for organic farmers.

  5. Adoption of Precision farming in Denmark

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Pedersen, Søren Marcus; Fountas, S.; Blackmore, S.

    2003-01-01

    to demonstrate continuous yield improvements from Variable Rate Technology applications. The cost of gathering information, time consumption and incompatibility are barriers to adoption. Given teh uncertainty due to temporal variability, real time canopy management with N-sensors and weed detection is suggested...... as the way to gather information and thereby conduct variable applications of nutrients and chemicals. Focus should also be put on environmental effects, logistics, bale handling and field planning....

  6. 22 CFR 96.50 - Placement and post-placement monitoring until final adoption in incoming cases.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-04-01

    ... qualified escorts, if used, and, if possible, in the company of the prospective adoptive parent(s). (b) In... greater. (c) When a placement for adoption is in crisis in the post-placement phase, the agency or person... resolving the crisis and the placement is disrupted, the agency or person assuming custody of the child...

  7. The effect of selected ovulation-inducing preparations on post-stripping mortality and reproductive indicators of farmed European grayling (Thymallus thymallus L.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jan Turek

    2013-01-01

    Full Text Available An experiment on the effects of hormonal preparations (Gonazon™ and Supergestran containing gonadotropin-releasing hormone on the course of reproduction of farmed grayling (Thymallus thymallus L. broodstock and their post-stripping mortality was performed at the hatchery in spring 2009. Four-year-old marked grayling females (n = 80 were randomly divided into four groups. The fish were intramuscularly injected with Supergestran at a dose of 30 μg·kg-1 body weight (Group 1, with GonazonTM at a dose of 30 μg·kg-1 (Group 2 and with saline 0.9% NaCl (Group 3, while fish of Group 4 were left without treatment (control group. No effect of treatment on the total number of ovulated females (70–80% was found at the end of the stripping period. Slightly higher (non-significant percentage of ovulated fish in the first stripping time (3 days post injection was observed in fish treated with Gonazon. The 30-days post-ovulatory mortality remained unaffected by hormone treatments in all groups. Significant differences (P < 0.001 were found in the fertilization rate of egg samples from the first stripping time. The highest fertilization rate (98.6% was found in fish treated with Supergestran, lower fertilization rates (61% and 65% in fish treated with saline and control, respectively, and the lowest fertilization rate (39% in fish treated with Gonazon. Other reproductive indicators remained unaffected by treatment in all groups. Based on our results, Supergestran is the most suitable preparation for the enhancing of artificial reproduction efficiency of farmed European grayling in fishery practice. The study brings important information about artificial reproduction of grayling broodstocks reared in controlled conditions.

  8. The Future Path of Organic Farming - Values, Standards and Controversy!

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Kjærgård, Bente; Pedersen, Kirsten Bransholm; Land, Birgit

    The study focuses on the recent debate about what is, or what constitutes, organic farming and what is the right path for organic farming in the future. The study is based on a critical discourse analysis of the controversy about suspending the private standard for organic farming adopted by the ...

  9. Post-harvest loss of farm raised Indian and Chinese major carps in the distribution channel from Mymensingh to Rangpur of Bangladesh.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hossain, M Motaleb; Rahman, Mahabubur; Hassan, M Nazmul; Nowsad, A A K M

    2013-06-15

    Post-harvest loss of catla (Catla catla), rohu (Labeo rohita), mrigal (Cirrhinus mrigala), silver carp (Hypophthalmichthys molitrix), grass carp (Ctenopharyngodon idella) and sarpunti (Puntius sarana) in a single distribution chain from harvest in Mymensingh to retail sale Rangpur town were determined, in order to obtain information on quality deterioration and existing handling and icing conditions so that suggestions for improving such practices can be made. Quality defect points of the fish at different steps of distribution channels were determined using a sensory based quality assessment tool. Percent quality loss of fish at each step of distribution was calculated from the number of cases that crossed sensory quality cut-off points. Neither of the fish lost their quality when they were in the farm gate, during transportation and in wholesale markets in Rangpur but most of the fishes lost their quality at the retail fish shops. The quality loss was 8, 12, 8, 6, 10 and 14% in case of C. catla, C. mrigala, L. rohita, H. molitrix, C. idella and P. sarana respectively in the retail markets. Fishes were not properly handled, bamboo baskets wrapped with polythene sheet were used as carrying container and inadequate ice was used during transportation. Retailers were found to be more proactive in the use of ice. However, most of the fishes were deteriorated during retail sale. The losses of farmed fishes could be minimized by adopting good handling practices like using insulated container and adequate icing.

  10. A Diagnosis of Biophysical and Socio-Economic Factors Influencing Farmers’ Choice to Adopt Organic or Conventional Farming Systems for Cotton Production

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Amritbir Riar

    2017-07-01

    Full Text Available Organic agriculture is one of the most widely known alternative production systems advocated for its benefits to soil, environment, health and economic well-being of farming communities. Rapid increase in the market demand for organic products presents a remarkable opportunity for expansion of organic agriculture. A thorough understanding of the context specific motivations of farmers for adoption of organic farming systems is important so that appropriate policy measures are put in place. With an aim of understanding the social and biophysical motivations of organic and conventional cotton farmers for following their respective farming practices, a detailed farm survey was conducted in Nimar valley of Madhya Pradesh state in central India. The study area was chosen for being an important region for cotton production, where established organic and conventional farms operate under comparable circumstances. We found considerable variation among organic and conventional farmers for their social and biophysical motivations. Organic farmers were motivated by the sustainability of cotton production and growing safer food without pesticides, whereas conventional farmers were sensitive about their reputation in community. Organic farmers with larger holdings were more concerned about closed nutrient cycles and reducing their dependence on external inputs, whereas medium and small holding organic farmers were clearly motivated by the premium price of organic cotton. Higher productivity was the only important motivation for conventional farmers with larger land holdings. We also found considerable yield gaps among different farms, both under conventional and organic management, that need to be addressed through extension and training. Our findings suggest that research and policy measures need to be directed toward strengthening of extension services, local capacity building, enhancing availability of suitable inputs and market access for organic farmers.

  11. Drivers for precision livestock technology adoption: A study of factors associated with adoption of electronic identification technology by commercial sheep farmers in England and Wales.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lima, Eliana; Hopkins, Thomas; Gurney, Emma; Shortall, Orla; Lovatt, Fiona; Davies, Peers; Williamson, George; Kaler, Jasmeet

    2018-01-01

    The UK is the largest lamb meat producer in Europe. However, the low profitability of sheep farming sector suggests production efficiency could be improved. Although the use of technologies such as Electronic Identification (EID) tools could allow a better use of flock resources, anecdotal evidence suggests they are not widely used. The aim of this study was to assess uptake of EID technology, and explore drivers and barriers of adoption of related tools among English and Welsh farmers. Farm beliefs and management practices associated with adoption of this technology were investigated. A total of 2000 questionnaires were sent, with a response rate of 22%. Among the respondents, 87 had adopted EID tools for recording flock information, 97 intended to adopt it in the future, and 222 neither had adopted it, neither intended to adopt it. Exploratory factor analysis (EFA) and multivariable logistic regression modelling were used to identify farmer beliefs and management practices significantly associated with adoption of EID technology. EFA identified three factors expressing farmer's beliefs-external pressure and negative feelings, usefulness and practicality. Our results suggest farmer's beliefs play a significant role in technology uptake. Non-adopters were more likely than adopters to believe that 'government pressurise farmers to adopt technology'. In contrast, adopters were significantly more likely than non-adopters to see EID as practical and useful (p≤0.05). Farmers with higher information technologies literacy and intending to intensify production in the future were significantly more likely to adopt EID technology (p≤0.05). Importantly, flocks managed with EID tools had significantly lower farmer- reported flock lameness levels (p≤0.05). These findings bring insights on the dynamics of adoption of EID tools. Communicating evidence of the positive effects EID tools on flock performance and strengthening farmer's capability in use of technology are likely

  12. Farm Mapping to Assist, Protect, and Prepare Emergency Responders: Farm MAPPER.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Reyes, Iris; Rollins, Tami; Mahnke, Andrea; Kadolph, Christopher; Minor, Gerald; Keifer, Matthew

    2014-01-01

    Responders such as firefighters and emergency medical technicians who respond to farm emergencies often face complex and unknown environments. They may encounter hazards such as fuels, solvents, pesticides, caustics, and exploding gas storage cylinders. Responders may be unaware of dirt roads within the farm that can expedite their arrival at critical sites or snow-covered manure pits that act as hidden hazards. A response to a farm, unless guided by someone familiar with the operation, may present a risk to responders and post a challenge in locating the victim. This project explored the use of a Web-based farm-mapping application optimized for tablets and accessible via easily accessible on-site matrix barcodes, or quick response codes (QR codes), to provide emergency responders with hazard and resource information to agricultural operations. Secured portals were developed for both farmers and responders, allowing both parties to populate and customize farm maps with icons. Data were stored online and linked to QR codes attached to mailbox posts where emergency responders may read them with a mobile device. Mock responses were conducted on dairy farms to test QR code linking efficacy, Web site security, and field usability. Findings from farmer usability tests showed willingness to enter data as well as ease of Web site navigation and data entry even with farmers who had limited computer knowledge. Usability tests with emergency responders showed ease of QR code connectivity to the farm maps and ease of Web site navigation. Further research is needed to improve data security as well as assess the program's applicability to nonfarm environments and integration with existing emergency response systems. The next phases of this project will expand the program for regional and national use, develop QR code-linked, Web-based extrication guidance for farm machinery for victim entrapment rescue, and create QR code-linked online training videos and materials for limited

  13. A framework for guiding sustainability assessment and on-farm strategic decision making

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Coteur, Ine; Marchand, Fleur; Debruyne, Lies; Dalemans, Floris; Lauwers, Ludwig

    2016-01-01

    Responding to future challenges and societal needs, various actions are taken in agriculture to evolve towards more sustainable farming practices. These actions imply strategic choices and suppose adequate sustainability assessments to identify, measure, evaluate and communicate sustainable development. However, literature is scarce on the link between strategic decision making and sustainability assessment. As questions emerge on how, what and when to measure, the objective of this paper is to construct a framework for guiding sustainability assessment and on-farm strategic decision making. Qualitative research on own experiences from the past and a recent project revealed four categories of actual needs farmers, advisors and experts have regarding sustainability assessment: context, flexibility, focus on farm and farmer and communication. These stakeholders' needs are then incorporated into a two-dimensional framework that marries the intrinsic complexity of sustainability assessment tools and the time frame of strategic decision making. The framework allows a farm-specific and flexible approach leading to harmonized actions towards sustainable farming. As this framework is mainly a procedural instrument to guide the use of sustainability assessment tools within strategic decision making, it fits to incorporate, even guide, future research on sustainability assessment tools themselves and on their adoption on farms. - Highlights: • How to link sustainability assessment and on-farm strategic decision making is unclear. • Two-dimensional framework incorporating stakeholders' needs regarding sustainability assessment • Linking complexity of sustainability assessment tools and the time frame of strategic decision making • Farm-specific and flexible approach to harmonize action towards sustainable farming

  14. A framework for guiding sustainability assessment and on-farm strategic decision making

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Coteur, Ine, E-mail: ine.coteur@ilvo.vlaanderen.be [Institute for Agricultural and Fisheries Research (ILVO)-Social sciences Unit, Burg. Van Gansberghelaan 115, box 2, 9820 Merelbeke (Belgium); Marchand, Fleur [Institute for Agricultural and Fisheries Research (ILVO)-Social sciences Unit, Burg. Van Gansberghelaan 115, box 2, 9820 Merelbeke (Belgium); University of Antwerp, Ecosystem Management Research Group and IMDO, Universiteitsplein 1, 2610 Wilrijk (Belgium); Debruyne, Lies; Dalemans, Floris [Institute for Agricultural and Fisheries Research (ILVO)-Social sciences Unit, Burg. Van Gansberghelaan 115, box 2, 9820 Merelbeke (Belgium); Lauwers, Ludwig [Institute for Agricultural and Fisheries Research (ILVO)-Social sciences Unit, Burg. Van Gansberghelaan 115, box 2, 9820 Merelbeke (Belgium); University of Ghent, Department of Agricultural Economics, Coupure Links 53, 9000 Ghent (Belgium)

    2016-09-15

    Responding to future challenges and societal needs, various actions are taken in agriculture to evolve towards more sustainable farming practices. These actions imply strategic choices and suppose adequate sustainability assessments to identify, measure, evaluate and communicate sustainable development. However, literature is scarce on the link between strategic decision making and sustainability assessment. As questions emerge on how, what and when to measure, the objective of this paper is to construct a framework for guiding sustainability assessment and on-farm strategic decision making. Qualitative research on own experiences from the past and a recent project revealed four categories of actual needs farmers, advisors and experts have regarding sustainability assessment: context, flexibility, focus on farm and farmer and communication. These stakeholders' needs are then incorporated into a two-dimensional framework that marries the intrinsic complexity of sustainability assessment tools and the time frame of strategic decision making. The framework allows a farm-specific and flexible approach leading to harmonized actions towards sustainable farming. As this framework is mainly a procedural instrument to guide the use of sustainability assessment tools within strategic decision making, it fits to incorporate, even guide, future research on sustainability assessment tools themselves and on their adoption on farms. - Highlights: • How to link sustainability assessment and on-farm strategic decision making is unclear. • Two-dimensional framework incorporating stakeholders' needs regarding sustainability assessment • Linking complexity of sustainability assessment tools and the time frame of strategic decision making • Farm-specific and flexible approach to harmonize action towards sustainable farming.

  15. Adoption of Improved Potato Varieties in Nepal

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Samaya Gairhe

    2017-05-01

    Full Text Available Nepal is one of the top twenty countries where potato contributes substantially for the human diet. Enhancing adoption of improved potato varieties could impact on farmer’s income, household food and nutritional security. As such, using a multistage sampling procedure, a study was conducted to assess the determinants of improved potato varieties adoption in Nepal covering 180 samples in four districts, two in hills and two in Tarai region. The study revealed that; Kavre and Bardiya districts in the hills and Tarai, respectively, were dominated by improved potato varieties adoption. On the other hand, Dhankuta and Jhapa in the hills and Tarai, respectively, were dominated by local potato varieties adoption. The informal seed sources followed by agro-vet and market were the major sources for improved varietal adoption. Farmers’ accesses to training and formal seed sources were important factor determining improved potato varietal adoption. However, households with larger farm size were less likely to allocate more area for improved potato varieties as many of farmers were reluctant to take potato cultivation as agri-business and still follow subsistence farming. Potato R&D programs, therefore, need to strengthen formal seed system to enhance access to quality potato seeds and build producer’s capacity through regular training and exposer visits in order to improve adoption of improved potato varieties in Nepal.

  16. Assessing the potential for the uptake of on-farm anaerobic digestion for energy production in England

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Tranter, R.B.; Swinbank, A.; Jones, P.J.; Banks, C.J.; Salter, A.M.

    2011-01-01

    We report on an assessment of the potential for energy production from on-farm anaerobic digestion (AD) in England based on findings from a survey of farmers where it was found that around 40% of 381 respondents might install AD on their farms. These 'possible adopters' tended to have large farms and might together utilise some 6560 ha of land for feedstock production along with the wastes from some 12,000 beef and dairy cattle and 9000 pigs. When raised to the national level, such a level of AD activity would produce around 3.5 GWh of electricity. This approximates to just 0.001% of national electricity generation. Further, there are considerable perceived barriers to the widespread adoption of AD on farms in England; these include the high capital costs of installing AD and doubts about the economic returns being high enough. - Research highlights: → Biogas from anaerobic digestion has good potential for the UK. → Some 40% of English farmers surveyed might install anaerobic digesters. → Crops as well as animal manure would be used as feedstock for the digesters. → High capital costs of digesters are a barrier to up-take by farmers.

  17. Assessing the potential for the uptake of on-farm anaerobic digestion for energy production in England

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Tranter, R.B., E-mail: r.b.tranter@reading.ac.u [Centre for Agricultural Strategy, School of Agriculture, Policy and Development, University of Reading, PO Box 237, Earley Gate, Whiteknights Road, Reading RG6 6AR (United Kingdom); Swinbank, A.; Jones, P.J. [Centre for Agricultural Strategy, School of Agriculture, Policy and Development, University of Reading, PO Box 237, Earley Gate, Whiteknights Road, Reading RG6 6AR (United Kingdom); Banks, C.J.; Salter, A.M. [School of Civil Engineering and the Environment, University of Southampton, Highfield, Southampton SO17 1BJ (United Kingdom)

    2011-05-15

    We report on an assessment of the potential for energy production from on-farm anaerobic digestion (AD) in England based on findings from a survey of farmers where it was found that around 40% of 381 respondents might install AD on their farms. These 'possible adopters' tended to have large farms and might together utilise some 6560 ha of land for feedstock production along with the wastes from some 12,000 beef and dairy cattle and 9000 pigs. When raised to the national level, such a level of AD activity would produce around 3.5 GWh of electricity. This approximates to just 0.001% of national electricity generation. Further, there are considerable perceived barriers to the widespread adoption of AD on farms in England; these include the high capital costs of installing AD and doubts about the economic returns being high enough. - Research highlights: {yields} Biogas from anaerobic digestion has good potential for the UK. {yields} Some 40% of English farmers surveyed might install anaerobic digesters. {yields} Crops as well as animal manure would be used as feedstock for the digesters. {yields} High capital costs of digesters are a barrier to up-take by farmers.

  18. Certified safe farm: identifying and removing hazards on the farm.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rautiainen, R H; Grafft, L J; Kline, A K; Madsen, M D; Lange, J L; Donham, K J

    2010-04-01

    This article describes the development of the Certified Safe Farm (CSF) on-farm safety review tools, characterizes the safety improvements among participating farms during the study period, and evaluates differences in background variables between low and high scoring farms. Average farm review scores on 185 study farms improved from 82 to 96 during the five-year study (0-100 scale, 85 required for CSF certification). A total of 1292 safety improvements were reported at an estimated cost of $650 per farm. A wide range of improvements were made, including adding 9 rollover protective structures (ROPS), 59 power take-off (PTO) master shields, and 207 slow-moving vehicle (SMV) emblems; improving lighting on 72 machines: placing 171 warning decals on machinery; shielding 77 moving parts; locking up 17 chemical storage areas, adding 83 lockout/tagout improvements; and making general housekeeping upgrades in 62 farm buildings. The local, trained farm reviewers and the CSF review process overall were well received by participating farmers. In addition to our earlier findings where higher farm review scores were associated with lower self-reported health outcome costs, we found that those with higher farm work hours, younger age, pork production in confinement, beef production, poultry production, and reported exposure to agrichemicals had higher farm review scores than those who did not have these characteristics. Overall, the farm review process functioned as expected. encouraging physical improvements in the farm environment, and contributing to the multi-faceted CSF intervention program.

  19. farmer's characteristics and adoption of recommended practices ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Prof. Ekwueme

    80 respondents reveals that fadama farming was dominated by females ... determinants of respondents' adoption of fadama-related technologies, accounting for about 39% of .... of male adoption of improved practices could be related to the.

  20. A Novel Energy Yields Calculation Method for Irregular Wind Farm Layout

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Hou, Peng; Hu, Weihao; Soltani, Mohsen

    2015-01-01

    Due to the increasing size of offshore wind farm, the impact of the wake effect on energy yields become more and more evident. The Seafloor topography would limit the layout of the wind farm so that irregular layout is usually adopted inlarge scale offshore wind farm. However, the calculation...

  1. Modeling the effect of social networks on adoption of multifunctional agriculture.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Manson, Steven M; Jordan, Nicholas R; Nelson, Kristen C; Brummel, Rachel F

    2016-01-01

    Rotational grazing (RG) has attracted much attention as a cornerstone of multifunctional agriculture (MFA) in animal systems, potentially capable of producing a range of goods and services of value to diverse stakeholders in agricultural landscapes and rural communities, as well as broader societal benefits. Despite these benefits, global adoption of MFA has been uneven, with some places seeing active participation, while others have seen limited growth. Recent conceptual models of MFA emphasize the potential for bottom-up processes and linkages among social and environmental systems to promote multifunctionality. Social networks are critical to these explanations but how and why these networks matter is unclear. We investigated fifty-three farms in three states in the United States (New York, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania) and developed a stylized model of social networks and systemic change in the dairy farming system. We found that social networks are important to RG adoption but their impact is contingent on social and spatial factors. Effects of networks on farmer decision making differ according to whether they comprise weak-tie relationships, which bridge across disparate people and organizations, or strong-tie relationships, which are shared by groups in which members are well known to one another. RG adoption is also dependent on features of the social landscape including the number of dairy households, the probability of neighboring farmers sharing strong ties, and the role of space in how networks are formed. The model replicates features of real-world adoption of RG practices in the Eastern US and illustrates pathways toward greater multifunctionality in the dairy landscape. Such models are likely to be of heuristic value in network-focused strategies for agricultural development.

  2. Farmers' Willingness to Adopt Conservation Agriculture: New Evidence from Lebanon.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chalak, Ali; Irani, Alexandra; Chaaban, Jad; Bashour, Issam; Seyfert, Karin; Smoot, Kaitlyn; Abebe, Gumataw Kifle

    2017-10-01

    With increasing food insecurity and climate change, conservation agriculture has emerged as a sustainable alternative to intensive conventional agriculture as a source of food supply. Yet the adoption rate of conservation agriculture is still low. Our paper analyses the factors affecting farmers' willingness to adopt conservation agriculture in Lebanon. The findings show that household characteristics-years of farming and farm size affect conservation agriculture adoption. However, household characteristics alone were insufficient to explain conservation agriculture adoption. We found that farming experience, information sources, frequency of irrigation, and severity of weed infestation in the past, participation in specific trainings, and farmers' perception about the long-term impact of conservation agriculture, were key determinants of conservation agriculture adoption. Our paper encourages policymakers to invest in conservation agriculture to overcome food insecurity and environmental changes affecting food systems in the Middle East. The paper also informs agribusiness firms to view conservation agriculture as a viable alternative to strengthen their business relationship with farmers in arid and semi-arid regions.

  3. Farmers' Willingness to Adopt Conservation Agriculture: New Evidence from Lebanon

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chalak, Ali; Irani, Alexandra; Chaaban, Jad; Bashour, Issam; Seyfert, Karin; Smoot, Kaitlyn; Abebe, Gumataw Kifle

    2017-10-01

    With increasing food insecurity and climate change, conservation agriculture has emerged as a sustainable alternative to intensive conventional agriculture as a source of food supply. Yet the adoption rate of conservation agriculture is still low. Our paper analyses the factors affecting farmers' willingness to adopt conservation agriculture in Lebanon. The findings show that household characteristics—years of farming and farm size affect conservation agriculture adoption. However, household characteristics alone were insufficient to explain conservation agriculture adoption. We found that farming experience, information sources, frequency of irrigation, and severity of weed infestation in the past, participation in specific trainings, and farmers' perception about the long-term impact of conservation agriculture, were key determinants of conservation agriculture adoption. Our paper encourages policymakers to invest in conservation agriculture to overcome food insecurity and environmental changes affecting food systems in the Middle East. The paper also informs agribusiness firms to view conservation agriculture as a viable alternative to strengthen their business relationship with farmers in arid and semi-arid regions.

  4. The role of renewable energy on animal farms

    Science.gov (United States)

    Csatári, Nándor; Vántus, András

    2015-04-01

    The recent measures in the European Union promote the usage of renewable energies and enhancing the energy efficiency. These measures also effect agriculture, on the one hand by using biofuels mixed into fuel for machinery. Besides biofuels animal farms have opportunities in using renewable energy in several other ways. There are sectors in animal farming, where the energy demand is continuously high in electricity (e.g. forage grinders, mixers, milk coolers, air ventilation systems) or in heating (e.g. stables for poultry or piglets). Beside the energy demand in agricultural sector there are several products and side products suitable for energy production. For example different kinds of organic manures and corn silage could be raw materials for biogas production; plant residues like cereal straw and corn stalk bales could be combusted in boilers. Furthermore solar cells or solar collectors can be mounted on the big roof surfaces of animal farm buildings. Among animal farming sectors, dairy farming in the most energy intensive, and uses the widest variety of energy forms. It is often mentioned as the "heavy industry" of animal farming. In this research 14 dairy farms were examined in Hajdú-Bihar County in the topic of energy demand, renewable energy usage. The questioned farms covers 35% of the dairy cow population in Hajdú-Bihar County. The questions covered the general attributes of the farms and the details of the (existing or planned) renewable energy application. In terms of economic analysis saving, the investment return time and the employment effect was examined. The results show wide variety of applied renewable energy application. Fifty percent of farms uses at least one kind of renewable energy. Two biogas plants, 6 boilers for solid biomass, 2 solar cells. Regarding employment effect biogas plants created some full time workplaces, biomass boilers also needs some work hours to maintain, but none of the farms applied more labour. Besides renewable

  5. Modelling Options for Policy Impact Analysis on African Dairy Farms

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Oghaiki Asaah NDAMBI

    2008-01-01

    Full Text Available Studies on the priorities for agricultural research in Eastern and CentralAfrica concluded that milk is the most important commodity for research anddevelopment in the region, based on its potential contribution to the agriculturalGDP. It has been presumed that, the right policies, marketing systems and technicalsupport must be sought for dairy development in Africa. In order to determine theright development pattern, appropriate analytical tools must be applied. The TIPICAL(Technology Impact Policy Impact model was used to analyse the impact ofdifferent policies on two typical dairy farming systems in Uganda, which accountfor more than 70% of milk produced in the country. Seven influential policy areaswere also identified: provision of veterinary services, consumption promotion,marketing promotion, input provision, credit access improvement, milk qualityimprovement and genetic improvement. In general, the policy impacts are very littleon farms with local cows but can be magnified up to threefold, if the farms havegraded cows. Policies which improve farmers’ accessibility to markets have thegreatest impacts. The results obtained from this model were compared to thoseusing the EXTRAPOLATE model. This comparison shows that both models couldcomplement each other in analysing policy impacts on African dairy farms.However, differences in results from the models indicate that more focus should bemade on farmers’ willingness to adopt new technology.

  6. Dairy farmers with larger herd sizes adopt more precision dairy technologies.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gargiulo, J I; Eastwood, C R; Garcia, S C; Lyons, N A

    2018-06-01

    An increase in the average herd size on Australian dairy farms has also increased the labor and animal management pressure on farmers, thus potentially encouraging the adoption of precision technologies for enhanced management control. A survey was undertaken in 2015 in Australia to identify the relationship between herd size, current precision technology adoption, and perception of the future of precision technologies. Additionally, differences between farmers and service providers in relation to perception of future precision technology adoption were also investigated. Responses from 199 dairy farmers, and 102 service providers, were collected between May and August 2015 via an anonymous Internet-based questionnaire. Of the 199 dairy farmer responses, 10.4% corresponded to farms that had fewer than 150 cows, 37.7% had 151 to 300 cows, 35.5% had 301 to 500 cows; 6.0% had 501 to 700 cows, and 10.4% had more than 701 cows. The results showed that farmers with more than 500 cows adopted between 2 and 5 times more specific precision technologies, such as automatic cup removers, automatic milk plant wash systems, electronic cow identification systems and herd management software, when compared with smaller farms. Only minor differences were detected in perception of the future of precision technologies between either herd size or farmers and service providers. In particular, service providers expected a higher adoption of automatic milking and walk over weighing systems than farmers. Currently, the adoption of precision technology has mostly been of the type that reduces labor needs; however, respondents indicated that by 2025 adoption of data capturing technology for monitoring farm system parameters would be increased. Copyright © 2018 American Dairy Science Association. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  7. Can the Global Adoption of Genetically Improved Farmed Fish Increase Beyond 10%, and How?

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ingrid Olesen

    2015-05-01

    Full Text Available The annual production from global aquaculture has increased rapidly from 2.6 million tons or 3.9% of the total supply of fish, shellfish and mollusks in 1970, to 66.7 million tons or 42.2% in 2012, while capture fisheries have more or less leveled out at about 90 million tons per year since the turn of the century. Consequently, the future seafood supply is likely to depend on a further increase of aquaculture production. Unlike terrestrial animal farming, less than 10% of the aquaculture production comes from domesticated and selectively bred farm stocks. This situation has substantial consequences in terms of poorer resource efficiency, poorer product quality and poorer animal welfare. The history of biological and technical challenges when establishing selective breeding programs for aquaculture is discussed, and it is concluded that most aquaculture species may now be domesticated and improved by selection. However, the adoption of selective breeding in aquaculture is progressing slowly. This paper reports on a study carried out in 2012 to identify key issues to address in promoting the development of genetically improved aquaculture stocks. The study involved semi structured interviews of 34 respondents from different sectors of the aquaculture society in East and Southeast Asia, where 76% of the global aquaculture production is located. Based on the interviews and literature review, three key factors are identified: (i long-term public commitment is often needed for financial support of the breeding nucleus operation (at least during the first five to ten generations of selection; (ii training at all levels (from government officers and university staff to breeding nucleus and hatchery operators, as well as farmers; and (iii development of appropriate business models for benefit sharing between the breeding, multiplier and grow-out operators (whether being public, cooperative or private operations. The public support should be invested in

  8. Economic and agricultural transformation through large-scale farming : impacts of large-scale farming on local economic development, household food security and the environment in Ethiopia

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Bekele, M.S.

    2016-01-01

    This study examined impacts of large-scale farming in Ethiopia on local economic development, household food security, incomes, employment, and the environment. The study adopted a mixed research approach in which both qualitative and quantitative data were generated from secondary and primary

  9. The distribution of dairy farm size in Poland: a markov approach based on information theory

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Tonini, A.; Jongeneel, R.

    2009-01-01

    This article sets out to analyse the evolution of the dairy farm structure of Poland during the post-socialist period. After focusing on how the farm structure has changed over time, an instrumental variable generalized cross entropy estimator is used to develop and estimate a Markov model in order

  10. Drivers for precision livestock technology adoption: A study of factors associated with adoption of electronic identification technology by commercial sheep farmers in England and Wales

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hopkins, Thomas; Gurney, Emma; Shortall, Orla; Lovatt, Fiona; Davies, Peers; Williamson, George; Kaler, Jasmeet

    2018-01-01

    The UK is the largest lamb meat producer in Europe. However, the low profitability of sheep farming sector suggests production efficiency could be improved. Although the use of technologies such as Electronic Identification (EID) tools could allow a better use of flock resources, anecdotal evidence suggests they are not widely used. The aim of this study was to assess uptake of EID technology, and explore drivers and barriers of adoption of related tools among English and Welsh farmers. Farm beliefs and management practices associated with adoption of this technology were investigated. A total of 2000 questionnaires were sent, with a response rate of 22%. Among the respondents, 87 had adopted EID tools for recording flock information, 97 intended to adopt it in the future, and 222 neither had adopted it, neither intended to adopt it. Exploratory factor analysis (EFA) and multivariable logistic regression modelling were used to identify farmer beliefs and management practices significantly associated with adoption of EID technology. EFA identified three factors expressing farmer’s beliefs–external pressure and negative feelings, usefulness and practicality. Our results suggest farmer’s beliefs play a significant role in technology uptake. Non-adopters were more likely than adopters to believe that ‘government pressurise farmers to adopt technology’. In contrast, adopters were significantly more likely than non-adopters to see EID as practical and useful (p≤0.05). Farmers with higher information technologies literacy and intending to intensify production in the future were significantly more likely to adopt EID technology (p≤0.05). Importantly, flocks managed with EID tools had significantly lower farmer- reported flock lameness levels (p≤0.05). These findings bring insights on the dynamics of adoption of EID tools. Communicating evidence of the positive effects EID tools on flock performance and strengthening farmer’s capability in use of

  11. Factors influencing the adoption of telemedicine for treatment of military veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Clemens Scott Kruse

    2018-04-01

    Full Text Available Background: Military veterans returning from a combat zone often face mental health challenges as a result of traumatic experiences. The veteran in the United States has been underdiagnosed and underserved. Since its advancement in the 1990s, telemedicine has become a more prevalent means of delivering services for post-traumatic stress disorder among veterans in the United States, but its adoption is not ubiquitous. Objective: To clarify the association of telemedicine and the treatment of veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder through identification of facilitators and barriers to the adoption of the modality. Methods: Reviewers analysed articles from CINAHL and PubMed databases, using relative key words, selecting the 28 most germane to the study objective. Results: The most common adoption facilitators were: improving access to rural populations of veterans (22%, effective treatment outcomes (16%, and decreased costs related to care (13%. The most prevalent barriers were: veterans lacking access to necessary modalities (25%, availability of physicians competent in post-traumatic stress disorder treatment (20%, and complications with technology (20%. Five themes surfaced for facilitators: accessibility, effectiveness, cost reduction, positive patient perception, and supportive community; and 5 themes for barriers: access to technology, technical complications, physician availability, negative patient perception, and uninformed patients. Conclusion: This literature review identifies cost and outcomes-effectiveness. The association of telemedicine with the treatment of veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder is feasible, beneficial and effective.

  12. Stories of Success and Struggle: California's Small Farms.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Warnert, Jeannette; McCue, Susan

    1999-01-01

    Describes the University of California's Small Farms Program, which aims to support the sustainability of small farms by providing small-scale farmers with state-of-the-art information, research, support networks, and technical assistance in technology adoption and decision making. Profiles four successful small farms that grow strawberries,…

  13. Farm animal proteomics - A review

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Bendixen, Emøke; Danielsen, Marianne; Hollung, Kristin

    2011-01-01

    In agricultural sciences as in all other areas of life science, the implementation of proteomics and other post-genomic tools is an important step towards more detailed understanding of the complex biological systems that control physiology and pathology of living beings. Farm animals are raised...... and cattle are relevant not only for farm animal sciences, but also for adding to our understanding of complex biological mechanisms of health and disease in humans. The aim of this review is to present an overview of the specific topics of interest within farm animal proteomics, and to highlight some...... of the areas where synergy between classic model organism proteomics and farm animal proteomics is rapidly emerging. Focus will be on introducing the special biological traits that play an important role in food production, and on how proteomics may help optimize farm animal production...

  14. To what extent does organic farming rely on nutrient inflows from conventional farming?

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Nowak, Benjamin; Nesme, Thomas; Pellerin, Sylvain; David, Christophe

    2013-01-01

    Organic farming is increasingly recognized as a prototype for sustainable agriculture. Its guidelines ban the use of artificial fertilizers. However, organic farms may import nutrients from conventional farming through material exchanges. In this study, we aimed at estimating the magnitude of these flows through the quantification of nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium inflows from conventional farming to organic farming. Material inflows and outflows were collected for two cropping years on 63 farms. The farms were located in three French agricultural districts distributed over a gradient of farming activity defined by both the stocking rate and the ratio of the farm area under arable crops. Our results showed that on average, inflows from conventional farming were 23%, 73% and 53% for nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium, respectively. These inflows were strongly determined by the farm production systems. However, for farms similar in terms of production systems, the inflows also depended on the local context, such as the proximity of organic livestock farms: the reliance of organic farming on conventional farming was lower in mixed than in specialized districts. These results highlight the necessity to quantify the contribution of nutrient inflows from conventional farming when assessing organic farming and development scenarios. (letter)

  15. Farmers\\' Characteristics And Adoption Of Recommended Practices ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    The study focused on farmers under the fadama project scheme in Edo State, Nigeria with emphasis on the relationship between farmers\\' characteristics and adoption of recommended technologies. Analyses of data obtained from a random sample of 80 respondents reveals that fadama farming was dominated by females ...

  16. Solutions to raptor-wind farm interactions

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Madders, M.; Walker, D.G. [CRE Energy Ltd., Scottish Power, Glasgow (United Kingdom)

    2000-07-01

    Wind energy developments in the uplands have the potential to adversely impact upon a number of raptor species by lowering survival and reproductive rates. In many cases, wind farms are proposed in areas where raptors are already under pressure from existing land uses, notably sheep grazing and forestry. This paper summarises the approach used to assess the impact of a 30MW wind farm on a pair of golden eagles in the Kintyre peninsula, Scotland. We outline the method being used to manage habitats for the benefit of the eagles and their prey. By adopting management practices that are both wide-scale and long-term, we aim to reduce the impact to the wind farm to levels considered acceptable by the conservation agencies, and improve breeding productivity of the eagles using the wind farm. The implications of this innovative approach for future raptor--wind farm interactions are discussed. (Author)

  17. The Alcohol Intervention Training Program (AITP: A response to alcohol misuse in the farming community

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ricciardelli Lina A

    2011-04-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background Farm men and women in Australia have higher levels of problematic alcohol use than their urban counterparts and experience elevated health risks associated with excessive alcohol consumption. The Sustainable Farm Families (SFF program has worked successfully with farm men and women to address health, well- being and safety and has identified that further research and training is required to understand and address alcohol misuse behaviours. This project will add an innovative component to the program by training health professionals working with farm men and women to discuss and respond to alcohol-related physical and mental health problems. Methods/Design A mixed method design with multi-level evaluation will be implemented following the development and delivery of a training program (The Alcohol Intervention Training Program {AITP} for Sustainable Farm Families health professionals. Pre-, post- and follow-up surveys will be used to assess both the impact of the training on the knowledge, confidence and skills of the health professionals to work with alcohol misuse and associated problems, and the impact of the training on the attitudes, behaviour and mental health of farm men and women who participate in the SFF project. Evaluations will take a range of forms including self-rated outcome measures and interviews. Discussion The success of this project will enhance the health and well-being of a critical population, the farm men and women of Australia, by producing an evidence-based strategy to assist them to adopt more positive alcohol-related behaviours that will lead to better physical and mental health.

  18. Farmed fish welfare-suffering assessment and impact on product quality

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Bianca Maria Poli

    2010-01-01

    Full Text Available Fish welfare, suffering and the perception of pain were debated, together with several factors reducing infra vitam welfare of farmed fish (genetic, environment, density, malnutrition, starvation, cataracts, deformities, vaccination side effects, transport, handling, confinement, crowding, harvesting, killing method. Behavioural and physiological stress responses were considered as indicators of welfare reduction. The effects of pre-slaughter management practices, and the most commonly used stunning/slaughtering methods on welfare and quality reduction of farmed fish were discussed. A number of indicators can be used to assess fish welfare-suffering, both in a scientific and practical context, such as behavioural, haematic, cellular, tissue post mortem fish stress and quality indicators, but none of them are optimal. The best strategy for a reliable assessment of fish welfare/suffering and their impact on product quality is a multidisciplinary approach that takes into account animal behaviour and the different biochemical and physiological ante mortem and post mortem processes involved: several components, all influenced in a similar way by the same condition, suggest real welfare and quality reduction.

  19. Off-Farm Employment and Economic Crisis: Evidence from Cyprus

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Elias Giannakis

    2018-03-01

    Full Text Available Off-farm employment is an important strategy for complementing farm household income and maintaining rural livelihoods. A multilevel logistic regression model was applied to investigate the effect of farm-level and regional-level factors on off-farm employment in Cyprus during the recent economic crisis period. The performance of nonfarm sectors positively affects off-farm employment; a one-percent increase in the share of the secondary and tertiary sector employment increases the likelihood of off-farm work by 9.5 times. The importance of location was also identified. Farm households located in rural areas are 70% less likely to engage in off-farm work than households located in urban areas. The positive effect of educational attainment and the negative effect of farm training confirmed the importance of human capital characteristics on off-farm labour participation. Farm structural factors are also significant determinants of off-farm employment. A one-hectare increase in the farm size decreases the odds of off-farm labour participation by 50%. Operators of crop farming holdings are 4.2 times more likely to work off the farm than operators of livestock and mixed-farming holdings. The results reveal the importance of adopting a multilevel and integrated approach for the analysis of off-farm employment.

  20. Neighbourhood Acceptability of Poultry Farms Located in ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    ... due to poultry production in their neighbourhood. It was recommended that farmers should be encouraged to adopt technologies that can keep poultry litters dry and odourless. In addition, poultry farm locations should be sited far away from residential areas. Keywords: Poultry Farms, Acceptability, Waste management, ...

  1. Livestock systems and farming styles in Eastern Italian Alps: an on-farm survey

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Maurizio Ramanzin

    2010-01-01

    Full Text Available This research aimed to study the relationships between livestock systems, landscape maintenance and farming styles in the Belluno Province, a mountainous area of the Eastern Italian Alps. A total of 65 farms were sampled on the basis of livestock category farmed and herd size. Farms were visited to collect information on technical and productive aspects, on landscape features of land managed, which was identified by aerial photographs and digitised in a GIS environment, and on the farmers’ background, attitudes and approach to farming. Six different livestock systems were identified: intensive beef cattle (2 farms; extensive beef cattle (12 farms; large sheep/goat farms (9 farms; small sheep/goat farms (6 farms; intensive dairy cattle (14 farms and extensive dairy cattle (22 farms. The intensive systems had larger herds, modern structures and equipment, and were strongly production oriented, whereas the extensive systems had smaller herds and productivity, with often traditional or obsolete structures and equipment, but showed a tendency to diversify production by means of on-farm cheese making and/or mixed farming of different livestock categories. The ability to maintain meadows and pastures was greater for the extensive systems, especially in steep areas, while the annual nitrogen output, estimated as kg N/ha, was lower. Data on the farmers’ background and attitudes were analysed with a non-hierarchical cluster procedure that clustered the farmers into 4 farming styles widely different in motivations to farming, innovative capability, and ability to diversify income sources and ensure farm economic viability. The farming styles were distributed across all livestock systems, indicating the lack of a linkage between the assignment of a farm to a livestock system and the way the farm is managed. This study demonstrates that in mountain areas variability of livestock systems may be high, and that they differ not only in production practices

  2. Utilization of Agricultural Information Sources and Adoption of ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    USER

    aesonnigeria.org ... sources on adoption of animal and crop technologies among farming households in Imo State, Nigeria. Structured ... used to improve the condition of human and natural environment as well as carry out some other socio-economic ...

  3. Preventive Measures Adopted by Nigerian Farmers for the ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    The study investigated the adoption of environmental hazards preventive measures among cocoa farmers in Nigeria. It specifically identified and evaluated the preventive measures adopted by the farmers against environmental hazards associated with cocoa farming. A multistage sampling procedure was used in selecting ...

  4. On-farm impact of the System of Rice Intensification (SRI): Evidence and knowledge gaps

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Berkhout, E.D.; Glover, D.B.A.; Kuyvenhoven, A.

    2015-01-01

    The System of Rice Intensification (SRI) is being promoted worldwide, but relatively little is yet known about its impacts at farm level. This article reviews available evidence on the impact of SRI practices in terms of yield and productivity. Adoption of SRI practices necessarily changes the mix

  5. Factors Affecting Chinese Farmers' Decisions to Adopt a Water-Saving Technology

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Herzfeld, T.; Glauben, T.; Zhang, Y.; Hu, B.

    2008-01-01

    Chinese farm households (N = 240) were interviewed to understand some of the factors affecting their adoption of a water-saving technology called the Ground Cover Rice Production System (GCRPS). A logit model was established on the basis of a survey to estimate the determinants of adoption and to

  6. A Meta Analysis on Farm-Level Costs and Benefits of GM Crops

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Nataliya Stupak

    2011-05-01

    Full Text Available This paper reviews the evidence on the socio-economic impacts of GM crops and analyzes whether there are patterns across space and time. To this end, we investigate the effect of GM crops on farm-level costs and benefits using global data from more than one decade of field trials and surveys. More specifically, we analyze the effects of GM-crops on crop yields, seed costs, pesticide costs, and management and labor costs and finally gross margins. Based on collected data from studies on Bt cotton and Bt maize, statistical analyses are conducted to estimate the effect of GM crop adoption on these parameters. Our results show that, compared to conventional crops, GM crops can lead to yield increases and can lead to reductions in the costs of pesticide application, whereas seed costs are usually substantially higher. Thus, the results presented here do support the contention that the adoption of GM crops leads on average to a higher economic performance, which is also underlined by the high adoption rates for GM crops in a number of countries. However, the kind and magnitude of benefits from GM crops are very heterogeneous between countries and regions, particularly due to differences in pest pressure and pest management practices. Countries with poor pest management practices benefited most from a reduction in yield losses, whereas other countries benefited from cost reductions. However, our study also reveals limitations for meta-analyses on farm-level costs and benefits of GM crops. In particular, published data are skewed towards some countries and the employed individual studies rely on different assumptions, purposes and methodologies (e.g., surveys and field trials. Furthermore, a summary of several (often short-term individual studies may not necessarily capture long-term effects of GM crop adoption.

  7. Contact Between Birth and Adoptive Families During the First Year Post-Placement: Perspectives of Lesbian, Gay, and Heterosexual Parents

    OpenAIRE

    Farr, Rachel H.; Goldberg, Abbie E.

    2014-01-01

    Despite growing visibility of lesbian- and gay-parent adoption, only one qualitative study has examined birth family contact among adoptive families with lesbian and gay parents (Goldberg, Kinkler, Richardson, & Downing, 2011). We studied adoptive parents’ (34 lesbian, 32 gay, and 37 heterosexual; N = 103 families) perspectives of birth family contact across the first year post-placement. Using questionnaire and interview data, we found few differences in openness dynamics by parental sexual ...

  8. Delayed Post Mortem Predation in Lightning Strike Carcasses ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Campbell Murn

    An adult giraffe was struck dead by lightning on a game farm outside. Phalaborwa, South Africa in March 2014. Interestingly, delayed post-mortem predation occurred on the carcass, which according to the farm owners was an atypical phenomenon for the region. Delayed post-mortem scavenging on lightning strike ...

  9. Optimization of offshore wind farm layout in restricted zones

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Hou, Peng; Hu, Weihao; Chen, Cong; Soltani, Mohsen; Chen, Zhe

    2016-01-01

    In this research, an optimization method for offshore wind farm layout design is proposed. With the purpose of maximizing the energy production of the wind farm, the wind turbine (WT) positions are optimized. Due to the limitations of seabed conditions, marine traffic limitations or shipwrecks, etc., the WTs are expected to be placed outside specific areas. Based on this fact, a restriction zone concept is proposed in this paper and implemented with the penalty function method. In order to find a feasible solution, a recent proposed stochastic algorithm, particle swarm optimization algorithm with multiple adaptive methods (PSO-MAM) is adopted. The simulation results indicate that the proposed method can find a layout which outperforms a baseline layout of a reference wind farm (RWF) by increasing the energy yield by 3.84%. - Highlights: • The offshore restricted area concept is proposed. • The recent developed PSO-MAM algorithm is arranged to optimize the layout. • The penalty function method is adopted to help find the feasible solution. • The optimized layout increases energy yields 3.84% than reference wind farm.

  10. Assessing the impact of marine wind farms on birds through movement modelling.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Masden, Elizabeth A; Reeve, Richard; Desholm, Mark; Fox, Anthony D; Furness, Robert W; Haydon, Daniel T

    2012-09-07

    Advances in technology and engineering, along with European Union renewable energy targets, have stimulated a rapid growth of the wind power sector. Wind farms contribute to carbon emission reductions, but there is a need to ensure that these structures do not adversely impact the populations that interact with them, particularly birds. We developed movement models based on observed avoidance responses of common eider Somateria mollissima to wind farms to predict, and identify potential measures to reduce, impacts. Flight trajectory data that were collected post-construction of the Danish Nysted offshore wind farm were used to parameterize competing models of bird movements around turbines. The model most closely fitting the observed data incorporated individual variation in the minimum distance at which birds responded to the turbines. We show how such models can contribute to the spatial planning of wind farms by assessing their extent, turbine spacing and configurations on the probability of birds passing between the turbines. Avian movement models can make new contributions to environmental assessments of wind farm developments, and provide insights into how to reduce impacts that can be identified at the planning stage.

  11. Farm management information systems: A case study on a German multifunctional farm

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Husemann Christoph

    2014-01-01

    Full Text Available Accurate and easy to use Farm Management Information Systems (FMIS are of fundamental importance for a successful operational farm management. However, still today many farmers do not use FMISs for various reasons, like lack of knowledge and the complexity of many available FMISs. In particular for small to medium-sized farms and for multifunctional farms appropriate FMISs hardly exist. This paper aims on the deduction of a concrete FMIS from a general FMIS. The concrete FMIS has to focus on the needs of medium-sized and multifunctional farms. This means that the farmer has to be empowered to allocate the scarce resources of the farm. Therefore, we picked a German farm from the state North Rhine Westphalia as a case-study to apply a system analysis. The case study farm helps to identify and to analyze relevant material and information flows, production processes, and their interconnections and synergies.

  12. Efficacy of anthelmintics on South American camelid (llama and alpaca) farms in Georgia.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gillespie, Rose-Ann M; Williamson, Lisa H; Terrill, Thomas H; Kaplan, Ray M

    2010-08-27

    The number of South American camelid (SAC; llama and alpaca) farms is growing in the southeastern United States, and infection with gastrointestinal nematodes (GIN) is a major health concern in this region. There is widespread resistance to anthelmintic remedies in small ruminants (sheep and goats), but a paucity of information on llamas and alpacas. Anthelmintic resistance was evaluated on three SAC farms (two llama; one alpaca) in Georgia in the southern United States using fecal egg count reduction (FECR) tests. For each farm, animals were randomly assigned to 1 of 5 treatment groups based on initial fecal egg count (FEC) and number of animals available (2-5 groups, n=9-11 per treatment). Ivermectin (IVM, subcutaneous injection; 0.3mg/kg body weight (BW)) and a control group were tested on an alpaca farm, and fenbendazole (FBZ, oral; 10mg/kg BW; two farms), moxidectin (MOX oral; 0.2mg/kg BW; two farms), and levamisole (LEV, oral; 8 mg/kg BW; one farm) were added for the llama farms. Anthelmintic efficacy was determined by comparing FEC of treatment and control animals 14 days post-treatment, with resistance evaluated using the World Association for the Advancement of Veterinary Parasitology (WAAVP) guidelines. Based upon these guidelines, there was GIN resistance to IVM in both llamas and alpacas in Georgia and to FBZ on both llama farms where this drug was tested. There was MOX resistance on one llama farm using the FECR test, while there was no resistance to LEV detected in this study. These data demonstrate a serious emerging problem in the United States of llama and alpaca GIN resistant to drugs from two of the three major anthelmintic classes. (c) 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  13. Impact of different packaging technologies on post harvest losses of stone fruits in swat pakistan

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Shahzad, M.; Luqman, M.; Jehan, N.

    2015-01-01

    Soft texture of stone fruits makes them prone to post harvest losses. Effect of different packaging materials on the texture of fruits also varies for their post-harvest losses. The present study was conducted to evaluate the effect of wooden and cardboard box technologies on post-harvest losses of plum through its marketing channel. Primary data was collected through pre tested questionnaires by proportionate random sampling procedure. Quantitative losses were estimated through percentage method while partial losses were estimated at the wholesale and retail level by price differential method. Multiple regression analysis was employed to find relation between post-harvest losses and different factors at three different stages. Findings of the study revealed the channel of cardboard box technology accounted for post-harvest losses of 10.49% while at farm level, losses were 2.90%, at wholesale level 1.45% and retail level the losses were 6.14%. On the other hand post-harvest losses were 14.24% in wooden box channel; in which 6.10% occurred at farm level, 1.43% at the wholesale level and 6.71% at the retail level. Cardboard box technology has reduced post-harvest losses of plum by 27%. Post-harvest losses were moderate and positively correlated at farm level, weakly and positive related at whole sale level and weak and negatively correlated at retail level. Pre-harvest management, careful handling and harvesting in proper maturity can help in reducing post-harvest losses. (author)

  14. Adopting a farming systems research approach to carry out an economic and environmental analysis of food supply chains

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Tavella, Elena; Pedersen, Søren Marcus; Gylling, Morten

    2012-01-01

    Agricultural systems are complex, because managers need to cope with interlinked and dynamic ecological, social, political and economic aspects. Understanding and analysing such systems requires researchers to adopt a holistic approach to grasp the links between those aspects. Holistic approaches...... within agricultural research - known as Farming Systems Research (FSR) support researchers in sharing knowledge and different perspectives concerning the research process and problems. Sharing knowledge and perspectives enables to holistically understand and conceptualise complex systems, as well...... as to structure and manage research projects. The aim of this paper is to suggest and present a guideline for agricultural researchers to carry out an economic and environmental analysis of food supply chains with a FSR approach. We describe how participants of the EU-project SOLIBAM (Strategies for Organic...

  15. LHCb: The LHCb off-Site HLT Farm Demonstration

    CERN Multimedia

    Liu, Guoming

    2012-01-01

    The LHCb High Level Trigger (HLT) farm consists of about 1300 nodes, which are housed in the underground server room of the experiment point. Due to the constraints of the power supply and cooling system, it is difficult to install more servers in this room for the future. Off-site computing farm is a solution to enlarge the computing capacity. In this paper, we will demonstrate the LHCb off-site HLT farm which locate in the CERN computing center. Since we use private IP addresses for the HLT farm, we would need virtual private network (VPN) to bridge both sites. There are two kinds of traffic in the event builder: control traffic for the control and monitoring of the farm and the Data Acquisition (DAQ) traffic. We adopt IP tunnel for the control traffic and Network Address Translate (NAT) for the DAQ traffic. The performance of the off-site farm have been tested and compared with the on-site farm. The effect of the network latency has been studied. To employ a large off-site farm, one of the potential bottle...

  16. Trade Potential Determinants of the Adoption of Seed Yam Innovations in Ghana

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Moro Seidu

    2014-06-01

    Full Text Available This paper analyses the factors that influence the adoption of seed yam innovations in Kpandai District in Northern Ghana. In contrast to most empirical studies on innovation adoption in which a specific technology is analyzed, this study covers several seed yam technologies (such as minisett, milked seeds, small setts, traditional setts. The paper estimate a logit model with data from 510 sampled yam farm households. It was identified that households’ ability and willingness to address consumer complaints, export, and integration into market economy positively and significantly influence the adoption of seed yam innovation. However, farm size and cost of transportation significantly influences the adoption of seed yam innovation negatively. The results therefore call for policies aimed at ensuring means to promote integration of households into local and international markets by bridging the gap of trust between farmers and yam exporters or middlemen.

  17. Applications of Open Source 3-D Printing on Small Farms

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Joshua M. Pearce

    2013-12-01

    Full Text Available There is growing evidence that low-cost open-source 3-D printers can reduce costs by enabling distributed manufacturing of substitutes for both specialty equipment and conventional mass-manufactured products. The rate of 3-D printable designs under open licenses is growing exponentially and there arealready hundreds of designs applicable to small-scale organic farming. It has also been hypothesized that this technology could assist sustainable development in rural communities that rely on small-scale organic agriculture. To gauge the present utility of open-source 3-D printers in this organic farm context both in the developed and developing world, this paper reviews the current open-source designs available and evaluates the ability of low-cost 3-D printers to be effective at reducing the economic costs of farming.This study limits the evaluation of open-source 3-D printers to only the most-developed fused filament fabrication of the bioplastic polylactic acid (PLA. PLA is a strong biodegradable and recyclable thermoplastic appropriate for a range of representative products, which are grouped into five categories of prints: handtools, food processing, animal management, water management and hydroponics. The advantages and shortcomings of applying 3-D printing to each technology are evaluated. The results show a general izabletechnical viability and economic benefit to adopting open-source 3-D printing for any of the technologies, although the individual economic impact is highly dependent on needs and frequency of use on a specific farm. Capital costs of a 3-D printer may be saved from on-farm printing of a single advanced analytical instrument in a day or replacing hundreds of inexpensive products over a year. In order for the full potential of open-source 3-D printing to be realized to assist organic farm economic resiliency and self-sufficiency, future work is outlined in five core areas: designs of 3-D printable objects, 3-D printing

  18. Impact of Environmental Policies on the Adoption of Animal Waste Management Practices in the Chesapeake Bay Watershed

    OpenAIRE

    Savage, Jeff; Ribaudo, Marc

    2012-01-01

    We use data from the ERS-NASS ARMS surveys to compare the use of best management practices on poultry and livestock farms inside the watershed and outside the watershed. Animal operations within the Chesapeake Bay States were found to be adopting some important manure management practices at a greater rate than operations outside the watershed. Adoption was taking place before the implementation of the TMDL, indicating that farmers may have been acting in response to building public pressure ...

  19. Analysis of Goat Farming on Integrated Farming System in Banyumas

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    NN Hidayat

    2007-05-01

    Full Text Available The objective of this research were : 1 to find out the income generated from goat farming and its contribution to farmer income in several farming combination, 2 to find out the economic efficiency in goat farming with paddy and fish production, 3 to determine factors affecting level of production and income in different farming system, partially and aggregately, and 4 to determine the best combination of farming which generated maximum income. Household farmer survey method was performed to conduct this research. Farming model chosen in this research was partial and average aggregate. Cobb-Douglas function were chosen to predict functional relationship. Result stated from this research were : 1 goat farming has a significant contribution in integrated farming system, 2 integrated farming (goat and paddy, goat and fish, and goat, fish and paddy in Banyumas district was economically efficient. 3 partially, factor affecting production level in goat farming was number of goat owned (P<0.01, factor affecting paddy production were urea application and number of land owned (P<0.01, TSP application (P<0.05 and man power (P<0.10. Furthermore, factor affecting fish farming were feed, breed and number of land owned (P<0.01; 4 aggregately, factor affecting integrated farming I were urea application and number of land owned (P<0.01, feed and number of land owned (P<0.01, number of goat owned (P<0.10 integrated farming II, where as in integrated farming III were number of paddy land area and breed (P<0.01 also number of goat owned (P<0.10; 5 integrated farming III (goat, paddy and fish farming gave the highest profit, which gave Rp 6.219.283,81 with relatively high efficiency. Therefore, goat farming could be an alternative solution to be developed in integrated farming and could be combined with other farming activities such as paddy and fish farming. (Animal Production 9(2: 105-110 (2007 Key Words : Goat, income, economic efficiency, survey, contribution

  20. Contact Between Birth and Adoptive Families During the First Year Post-Placement: Perspectives of Lesbian, Gay, and Heterosexual Parents.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Farr, Rachel H; Goldberg, Abbie E

    Despite growing visibility of lesbian- and gay-parent adoption, only one qualitative study has examined birth family contact among adoptive families with lesbian and gay parents (Goldberg, Kinkler, Richardson, & Downing, 2011). We studied adoptive parents' (34 lesbian, 32 gay, and 37 heterosexual; N = 103 families) perspectives of birth family contact across the first year post-placement. Using questionnaire and interview data, we found few differences in openness dynamics by parental sexual orientation. Most reported some birth mother contact, most had legally finalized their adoption, and few described plans to withhold information from children. We discuss implications for clinical practice, policy, and research.

  1. Digesters and demographics: identifying support for anaerobic digesters on dairy farms.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sanders, D J; Roberts, M C; Ernst, S C; Thraen, C S

    2010-11-01

    The dairy industry in the United States is amidst a long-running trend toward fewer, larger dairy farms. This development has created a backlash in some communities over concerns such as odor, waste management, and environmental degradation. Separately, anaerobic digestion has advanced as a waste management technology that potentially offers solutions to some of these issues, providing odor control and a combustible biogas among other things. These digesters require significant capital investments. Voluntary consumer premiums for the renewable energy produced have been used in some instances as a means to move adoption of such systems toward financial feasibility. This project employed a survey to measure Ohio consumers' willingness to pay a premium for renewable energy produced by anaerobic digesters on dairy farms. Cluster analysis was used to segment consumers by willingness to pay, age, education, income, self-identified political inclination, and a composite variable that served as a proxy for respondents' environmental stewardship. Four distinctive groups emerged from the data. Older, less educated respondents were found to have the least amount of support for digesters on dairy farms, whereas politically liberal, environmentally proactive respondents demonstrated the strongest support. Well-educated, affluent respondents and young respondents fell between these 2 groups. Most large dairy farms are generally met with fairly negative responses from their local communities; in contrast, this research finds some popular support for anaerobic digestion technology. Going forward, establishing a positive link between support for anaerobic digesters and for their use on large dairies could open up a new route for less-contested large dairy farm developments. Evaluation of community demographics could become an important part of finding an optimal location for a large dairy farm. Copyright © 2010 American Dairy Science Association. Published by Elsevier Inc. All

  2. uFarm: a smart farm management system based on RFID

    Science.gov (United States)

    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.

  3. Farm Household Survival Strategies and Diversification on Marginal Farms

    Science.gov (United States)

    Meert, H.; Van Huylenbroeck, G.; Vernimmen, T.; Bourgeois, M.; van Hecke, E.

    2005-01-01

    On marginal farms, and in agriculture in general, sustainability is largely guaranteed by a broad range of survival strategies, closely interlinked and embedded in the household structure of typical family farms. This paper reports results of a socio-economic study carried out among Belgian farmers, focusing specifically on the opportunities…

  4. The role of women on Dutch farms

    OpenAIRE

    Meulen, van der, H.A.B.; Terluin, I.J.; Matser, I.A.

    2015-01-01

    In this paper an analysis is made of the contribution of women to labour input and management on Dutch farms. We used a written survey among the participants of the Dutch Farm Accountancy Data Network (FADN), in-depth interviews and a group discussion with farm women. Over half of the women on Dutch farms spend more than ten hours per week on agricultural activitieson the farm. More than 40% of women on Dutch farms have paid work off farm. The majority of the respondents’ farms is legally org...

  5. Role of women in Indian shrimp farming

    OpenAIRE

    Gopalakrishnan, A.

    1996-01-01

    Women in India are involved in various facets of shrimp (Penaeus monodon; Penaeus indicus) farming, including pond construction, seed collection, collection of feed materials and preparation of feeds, pond maintenance and post-harvest handling. This study indicates that 40% of laborers involved in shrimp farm construction are women. The various roles of women in shrimp farming are also described.

  6. Effect Of Biofortified Beans Adoption On Socio-Economic Welfare Of Farmers In Eastern Rwanda

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Nsengiyumva

    2017-10-01

    Full Text Available Common bean has emerged to be an important staple food as well as cash crop for the majority of farmers in Rwanda. Productivity is a function of the usage of improved inputs like seeds fertilizers combined with farm management practices. Although biofertified beans have been introduced as improved varieties their adoption is disappointing. This study was initiated with the objective to assess the effect of adoption of biofortified beans on social economic welfare of farmers in Nyagatare district Eastern province of Rwanda. Stratified survey was used with 197 households heads selected by multi stage random sampling and cluster sampling. Qualitative and quantitative methods were then used for data collection. Propensity Score Match was performed to determine the effect of adoption on bean yield and income between adopters and non-adopters groups. The results showed that in four agriculture seasons considered 2016 A 2015 B 2015 A and 2014 B Average Total Effect ATE between the yield of adopters and non-adopters were 334.0625 499.3531 185.4956 and 241.575 respectively and were significantly different p 0.05. Application of propensity score matching on income between two groups of farmers overlapped due to backyard farmers. Biofertified beans proved potential for high production and income than local bean varieties.

  7. Farmers’ adoption of extensive wheat production – Determinants and implications

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Finger, R.; Benni, El N.

    2013-01-01

    Using farm-level panel data, we analyze farmers’ adoption decisions with respect to extensive wheat production, which is supported in Switzerland since 1992 with an ecological direct payment scheme. It shows that in particular farms with a small area under wheat, low levels of input use and low

  8. Socio-economic indicators influencing the adoption of hybrid ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    The study observed the poor use of hybrid sorghum cultivars by subsistence farmers. The project sought to establish which, if any, socio-economic factors influence the adoption of hybrid sorghum cultivars by this sector of the farming community. The focus was on Makhuduthamaga Municipality in Sekhukhune District of ...

  9. Adoption of voluntary water-pollution reduction technologies and water quality perception among Danish farmers

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Gachango, Florence Gathoni; Andersen, Laura Mørch; Pedersen, Søren Marcus

    2015-01-01

    The adoption of voluntary nutrient reduction technologies among Danish farmers is relatively low despite the introduction of a number of incentives to do so. With data from 267 farmers, this study analyzes the level of adoption of these technologies and the farmers’ perception of water quality......, existing regulatory measures and their implementation strategies. In general, farmers perceive the water quality to be above average and indicate a strong opposition to penalties for non-compliance. Results of two ordered probit models on adoption and perception show a significant importance of farm...... and soil types, farm size and slopes and information availability. These findings point to the need for increased information dissemination on water quality requirements both at national and regional levels and technical and institutional support for the existing and future incentives....

  10. Beyond adoption status: Post-adoptive parental involvement and children's reading and math performance from kindergarten to first grade.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tan, Tony Xing; Kim, Eun Sook; Baggerly, Jennifer; Mahoney, E Emily; Rice, Jessica

    2017-01-01

    In this study, we went beyond adoption status to examine the associations between postadoption parental involvement and children's reading and math performance from kindergarten to first grade. Secondary data on a sample of adopted children and nonadopted children were drawn from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study-Kindergarten Class of 1998 to 1999 (ECLS-K). Weighted data on the children's reading performance were available for 13,900 children (181 were adopted); weighted data on the children's math performance were available for 14,128 children (184 were adopted). Descriptive data showed no group difference in reading scores at all 3 Waves but adopted children scored lower than nonadopted children in math at Wave 2 (Spring of kindergarten) and Wave 3 (Spring of first grade). However, controlling for 6 covariates, latent growth modeling showed that adoption status was unrelated to Wave 1 reading and math scores or subsequent growth rate. Rather, parents' beliefs on skills needed to succeed in kindergarten were a significant predictor of reading and math performance at Wave 1 and subsequent growth rates, and parents' educational expectation was a significant predictor of growth rate in reading and math. Our findings highlight the importance of parental involvement in adopted children's learning. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2017 APA, all rights reserved).

  11. Reducing pesticide use while preserving crop productivity and profitability on arable farms.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lechenet, Martin; Dessaint, Fabrice; Py, Guillaume; Makowski, David; Munier-Jolain, Nicolas

    2017-03-01

    Achieving sustainable crop production while feeding an increasing world population is one of the most ambitious challenges of this century 1 . Meeting this challenge will necessarily imply a drastic reduction of adverse environmental effects arising from agricultural activities 2 . The reduction of pesticide use is one of the critical drivers to preserve the environment and human health. Pesticide use could be reduced through the adoption of new production strategies 3-5 ; however, whether substantial reductions of pesticide use are possible without impacting crop productivity and profitability is debatable 6-17 . Here, we demonstrated that low pesticide use rarely decreases productivity and profitability in arable farms. We analysed the potential conflicts between pesticide use and productivity or profitability with data from 946 non-organic arable commercial farms showing contrasting levels of pesticide use and covering a wide range of production situations in France. We failed to detect any conflict between low pesticide use and both high productivity and high profitability in 77% of the farms. We estimated that total pesticide use could be reduced by 42% without any negative effects on both productivity and profitability in 59% of farms from our national network. This corresponded to an average reduction of 37, 47 and 60% of herbicide, fungicide and insecticide use, respectively. The potential for reducing pesticide use appeared higher in farms with currently high pesticide use than in farms with low pesticide use. Our results demonstrate that pesticide reduction is already accessible to farmers in most production situations. This would imply profound changes in market organization and trade balance.

  12. Picturing Adoption of Below-Ground Biodiversity Technologies among Smallholder Farmers around Mabira Forest, Uganda

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Isabirye, BE.

    2010-01-01

    Full Text Available Faced with a multitude of soil and water amendment technologies, farmers have the task of choosing the technologies to adopt for ensuring subsistence and income sustainability. In 2008, a study to characterize the farmers was conducted around Mabira Forest, to assess the adoption of soil technologies fostering Belowground Biodiversity (BGBD. Eighty-four households (38 participating and 46 non-participants from four villages were randomly selected and interviewed. Results showed that the adoption pattern was significantly driven by farm size, labor, household size, age and wealth status of the house. Also important were farm location, gender of household head, primary occupation, soil and water conservation technologies training, land tenure, and social capital. For the few current adopters, there was a perceived increase in labor demand but overall productivity was higher, partly resulting from increased crop productivity due to soil fertility enhancement and soil structure modification. It is therefore concluded that, around Mabira forest, BGBD technologies will be adopted by farming households with sufficient land, labor and social capital.

  13. Risk factors for on-farm mortality in beef suckler cows under extensive keeping management.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mõtus, Kerli; Emanuelson, Ulf

    2017-08-01

    The on-farm mortality of cows in cow-calf herds has a significant influence on the economic efficiency of the farm. It is also an indicator of suboptimal animal health and welfare. The present study analysed the registry data of beef cows in Estonia from the years 2013 to 2015. The datasets incorporated 8084 parturitions of primiparous cows and 21,283 parturitions of 9234 multiparous cows. A Weibull proportional hazard random effect model was used for risk factor analysis, in which the on-farm mortality, including death and euthanasia, was the event of interest. The first 30days post-calving were associated with the highest mortality hazard for primiparous and multiparous cows (including 28.9% and 21.1% of deaths, respectively). In multiparous cows, the lowest mortality hazard was confirmed for animals with parity of three to five, increasing significantly after that. Primiparous cows that did not have a stillborn calf had a significantly higher mortality hazard when calving over 44months of age compared to cows calving younger than 36months. Stillbirth and abortion were significant risk factors for mortality. Cows with dystocia experienced a higher mortality hazard, especially during the first week post-calving. In multiparous cows, a higher herd mean age at first calving was associated with a higher mortality hazard. This study highlights the fact that the early post-partum period and factors associated with calving, such as age at first calving, dystocia, stillbirth and abortion, are critical for beef cow survival. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  14. Modelling the adoption of automatic milking systems in Noord-Holland

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Floridi, M.; Bartolini, F.; Peerlings, J.H.M.; Polman, N.B.P.; Viaggi, D.

    2013-01-01

    Innovation and new technology adoption represent two central elements for the business and industry development process in agriculture. One of the most relevant innovations in dairy farms is the robotisation of the milking process through the adoption of Automatic Milking Systems (AMS). The purpose

  15. Healthy, happy and humane: evidence in farm animal welfare policy

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Bock, B.B.; Buller, H.

    2013-01-01

    There has been a dramatic expansion and diversification of knowledge, expertise and expectation associated with farm animal welfare and we witness its increasing adoption within legislative and policy strategies. This article examines how the understanding of what constitutes farm animal welfare and

  16. Particularities of farm accounting

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Lapteș, R.

    2012-01-01

    Full Text Available Nowadays, agriculture has become one of the most important fields of activity, significant funds being allotted within the EU budget to finance the European agriculture. In this context, organising the accounting of economic entities which carry out their activity in the agricultural sector has acquired new meanings. The goal of the present study is to bring into the light the particularities of the farm accounting on two levels: on the one hand, from the perspective of the international accounting referential and, on the other hand, in compliance with the national accounting regulations. The most important conclusion of this work is that, in post-1990 Romania, no interest was further manifested for the refinement of aspects specific to farm accounting.

  17. Output Power Smoothing Control for a Wind Farm Based on the Allocation of Wind Turbines

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ying Zhu

    2018-06-01

    Full Text Available This paper presents a new output power smoothing control strategy for a wind farm based on the allocation of wind turbines. The wind turbines in the wind farm are divided into control wind turbines (CWT and power wind turbines (PWT, separately. The PWTs are expected to output as much power as possible and a maximum power point tracking (MPPT control strategy combining the rotor inertia based power smoothing method is adopted. The CWTs are in charge of the output power smoothing for the whole wind farm by giving the calculated appropriate power. The battery energy storage system (BESS with small capacity is installed to be the support and its charge and discharge times are greatly reduced comparing with the traditional ESSs based power smoothing strategies. The simulation model of the permanent magnet synchronous generators (PMSG based wind farm by considering the wake effect is built in Matlab/Simulink to test the proposed power smoothing method. Three different working modes of the wind farm are given in the simulation and the simulation results verify the effectiveness of the proposed power smoothing control strategy.

  18. Correlates and predictors of parenting stress among internationally adopting mothers: A longitudinal investigation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Viana, Andres G; Welsh, Janet A

    2010-07-01

    This study examined correlates and predictors of parenting stress among internationally adopting (IA) mothers with the goal of expanding the knowledge base on the experiences of adoptive parents. One hundred and forty-three IA mothers completed pre-adoption (Time 0) and six months post-adoption (Time 1) surveys with questions regarding child-, parent-, and family-related characteristics. Mother reports of higher depression symptoms, higher expectations of child developmental and behavioral/emotional problems, and a greater number of children in the family at pre-adoption were significantly related to higher parenting stress six months post-adoption. In contrast, mother reports of higher expectations for child acceptance and higher perceived social support at pre-adoption were significantly related to lower parenting stress six months post-adoption. Higher maternal depression symptoms, higher expectations of child behavior/emotional problems, and a greater number of children in the family at pre-adoption together accounted for 22% of the variance in parenting stress six months post-adoption. Concurrent higher maternal depression symptoms and higher reports of child behavioral/emotional problems predicted higher parenting stress six months post-adoption over and above pre-adoption predictors, and accounted for an additional 33% of the variance. Results and directions for future research are discussed from a transactional perspective, with particular emphasis on the importance of pre-adoptive information for adoption research and practice.

  19. Fast simulation approaches for power fluctuation model of wind farm based on frequency domain

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Lin, Jin; Gao, Wen-zhong; Sun, Yuan-zhang

    2012-01-01

    This paper discusses one model developed by Riso, DTU, which is capable of simulating the power fluctuation of large wind farms in frequency domain. In the original design, the “frequency-time” transformations are time-consuming and might limit the computation speed for a wind farm of large size....... Under this background, this paper proposes four efficient approaches to accelerate the simulation speed. Two of them are based on physical model simplifications, and the other two improve the numerical computation. The case study demonstrates the efficiency of these approaches. The acceleration ratio...... is more than 300 times if all these approaches are adopted, in any low, medium and high wind speed test scenarios....

  20. Analysis of Goat Farming on Integrated Farming System in Banyumas

    OpenAIRE

    Hidayat, NN

    2007-01-01

    The objective of this research were : 1) to find out the income generated from goat farming and its contribution to farmer income in several farming combination, 2) to find out the economic efficiency in goat farming with paddy and fish production, 3) to determine factors affecting level of production and income in different farming system, partially and aggregately, and 4) to determine the best combination of farming which generated maximum income. Household farmer survey method was performe...

  1. Leverages for on-farm innovation from farm typologies? An illustration for family-based dairy farms in north-west Michoacán, Mexico

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Cortez Arriola, J.; Rossing, W.A.H.; Amendola Massiotti, R.D.; Scholberg, J.M.S.; Groot, J.C.J.; Tittonell, P.A.

    2015-01-01

    Knowledge on farm diversity provides insight into differences among farms, enables scaling from individual farm to farm population level and vice versa, and has been used in the definition of recommendation domains for introduction of novel technologies. Farm diversity can be broadly described in

  2. Welfare issues of modern deer farming

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Silvana Mattiello

    2010-01-01

    Full Text Available This paper will start with briefly outlining the recent domestication history of red deer (Cervus elaphus and fallow deer (Dama dama, followed by a description of the present status of modern deer farming. It will then review the main welfare issues of deer farming. The following aspects will be considered: accommodation and housing, management and handling, nutrition (feed and water provision, transport and slaughter, plus a short mention of velvet harvest. As a summary, the following practices can be recommended to ensure animal welfare in modern deer farming: the adoption of suitable housing systems and of adequate management techniques (e.g. specific handling pens and drop-floor cradles or crushes and the respect of specific needs (e.g. provision of protection and shelter from predators as well as from climatic extremes, such as cold winds or direct solar radiation. Handling and yarding operations will be easier when they occur in dim light. Special attention must be paid to the manipulation of the newborns. At the slaughterhouse, facilities must be designed specifically for deer. The presence of well trained stockpersons, with a sound knowledge of deer physiology and behaviour, is also a key-factor for improving welfare levels in deer farms. To achieve these aims, training of the managers and stockpersons and the adoption of specific codes of conducts are highly recommendable.

  3. The Economics of Smallholder Organic Contract Farming in Tropical Africa

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Bolwig, Simon; Gibbon, Peter; Jones, Edward Samuel

    2009-01-01

    The paper examines the revenue effects of certified organic contract farming for smallholders and of adoption of organic agricultural farming methods in a tropical African context. The comparison in both cases is with farming systems that are "organic by default." Survey data from a large organic...... coffee contract farming scheme in Uganda are reported and analyzed using a standard OLS regression and a full information maximum likelihood (FIML) estimate of the Heckman selection model. The analysis finds that, controlling for a range of factors, there are positive revenue effects both from...... participation in the scheme and, more modestly, from applying organic farming techniques....

  4. Assessment of Farming Systems for Sustainability of Farming Activities in the Mazandaran Province

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    H. Moumenihelali

    2016-03-01

    Full Text Available Introduction: One of the fundamental issues in the agricultural sector in Iran is the absence of optimal water and soil resources utilization and lack of new agricultural science and technology adoption through major prevailing transformations in agricultural land exploitation system. The studies conducted in the history of agricultural development in Iran cast light on the fact that the farming system’s role in the agricultural development in Iran is of great importance. And water and soil resources utilization has been one of the fundamental issues of agriculture which has enjoyed major consideration after the implementation of land restructuring. The agriculture farming systems are referred to as the focus of all activities related to sustainable agricultural development in Iran and it is believed that the shift and transition from traditional agriculture to modern and profitable agriculture through appropriate, improved and newly developed agricultural establishments are the major activities which can increase productivity and improve the overall performance of the agricultural sector and thus contribute to sustainable development more than any other factor. Hence, such significance will be more evident when the small and scattered farmlands in many cases have imposed some limitations in the application of agricultural techniques and machinery, equipping and developing the infrastructure and efficient use of resources with appropriate performance forcing agricultural policymakersto be always looking for ways to deal with it. Therefore, identifying the relative advantage of any farming system specified for each area and region in the country seems important. Accordingly, the Mazandaran province is regarded as one of the production hubs in producing crops such as rice, wheat and canola in the country playing a major role in supplying food. With a detailed analysis of research literature, the economic, ecological, social, technical and policy

  5. A survey of anthelmintic resistance on ten sheep farms in Mashonaland East Province, Zimbabwe : research communication

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    S. Mukaratirwa

    1997-07-01

    Full Text Available A survey to detect anthelmintic resistance in nematode parasites of sheep was conducted on 10 randomly-distributed farms in the Chivhu District, Mashonaland East Province, Zimbabwe. Before the survey, a questionnaire was circulated to the farmers concerning nematode parasite control. Results showed that parasite control using anthelmintic treatment was the only method practised and that the benzimidazoles were the most frequently used anthelmintic drugs. The faecal egg count reduction test was used to detect resistance. The anthelmintic groups tested were benzimidazoles, levamisole and ivermectin. Resistance to benzimidazoles was detected on 6 of 10 farms and levamisole resistance on 2 of 3 farms. Ivermectin resistance was not observed on the farms surveyed. Post-treatment larval cultures indicated that Haemonchus contortus survived administration of fenbendazole, albendazole, oxfendazole and levamisole. A Cooperia sp. strain resistant to albendazole was detected and this is the first report in Zimbabwe of a resistant parasite in this genus.

  6. How Incentives Affect the Adoption of Anaerobic Digesters in the United States

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Anh Sam

    2017-07-01

    Full Text Available Various government incentives support the adoption of anaerobic digester systems to manage farm waste and serve as a source of renewable energy in the United States. We examine the effectiveness of US state-level incentives promoting the adoption of anaerobic digester systems. We find that performance-based incentives and adoption of renewable portfolio standards best promote anaerobic digester system adoption.

  7. http://dx.doi.org/10.4314/jae.v18i1.4 Adoption of Green River Project ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    PROF. MADUKWE

    Adoption of Green River Project Fish Farming Technologies by Farmers in Niger. Delta Region of ... Majority of the respondents adopted fish farm management ... is a decision of full use of an innovation as the best course of action available. ... It is also important to develop sustainable financing option, use well trained and.

  8. Safe Re-use Practices in Wastewater-Irrigated Urban Vegetable Farming in Ghana

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Keraita, Bernard; Abaidoo, R.C; Beernaerts, I.

    2012-01-01

    of stakeholders at different levels along the food chain. This paper presents an overview of safe re-use practices including farm-based water treatment methods, water application techniques, post-harvest handling practices, and washing methods. The overview is based on a comprehensive analysis of the literature......Irrigation using untreated wastewater poses health risks to farmers and consumers of crop products, especially vegetables. With hardly any wastewater treatment in Ghana, a multiple-barrier approach was adopted and safe re-use practices were developed through action research involving a number...... and our own specific studies, which used data from a broad range of research methods and approaches. Identifying, testing, and assessment of safe practices were done with the active participation of key actors using observations, extensive microbiological laboratory assessments, and field...

  9. Invited review : Determinants of farmers' adoption of management-based strategies for infectious disease prevention and control

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Ritter, Caroline; Jansen, Jolanda; Roche, Steven; Kelton, David F; Adams, Cindy L; Orsel, Karin; Erskine, Ron J; Benedictus, Geart; Lam, Theo J G M; Barkema, Herman W

    2017-01-01

    The prevention and control of endemic pathogens within and between farms often depends on the adoption of best management practices. However, farmers regularly do not adopt recommended measures or do not enroll in voluntary disease control programs. This indicates that a more comprehensive

  10. Longitudinal analyses of adoptive parents' expectations and depressive symptoms.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Foli, Karen J; Lim, Eunjung; South, Susan C

    2017-12-01

    Grounded in a theoretical model specific to adoptive parents, we examined the relationship between parental expectations and depressive symptoms across time. Assessments of 129 adoptive parents of 64 children were performed at three time points before and after placement of an adopted child with the family: 4-6 weeks pre-placement and 4-6 weeks and 5-6 months post-placement. Expectations were assessed in four dimensions: expectations of self as parents, of the child, of family and friends, and of society. Depressive symptoms were assessed with the Center for Epidemiologic Studies-Depression scale. Associations between parental expectations and depressive symptoms were analyzed, and longitudinal multilevel modeling was conducted to explore influences on expectations over time. Parental expectations changed from pre- to post-placement. With the exception of expectations of self as parent, adoptive parents' pre-adoption expectations were affirmed in the post-adoption time periods. In each expectation dimension, higher affirmation of expectations was correlated with decreased depressive symptoms before and after placement of a child. While parental expectations are not unique to adoptive parents, the essence and characteristics of certain expectations are unique to these parents. When working with adoptive parents, nurses who care for families should assess expectations both pre- and post-placement with awareness of their relationship to depressive symptoms. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

  11. A comparison of the drivers influencing farmers' adoption of enterprises associated with renewable energy

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Tate, Graham; Mbzibain, Aurelian; Ali, Shaukat

    2012-01-01

    A declared target of both the UK government and the European Union is to produce 15% of energy requirements from renewable sources by the year 2020; however the UK is very unlikely to achieve this. The Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) has identified the potential amongst the farming industry to help meet this objective () but there is little published research on how organisations can successfully interact with farmers to achieve structural change. This paper reports the findings of a postal questionnaire survey of farmers in the West Midlands Region of the UK where principal component analysis revealed that personal, farm business, regulatory and behavioural drivers affected the rate of adoption of renewable energy (RE) enterprises. Of the 393 farmers who responded, 14% had adopted one or more enterprises associated with RE with solar energy production the most popular of the RE technologies available to farmers. The study found that the most influential personal level factors contributing to the adoption of RE and associated technologies were cognitive, such as level of education, but not administrative, such as the attractiveness of government schemes supporting RE and associated enterprises. Adopters also tended to be younger than non-adopters, perhaps reflecting the impact of long investment payback periods typically found with RE enterprises, they were involved with larger and more financially viable businesses that were more likely to trade as limited companies or family partnerships. Of current non adopters, 66% might decide to invest in RE technologies over the next five years. For these potential adopters, it emerged that personal, farm business and behavioural factors were the most significant drivers though contrary to expectation current non adopters assessed the policy support framework more favourably than current adopters. The explanation of this seems to be connected with timing, in that two very positive and

  12. Optimization Model for Mitigating Global Warming at the Farm Scale: An Application to Japanese Rice Farms

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Kiyotaka Masuda

    2016-06-01

    Full Text Available In Japan, greenhouse gas emissions from rice production, especially CH4 emissions in rice paddy fields, are the primary contributors to global warming from agriculture. When prolonged midseason drainage for mitigating CH4 emissions from rice paddy fields is practiced with environmentally friendly rice production based on reduced use of synthetic pesticides and chemical fertilizers, Japanese rice farmers can receive an agri-environmental direct payment. This paper examines the economic and environmental effects of the agri-environmental direct payment on the adoption of a measure to mitigate global warming in Japanese rice farms using a combined application of linear programming and life cycle assessment at the farm scale. Eco-efficiency, which is defined as net farm income divided by global warming potential, is used as an integrated indicator for assessing the economic and environmental feasibilities. The results show that under the current direct payment level, the prolonged midseason drainage technique does not improve the eco-efficiency of Japanese rice farms because the practice of this technique in environmentally friendly rice production causes large economic disadvantages in exchange for small environmental advantages. The direct payment rates for agri-environmental measures should be determined based on the condition that environmentally friendly agricultural practices improve eco-efficiency compared with conventional agriculture.

  13. Farmer's Perception and Adoption of New Aquaculture Technologies in the Western Highlands of Cameroon

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Njankoua Wandji, D.

    2012-01-01

    Full Text Available Like other African countries, Cameroon is struggling to meet the food needs of its population. There are several possible solutions to this problem, such as the import of agricultural produce and increasing national production. In terms of fishery products (fish, shrimps, etc., it would not be easy to increase national production, due to the various constraints inherent in the sector and national industry, as well as low availability of farming areas. Fish farming is one of the solutions recommended as a sustainable method of producing an adequate supply of fish (farming fish in ponds. The main objective of this study is to highlight and analyse the socio-economic obstacles that are holding back the development of fish farming in the West Cameroon. Using the univariate dichotomous LOGIT model, this study has made it possible to identify the key determinants affecting the adoption of fish farming. The results indicate that its strong commercial orientation, coupled with the positive perception of its profitability, frequent contact, extension and level of education are the main determinants for the adoption of fish farming.

  14. An Examination of Growing Trends in Land Tenure and Conservation Practice Adoption: Results from a Farmer Survey in Iowa

    Science.gov (United States)

    Varble, Sarah; Secchi, Silvia; Druschke, Caroline Gottschalk

    2016-02-01

    Tenants and part-owners are farming an increasing number of acres in the United States, while full-owners are farming fewer acres. This shift in ownership is a potential cause for concern because some previous research indicated that tenant and part-owner farmers were less likely to adopt conservation practices than farmers who owned the land they farmed. If that trend persists, ownership changes would signal a national drop in conservation adoption. Here we examine this issue using a survey of agricultural operators in the Clear Creek watershed in Iowa, a state with intensive agricultural production. We compare adoption of conservation practices, and preferences for conservation information sources and communication channels, between farmers who rent some portion of the land they farm (tenants and part-owners) and farmers who own all of the land they farm (full-owners). We find that renters are more likely to practice conservation tillage than full-owners, though they are less likely to rotate crops. In addition, renters report using federal government employees (specifically, Natural Resource Conservation Service and Farm Service Agency) as their primary sources of conservation information, while full-owners most frequently rely on neighbors, friends, and County Extension. These findings are significant for conservation policy because, unlike some past research, they indicate that renters are not resistant to all types of conservation practices, echoing recent studies finding an increase in conservation adoption among non-full-owners. Our results emphasize the importance of government conservation communication and can inform outreach efforts by helping tailor effective, targeted conservation strategies for owners and renters.

  15. Beyond the adoption/ non-adoption dichotomy: the impact of innovation characteristics on potential adopters' transition through adoption process stages

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Agarwal, M.K.; Frambach, R.T.

    2002-01-01

    Research on innovation adoption has suffered from a bias towards understanding the factors that affect the dichotomous adoption/non-adoption decision.Much less attention is devoted to the question why potential adopters fail to progress to the adoption stage from earlier stages in the decision

  16. A typology of farm households for the Umutara Province in Rwanda

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Bidogeza, J.C.; Berentsen, P.B.M.; Graaff, de J.; Oude Lansink, A.G.J.M.

    2009-01-01

    For nearly 30 years, technologies for more sustainable land use have been developed and promoted in Rwanda. However, these technologies have not been fully adopted. Keeping in mind that the farming population is not homogeneous with respect to socio-economic variables, this paper typifies farm

  17. Corporate Reporting on Farm Animal Welfare: An Evaluation of Global Food Companies’ Discourse and Disclosures on Farm Animal Welfare

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sullivan, Rory; Amos, Nicky; van de Weerd, Heleen A.

    2017-01-01

    Simple Summary Companies that produce or sell food products from farm animals can have a major influence on the lives and welfare of these animals. The Business Benchmark on Farm Animal Welfare (BBFAW) conducts an annual evaluation of the farm animal welfare-related disclosures of some of the world’s largest food companies. The programme looks at companies’ published policies and commitments and examines whether these might lead to actions that can improve animal welfare on farms. It also assesses whether companies show leadership in this field. The BBFAW found that, in 2012 and 2013, around 70% of companies acknowledged animal welfare as a business issue, and that, between 2012 and 2013, there was clear evidence of an increased level of disclosure on farm animal welfare awareness in the companies that were assessed. However, only 34% (2012) and 44% (2013) of companies had published comprehensive farm animal welfare policies, suggesting that many companies have yet to report on farm animal welfare as a business issue or disclose their approach to farm animal welfare to stakeholders and society. Abstract The views that food companies hold about their responsibilities for animal welfare can strongly influence the lives and welfare of farm animals. If a company’s commitment is translated into action, it can be a major driver of animal welfare. The Business Benchmark on Farm Animal Welfare (BBFAW) is an annual evaluation of farm animal welfare-related practices, reporting and performance of food companies. The framework evaluates how close, based on their disclosures, companies are to best practice in three areas: Management Commitment, Governance & Performance and Leadership & Innovation. The BBFAW analysed information published by 68 (2012) and 70 (2013) of the world’s largest food companies. Around 70% of companies acknowledged animal welfare as a business issue. Between 2012 and 2013, the mean BBFAW score increased significantly by 5% (p animal welfare

  18. Intelligent control on wind farm

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Wei, Mu; Chen, Zhe

    2010-01-01

    with the wind farm makes the grid more vulnerable. The communication technologies have been considered as a solution to solve the problems according to the IEC 61400-25 series protocols. This paper presents the significance of communication technologies in wind farm system by the simulations on some practical......Since the renewable energy is popularly applied in power industry, especially the smart grid is fast developing all over the world during these years, the reliable connection between a wind farm and the main grid has been focused on. Due to the difficult control on the wind energy, the connection...... scenarios. By delivering the signals among WTs (wind turbines) and control centers, they both are able to recognize another side’s operation situation and to adjust its own state to realize the optimization. A scenario is designed in this paper, in which a fault occurs in wind farm; then the protection...

  19. Farm Technologies and Production Risk in the Face of Climate ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    In countries where insurance and credit markets are thin or missing, production and consumption risks play a critical role in the choice and use of production inputs and adoption of new farm technologies. This paper investigated the effect of selected farm technologies and their risk implications in different rainfall patterns of ...

  20. Optimization of offshore wind farm layout in restricted zones

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Hou, Peng; Hu, Weihao; Chen, Cong

    2016-01-01

    In this research, an optimization method for offshore wind farm layout design is proposed. With the purpose of maximizing the energy production of the wind farm, the wind turbine (WT) positions are optimized. Due to the limitations of seabed conditions, marine traffic limitations or shipwrecks, etc...... with multiple adaptive methods (PSO-MAM) is adopted. The simulation results indicate that the proposed method can find a layout which outperforms a baseline layout of a reference wind farm (RWF) by increasing the energy yield by 3.84%....

  1. Studies on the post-partum ovarian activity of dairy cattle under different feeding regimes in Ecuador

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Jarrin, J.; Villalba, P.; Guerron, E.; Zurita, E.

    1990-01-01

    In order to monitor ovarian activity in post-partum dairy cows in the Cayambe Valley, Ecuador, 164 cows from three farms were studied. Milk progesterone concentrations (analysed by RIA) and additional data on livestock management, nutritional status and health were compiled. Farms were classified mainly according to nutritional and management status; the better the nutritional status of the cows the sooner they resumed oestrous activity (28.3-31.6 days post-partum). The duration of the first oestrous cycle was found to be variable, 18.0 to 20.4 days. Thirty-one per cent of the study cows did not conceive during the course of the trial and the mean calving interval of those that calved was 426 days. The high incidence of hypofunctional ovaries was a cause for concern on one farm. (author). 6 refs, 4 figs, 2 tabs

  2. Farm and cow-level prevalence of bovine digital dermatitis on dairy farms in Taranaki, New Zealand.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yang, D A; Heuer, C; Laven, R; Vink, W D; Chesterton, R N

    2017-09-01

    The aims of this cross-sectional study were to investigate the herd and cow-level prevalence of bovine digital dermatitis (BDD) in dairy farms in the northern Taranaki region of New Zealand, and to identify whether there was any spatial clustering of herds with the disease. A survey of 224 dairy farms in the northern Taranaki region of New Zealand was undertaken from September 2014 to February 2015. Following training in robust criteria to confirm BDD visually, a technician inspected the rear feet of every milking cow on the farms during milking. The identity of cows with lesions and the feet involved were recorded. The proportion of cows affected among the inspected population (cow-level prevalence), the proportion of a herd affected (farm-level prevalence), and proportion of farms with ≥1 cow with lesions, were calculated. A bivariate K function analysis was then used to assess whether farms with ≥1 cow with lesions were clustered, after accounting for the distribution of the farms involved in the study. Bovine digital dermatitis lesions were observed on 143/224 (63.8 (95% CI=57.5-70.1)%) farms. Within-farm prevalence was 0% on 81 (36.2%) farms, between >0 and cow-level prevalence was 707/60,455 (1.2 (95% CI=0.9-3.0)%), and on affected farms was 707/41,116 (1.7 (95% CI=1.4-2.1)%). In affected cows, 268/707 (37.9%) had a lesion on left foot only, 262/707 (37.1%) on the right foot only and 177/707 (25.0%) on both feet. The K function analysis showed no evidence of clustering of farms with BDD. Bovine digital dermatitis was widespread among the survey farms, but there was no evidence that there was any clustering of herds with BDD. The cow-level prevalence on affected farms was much lower than reported elsewhere. Although the prevalence at the cow level was low, if these data are representative of other regions of New Zealand, BDD could easily become a major problem on dairy farms in New Zealand, as has been observed in other countries.

  3. Determinants and the perceived effects of adoption of sustainable improved food crop technologies by smallholder farmers along the value chain in Nigeria

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Abiodun Elijah Obayelu

    2016-06-01

    Full Text Available Adoption of improved agricultural technologies is fundamental to transformation of sustainable farming system, and a driving force for increasing agricultural productivity. This study provides empirical evidence on the determinants, and the perceived effects of adoption of improved food crop technologies in Nigeria. It is a cross-sectional survey of available technologies and 1,663 farm households in Nigeria. Data were analyzed with both descriptive and inferential statistics. The findings revealed very low technology adoption index. Available food crop production technologies used by sampled respondents were assessed as effective, appropriate, readily available, affordable, durable, user and gender friendly, with requisite skill to use them. However, processing technologies such as cabinet dryer were observed as unaffordable, not durable, not gender or users friendly. Packaging machines are also not users or gender friendly; washing machine not affordable, durable and gender friendly. Grain processing technologies like De-stoner, grading, and packaging machines are still not locally available and affordable. While parboilers have a negative impact on product quality, farmers’ health and the environment, tomato grinding machines have positive impact on the quality of the product, health of the users, yield and negatively affect the environment. The main determinants of adoption are the crop types, farm size and locations. Adoption of herbicide and inorganic fertilizer were influenced by travel cost to nearest place of acquisition, while the age of farmer has a positive and significant influence on the adoption of pesticide, water management and cassava harvester. Interestingly, male farmers only exhibit greater likelihood of adopting land preparation, inorganic and organic fertilizer technologies compared to their female counterpart. Therefore, policy options that consider all users at the development stages, favour reduction of travel cost

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

    Science.gov (United States)

    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.

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

    Science.gov (United States)

    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.

  6. The role of post-adoption phase trust in B2C e-service loyalty: towards a more comprehensive picture

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mäntymäki, Matti

    Despite the extensive interest in trust within information systems (IS) and e-commerce disciplines, only few studies examine trust in the post-adoption phase of the customer relationship. Not only gaining new customers by increasing adoption, but also keeping the existing ones loyal, is largely considered important for e-business success. This paper scrutinizes the role of trust in customer loyalty, focusing on B2C e-services by conducting a three-sectional literature review stemming from IS, e-commerce and marketing. The key findings of this study are: 1. Literature discussing the role of trust after the adoption phase is relatively scarce and fragmented 2. In the empirical testing trust is mostly viewed as a monolith 3. Quantitative research methods dominate the field 4. Since trust may play a role during the whole relationship, also dynamic ways to scrutinize trust would be appropriate. Implications of these findings are discussed and ideas for further research suggested.

  7. Features and safety aspects of Additional Waste Tank Farm, Tarapur

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Pradhan, Sanjay; Dubey, K.; Qureshi, F.T.; Lokeswar, S.P.

    2017-01-01

    Additional Waste Tank Farm (AWTF) at Tarapur is designed to store High and Intermediate Level Liquid wastes generated on an interim basis prior to treatment at TWMP for final disposal. Defence-in-depth philosophy is adopted in the design of AWTF

  8. Clinical information system post-adoption evaluation at the georges pompidou university hospital.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Palm, Jean-Marc; Dart, Thierry; Dupuis, Isabelle; Leneveut, Laurence; Degoulet, Patrice

    2010-11-13

    The evaluation of a clinical information system (CIS) at different stages of deployment and routine use is a key factor to improve acceptability and use by health professionals. This paper examines on an expectation-confirmation model (ITPAM) the relationships between the determinants of success of a CIS in a cross-sectional survey performed at the Georges Pompidou University Hospital (HEGP). Results for the groups of physicians and nurses that replied to the survey (n=312) suggest that health professional satisfaction (overall R(2)=0.60) is determined by the quality of user support (r=.21, p=<0001), ease of use (r=.19, p=<0001), confirmation of expectations (r=.15, p=.0037), usefulness (r=.12, p=.0068), and compatibility (r=.10, p=.0206). The best predictor of physician satisfaction (R(2)=0.71) was compatibility (r=.21, p=.0072) whereas for nurses (R(2)=0.52) it was user support (r=.22, p=<0001) and ease of use (r=.22, p=.0001). Confirmation of expectations had an impact on post-adoption expectation and user's satisfaction, and confirms its importance for CIS evaluation studies.

  9. The effects of roadway characteristics on farm equipment crashes: A GIS approach

    Science.gov (United States)

    Greenan, Mitchell Joseph

    Tractors and other self-propelled farm equipment, such as combines, sprayers, and towed grain carts, are often used on public roadways as the primary means for traveling from homestead to homestead or from homestead to a distributer. Increased roadway exposure has led to a growing concern for crashes involving farm equipment on the public roadway. A handful of studies exist examining public roadway crashes involving farm equipment using crash data, but none thus far have evaluated road segment data to identify road-specific risk factors. The objective of this study is to identify if roadway characteristics (traffic density, speed limit, road type, surface type, road width, and shoulder width) affect the risk of a crash involving farm equipment on Iowa public roadways. A retrospective cohort study of Iowa roads was conducted to identify the types of roads that are at an increased risk of having a farm-equipment crash on them. Crash data from the Iowa Department of Transportation (to identify crashes) were spatial linked to Iowa roadway data using Geographic Information Systems (GIS). Logistic regression was used to calculate ORs and 95% CL. Out of 319,705 road segments in Iowa, 0.4% segments (n=1,337) had a farm equipment crash from 2005-2011. The odds of having a farm equipment crash were significantly higher for road segments with increased traffic density and speed limit. Roads with an average daily traffic volume of at least 1,251 vehicles were at a 5.53 times greater odds of having a crash than roads with a daily traffic volume between 0-30 vehicles. (CI: 3.90-7.83). Roads with a posted speed limit between 50mph and 60mph were at a 4.88 times greater odds of having a crash than roads with a posted speed limit of 30mph or less. (CI: 3.85-6.20). Specific roadway characteristics such as roadway and shoulder width were also associated with the risk of a crash. For every 5 foot increase in road width, the odds for a crash decreased by 6 percent (CI: 0.89-0.99) and

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

    Science.gov (United States)

    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

  11. Adopted Adolescents' Preoccupation with Adoption: The Impact on Adoptive Family Relationships.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kohler, Julie K.; Grotevant, Harold D.; McRoy, Ruth G.

    2002-01-01

    Examines relationship between intensity of adopted adolescents' thinking about their adoptions and their adoptive family relationships in 135 adopted adolescents. Adolescents with extremely high levels of preoccupation reported significantly higher levels of alienation and significantly lower levels of trust for their adoptive mothers and fathers.…

  12. Adopt a Bacterium - an active and collaborative learning experience in microbiology based on social media.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Piantola, Marco Aurélio Floriano; Moreno, Ana Carolina Ramos; Matielo, Heloísa Alonso; Taschner, Natalia Pasternak; Cavalcante, Rafael Ciro Marques; Khan, Samia; Ferreira, Rita de Cássia Café

    2018-04-24

    The "Adopt a Bacterium" project is based on the use of social network as a tool in Microbiology undergraduate education, improving student learning and encouraging students to participate in collaborative learning. The approach involves active participation of both students and teachers, emphasizing knowledge exchange, based on widely used social media. Students were organized in groups and asked to adopt a specific bacterial genus and, subsequently, submit posts about "adopted genus". The formative assessment is based on posting information on Facebook®, and the summative assessment involves presentation of seminars about the adopted theme. To evaluate the project, students filled out three anonymous and voluntary surveys. Most of the students enjoyed the activities and positively evaluated the experience. A large amount of students declared a change in their attitude towards the way they processed information, especially regarding the use of scientific sources. Finally, we evaluated knowledge retention six months after the end of the course and students were able to recall relevant Microbiology concepts. Our results suggest that the "Adopt a Bacterium" project represents a useful strategy in Microbiology learning and may be applied to other academic fields. Copyright © 2018 Sociedade Brasileira de Microbiologia. Published by Elsevier Editora Ltda. All rights reserved.

  13. Potential To Increase Productivity And Sustainability In Argentinean Agriculture With Controlled Traffic Farming: A Short Discussion

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Antille Diogenes L.

    2015-09-01

    Full Text Available Drivers for and potential barriers against adoption of controlled traffic farming (CTF systems in Argentina are reviewed. Traffic compaction is one of the main factors affecting crop productivity within Argentinean agriculture, and has significant although less quantified impacts on the whole-of-farm system. This suggests that the benefits of no-tillage (NT, which represents the dominant form of cropping in Argentina, are not fully realised. Conservative estimates indicate that crop yields could be improved by at least 15% if NT is used in conjunction with CTF. Cost-benefit analyses of available options for compaction management are required. Despite this, and based on reported evidence internationally, a shift toward increased uptake of CTF within Argentinean agriculture is likely to: (1 improve productivity and farm profitability, (2 enhance environmental performance, and (3 maintain competitiveness of the agricultural sector. Appropriate technical advice and support is a key requirement to drive adoption of CTF. Therefore, the adoption process will benefit from collaboration developed with well-established research and extension organisations in Australia and the United Kingdom, and active engagement of machinery manufacturers.

  14. Keeping Noise Down on the Farm

    Science.gov (United States)

    ... Do > Keeping Noise Down on the Farm Keeping Noise Down on the Farm SHARE Some people may ... risks permanent hearing damage. Take steps to reduce noise from machinery. Keep machinery running smoothly by replacing ...

  15. Offshore Wind Farm Layout Design Considering Optimized Power Dispatch Strategy

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Hou, Peng; Hu, Weihao; N. Soltani, Mohsen

    2017-01-01

    Offshore wind farm has drawn more and more attention recently due to its higher energy capacity and more freedom to occupy area. However, the investment is higher. In order to make a cost-effective wind farm, the wind farm layout should be optimized. The wake effect is one of the dominant factors...... leading to energy losses. It is expected that the optimized placement of wind turbines (WT) over a large sea area can lead to the best tradeoff between energy yields and capital investment. This paper proposes a novel way to position offshore WTs for a regular shaped wind farm. In addition to optimizing...... the direction of wind farm placement and the spacing between WTs, the control strategy’s impact on energy yields is also discussed. Since the problem is non-convex and lots of optimization variables are involved, an evolutionary algorithm, the particle swarm optimization algorithm (PSO), is adopted to find...

  16. Building student capacity to lead sustainability transitions in the food system through farm-based authentic research modules in sustainability sciences (FARMS

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Selena Ahmed

    2017-08-01

    Full Text Available Undergraduate courses provide valuable opportunities to train and empower students with the knowledge, skills, and motivation to advance society in more sustainable directions. This article emphasizes the value of bridging primary scientific research with undergraduate education through the presentation of an integrated experiential learning and primary research model called Farm-based Authentic Research Modules in Sustainability Sciences (FARMS. FARMS are collaboratively designed with agricultural stakeholders through a community needs assessment on pressing food system issues and opportunities with the objective for faculty and students to jointly identify evidence-based management solutions. We illustrate the implementation of FARMS in an undergraduate course in Ecological Agriculture at Dartmouth College, NH where students assessed various agroecological solutions for managing plant vitality, weeds, soil quality, pests, pollinators, and biodiversity at the Dartmouth Organic Farm. Student reflections indicate that the FARMS course component was beneficial for understanding agroecological theories and concepts while also motivating involvement in sustainability sciences despite the challenges of primary research. Educator reflections noted that the FARMS pedagogical approach facilitated achieving course objectives to develop students’ ability for systems thinking, critical thinking, and interdisciplinarity while fostering students’ collaboration skills and overall motivation for creating change. Adopting the FARMS model should enable faculty in the sustainability sciences to serve as bridges between the learning, practicing, and scientific communities while supporting educational programming at student and community farms. Ultimately, it is expected that the implementation of FARMS will increase student capacity and prepare the next generation of leaders to address complex challenges of the food system using an evidence-based approach.

  17. Research on large-scale wind farm modeling

    Science.gov (United States)

    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.

  18. The importance of local factors and management in determining wheat yield variability in on-farm experimentation in Tigray, northern Ethiopia

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Kraaijvanger, R.; Veldkamp, A.

    2015-01-01

    Low crop yield in Tigray is one of the causes of food insecurity. Intervention work to increase yields, however, had only limited success and farmers often hesitated to adopt recommended practices. Considering this, we used participatory on-farm experimentation to arrive at best practices

  19. Fun on the Farm: Evaluation of a Lesson to Teach Students about the Spread of Infection on School Farm Visits

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hawking, Meredith K. D.; Lecky, Donna M.; Verlander, Neville Q.; McNulty, Cliodna A. M.

    2013-01-01

    Background School visits to farms are a positive educational experience but pose risks due to the spread of zoonotic infections. A lesson plan to raise awareness about microbes on the farm and preventative behaviours was developed in response to the Griffin Investigation into the E. coli outbreak associated with Godstone Farm in 2009. This study evaluated the effectiveness of the delivery of the lesson plan in increasing knowledge about the spread of infection on the farm, amongst school students. Methods Two hundred and twenty-five 9–11 year old students from seven junior schools in England participated. Two hundred and ten students filled in identical questionnaires covering microbes, hand hygiene, and farm hygiene before and after the lesson. Statistical analysis assessed knowledge change using difference in percentage correct answers. Results Significant knowledge improvement was observed for all sections. In the ‘Farm Hygiene’ section, girls and boys demonstrated 18% (plesson plan was successful at increasing awareness of microbes on the farm and infection prevention measures and should be used by teachers in preparation for a farm visit. PMID:24146765

  20. To trust or not to trust: social decision-making in post-institutionalized, internationally adopted youth.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pitula, Clio E; Wenner, Jennifer A; Gunnar, Megan R; Thomas, Kathleen M

    2017-05-01

    Chronic parental maltreatment has been associated with lower levels of interpersonal trust, and depriving environments have been shown to predict short-sighted, risk-averse decision-making. The present study examined whether a circumscribed period of adverse care occurring only early in life was associated with biases in trust behavior. Fifty-three post-institutionalized (PI) youth, adopted internationally on average by 1 year of age, and 33 never-institutionalized, non-adopted youth (M age  = 12.9 years) played a trust game. Participants decided whether or not to share coins with a different anonymous peer in each trial with the potential to receive a larger number of coins in return. Trials were presented in blocks that varied in the degree to which the peers behaved in a trustworthy (reciprocal) or untrustworthy (non-reciprocal) manner. A comparison condition consisted of a computerized lottery with the same choices and probabilistic risk as the peer trials. Non-adopted comparison youth showed a tendency to share more with peers than to invest in the lottery and tended to maintain their level of sharing across trials despite experiencing trials in which peers failed to reciprocate. In contrast, PI children, particularly those who were adopted over 1 year of age, shared less with peers than they invested in the lottery and quickly adapted their sharing behavior to peers' responses. These results suggest that PI youth were more mistrusting, more sensitive to both defection and reciprocation, and potentially more accurate in their trusting decisions than comparison youth. Results support the presence of a sensitive period for the development of trust in others, whereby conditions early in life may set long-term biases in decision-making. © 2016 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

  1. The productive efficiency of organic farming: the case of grape sector in Catalonia

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Guesmi, B.; Serra, T.; Kallas, Z.; Gil Roig, J. M.

    2012-11-01

    Knowledge about productivity and efficiency differences between conventional and organic farms has important implications for the evaluation of the economic viability of these two agricultural practices. The main purpose of this study was to compare the efficiency ratings of organic and conventional grape farms in Catalonia. To do so, we fit a stochastic production frontier to cross sectional, farm-level data collected from a sample of 141 Catalan farms that specialize in grape growing. Results show that organic farmers, on average, are more efficient than their conventional counterparts (efficiency ratings are on the order of 0.80 and 0.64, respectively). Apart from adoption of organic practices, experience is also found to improve technical efficiency. Conversely, technical efficiency tends to decrease with the relevance of unpaid family labor, farm location in less favored areas, and farmers strong environmental preservation preferences. (Author) 41 refs.

  2. The role of women on Dutch farms

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Meulen, van der H.A.B.; Terluin, I.J.; Matser, I.A.

    2015-01-01

    In this paper an analysis is made of the contribution of women to labour input and management on Dutch farms. We used a written survey among the participants of the Dutch Farm Accountancy Data Network (FADN), in-depth interviews and a group discussion with farm women. Over half of the women on Dutch

  3. Assessment of tillage systems in organic farming: influence of soil structure on microbial biomass. First results

    OpenAIRE

    Vian, Jean François; Peigné, Joséphine; Chaussod, Rémi; Roger-Estrade, Jean

    2007-01-01

    Soil tillage modifies environmental conditions of soil microorganisms and their ability to release nitrogen. We compare the influence of reduced tillage (RT) and mouldboard ploughing (MP) on the soil microbial functioning in organic farming. In order to connect soil structure generated by these tillage systems on the soil microbial biomass we adopt a particular sampling scheme based on the morphological characterisation of the soil structure by the description of the soil profile. This method...

  4. The impact of farm size on sustainability of dutch dairy farms

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Meulen, van der H.A.B.; Dolman, M.A.; Jager, J.H.; Venema, G.S.

    2014-01-01

    Sustainable milk production systems require economically viable, environmentally sound and socially acceptable practices. This study compared the economic, environmental and societal impact of large-scale farms with other dairy farms in the Dutch Farm Accountancy Data Network (FADN). Moreover the

  5. Socioeconomic impact of widespread adoption of precision farming and controlled traffic systems in Denmark

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Jensen, Hans Grinsted; Jacobsen, Lars Bo; Pedersen, Søren Marcus

    2012-01-01

    and the Danish society as a whole. At the farm level, the findings from the study indicate that an implementation of CTF systems may have a significant impact on fuel savings due to a reduced overlap with auto guidance systems and easier movement with tractors and tools in the field. The PF site-specific weed...

  6. Farm Safety - Time to Act.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lower, Tony; Temperley, John

    2018-04-18

    Agriculture is recognised as a highly dangerous sector worldwide, hence the use of evidence-based solutions to address injury related incidents are critical to prevention. The main of this paper is to determine the potential for prevention by use of existing controls based on deaths data from 2001-2016. This study assesses data from the National Coroner's Information System for the period 2001-2016 in regards to unintentional farm injury deaths in Australia (n = 1,271). The six leading causes of death (tractors, quads (ATVs), water/dams, farm utilities (pickups), motorcycles and horses: n=644), are reviewed against existing evidence-based practice recommendations to ascertain the potential capacity to prevent and/or ameliorate the severity of the fatal incidents. Projections of economic costs associated with these incidents in the past five years (2012-2016) are outlined. Of the cases involving the six leading agents (n=644), 36% (n=235) have the potential to be prevented with the use of designated evidence-based controls. Meanwhile the costs attributed to deaths involving the six leading agents in the 2012-2016 period, exceeded AU$313 million. Farm injury incidents and their related economic costs, can be reduced by enhanced adoption of the existing evidence-based controls. SO WHAT?: Farm safety efforts in Australia require re-invigoration and funding to focus on evidence-based controls supported by enforcement to attain maximum impact. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.

  7. adoption of chemical fertilizer for land management in the north

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    xs

    2007-05-04

    May 4, 2007 ... adoption of recommended farm practices by farmers. Similarly .... caused by taxation of output (World Bank, 1986). ..... Malaysia, The Developing Economies, 13 (2): 187 - .... in Tropical Africa: Principles and Practice, Technical.

  8. The impact of information and other factors on on-farm agrobiodiversity conservation: evidence from a duration analysis of Portuguese fruit growers

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Botelho, A.; Dinis, I.; Costa Pinto, L.

    2012-11-01

    In spite of the increasing awareness of the importance of in situ and on-farm conservation of agro biodiversity, there is still limited knowledge about the factors that influence farmers choices in variety adoption. The purpose of this paper is to contribute to a better understanding of the factors that influence farmers adoption of traditional varieties of fruit trees so that better and more effective policy measures aiming at their preservation can be designed. While studies in this area have mainly employed standard probit/logit techniques, in this paper, an econometric technique which addresses simultaneously the issue of sample censoring and the joint determination of the occurrence and timing of adoptions duration analysis was applied. The use of this technique in the analysis of adoption data uncovers a sizably higher effect of information on farmers decisions than that obtained by standard approaches. The results strongly support the idea that good extension services providing reliable and accessible information, as well as technical guidance adapted to local conditions, are fundamental components in determining the adoption of land races. (Author)

  9. The profitability of automatic milking on Dutch dairy farms.

    Science.gov (United States)

    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

  10. adoption of improved aquaculture practices by shrimp farmers

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Dr.Adesope

    use of check trays and adjustment of feed accordingly (95.0%), formation of ... Key words: adoption, improved aquaculture, shrimp farmers ... Brackish water shrimp farming is getting more attention because of high profitability ..... water and pond water whereas 52.5% of farmers did not observe the actual acclimatisation.

  11. CAP payments and agricultural GHG emissions in Italy. A farm-level assessment.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Coderoni, Silvia; Esposti, Roberto

    2018-06-15

    The Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) is an important external driver of European agricultural production. Nowadays and in its envisioned future structure post-2020, the CAP has among its major objectives tackling climate change, for what concerns both adaptation and mitigation strategies. However, little is known about the link between past CAP reforms and agricultural greenhouse gases (GHG) emissions. This paper investigates the possible role played by the Fischler Reform (FR) on the agricultural GHG emissions at the farm level. The FR represents a major CAP reform for which data availability allows an ex-post analysis about its actual impacts. The empirical analysis concerns a balanced panel of 6542 Italian Farm Accountancy Data Network observed over years the 2003-2007. Multinomial Logit models are estimated in sequence to express how the farm-level production choices, and the respective emissions, vary over time also in response to CAP expenditure. Results suggest that CAP expenditure had a role in the evolution of the farm-level emissions, though the direction of this effect may differ across farms and deserves further investigation. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  12. Operation and control of a DC-grid offshore wind farm under DC transmission system faults

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Deng, Fujin; Chen, Zhe

    2013-01-01

    . Consequently, the protection and control strategies of dc systems need to be established. This paper studies a dc-grid offshore wind farm, where the wind power collection system and power transmission system adopt dc technology. In this paper, the redundancy of the HVDC transmission system under faults...... is studied, and a fault ridethrough strategy for the dc-grid offshore wind farm is proposed. The proposed strategy can effectively minimize the impacts of the power transmission system disturbance on the offshore wind farm, and on the ac grid. A dc-grid offshore wind farm example is simulated with PSCAD....../EMTDC, and the results validate the feasibility of the presented redundancy configuration and operation approach, and the fault ridethrough control strategy....

  13. Socioeconomic Factors Affecting Adoption of Sunflower Varieties in Sindh

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ghulam Ali Jariko (Corresponding Author

    2011-09-01

    Full Text Available This research study is based on primary data collection from sunflower growers to assess the socioeconomic factors that are affecting the adoption of sunflower varieties in Sindh.Data samples have been selected from two districts; Badin and Thatta, as these districts are considered main sunflower growing areas in Sindh. The results reveal that Sunflower growers are using Hybrid varieties i.e. 43 percent planted Hysun-33, 29 percent Hysun-38 and 28 percent Hysun-37 varieties. The finding of research using multinomial logistic regression suggests that farm size and level of education significantly affected the adoption of sunflower varieties. These factors are statistically significant at p<0.05. Theother variables such as tenancy status and source of income are not statistically significant in the adoption of sunflower varieties in Sindh.

  14. Exploring the benefit of farming slideshow to agri-business marketing

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Peng Yung-Hsing

    2017-01-01

    Full Text Available In Taiwan agriculture, most of the production management is done by paperwork. This kind of approach is labor-costing, and unable to give real-time information, which makes it difficult to disclose sufficient information from production, and therefore results in the problem of food safety. To break the bottleneck, the Institute for Information Industry (III develops the Smart Agri-management Platform (S.A.M.P., providing cloud services for agricultural production and sale management. In this paper, we adopt the S.A.M.P. to collect farming records containing images, date, field location, and task name. Traditionally, farming records are used to generate a table of texts for traceability. However, it is difficult to arouse the interest from customers by merely using texts. Therefore, this paper proposes the mechanism of farming slideshow, a new presentation of traceability by dynamic arrangement to farming records on S.A.M.P. The experiment is performed in the Yongling organic farm in Kaohsiung, generating over 30,000 vegetable packages supporting farming slideshow. According to 42 valid questionnaires from customers, 83% of them express higher willing to buy products with farming slideshow than those with only texts. Therefore, food traceability with slideshow can offer benefit to agri-business marketing, which is a positive reference for future agriculture.

  15. The effects of farm management practices on liver fluke prevalence and the current internal parasite control measures employed on Irish dairy farms.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Selemetas, Nikolaos; Phelan, Paul; O'Kiely, Padraig; de Waal, Theo

    2015-01-30

    Fasciolosis caused by Fasciola hepatica is responsible for major production losses in cattle farms. The objectives of this study were to assess the effect of farm management practices on liver fluke prevalence on Irish dairy farms and to document the current control measures against parasitic diseases. In total, 369 dairy farms throughout Ireland were sampled from October to December 2013, each providing a single bulk tank milk (BTM) sample for liver fluke antibody-detection ELISA testing and completing a questionnaire on their farm management. The analysis of samples showed that cows on 78% (n=288) of dairy farms had been exposed to liver fluke. There was a difference (P0.05) between positive and negative farms in (a) the grazing of dry cows together with replacement cows, (b) whether or not grazed grassland was mowed for conservation, (c) the type of drinking water provision system, (d) spreading of cattle manure on grassland or (e) for grazing season length (GSL; mean=262.5 days). Also, there were differences (Pmanagement practices between Irish farms with dairy herds exposed or not exposed to liver fluke and stressed the need of fine-scale mapping of the disease patterns even at farm level to increase the accuracy of risk models. Also, comprehensive advice and professional support services to farmers on appropriate farm management practices are very important for an effective anthelmintic control strategy. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  16. The impact of natural helminth infections and supplementary protein on growth performance of free-range chickens on smallholder farms in El Sauce, Nicaragua

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Skallerup, Per; Luna, Luz A; Johansen, Maria V

    2005-01-01

    Three on-farm studies were conducted in Nicaragua during three consecutive years (1999-2001) to assess the impact of natural helminth infections on growth performance of free-range chickens aged 3-4 months. On all participating farms, half of the chickens were treated regularly with anthelmintics...... to helminth infections seem to be pronounced. In 2001, the study set-up included an assessment of the effect of protein supplementation (soybean) on growth on six farms. Supplemented chickens (treated and non-treated with anthelmintics) had 17% higher weight gain than non-supplemented. Protein supplementation...... affected neither worm burdens nor faecal egg counts for any of the studied helminths. The post-mortem examinations showed that Trifen reduced burdens of Ascaridia galli, Heterakis gallinarum, and cestodes (efficacies of 100, 100 and 67%, respectively). Albendazole reduced burdens of H. gallinarum (efficacy...

  17. IMPACT OF THE EU FUNDS SUPPORTING FARM MODERNISATION ON THE CHANGES OF THE ASSETS IN POLISH FARMS

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Wawrzyniec Czubak

    2014-06-01

    Full Text Available The paper focuses on the analysis of the changes in the production potential of Polish farms after implementing CAP mechanisms (2004-2011. Two criteria were used to share the farms: investment activity and economic size. Only those farms were selected, which continuously conducted the agricultural accounting FADN system in 2004--2011. Based on the analysis it was found that in the base period, farms making the most complex investments (supported by EU funds or financed on the basin of own financial resources, had greater production potential – in the matter of area and volume of assets. The investment activities contributed to the increase in disparities between groups of farms. Especially the non-investment farms were able to preserve the area of agricultural land, but the value of their assets was significantly reduced.

  18. Post-fledging movements of white-tailed eagles: Conservation implications for wind-energy development.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Balotari-Chiebao, Fabio; Villers, Alexandre; Ijäs, Asko; Ovaskainen, Otso; Repka, Sari; Laaksonen, Toni

    2016-11-01

    The presence of poorly sited wind farms raises concerns for wildlife, including birds of prey. Therefore, there is a need to extend the knowledge of the potential human-wildlife conflicts associated with wind energy. Here, we report on the movements and habitat use of post-fledging satellite-tagged white-tailed eagles in Finland, where wind-energy development is expected to increase in the near future. In particular, we examine the probability of a fledgling approaching a hypothetical turbine that is placed at different distances from the nest. We found that this probability is high at short distances but considerably decreases with increasing distances to the nest. A utilisation-availability analysis showed that the coast was the preferred habitat. We argue that avoiding construction between active nests and the shoreline, as well as adopting the currently 2-km buffer zone for turbine deployment, can avoid or minimise potential impacts on post-fledging white-tailed eagles.

  19. Potential Ramifications of Common Core State Standards Adoption on Information Literacy

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jacob Paul Eubanks

    2014-07-01

    Full Text Available In the United States, the decline in jobs for high school educated workers and the proliferation of jobs for post-secondary educated workers is driving the development of the Common Core State Standards. The Common Core State Standards theoretically shift K-12 pedagogy towards ability development of critical and extended thinking skills, preparing high school graduates for college and career readiness. This literature review explores the reasoning behind the shift to the Common Core State Standards and asks questions regarding the potential ramifications their adoption might have on post-secondary information literacy instruction.

  20. Growth and development in internationally adopted children: extent and timing of recovery after early adversity.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Palacios, Jesús; Román, Maite; Camacho, Carlos

    2011-03-01

    Following initial adversity, internationally adopted children arrive with significant growth and developmental delays. Post-placement recovery has been widely documented, but little has been known about its extent and timing several years after placement and in children with diverse pre-adoptive experiences. A total of 289 children adopted from six countries into Spanish families were studied. Growth and psychological development were considered on arrival and after an average of over 3 years. Growth and developmental initial delays affected a substantial percentage of the children. Post-adoption recovery seemed quicker and more complete in weight and height than in head circumference and psychological development. Initial and later values were correlated, but growth-development relation on arrival subsequently lost significance. Most of the catch-up happened in the first three post-adoption years. Adoption offers an impressive opportunity for recovery after previous adversity, although continuity between past and present persists. The improvement is more marked in some areas than in others and more substantial in the first post-adoption years. © 2010 Blackwell Publishing Ltd.

  1. ON-FARM MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS IN ANIMAL PRODUCTION

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Aleksandra Jug

    2000-06-01

    Full Text Available The on-farm management systems under development in order to insure data collection, regular data processing needed on a farm as well as automatic data exchange between farm and computing centre. The core of information system presents relational database (RDBMS accompanied with tools developed in APIIS. A system analysis method has been done on two pig industrial units, on national selection program for swine in Slovenia, and compared with examples from other countries and species. Public domain software like PostgreSQL, Perl and Linux have been chosen for use on farms and can be replaced with commercial software like Oracle for more demanding central systems. The system contains at this stage applications for entering, managing, and viewing the data as well as transferring the information between local and central databases.

  2. Invited review: Determinants of farmers' adoption of management-based strategies for infectious disease prevention and control.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ritter, Caroline; Jansen, Jolanda; Roche, Steven; Kelton, David F; Adams, Cindy L; Orsel, Karin; Erskine, Ron J; Benedictus, Geart; Lam, Theo J G M; Barkema, Herman W

    2017-05-01

    The prevention and control of endemic pathogens within and between farms often depends on the adoption of best management practices. However, farmers regularly do not adopt recommended measures or do not enroll in voluntary disease control programs. This indicates that a more comprehensive understanding of the influences and extension tools that affect farmers' management decisions is necessary. Based on a review of relevant published literature, we developed recommendations to support policy-makers, industry representatives, researchers, veterinarians, and other stakeholders when motivating farmers to adopt best management practices, and to facilitate the development and implementation of voluntary prevention and control programs for livestock diseases. Farmers will make management decisions based on their unique circumstances, agricultural contexts, beliefs, and goals. Providing them with rational but universal arguments might not always be sufficient to motivate on-farm change. Implementation of recommended management practices is more likely if farmers acknowledge the existence of a problem and their responsibility to take action. The perceived feasibility and effectiveness of the recommended management strategy and sufficient technical knowledge further increase the likelihood of adequate adoption. Farmers will also weigh the expected advantages of a proposed change against the expected disadvantages, and these considerations often include internal drivers such as pride or the desire to conform with perceived standards. Extension tools and farmers' social referents (e.g., veterinarians, peers) not only provide technical information but also influence these standards. Whereas mass media have the potential to deliver information to a broad audience, more personal approaches such as participatory group learning or individual communication with farm advisors can enable the tailoring of recommendations to farmers' situations. Approaches that appeal to farmers

  3. Transitions of Adoptive Parents: A Longitudinal Mixed Methods Analysis.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Foli, Karen J; Hebdon, Megan; Lim, Eunjung; South, Susan C

    2017-10-01

    As adoptive parents create a new family, they face myriad changes both pre-and post-placement of their child. The aim of this study was to describe parent perceptions and depressive symptoms during this transition via reports collected with an online survey. Using content analysis, we analyzed a total of 110 responses from 64 parents at three time points: 4-6weeks pre-placement, and 4-6weeks and 5-6months post-placement. Five main themes were revealed: Transition from uncertainty to a new normal; unique experiences related to adoption; rest/fatigue: out of balance; life stressors; and faith/spirituality. Two subthemes were also identified: previous losses (pre-placement) and joy and love (post-placement). During the transition from pre-to post-placement, adoptive parents experience a unique passage, with both challenges and strengths exclusive to this group of parents. While acknowledging the commonalities of some parenting experiences, healthcare and adoption professionals should recognize the unique dynamics that adoption brings to families. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  4. Contamination of tomatoes with coliforms and Escherichia coli on farms and in markets of northwest Nigeria.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Shenge, Kenneth C; Whong, Clement M Z; Yakubu, Lydia L; Omolehin, Raphael A; Erbaugh, J Mark; Miller, Sally A; LeJeune, Jeffrey T

    2015-01-01

    Although recent reports indicated that produce contamination with foodborne pathogens is widespread in Nigeria, the sources and magnitude of microbial contamination of fruits and vegetables on farms and in markets have not been thoroughly identified. To ascertain possible pathways of contamination, the frequency and magnitude of coliform and Escherichia coli contamination of tomatoes produced in northwest Nigeria was assessed on farms and in markets. Eight hundred twenty-six tomato fruit samples and 36 irrigation water samples were collected and assessed for fecal indicator organisms. In addition, the awareness and use of food safety practices by tomato farmers and marketers were determined. Median concentration of coliforms on all field- and market-sourced tomato fruit samples, as well as in irrigation water sources, in Kaduna, Kano, and Katsina states exceeded 1,000 most probable number (MPN) per g. Median E. coli counts from 73 (17%) of 420 field samples and 231 (57%) of 406 market tomato fruit samples exceeded 100 MPN/g. Median E. coli concentrations on tomato fruits were higher (P market tomato fruit samples (2.66 Log MPN/g) were higher (P marketers were generally unaware of the relationship between food safety practices and microbial contamination on fresh produce. Good agricultural practices pertaining to food safety on farms and in local markets were seldom used. Adoption of food safety practices on-farm, during transport, and during marketing could improve the microbial quality of tomatoes available to the public in this region of the world.

  5. PRODUCTIVITY AND LAND ENHANCING TECHNOLOGIES IN NORTHERN ETHIOPIA: HEALTH, PUBLIC INVESTMENTS, AND SEQUENTIAL ADOPTION

    OpenAIRE

    Ersado, Lire; Amacher, Gregory S.; Alwang, Jeffrey Roger

    2003-01-01

    The adoption of more efficient farming practices and technologies that enhance agricultural productivity and improve environmental sustainability is instrumental for achieving economic growth, food security and poverty alleviation in sub-Saharan Africa. Our research examines the interaction between public investments, community health, and adoption of productivity and land enhancing technologies by households in the northern Ethiopian state of Tigray. Agricultural technology adoption decision...

  6. Stakeholder co-development of farm level nutrient management software

    Science.gov (United States)

    Buckley, Cathal; Mechan, Sarah; Macken-Walsh, Aine; Heanue, Kevin

    2013-04-01

    Over the last number of decades intensification in the use nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) in agricultural production has lead to excessive accumulations of these nutrients in soils, groundwaters and surface water bodies (Sutton et al., 2011). According to the European Environment Agency (2012) despite some progress diffuse pollution from agriculture is still significant in more than 40% of Europe's water bodies in rivers and coastal waters, and in one third of the water bodies in lakes and transitional waters. Recently it was estimated that approximately 29% of monitored river channel length is polluted to some degree across the Republic of Ireland. Agricultural sources were suspected in 47 per cent of cases (EPA, 2012). Farm level management practices to reduce nutrient transfers from agricultural land to watercourses can be divided into source reduction and source interception approaches (Ribaudo et al., 2001). Source interception approaches involve capturing nutrients post mobilisation through policy instruments such as riparian buffer zones or wetlands. Conversely, the source reduction approach is preventative in nature and promotes strict management of nutrient at farm and field level to reduce risk of mobilisation in the first instance. This has the potential to deliver a double dividend of reduced nutrient loss to the wider ecosystem while maximising economic return to agricultural production at the field and farm levels. Adoption and use of nutrient management plans among farmers is far from the norm. This research engages key farmer and extension stakeholders to explore how current nutrient management planning software and outputs should be developed to make it more user friendly and usable in a practical way. An open innovation technology co-development approach was adopted to investigate what is demanded by the end users - farm advisors and farmers. Open innovation is a knowledge management strategy that uses the input of stakeholders to improve

  7. A regional assessment of the cost and effectiveness of mitigation measures for reducing nutrient losses to water and greenhouse gas emissions to air from pastoral farms.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Vibart, Ronaldo; Vogeler, Iris; Dennis, Samuel; Kaye-Blake, William; Monaghan, Ross; Burggraaf, Vicki; Beautrais, Josef; Mackay, Alec

    2015-06-01

    Using a novel approach that links geospatial land resource information with individual farm-scale simulation, we conducted a regional assessment of nitrogen (N) and phosphorous (P) losses to water and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions to air from the predominant mix of pastoral industries in Southland, New Zealand. An evaluation of the cost-effectiveness of several nutrient loss mitigation strategies applied at the farm-scale, set primarily for reducing N and P losses and grouped by capital cost and potential ease of adoption, followed an initial baseline assessment. Grouped nutrient loss mitigation strategies were applied on an additive basis on the assumption of full adoption, and were broadly identified as 'improved nutrient management' (M1), 'improved animal productivity' (M2), and 'restricted grazing' (M3). Estimated annual nitrate-N leaching losses occurring under representative baseline sheep and beef (cattle) farms, and representative baseline dairy farms for the region were 10 ± 2 and 32 ± 6 kg N/ha (mean ± standard deviation), respectively. Both sheep and beef and dairy farms were responsive to N leaching loss mitigation strategies in M1, at a low cost per kg N-loss mitigated. Only dairy farms were responsive to N leaching loss abatement from adopting M2, at no additional cost per kg N-loss mitigated. Dairy farms were also responsive to N leaching loss abatement from adopting M3, but this reduction came at a greater cost per kg N-loss mitigated. Only dairy farms were responsive to P-loss mitigation strategies, in particular by adopting M1. Only dairy farms were responsive to GHG abatement; greater abatement was achieved by the most intensified dairy farm system simulated. Overall, M1 provided for high levels of regional scale N- and P-loss abatement at a low cost per farm without affecting overall farm production, M2 provided additional N-loss abatement but only marginal P-loss abatement, whereas M3 provided the greatest N-loss abatement, but

  8. Adoption of automated livestock production systems in Northern Europe

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Pedersen, Søren Marcus; Lind, Kim Martin Hjorth

    2014-01-01

    In the last decades the development of automated systems in livestock production has gained increasing interest among farmers. A combined use of computers and sensor systems has lead the development into new research areas with automated milking systems, grain drying systems and automated feeding...... on the relationship and adoption patterns among these countries. The paper presents the results of the surveyed population, demography, farm structure with livestock production characteristics and farmers use of selected automated systems in livestock production....... systems. The aim of this paper is to present the results of a farm survey and cluster analysis that have been made among 4 countries in Europe. This study is based on replies from 413 respondents in Germany (eastern part), Greece, Finland and Denmark, respectively, and the study comments...

  9. Teaching Science Down on the Farm

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hicks, Debbie

    2016-01-01

    Throughout the United Kingdom's (UK's) primary science curriculum, there are numerous opportunities for teachers to use the farming industry as a rich and engaging real-world context for science learning. Teachers can focus on the animals and plants on the farm as subjects for children to learn about life processes. They can turn attention…

  10. Factors Affecting Adoption of Agroforestry Farming System as a Mean for Sustainable Agricultural Development and Environment Conservation in Arid Areas of Northern Kordofan State, Sudan

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Muneer, Siddig El Tayeb

    2008-01-01

    Arid and semi-arid areas represent about 60 percent of Sudan total area. One of the main environmental problems in the arid and semi-arid areas is diffraction's which reduces the natural potential of the already fragile ecosystems and renders rural people vulnerable to food shortages, the vagaries of weather and natural disasters. Deforestation which is considered one of the most critical environmental problems facing the world is one of the main causes of diffraction's. Between the years 1990 and 2005 Sudan lost about 8.8 millions hectares of forests, which represents 11%, of its forests mainly because of subsistence activities such as overgrazing, trees cutting and expansion of traditional agriculture. One of the areas that are very much affected by diffraction's is Northern Kordofan State. To rescue the situation the government of Sudan, with assistance from the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) and some donors, implemented a project that aimed primarily at restocking Acacia Senegal trees in Northern Kordofan State. This study is intended to explore the factors that caused differential rate of farmers' adoption rate of the Acacia Senegal based agroforestry farming system. The study data was collected from a clustered random sample of 300 farmers, through face to face interviews using a questionnaire that was pre-tested and validated. Frequency distribution and multiple regression analysis were used to analyze the data. It has been found that farmers' adoption of agroforestry farming system in Northern Kordofan state was significantly affected by the farmers' level of formal education, contact with extension agents, level of environmental awareness, cosmopoliteness, total area of owned land and extent of social participation. (author)

  11. Social capital on poultry farms in South Sulawesi, Indonesia

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sri Lestari, V.; Natsir; Patrick, I. W.; Ali, H. M.; Asya, M.; Sirajuddin, S. N.

    2018-05-01

    Social capital plays an important role in the development of poultry farms in South Sulawesi. Poultry farms consisted of laying hen and broiler farms. Most of laying hen farms were located in Sidrap Regency, while broiler farms were located in Maros regency. The aim of this research was to know social capital on beef cattle farms in South Sulawesi. Population of this research was 120 farmers which consisted of 6o were laying hen farmers and 60 were broiler farmers. Variable of social capital was mutual trust, reciprocity, shared norms and linkage. The data were collected from observation and depth interview by using questionnaire. There were 10 questions. The answer was scored by using Likert scale ranging from 1 refer to strongly agree; 2 refer to agree; 3 refer to not sure; 4 refer to disagree and 5 refer to strongly disagree. The data were analyzed descriptively using frequency distribution. The research revealed that mutual trust and shared norms members of the group in broiler farms have higher level than that on laying hen farms, on the other hand, linkage or net working members of the group among laying hen farmers has higher level than that on broiler farms.

  12. Agricultural marketing systems and sustainability : study of small scale Andean hillside farms

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Castaño, J.

    2001-01-01

    A better understanding of the way in which marketing systems can contribute to the adoption of sustainable agricultural practices (ASAP) on small-farms constitutes the aim of this study. In particular, the study examines the contribution of vertical

  13. TECHNICAL EFFICIENCY OF PRODUCTION OF QUALITY PROTEIN MAIZE BETWEEN ADOPTERS AND NON-ADOPTERS, AND THE DETERMINANTS IN OYO STATE, NIGERIA

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Abiodun Elijah OBAYELU

    2016-11-01

    Full Text Available This study determined the technical efficiency (TE of production of Quality Protein Maize (QPM and the effect on the adoption of QPM in Oyo State, Nigeria. QPM is an improved maize variety developed to reduce protein deficiency problems. A total of 100 maize farmers were sampled through a two-stage sampling procedure. Stochastic frontier approach using maximum likelihood estimation (MLE was used to analyse the TE in the production of QPM, while probit regression was used to determine the effect of TE and other socioeconomic characteristics of the respondents on the adoption of QPM. The results revealed a mean TE of 0.89 and 0.78 for adopters and non-adopters of QPM respectively. This implied that adopters of QPM are more technically efficient than the non-adopters. Quantity of seed planted and fertilizer directly and significantly affected the TE of QPM while gross margin of maize farmers and income from other sources (at P<0.05, the level of education of farmers and QPM farm size (P<0.01 have significant and a negative effects on technical inefficiency from the results of the Tobit regression. The age (P<0.05 of the farmer has direct effect on technical inefficiency. In conclusion, TE, level of output, information availability on QPM and early maturity were significant determinants of QPM rather than the gross margin of production. Farmers decide to adopt QPM technology because of the high level of technical efficiency in the production of this variety. Their output from QPM can be increased by 11 percent, while the non-adopters can increase their maize output by 22 percent using the available technology.

  14. Implications of IFRS Adoption on Balance-Sheet vs Income Statement Figures

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Valentin BURCA

    2014-12-01

    Full Text Available On the last two decades, financial reporting area has suffered lot of changes in order to respond properly to the dynamics of the economic system characterized by continuous process of globalization, international capitalization, and multinational corporations increasing economic impact. Implementation of IFRSs has been positively perceived by both preparers and users from quality of financial information improvement point of view and economic effects perspective as well. Romanian regulators have decided to align to the EU accounting legislation by adopting IFRS for the consolidated accounts preparation. Furthermore, they have chosen to extend IFRS use to individual financial statements in case of all listed companies. In this study we will provide evidence using an index of conservatism that there are small changes on the financial accounts pre IFRS adoption versus post IFRS adoption at the statutory financial statements level. This evidence is actually reflecting the continuous efforts of Romanian regulator to harmonize the local accounting regulation with IFRS.

  15. Succession status on mountain farms in Slovenia

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Boštjan Kerbler-Kefo

    2008-12-01

    Full Text Available This paper is based on the hypothesis that the offi cial statistical data does not refl ect actual succession status on mountain farms in Slovenia and also on Slovene farms in general, since the census criteria defi ning succession are still incomplete. With the purpose of confi rming our assumption, we formulated more accurate criteria and also determined as to what is the real status of succession on mountain farms in Slovenia. It has proved to be more favourable, than it is presented by the offi cial statistics.

  16. Strategies to meet the requirements of the Nitrates Directive on arable and field vegetable farms in The Netherlands

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Langeveld, J.W.A.

    2003-01-01

    Intensive fertilisation practices in the Netherlands make it cumbersome to comply with the EU Nitrate Directive. Over the years, government has adopted increasingly strict environmental legislation, including the farm gate balance system MINAS (MINeral Accounting System) and a compulsory manure

  17. Participatory farm management adaptations to reduce environmental impact on commercial pilot dairy farms in the Netherlands

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Oenema, J.; Keulen, van H.; Schils, R.L.M.; Aarts, H.F.M.

    2011-01-01

    Regulations in the Netherlands with respect to nutrient use force dairy farmers to improve nutrient management at the whole-farm level. On experimental farm ‘De Marke’, a coherent set of simple measures at farm level has been implemented, which has resulted in a drastic reduction in input of

  18. Farming of Vegetables in Space-Limited Environments

    Science.gov (United States)

    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.

  19. TECHNICAL EFFICIENCY AND IMPACT EVALUATION DIFFERENTIALS BETWEEN THE ADOPTERS AND NON-ADOPTERS OF NERICA IN THE SIX BASELINE STATES IN NIGERIA

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Abiodun Elijah OBAYELU

    2017-04-01

    Full Text Available The study examined the adoption rate of New Rice for Africa (NERICA, technical efficiency differentials of production of these varieties between adopters and non-adopters and the determinants. It further analysed the impact of adoption of NERICA on area cultivated, output, yield, expenditure and total income of rice farmers in the NERICA baseline states in Nigeria. To achieve the objectives, it employed the descriptive statistics, stochastic production frontier and counterfactual outcomes framework of modern evaluation technique (the Local Average Treatment Effect to analyse 621 rice farmers across the six NERICA baseline states in Nigeria in 2012. The findings show that NERICA adopters were more technically efficient than the non-adopters. In addition, adoption of NERICA was found to significantly increase the areas of land cultivated, output, yield, household expenditure, per capita household expenditure and total income among NERICA adopters by 1.2ha (p < 0.01, 1998.2kg (p< 0.01, 191.2kg/ha (p < 0.1, N13,222.63≈$66.4 (p < 0.05, N2,015.6≈$10.1 (p < 0.05 and N145,098.7 ≈$728.0 (p < 0.01 respectively despite their high level of inefficiency (39 percent by the adopters. The positive impact of NERICA adoption on rice yields, poverty status measured by the per capita household expenditure and total farm income of farmers is a clear indication that NERICA has the potential to increase rice productivity, reduce poverty and food insecurity. NERICA adoption rate will rise if more farmers are aware of the varieties in the study. Farmers who had adopted, and government at all levels should therefore intensify their efforts to encourage others rice farmers possibly through the extension agents on the need to grow NERICA varieties so as to increase rice production level, reduce rice importation and ensure a sustainable rice production.

  20. Are large farms more efficient? Tenure security, farm size and farm efficiency: evidence from northeast China

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhou, Yuepeng; Ma, Xianlei; Shi, Xiaoping

    2017-04-01

    How to increase production efficiency, guarantee grain security, and increase farmers' income using the limited farmland is a great challenge that China is facing. Although theory predicts that secure property rights and moderate scale management of farmland can increase land productivity, reduce farm-related costs, and raise farmer's income, empirical studies on the size and magnitude of these effects are scarce. A number of studies have examined the impacts of land tenure or farm size on productivity or efficiency, respectively. There are also a few studies linking farm size, land tenure and efficiency together. However, to our best knowledge, there are no studies considering tenure security and farm efficiency together for different farm scales in China. In addition, there is little study analyzing the profit frontier. In this study, we particularly focus on the impacts of land tenure security and farm size on farm profit efficiency, using farm level data collected from 23 villages, 811 households in Liaoning in 2015. 7 different farm scales have been identified to further represent small farms, median farms, moderate-scale farms, and large farms. Technical efficiency is analyzed with stochastic frontier production function. The profit efficiency is regressed on a set of explanatory variables which includes farm size dummies, land tenure security indexes, and household characteristics. We found that: 1) The technical efficiency scores for production efficiency (average score = 0.998) indicate that it is already very close to the production frontier, and thus there is little room to improve production efficiency. However, there is larger space to raise profit efficiency (average score = 0.768) by investing more on farm size expansion, seed, hired labor, pesticide, and irrigation. 2) Farms between 50-80 mu are most efficient from the viewpoint of profit efficiency. The so-called moderate-scale farms (100-150 mu) according to the governmental guideline show no

  1. Dairy Herd Mastitis Program in Argentina: Farm Clusters and Effects on Bulk Milk Somatic Cell Counts

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    C Vissio1*, SA Dieser2, CG Raspanti2, JA Giraudo1, CI Bogni2, LM Odierno2 and AJ Larriestra1

    2013-01-01

    Full Text Available This research has been conducted to characterize dairy farm clusters according to mastitis control program practiced among small and medium dairy producer from Argentina, and also to evaluate the effect of such farm cluster patterns on bulk milk somatic cell count (BMSCC. Two samples of 51 (cross-sectional and 38 (longitudinal herds were selected to identify farm clusters and study the influence of management on monthly BMSCC, respectively. The cross-sectional sample involved the milking routine and facilities assessment of each herd visited. Hierarchical cluster analysis was used to find the most discriminating farm attributes in the cross sectional sample. Afterward, the herd cluster typologies were identified in the longitudinal sample. Herd monthly BMSCC average was evaluated during 12 months fitting a linear mixed model. Two clusters were identified, the farms in the Cluster I applied a comprehensive mastitis program in opposite to Cluster II. Post-dipping, dry cow therapy and milking machine test were routinely applied in Cluster I. In the longitudinal study, 14 out of 38 dairy herds were labeled as Cluster I and the rest were assigned to Cluster II. Significant difference in BMSCC was found between cluster I and II (60,000 cells/mL. The present study showed the relevance and potential impact of promoting mastitis control practices among small and medium sized dairy producers in Argentina.

  2. Analysis of Adoption Spell of Hybrid Maize in the Central Rift Valley ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    This paper estimates farm household level determinants of the speed of adoption of hybrid maize in the central rift valley of Ethiopia in the framework of the dynamic time on cross-sectional data. Descriptive statistics and duration model were used to study the objectives of the study. The results from descriptive analysis ...

  3. Corporate Reporting on Farm Animal Welfare: An Evaluation of Global Food Companies' Discourse and Disclosures on Farm Animal Welfare.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sullivan, Rory; Amos, Nicky; van de Weerd, Heleen A

    2017-03-06

    The views that food companies hold about their responsibilities for animal welfare can strongly influence the lives and welfare of farm animals. If a company's commitment is translated into action, it can be a major driver of animal welfare. The Business Benchmark on Farm Animal Welfare (BBFAW) is an annual evaluation of farm animal welfare-related practices, reporting and performance of food companies. The framework evaluates how close, based on their disclosures, companies are to best practice in three areas: Management Commitment, Governance & Performance and Leadership & Innovation. The BBFAW analysed information published by 68 (2012) and 70 (2013) of the world's largest food companies. Around 70% of companies acknowledged animal welfare as a business issue. Between 2012 and 2013, the mean BBFAW score increased significantly by 5% ( p < 0.001, Wilcoxon Signed-Rank test). However, only 34% (2012) and 44% (2013) of companies published comprehensive animal welfare policies. This increase suggests that global food companies are increasingly aware that farm animal welfare is of interest to their stakeholders, but also that many companies have yet to acknowledge farm animal welfare as a business issue or to demonstrate their approach to farm animal welfare to stakeholders and society.

  4. Climate change, water security and the need for integrated policy development: the case of on-farm infrastructure investment in the Australian irrigation sector

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Maraseni, T N; Mushtaq, S; Reardon-Smith, K

    2012-01-01

    The Australian Government is currently addressing the challenge of increasing water scarcity through significant on-farm infrastructure investment to facilitate the adoption of new water-efficient pressurized irrigation systems. However, it is highly likely that conversion to these systems will increase on-farm energy consumption and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, suggesting potential conflicts in terms of mitigation and adaptation policies. This study explored the trade-offs associated with the adoption of more water efficient but energy-intensive irrigation technologies by developing an integrated assessment framework. Integrated analysis of five case studies revealed trade-offs between water security and environmental security when conversion to pressurized irrigation systems was evaluated in terms of fuel and energy-related emissions, except in cases where older hand-shift sprinkler irrigation systems were replaced. These results suggest that priority should be given, in implementing on-farm infrastructure investment policy, to replacing inefficient and energy-intensive sprinkler irrigation systems such as hand-shift and roll-line. The results indicated that associated changes in the use of agricultural machinery and agrochemicals may also be important. The findings of this study support the use of an integrated approach to avoid possible conflicts in designing national climate change mitigation and adaptation policies, both of which are being developed in Australia. (letter)

  5. Adoption of Organic Farming as an Opportunity for Syrian Farmers of Fresh Fruit and Vegetables: An Application of the Theory of Planned Behaviour and Structural Equation Modelling

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Irwa Issa

    2017-11-01

    Full Text Available Exporting organic fresh fruit and vegetables (FFV to the European Union could represent a great opportunity for Syrian farmers and exporters. Yet, the organic sector in Syria is comparatively young and only a very small area of FFV is organically managed. To date, little is known about Syrian farmers’ attitudes towards organic FFV production. Therefore, the aim of this study was to explore the intentions and attitudes of Syrian farmers of FFV towards organic farming and how likely they are to convert their farms to organic production within the next five years. Using a two-stage cluster sampling procedure, 266 conventional farmers of FFV in 75 villages located in different districts of Syria’s coastal region were selected for this survey. Data was collected through face-to-face interviews by a project partner in Syria (Citrus Fruit Board in Tartous from December 2012 until mid-May 2013. We used the Theory of Planned Behaviour as theoretical framework and Partial Least Squares Path Modelling as the main tool for data analysis. The results show that most farmers used at least one of the practices that are also part of certified organic production (throughout this article, the term organic agriculture, farming, and/or production always refer to certified organic agricultural production, and hold strong positive attitudes and intentions to adopt organic production within the next five years.

  6. Farmers' Participation in Extension Programs and Technology Adoption in Rural Nepal: A Logistic Regression Analysis

    Science.gov (United States)

    Suvedi, Murari; Ghimire, Raju; Kaplowitz, Michael

    2017-01-01

    Purpose: This paper examines the factors affecting farmers' participation in extension programs and adoption of improved seed varieties in the hills of rural Nepal. Methodology/approach: Cross-sectional farm-level data were collected during July and August 2014. A sample of 198 farm households was selected for interviewing by using a multistage,…

  7. Farm work-related asthma among US primary farm operators.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mazurek, Jacek M; White, Gretchen E; Rodman, Chad; Schleiff, Patricia L

    2015-01-01

    The objective of this study was to estimate the prevalence of current asthma and the proportion of current asthma that is related to work on the farm among primary farm operators. The 2011 Farm and Ranch Safety Survey data were used to produce estimates and prevalence odds ratios. An estimated 5.1% of farm operators had asthma. Of these, 15.4% had farm work-related asthma. Among operators with farm work-related asthma, 54.8% (95% confidence interval [CI]: 41.8%-68.2%) had an asthma attack in the prior 12 months and 33.3% (95% CI: 21.2%-45.4%) had an asthma attack that occurred while doing farm work. Of those who had an asthma attack that occurred while doing farm work, 65.0% associated their asthma attack with plant/tree materials. This study provides updated information on asthma and the proportion of current asthma that is related to work on the farm and identifies certain groups of farm operators that might benefit from workplace asthma prevention intervention.

  8. On-farm impact of cattle slurry manure management on biological soil quality

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Goede, de R.G.M.; Brussaard, L.; Akkermans, A.D.L.

    2003-01-01

    The effects of dairy cattle slurry management on soil biota, soil respiration and nitrogen (N) mineralization were evaluated in a farm trial across 12 farms and a field experiment on 2 farms located in a dairy farming area in the north of the Netherlands. The slurry management consisted of slit

  9. Measuring farm sustainability using data envelope analysis with principal components: the case of Wisconsin cranberry.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dong, Fengxia; Mitchell, Paul D; Colquhoun, Jed

    2015-01-01

    Measuring farm sustainability performance is a crucial component for improving agricultural sustainability. While extensive assessments and indicators exist that reflect the different facets of agricultural sustainability, because of the relatively large number of measures and interactions among them, a composite indicator that integrates and aggregates over all variables is particularly useful. This paper describes and empirically evaluates a method for constructing a composite sustainability indicator that individually scores and ranks farm sustainability performance. The method first uses non-negative polychoric principal component analysis to reduce the number of variables, to remove correlation among variables and to transform categorical variables to continuous variables. Next the method applies common-weight data envelope analysis to these principal components to individually score each farm. The method solves weights endogenously and allows identifying important practices in sustainability evaluation. An empirical application to Wisconsin cranberry farms finds heterogeneity in sustainability practice adoption, implying that some farms could adopt relevant practices to improve the overall sustainability performance of the industry. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  10. Drivers for the Adoption of Different Eco-Innovation Types in the Fertilizer Sector: A Review

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Kathrin Hasler

    2017-11-01

    Full Text Available Numerous innovations have been developed in the fertilizer and plant nutrition area in recent decades. However, the adoption of many new products and techniques at farm level is still low. In this paper, based on a literature review, we explore the main drivers for innovation adoption or rejection. By splitting up the extant research landscape into disruptive and continuous innovations and innovation types (product, process and innovation of other types, we aim to identify drivers explaining innovation adoption in the fertilizer sector in particular and in the agricultural sector in general.

  11. Steps towards food web management on farms

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Smeding, F.W.

    2001-01-01

    This paper is the report of four years of research on the functional group composition of the animal community in relation to farm and ecological infrastructure (E.I.) management on organic arable farms. The results are mainly based on abundance data of ground dwelling arthropods obtained

  12. Lightning hazard reduction at wind farms

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Kithil, R. [National Lightning Safety Institute, Louisville, CO (United States)

    1997-12-31

    The USA wind farm industry (WFI) largely is centered in low-lightning areas of the State of California. While some evidence of lightning incidents is reported here, the problem is not regarded as serious by most participants. The USA WFI now is moving eastward, into higher areas of lightning activity. The European WFI has had many years experience with lightning problems. One 1995 German study estimated that 80% of wind turbine insurance claims paid for damage compensation were caused by lightning strikes. The European and USA WFI have not adopted site criteria, design fundamentals, or certification techniques aimed at lightning safety. Sufficient evidence about lightning at wind farms is available to confirm that serious potential problems exist.

  13. Prototyping and farm system modelling - Partners on the road towards more sustainable farm systems?

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Sterk, B.; Ittersum, van M.K.; Leeuwis, C.; Wijnands, F.G.

    2007-01-01

    Farm system modelling and prototyping are two research methods proposed to enhance the process of developing sustainable farm systems. Farm system models provide means to formalize, expand and refine expert knowledge and to integrate this with scientific agro-ecological knowledge at the farm level.

  14. Drivers Behind Adoption Of Cassava Brown Streak Disease Control Measures In Rwanda

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Nyirahorana

    2017-11-01

    Full Text Available Cassava Brown Streak Disease CBSD continues to spread and its effect on productivity remains at high level losses 50- 100 in Sub-Saharan Africa. However there is little knowledge about the drivers of adoption on CBSD control measures in Rwanda. Thus this study investigated the drivers to adopt CBSD control measures in Rwanda during 2015-2016 agricultural seasons. A total of 152 households were randomly sampled in Bugesera and Ruhango districts where cassava demonstration plots are established. A multi stage sampling techniques was used. A structured questionnaire was used to collect data from respondents. Logistic regression analysis was employed to estimate drivers behind adoption of CBSD control measures. The key factors that influenced adoption of CBSD control measures was farm size farmers experience access to credit period of plantation access to demonstration plot. In order to increase adoption of CBSD control measures policy makers and implementers in Rwanda should improve farmers social economic and Insistutional characteristics sensitize and mobilize farmers on the importance of adopting the CBSD control measures.

  15. impacts of alternative farm policies on rural communities

    Science.gov (United States)

    J. Michael Bowker; James W. Richardson

    1989-01-01

    The purpose of this study was to describe an LP/IO model for evaluating the economic impacts of alternative farm policies on rural communities and demonstrate its capabilities by analyzing the impacts of three farm policies on a rural community in Texas. Results indicate that in the noncrop sector, two groups of industries are most affected by farm policy. The first...

  16. Effects of care farms: Scientific research on the benefits of care farms for clients

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Elings, M.

    2012-01-01

    Over the last years, the number of care farms has grown rapidly in Europe and beyond. Research was implemented to study how for example young people with behavioural problems or older people with dementia benefit from their stay on a care farm. And what are the effects of working or living on a care

  17. Post-partum ovarian activity in adult and first-calf dual purpose cows in Guatemala

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ordonez, H.; Gatica, A.; Miranda, J.; Matamoros, R.

    1990-01-01

    Progesterone (P 4 ) levels in skin milk were determined in two groups of dual purpose cows from farms in the Department of Escuintla on the south coast of Guatemala. Fifteen adult cows (crosses of Criollo with Zebu and Brown Swiss) were selected on the first farm and ten first-calf heifers (crosses of Criollo with Zebu and Holstein) on the second; both groups were considered to be representative of dual purpose livestock (milk and meat producers) in the country. To study the resumption of ovarian activity post-partum, milk samples were taken once a week from 10 days after calving until the first natural service; thereafter, sampling continued twice-weekly for 60 more days when the animals were rectally palpated for pregnancy diagnosis. On farm 1, the mean interval from calving to first rise in P 4 levels indicative of ovarian function was 42±16.7 days; all the study cows were at third calving and resumed cyclicity. On farm 2, only 30% of the study heifers resumed cyclicity and these had an interval from calving to first rise in P 4 of 80±28.9 days; all were at first calving. On farm 1, 73% of cows were served during first oestrus, 13% at second oestrus and 13% at the third. On farm 2, only 30% (3/10) of cows were served at first oestrus; the other 70% did not show signs of ovarian activity during the trial period which lasted until day 129 post-partum. Palpation of the cows 60 days post-service showed that all cows had conceived on farm 1 but only 20% on farm 2. (author). 9 refs, 3 figs

  18. Corporate Reporting on Farm Animal Welfare: An Evaluation of Global Food Companies’ Discourse and Disclosures on Farm Animal Welfare

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Rory Sullivan

    2017-03-01

    Full Text Available The views that food companies hold about their responsibilities for animal welfare can strongly influence the lives and welfare of farm animals. If a company’s commitment is translated into action, it can be a major driver of animal welfare. The Business Benchmark on Farm Animal Welfare (BBFAW is an annual evaluation of farm animal welfare-related practices, reporting and performance of food companies. The framework evaluates how close, based on their disclosures, companies are to best practice in three areas: Management Commitment, Governance & Performance and Leadership & Innovation. The BBFAW analysed information published by 68 (2012 and 70 (2013 of the world’s largest food companies. Around 70% of companies acknowledged animal welfare as a business issue. Between 2012 and 2013, the mean BBFAW score increased significantly by 5% (p < 0.001, Wilcoxon Signed-Rank test. However, only 34% (2012 and 44% (2013 of companies published comprehensive animal welfare policies. This increase suggests that global food companies are increasingly aware that farm animal welfare is of interest to their stakeholders, but also that many companies have yet to acknowledge farm animal welfare as a business issue or to demonstrate their approach to farm animal welfare to stakeholders and society.

  19. Growing Wheat. People on the Farm.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Department of Agriculture, Washington, DC. Office of Governmental and Public Affairs.

    This booklet, one in a series about life on modern farms, describes the daily life of the Don Riffel family, wheat farmers in Kansas. Beginning with early morning, the booklet traces the family's activities through a typical harvesting day in July, while explaining how a wheat farm is run. The booklet also briefly describes the wheat growing…

  20. Smart farming technologies - description, taxonomy and economic impact

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Balafoutis, Athanasios T.; Beck, Bert; Tsiropoulos, Zisis

    2017-01-01

    Precision Agriculture is a cyclic optimization process where data have to be collected from the field, analysed and evaluated and finally used for decision making for site-specific management of the field. Smart farming technologies (SFT ) cover all these aspects of precision agriculture and can...... comprise the delineation of management zones, decision support systems and farm management information system s. Finally, precision application technologies embrace variable-rate application technologies, precision irrigation and weeding and machine guidance. In this chapter, the reader can find...... a technical description of the technologies included in each category accompanied by a taxonomy of all SFT in terms of farming system type, cropping system, availability, level of investment and farmers’ motives to adopt them. Finally, the economic impact that each SFT has compared to conventional...

  1. Post-hoc simulation study to adopt a computerized adaptive testing (CAT) for a Korean Medical License Examination.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Seo, Dong Gi; Choi, Jeongwook

    2018-05-17

    Computerized adaptive testing (CAT) has been adopted in license examinations due to a test efficiency and accuracy. Many research about CAT have been published to prove the efficiency and accuracy of measurement. This simulation study investigated scoring method and item selection methods to implement CAT in Korean medical license examination (KMLE). This study used post-hoc (real data) simulation design. The item bank used in this study was designed with all items in a 2017 KMLE. All CAT algorithms for this study were implemented by a 'catR' package in R program. In terms of accuracy, Rasch and 2parametric logistic (PL) model performed better than 3PL model. Modal a Posteriori (MAP) or Expected a Posterior (EAP) provided more accurate estimates than MLE and WLE. Furthermore Maximum posterior weighted information (MPWI) or Minimum expected posterior variance (MEPV) performed better than other item selection methods. In terms of efficiency, Rasch model was recommended to reduce test length. Simulation study should be performed under varied test conditions before adopting a live CAT. Based on a simulation study, specific scoring and item selection methods should be predetermined before implementing a live CAT.

  2. The importance of the western corn rootworm (Diabrotica virgifera virgifera LeConte in Bavaria – local relevance and economic impact on single farms

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Köhler, Katrin

    2014-02-01

    Full Text Available The western corn rootworm (Diabrotica virgifera virgifera LeConte, holding a quarantine status in the European Union, was first discovered in 2007 in southern Bavaria. In the course of Diabrotica Research Program of Germany and the states of Bavaria and Baden-Württemberg, an economic accompanying research is conducted at single farm level in Bavaria. This aims to evaluate different adaptation measures concerning the eradication and containment strategies economically. The focus of the analysis is mainly the crop rotation and the reduction of the proportion of maize at farm level. InVeKoS-data are analyzed, in order to assess the economic relevance of the pest in Bavaria in a better way. These enable detailed information on the development of maize production and cropping intensity. Subsequently research regions are defined with a high maize density, expecting enhanced damage from the beetle. In these selected areas single farms are selected. For considerations on single farm level, farms with different farm types are chosen by which adaptation measures are evaluated and realistic impact assessment could be made. For the evaluation of the economic impacts a whole-farm simulation has been used to include indirect effects of different adoption strategies. Additional, semi-structured interviews were conducted at selected farms in order to prove the results of the case study, obtain more information about the consequences on farm level and to evaluate the proposed cultivation alternatives for maize. A benefit-cost analysis and the comparative analysis of possible damage caused by the beetle and cost adjustments complete the study.

  3. Place of the adoption of technical proposals from research in farmers’ adaptation strategies

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    P. Pedelahore

    2011-01-01

    Full Text Available Technical innovation is often presented as the main lever to improve economical performances and livelihoods of family farmers. It is thus a way to face the variability of the socio-economical environment. The aim of this study was to analyze the role of the adoption of technical proposals from research within the range of the adaptation strategies used by farmers to maintain or even improve their livelihoods and that of their descendants. Semi-structured and structured interviews carried out on a sample of representative family farmers of South Cameroon showed that migrations, off farm activities, increase of cultivated areas, and cash crop diversification were adaptation strategies more often used by farmers than the adoption of technical proposals. The study highlighted that improving crop management sequences and performances of family farming systems could not be the sole orientation of research and development policies. The increase of farmers spatial and professional mobility points the need to develop research and development policies that focus more closely on territorial and farmers’ management and on interactions between the different sectors of the national economy.

  4. The war at home: affective economics and transnationally adoptive families in the United States.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Stryker, Rachael

    2011-01-01

    The question of how to best conduct post-placement interventions for transnationally adoptive families at risk of dissolution (legal annulment) is an emerging issue in the United States. The current popular trend for adoptive families to pursue biomedical post-placement interventions, despite a lack of proof that such interventions actually work to keep the adoptive family intact, suggests the need for a more phenomenological approach to understanding both adoptive parents’ and transnational adoptees’ post-placement experiences. This study examines the empirical experiences of adoptive families at risk of dissolution in the United States who attempt to define and navigate the path toward family stability after adopting. From the coding of this data set emerge some routes through and by which emotions circulate between adoptive parents and transnational adoptees through the family body and the family social. Particularly, it investigates one post-placement “affective economy” at work in which adoptive parents attempt, through the expression of particular forms of parental love, to align adoptees as subjects of the private, nuclear American family, while adoptees more often attempt to create space for more heterogeneous forms of family, ones that include birth parents and other kin-like relations in their countries of origin. Ultimately, it illuminates some vastly different and sometimes contradictory ways that adoptive parents and adoptees can interpret family through emotional lenses, ones that can prevent a smooth post-placement transition for adoption actors. An understanding of these differences and how they shape, and are shaped by, the post-placement affective economy within families at risk of dissolution may aid in locating indicators for adoption dissolution, and possibly, designing more effective post-placement interventions for families struggling in the aftermath of adoption. It may also help scholars begin to think about the construction and

  5. Agrichem.ical safety practices on farm.s in the western Cape

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Abstract In order to study agrichemical safety practices in a rural farming area in the western ... their work, the environment and intentional misuse.I.}-; Little information is ... the farmer, farm manager or supervisor directly involved in production ...

  6. Manure management practices on biogas and non-biogas pig farms in developing countries - using livestock farms in Vietnam as an example

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Cu, T. T. T.; Cuong, P. H.; Hang, L. T.

    2012-01-01

    This survey was carried out to study animal manure management on livestock farms with biogas technology (biogas farms) and without (non-biogas farms) in the areas surrounding the Vietnamese cities Hanoi and Hue. The objective of the study was to assess the contribution of biogas production...... to a better environment as well as to recognize the problems with livestock manure management on small-scale farms. On all the farms included in the study more than one manure management technology was used, i.e. composting, separation of manure, biogas production and discharge of liquid manure to recipients...... such as public sewers or ponds. On biogas farms, most of the manure collected was used for bio-digestion. The farmers used the fermented manure (digestate) as a source of nutrients for crops, but on more than 50% of the interviewed biogas farms digestate was discharged to the environment. On non-biogas farms...

  7. [Adoptive parents' satisfaction with the adoption experience and with its impact on family life].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sánchez-Sandoval, Yolanda

    2011-11-01

    In this study, we discuss the relevance of adoptive families' satisfaction in the assessment of adoption processes. The effects of adoption on a sample group of 272 adoptive families are analyzed. Most families show high levels of satisfaction as to: their decision to adopt, the features of their adopted children and how adoption has affected them as individuals and as a family. Statistical analyses show that these families can have different satisfaction levels depending on certain features of the adoptees, of the adoptive families or of their educational style. Life satisfaction of the adoptees is also related to how their adoptive parents evaluate the adoption.

  8. Assessing farmers’ intention to adopt soil conservation practices across Europe

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Bijttebier, J.; Ruysschaert, G.; Marchand, F.; Hijbeek, R.; Pronk, A.A.; Schlatter, N.; Guzmàn, G.; Syp, A.; Werner, M.; Bechini, L.; Guiffant, N.; Wauters, E.

    2014-01-01

    During the past decennia, soil conservation practices (SCPs) have been developed in order to maintain or restore soil health which is essential to the resilience of the farm. However, the adoption rate in practice is rather low. Amongst other reasons, these practices might lack onfarm compatibility,

  9. Conditions for the adoption of conservation agriculture in Central Morocco: an approach based on Bayesian network modelling

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Laura Bonzanigo

    2016-03-01

    Full Text Available Research in Central Morocco, proves that conservation agriculture increases yields, reduces labour requirements, and erosion, and improves soil fertility. However, after nearly two decades of demonstration and advocacy, adoption is still limited. This paper investigates the critical constraints and potential opportunities for the adoption of conservation agriculture for different typologies of farms. We measured the possible pathways of adoption via a Bayesian decision network (BDN. BDNs allow the inclusion of stakeholders’ knowledge where data is scant, whilst at the same time they are supported by a robust mathematical background. We first developed a conceptual map of the elements affecting the decision about tillage, which we refined in a workshop with farmers and researchers from the Settat area. We then involved experts in the elicitation of conditional probabilities tables, to quantify the cascade of causal links that determine (or not the adoption. Via BDNs, we could categorise under which specific technical and socio-economic conditions no tillage agriculture is best suited to which farmers. We, by identifying the main constraints and running sensitivity analyses, were able to convey clear messages on how policy- makers may facilitate the conversion. As new evidence is collected, the BDN can be updated to obtain evidence more targeted and fine tuned to the adoption contexts.

  10. Adoption of Calliandra calothyrsus for fodder and it's Inoculation Potential on Farms in Kenya

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kiptot, E; Wanjiku, J; Obonyo, E; Odee, D.W

    2007-01-01

    In Kenya, productivity of dairy animals is mostly limited by inadequate nutrition especially proteins. To improve feed quality, the use of fodder trees is a preferred option. One of the most widely used fodder tree is calliandra calothyrsus (calliandra) whose productivity can be improved through rhizobia inoculation. A study was initiated to assess farmers' management practices and utilization of calliandra as well as to elicit their knowledge on it's inoculation. Survey sites were identified were identified in areas where calliandra had been previously introduced in central and western regions of Kenya. Results indicated that, for the first establishment of calliandra trees (NGOs) 68.3% of the farmers acquired seedlings from research institutions as well as Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) working within the research area. During subsequent establishments, reported only in central region a reverse trend was observed with 73% of farmers acquiring seedlings from private and individual nurseries. A majority of farmers (56%) planted calliandra on contours and 78% used it for fodder, while 22% had no knowledge of food potential. About 41% of farmers from central region had planted inoculated seedlings and only 1.6% from the western region had inoculants. Though the inoculant had been provided free, 47% of the farmers were willing to purchase it if made available. In central region calliandra was highly utilized for dairy animals consequently motivating farmers to expand planting. Contour planting was preferred niche due to the perceived low competition with associate crops for space and growth parameters. The study concluded that though calliandra was accepted as a fodder tree, a knowledge gap existed on farms on the role of rhizobia inoculation in productivity. There is therefore an urgent need to sensitize on the benefits of inoculation

  11. Constraints on Development of Wind Energy in Poland due to Environmental Objectives. Is There Space in Poland for Wind Farm Siting?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hajto, Małgorzata; Cichocki, Zdzisław; Bidłasik, Małgorzata; Borzyszkowski, Jan; Kuśmierz, Agnieszka

    2017-02-01

    The objective of the study was to evaluate spatial effects of adopting environmental criteria for wind farm siting, i.e., the criteria related to the settlement system and those with regards to landscape values. The set of criteria was elaborated on the basis of literature and experience-based knowledge. Some of the criteria selected are legally binding. The analyses were carried out with the use of GIS tools. Settlement areas with 1000 and 2000 m wide buffer zones, and the areas with the highest landscape values, were assumed as particularly sensitive receptors to wind farm impacts. The results show significant constraints on wind farm siting in Poland. Although the constraints are regionally diversified, they concern 93.9 % of the total country area (1000 m buffer zone) or 99.1 % (2000 m buffer zone). Presumably even greater constraints would be revealed by an additional detailed analysis at a local level. The constraints on wind farm siting in Poland cannot be decreased, because of both social attitudes and demand for appropriate environmental standards, which should be taken into account in spatial and energy policies at all decision making level.

  12. Conventional, Partially Converted and Environmentally Friendly Farming in South Korea: Profitability and Factors Affecting Farmers’ Choice

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Saem Lee

    2016-07-01

    Full Text Available While organic farming is well established in Europe a nd USA, it is still catching up in Asian countries. The government of South Korea has implemented environmentally friendly farming that encompasses organic farming. Despite the promotion of environmentally friendly farming, it still has a low share in South Korea and partially converted farming has emerged in some districts of South Korea. However, the partially converted farming has not yet been investigated by the government. Thus, our study implemented a financial analysis to compare the annual costs and net returns of conventional, partially converted and environmentally friendly farming in Gangwon Province. The result showed that environmentally friendly farming was more profitable with respect to farm net returns. To find out the factors affecting the adoption of environmentally friendly farming, multinomial logistic regression was implemented. The findings revealed that education and subsidy positively and significantly influenced the probability of farmers’ choice on partially converted and environmentally friendly farming. Farm size had a negative and significant relationship with only environmentally friendly farming. This study will contribute to future policy establishment for sustainable agriculture as recommended by improving the quality of fertilizers, suggesting the additional investigation associated with partially converted farmers.

  13. A survey of snail farms in Cross River State, Nigeria | Ogogo | Global ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    The existence of snail in the wild has become threatened, and information on the efficiency and effectiveness of ex - situ management of snails in many areas is urgently needed for consistent supply of snails. This work, therefore surveyed the practice and adoption of snail farming technology in Cross River State, Nigeria.

  14. Influence of Permissive Parenting on Youth Farm Risk Behaviors.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jinnah, Hamida A; Stoneman, Zolinda

    2016-01-01

    Farm youth continue to experience high rates of injuries and premature deaths as a result of agricultural activities. Increased parental permissiveness is positively associated with many different types of high-risk behaviors in youth. This study explored whether permissive parenting (fathering and mothering) predicts youth unsafe behaviors on the farm. Data were analyzed for 67 youth and their parents. Families were recruited from a statewide farm publication, through youth organizations (i.e., FFA [Future Farmers of America]), local newspapers, farmer referrals, and through the Cooperative Extension Network. Hierarchical multiple regression was completed. Results revealed that fathers and mothers who practiced lax-inconsistent disciplining were more likely to have youth who indulged in unsafe farm behaviors. Key hypotheses confirmed that permissive parenting (lax-inconsistent disciplining) by parents continued to predict youth unsafe farm behaviors, even after youth age, youth gender, youth personality factor of risk-taking, and father's unsafe behaviors (a measure associated with modeling) were all taken into account. A key implication is that parents may play an important role in influencing youth farm safety behaviors. Parents (especially fathers) need to devote time to discuss farm safety with their youth. Farm safety interventions need to involve parents as well as address and respect the culture and values of families. Interventions need to focus not only on safe farm practices, but also promote positive parenting practices, including increased parent-youth communication about safety, consistent disciplining strategies, and increased monitoring and modeling of safe farm behaviors by parents.

  15. Fish Pond Aquaculture in Cameroon: A Field Survey of Determinants for Farmers' Adoption Behaviour

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ndah, Hycenth Tim; Knierim, Andrea; Ndambi, Oghaiki Asaah

    2011-01-01

    Although fish farming in Cameroon started in the late 1940s, currently the country meets only half of its domestic demand for fish. This article examines the complex issue of farmers' adoption decisions and attempts to answer why there is a lag in the diffusion process. The theory of behaviour modification and key variables of adoption form the…

  16. Macrocyclic lactone-resistant Parascaris equorum on stud farms in Canada and effectiveness of fenbendazole and pyrantel pamoate.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Slocombe, J Owen D; de Gannes, Rolph V G; Lake, Mary C

    2007-04-30

    The aims of studies in 2002 and 2003 on three farms with 76 foals naturally infected with Parascaris equorum were to (i) identify if the nematode was resistant to ivermectin and moxidectin, and (ii) confirm the effectiveness of fenbendazole and pyrantel pamoate for the parasite. Twelve clinical trials, each with a Fecal Egg Count Reduction Test, were conducted on two Thoroughbred and one Standardbred farms in southwestern Ontario, Canada. In each trial, Parascaris eggs/g feces were estimated for each foal pre- and post-treatment using the Cornell-Wisconsin double flotation and Cornell-McMaster dilution techniques. On each farm and for each trial, foals were randomized into treatment groups. Treatments were ivermectin, moxidectin, fenbendazole, pyrantel pamoate administered at the manufacturers' recommended dosages, and some foals were untreated. The overall efficacy for ivermectin was 33.5% (19 foals) and for moxidectin 47.2% (28 foals). Fenbendazole (16 foals) and pyrantel pamoate (21 foals) were highly effective for P. equorum each at 97.6%. For fenbendazole, 15 foals had 100% and for pyrantel pamoate 17 foals had >97% with 14 at 100%.

  17. Management of investment processes on Finnish farms

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    T. MATTILA

    2008-12-01

    Full Text Available Structural change in agriculture means a continuous need for investing in farm production. It is essential for the sustainable operations and the economy of the farm that such investments are successful. In this research, different stages of the investment process of farms were studied as well as the use of information and the success perceived during the investment process. The study was carried out with mail surveys and telephone interviews on the Finnish Farm Accountancy Data Network (FADN farms. The most challenging investments were in animal husbandry buildings and, as to these investments, the comparison of alternatives was the most challenging stage. For most investments, the planning phase was considered more challenging than the implementation. Before making the decision, farmers acquired information from many sources, of which the opinion of the main customer and the experiences of fellow farmers were the most valued. Some of the products considered were so new on the market that it was not easy to get adequate information and, furthermore, the information given by suppliers was not always accurate. Decision-making was supported by calculations, but qualitative factors had a dominating role. Large basic decisions were made relatively quickly, while details needed a longer time to process. In general, farm managers were satisfied with their investments. Improvements in work quality and quantity were especially mentioned and generally qualitative factors were the ones first in mind when evaluating the successfulness of the investment.;

  18. Impacts of Alternative Implementations of the Single Farm Payment on Organi-cally and Conventionally Producing Farms in Austria

    OpenAIRE

    Schmid, Erwin; Sinabell, Franz

    2007-01-01

    In 2003, the Common Agricultural Policy underwent a substantial reform. Direct pay-ments that were linked to the production of certain crops and livestock were abolished. Alternatively, the Single Farm Payment was introduced in EU-15 Member States. We investigate the distributional consequences of alternative implementation choices for organic farms in Austria. Results show that net-returns of farms and the distribution of farm revenues depend on the particular implementation of the reform.

  19. Organic farming at the farm level

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Jacobsen, Brian H.; Madsen, Niels; Ørum, Jens Erik

    as part of a larger project entitled “Economic analyses of the future development of organic farming – effects at the field, farm, sector and macroeconomic level”. The project links effects at the field-level with analyses at the farm level. These effects are then used in sector and macroeconomic analyses......, which are described in other reports from Food and Resource Economic Institute (Jacobsen, 2005 and Andersen et al., 2005). This gives coherent results from the field to the macroeconomic level regarding changes in technology and legislation.......The purpose of this report is to present possible impacts of new technology and changes in legislation on the profitability of different types of organic farms. The aim is also to look at both the current and future trends in the organic area in Denmark. The farm level analyses are carried out...

  20. Correlates and Predictors of Parenting Stress among Internationally Adopting Mothers: A Longitudinal Investigation

    Science.gov (United States)

    Viana, Andres G.; Welsh, Janet A.

    2010-01-01

    This study examined correlates and predictors of parenting stress among internationally adopting (IA) mothers with the goal of expanding the knowledge base on the experiences of adoptive parents. One hundred and forty-three IA mothers completed pre-adoption (Time 0) and six months post-adoption (Time 1) surveys with questions regarding child-,…

  1. On wake modeling, wind-farm gradients, and AEP predictions at the Anholt wind farm

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    A. Peña

    2018-04-01

    Full Text Available We investigate wake effects at the Anholt offshore wind farm in Denmark, which is a farm experiencing strong horizontal wind-speed gradients because of its size and proximity to land. Mesoscale model simulations are used to study the horizontal wind-speed gradients over the wind farm. From analysis of the mesoscale simulations and supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA, we show that for westerly flow in particular, there is a clear horizontal wind-speed gradient over the wind farm. We also use the mesoscale simulations to derive the undisturbed inflow conditions that are coupled with three commonly used wake models: two engineering approaches (the Park and G. C. Larsen models and a linearized Reynolds-averaged Navier–Stokes approach (Fuga. The effect of the horizontal wind-speed gradient on annual energy production estimates is not found to be critical compared to estimates from both the average undisturbed wind climate of all turbines' positions and the undisturbed wind climate of a position in the middle of the wind farm. However, annual energy production estimates can largely differ when using wind climates at positions that are strongly influenced by the horizontal wind-speed gradient. When looking at westerly flow wake cases, where the impact of the horizontal wind-speed gradient on the power of the undisturbed turbines is largest, the wake models agree with the SCADA fairly well; when looking at a southerly flow case, where the wake losses are highest, the wake models tend to underestimate the wake loss. With the mesoscale-wake model setup, we are also able to estimate the capacity factor of the wind farm rather well when compared to that derived from the SCADA. Finally, we estimate the uncertainty of the wake models by bootstrapping the SCADA. The models tend to underestimate the wake losses (the median relative model error is 8.75 % and the engineering wake models are as uncertain as Fuga. These results are specific for

  2. Interaction of Technology Adoption Constraints and Multi-level Policy Coherence at the Energy-Food Nexus

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gerst, M.; Cox, M. E.; Laser, M.; Locke, K. A.; Kapuscinski, A. R.

    2017-12-01

    Policy- and decision-making at the food-energy-water (FEW) nexus entails additional complexities due to the multi-objective nature of FEW socio-technical systems: policies and decisions meant to improve one facet of the nexus might be less beneficial, or even detrimental, to achieving goals for other facets. In addition, implementing policies and decisions may be more difficult due to increasing coordination required among stakeholders across each nexus facet. We highlight these issues in an economic, material/energy flow, and institutional assessment of dairy farms that produce power from anaerobic digestion of cow manure. This socio-technical system is an example of an integrated food-energy system (IFES), which co-produces food and energy. In the case of dairy farms, water is also a significant consideration because cow manure, if improperly managed, can negatively impact water bodies. Our assessment asks the questions (i) of whether or not adopting an IFES improves farm resilience under potential economic and environment futures and (ii) how decisions, policies, and information can best be tailored to the FEW nexus. Our study consists of semi-structured interviews of 60 farms split between the US states of New York and Vermont, both of which have enacted policies to encourage digester adoption. Each interview asks farmers about their material and energy flows, costs, and decision-making process for adopting (or not) an anaerobic digester. In addition, farmers are asked questions about challenges and barriers they might have faced and future drivers of change. Preliminary results highlight important interactions between policy and decision-making. Foremost, an analysis of policy cohesion shows that environmental objectives cross sectors and governance levels, as state-level greenhouse gas mitigation policies interact with federal-level nutrient management policies. This form of potential policy incoherence may introduce additional problems that hinder digester

  3. Development of a wind farm noise propagation prediction model - project progress to date

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Robinson, P.; Bullmore, A.; Bass, J.; Sloth, E.

    1998-01-01

    This paper describes a twelve month measurement campaign which is part of a European project (CEC Project JOR3-CT95-0051) with the aim to substantially reduce the uncertainties involved in predicting environmentally radiated noise levels from wind farms (1). This will be achieved by comparing noise levels measure at varying distances from single and multiple sources over differing complexities of terrain with those predicted using a number of currently adopted sound propagation models. Specific objectives within the project are to: establish the important parameters controlling the propagation of wind farm noise to the far field; develop a planning tool for predicting wind farm noise emission levels under practically encountered conditions; place confidence limits on the upper and lower bounds of the noise levels predicted, thus enabling developers to quantify the risk whether noise emission from wind farms will cause nuisance to nearby residents. (Author)

  4. Impact of Formal Financial Market Participation on Farm Size and Expenditure on Variable Farm Inputs: The Case of Maize Farmers in Ghana

    OpenAIRE

    Awunyo-Vitor, Dadson; Al-Hassan, Ramatu M.; Sarpong, Daniel B.

    2014-01-01

    The study examined maize farmers’ participation in the formal financial market and its impact on farm size and expenditure on variable farm inputs. A multistage sampling method was used in selecting 595 maize farmers from the seven districts in Ashanti and Brong Ahafo Regions of Ghana. A structured questionnaire and interview schedule were used to elicit information from the respondents. The impact of formal financial market participation on farm size and expenditure on variable inputs was es...

  5. The effect of feed demand on greenhouse gas emissions and farm profitability for organic and conventional dairy farms.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kiefer, Lukas; Menzel, Friederike; Bahrs, Enno

    2014-12-01

    The reduction of product-related greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in milk production appears to be necessary. The reduction of emissions on an individual farm might be highly accepted by farm owners if it were accompanied by an increase in profitability. Using life cycle assessments to determine the product carbon footprints (PCF) and farm-level evaluations to record profitability, we explored opportunities for optimization based on analysis of 81 organic and conventional pasture-based dairy farms in southern Germany. The objective of the present study was to detect common determining factors for low PCF and high management incomes (MI) to achieve GHG reductions at the lowest possible operational cost. In our sample, organic farms, which performed economically better than conventional farms, produced PCF that were significantly higher than those produced by conventional farms [1.61 ± 0.29 vs. 1.45 ± 0.28 kg of CO₂ equivalents (CO₂eq) per kg of milk; means ± SD)]. A multiple linear regression analysis of the sample demonstrated that low feed demand per kilogram of milk, high grassland yield, and low forage area requirements per cow are the main factors that decrease PCF. These factors are also useful for improving a farm's profitability in principle. For organic farms, a reduction of feed demand of 100 g/kg of milk resulted in a PCF reduction of 105 g of CO₂eq/kg of milk and an increase in MI of approximately 2.1 euro cents (c)/kg of milk. For conventional farms, a decrease of feed demand of 100 g/kg of milk corresponded to a reduction in PCF of 117 g of CO₂eq/kg of milk and an increase in MI of approximately 3.1 c/kg of milk. Accordingly, farmers could achieve higher profits while reducing GHG emissions. Improved education and training of farmers and consultants regarding GHG mitigation and farm profitability appear to be the best methods of improving efficiency under traditional and organic farming practices.

  6. Estimation of farm level technical efficiency and its determinants ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    With the difficulties encountered by the farmers in adopting improved technologies, increasing resource use efficiency has become a very significant factor in increasing productivity. Therefore, this study was designed to estimate the farm level technical efficiency and its determinants among male and female sweet potato ...

  7. Beliefs, intentions, and beyond: A qualitative study on the adoption of sustainable gastrointestinal nematode control practices in Flanders' dairy industry.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Vande Velde, F; Charlier, J; Hudders, L; Cauberghe, V; Claerebout, E

    2018-05-01

    Emerging anthelmintic resistance emphasizes the need for sustainable control approaches against gastrointestinal nematode (GIN) infections in cattle. The uptake of diagnostic methods for sustainable control could enable more informed treatments and reduce excessive anthelmintic use. Unfortunately, the adoption of such methods remains relatively poor. A better understanding of farmers' motivations and behaviour would help to develop applicable advises and communication strategies for sustainable worm control strategies. A previous study created a general model for adoption intention of GIN diagnostics on dairy farms and measured the most important factors driving this intention (Vande Velde et al., 2015). The current research aimed to dig deeper into this model for the beliefs underlying these factors, and to identify additional factors impelling this specific behaviour. Data were collected through 22 semi-structured interviews with dairy farmers. Using analytic induction analysis, data were moved between deduction and induction. Results show that the adoption process of diagnostic methods for GIN occurs through three different phases: adoption intention, actual adoption and maintenance. Low infection awareness and low priority ('top of mind') of the disease are important barriers for adopting sustainable GIN control. Secondly, farmer behaviour is guided by two important social norms: the opinion of their veterinarian and their fellow farmers. However, farmers hold an incongruent relationship with both norms throughout different stages of behaviour: they do not value other farmers' opinions as a positive reference (intention phase), but follow and mimic their behaviour as a group (action phase). The veterinarian is seen as the most important positive reference, but also the responsible actor for GIN control. As such, the farmers do not hold themselves responsible for implementing sustainable control strategies. Thirdly, different types of motivations influence

  8. Welfare Risks of Repeated Application of On-Farm Killing Methods for Poultry

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jessica E. Martin

    2018-03-01

    Full Text Available Council Regulation (EC no. 1099/2009 on the protection of animals at the time of killing restricts the use of manual cervical dislocation in poultry on farms in the European Union (EU to birds weighing up to 3 kg and 70 birds per person per day. However, few studies have examined whether repeated application of manual cervical dislocation has welfare implications and whether these are dependent on individual operator skill or susceptibility to fatigue. We investigated the effects of repeated application (100 birds at a fixed killing rate of 1 bird per 2 min and multiple operators on two methods of killing of broilers, laying hens, and turkeys in commercial settings. We compared the efficacy and welfare impact of repeated application of cervical dislocation and a percussive killer (Cash Poultry Killer, CPK, using 12 male stockworkers on three farms (one farm per bird type. Both methods achieved over 96% kill success at the first attempt. The killing methods were equally effective for each bird type and there was no evidence of reduced performance with time and/or bird number. Both methods of killing caused a rapid loss of reflexes, indicating loss of brain function. There was more variation in reflex durations and post-mortem damage in birds killed by cervical dislocation than that found using CPK. High neck dislocation was associated with improved kill success and more rapid loss of reflexes. The CPK caused damage to multiple brain areas with little variation. Overall, the CPK was associated with faster abolition of reflexes, with fewer birds exhibiting them at all, suggestive of better welfare outcomes. However, technical difficulties with the CPK highlighted the advantages of cervical dislocation, which can be performed immediately with no equipment. At the killing rates tested, we did not find evidence to justify the current EU limit on the number of birds that one operator can kill on–farm by manual cervical dislocation.

  9. EFFECTS OF MIGRANT REMITTANCES ON FARM HOUSEHOLD WELFARE IN NIGERIA

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Egbe BASSEY ETOWA

    2015-03-01

    Full Text Available International remittances are now a mechanism in development financing and a welfare strategy. Growing trends of these money transfers by migrants to their families back home in developing nations have been proven by evidences in literature and many empirical findings. This research analysed the effects of migrant remittances on the welfare of farm households in Nigeria. Welfare was measurable in terms of the households’ real per capita consumption. Cross sectional data were pooled from two sources. The data sources were Nigerian General Household Survey conducted in 2010/2011 and the Nigerian Living Standard Survey carried out in 2003/2004. The analytical technique adopted was the poverty profile function within the framework of multiple regression analysis. Results showed that four exogenous variables, including household real per capita remittances were significant determinants of household real per capita consumption (welfare.

  10. FACTORS INFLUENCING ADOPTION DECISIONS OF MAIZE FARMERS IN NIGERIA

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Olusegun Ayodeji Fadare

    2014-07-01

    Full Text Available The needs to develop improved varieties of maize have been in the heart of various researchers and institutions in Nigeria because of its strategic role in tackling food insecurity and poverty. Despite substantial efforts to improve maize varieties, the level of adoption of improved maize varieties (IMV in Nigeria in still very low. Although previous adoption studies have indicated a number of socioeconomic and institutional/organizational variables as important factors influencing adoption of improved maize (crop varieties in the country, whether these factors are the main issues of concern, and whether the inclusion of regional/agro-ecological variables in adoption model are also important in explaining what could drive farmers’ adoption behaviour requires investigation. This study therefore examined factors influencing adoption of IMV among farmers in Nigeria using a selected portion of the Nigeria Living Standard Measurement Survey data collected by the National Bureau of Statistics and the World Bank for 2010/2011 cropping season with descriptive statistics and probit model as tools for data analysis. The results suggest, in line with some previous studies, that farm size, education level of farmers and access to extension services would significantly influence adoption of IMV. The results also indicate that farmers across the entire agro-ecological regions of country share some negative sentiments regarding adoption of IMV. Renewed emphasis on interventions that would enable farmers gain more access to farmland, and promote formal education and extension service are advocated. An attempt to incorporate variables that capture farmers’ perception/experience on agroclimatic/ ecologically related concerns in adoption study could aid better understand of what drives farmers’ adoption decisions across the country especially in the light of the emerging climate change issues and its implication on food production.

  11. Bio-economic farm modelling to analyse agricultural land productivity in Rwanda

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Bidogeza, J.C.

    2011-01-01

    Keywords: Rwanda; farm household typology; sustainable technology adoption; multivariate analysis;
    land degradation; food security; bioeconomic model; crop simulation models; organic fertiliser; inorganic fertiliser; policy incentives

    In Rwanda, land degradation contributes to the

  12. Improving farming practices reduces the carbon footprint of spring wheat production.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gan, Yantai; Liang, Chang; Chai, Qiang; Lemke, Reynald L; Campbell, Con A; Zentner, Robert P

    2014-11-18

    Wheat is one of the world's most favoured food sources, reaching millions of people on a daily basis. However, its production has climatic consequences. Fuel, inorganic fertilizers and pesticides used in wheat production emit greenhouse gases that can contribute negatively to climate change. It is unknown whether adopting alternative farming practices will increase crop yield while reducing carbon emissions. Here we quantify the carbon footprint of alternative wheat production systems suited to semiarid environments. We find that integrating improved farming practices (that is, fertilizing crops based on soil tests, reducing summerfallow frequencies and rotating cereals with grain legumes) lowers wheat carbon footprint effectively, averaging -256 kg CO2 eq ha(-1) per year. For each kg of wheat grain produced, a net 0.027-0.377 kg CO2 eq is sequestered into the soil. With the suite of improved farming practices, wheat takes up more CO2 from the atmosphere than is actually emitted during its production.

  13. Modeling a farm population to estimate on-farm compliance costs and environmental effects of a grassland extensification scheme at the regional scale

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Uthes, Sandra; Sattler, Claudia; Piorr, Annette

    2010-01-01

    We used a farm-level modeling approach to estimate on-farm compliance costs and environmental effects of a grassland extensification scheme in the district of Ostprignitz-Ruppin, Germany. The behavior of the regional farm population (n = 585) consisting of different farm types with different...... and environmental effects were heterogeneous in space and farm types as a result of different agricultural production and site characteristics. On-farm costs ranged from zero up to almost 1500 Euro/ha. Such high costs occurred only in a very small part of the regional area, whereas the majority of the grassland had...... low on-farm costs below 50 Euro/ha. Environmental effects were moderate and greater on high-yield than on low-yield grassland. The low effectiveness combined with low on-farm costs in large parts of the region indicates that the scheme is not well targeted. The soft scheme design results from...

  14. Management practices and milk production in dairy donkey farms distributed over the Italian territory

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Francesca Dai

    2017-10-01

    Full Text Available Limited information is available about the actual management characteristics of dairy donkeys in Southern Europe. The aim of the present study is to describe animal management of dairy donkey farms in Italy. Twelve farmers were asked to answer a questionnaire on the management of their animals and their farms distributed over the Italian territory. Six farms grouped their animals in paddocks according to the production characteristics (e.g. lactating, dry, stallions; three farms housed the stallions in single boxes. Most of the visited farms were family run and the number of animals cared for by a single person varied from five to 103 animals. All the farms but one performed mechanical milking with a modified goat milkmaid.Vaccinations were regularly performed only on two farms. All the foals received colostrum and suckled from their own mothers. Foals were nursed by their mother until 6-12 months old. During the separation period before milking, foals were usually (83% housed in paddocks near their mothers with the possibility of visual and/or tactile contact, however such separations could be for up to 12 hours (17%. Even though the assessed sample was small, considerable differences were seen between farms, likely due to lack of uniform information available for the farmers. The adoption of scientific based procedures is suggested in order to improve both animal welfare and milk quality.

  15. On-farm characteristics and biosecurity protocols for small-scale swine producers in eastern Australia.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Schembri, N; Hernandez-Jover, M; Toribio, J-A L M L; Holyoake, P K

    2015-01-01

    Pigs are considered high risk for the introduction and spread of foot and mouth disease (FMD) in Australia. Facilities where animals from different origins are commingled, such as saleyards, pose a high risk for disease spread. Sound on-farm management practices and biosecurity protocols are the first line of defence against a potential on-farm disease outbreak. This study evaluated the practices of 104 producers (vendors who sold pigs and purchasers of live pigs for grow-out) who traded pigs at 6 peri-urban and rural saleyards in eastern Australia. Specifically, management and on-farm biosecurity practices were assessed using an in-depth questionnaire. Univariable and multivariable logistic regression analyses were used to investigate (1) producer associations: producer type, State, motivation to keep pigs, farm type, gender, years having owned pigs, and the acquisition of formal livestock qualifications; and (2) pig associations: herd size, housing, management (husbandry and feeding) practices and biosecurity (including pig movement) practices. Backyard operations (Motivation for keeping pigs was significantly associated with a number of biosecurity practices. Producers who kept pigs for primary income were more likely to provide footwear precautions (P=0.007) and ask visitors about prior pig contacts (P=0.004). Approximately 40% of backyard and small-scale producers reported not having any quarantine practices in place for incoming pigs, compared to only 9.1% among larger producers. The main reasons cited for not adopting on-farm biosecurity practices in this study included having no need on their property (43.1%) and a lack of information and support (by the industry and/or authorities; 18.5%). Up to three-quarters of all producers maintained an open breeding herd, regularly introducing new pigs to the main herd. Saleyards are an important source of income for backyard and small-scale producers as well as an important risk factor for the introduction and

  16. Comparisons of management practices and farm design on Australian commercial layer and meat chicken farms: Cage, barn and free range.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Scott, Angela Bullanday; Singh, Mini; Toribio, Jenny-Ann; Hernandez-Jover, Marta; Barnes, Belinda; Glass, Kathryn; Moloney, Barbara; Lee, Amanda; Groves, Peter

    2017-01-01

    There are few published studies describing the unique management practices, farm design and housing characteristics of commercial meat chicken and layer farms in Australia. In particular, there has been a large expansion of free range poultry production in Australia in recent years, but limited information about this enterprise exists. This study aimed to describe features of Australian commercial chicken farms, with particular interest in free range farms, by conducting on-farm interviews of 25 free range layer farms, nine cage layer farms, nine barn layer farms, six free range meat chicken farms and 15 barn meat chicken farms in the Sydney basin bioregion and South East Queensland. Comparisons between the different enterprises (cage, barn and free range) were explored, including stocking densities, depopulation procedures, environmental control methods and sources of information for farmers. Additional information collected for free range farms include range size, range characteristics and range access. The median number of chickens per shed was greatest in free range meat chicken farms (31,058), followed by barn meat chicken (20,817), free range layer (10,713), barn layer (9,300) and cage layer farms (9,000). Sheds had cooling pads and tunnel ventilation in just over half of both barn and free range meat chicken farms (53%, n = 8) and was least common in free range layer farms (16%, n = 4). Range access in free range meat chicken farms was from sunrise to dark in the majority (93%, n = 14) of free range meat chicken farms. Over half of free range layer farms (56%, n = 14) granted range access at a set time each morning; most commonly between 9:00 to 10.00am (86%, n = 12), and chickens were placed back inside sheds when it was dusk.

  17. Nurturing Diversified Farming Systems in Industrialized Countries: How Public Policy Can Contribute

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Alastair Iles

    2012-12-01

    Full Text Available If diversified farming systems (DFS are to thrive again in the United States, policies and preferences must evolve to reward the environmental and social benefits of sustainable farming and landscape management. Compared with conventional agricultural policies, policies aiding ecological diversification are underdeveloped and fragmented. We consider several examples of obstacles to the adoption and spread of diversified farming practices in the U.S. industrialized agricultural system. These include the broader political economic context of industrialized agriculture, the erosion of farmer knowledge and capacity, and supply chain and marketing conditions that limit the ability of farmers to adopt sustainable practices. To overcome these obstacles and nurture DFS, policy makers, researchers, industry, farmers, consumers, and local communities can play pivotal roles to transform agricultural research, develop peer-to-peer learning processes, support the recruitment and retention of new farmers through access to credit and land, invest in improved agricultural conservation programs, provide compensation for provision of ecological services in working landscapes, and develop links to consumer and institutional markets.

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

    Science.gov (United States)

    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

  19. Expert Opinion on the Perceived Effectiveness and Importance of On-Farm Biosecurity Measures for Cattle and Swine Farms in Switzerland.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Karin Kuster

    Full Text Available Biosecurity is crucial for safeguarding livestock from infectious diseases. Despite the plethora of biosecurity recommendations, published scientific evidence on the effectiveness of individual biosecurity measures is limited. The objective of this study was to assess the perception of Swiss experts about the effectiveness and importance of individual on-farm biosecurity measures for cattle and swine farms (31 and 30 measures, respectively. Using a modified Delphi method, 16 Swiss livestock disease specialists (8 for each species were interviewed. The experts were asked to rank biosecurity measures that were written on cards, by allocating a score from 0 (lowest to 5 (highest. Experts ranked biosecurity measures based on their importance related to Swiss legislation, feasibility, as well as the effort required for implementation and the benefit of each biosecurity measure. The experts also ranked biosecurity measures based on their effectiveness in preventing an infectious agent from entering and spreading on a farm, solely based on transmission characteristics of specific pathogens. The pathogens considered by cattle experts were those causing Bluetongue (BT, Bovine Viral Diarrhea (BVD, Foot and Mouth Disease (FMD and Infectious Bovine Rhinotracheitis (IBR. Swine experts expressed their opinion on the pathogens causing African Swine Fever (ASF, Enzootic Pneumonia (EP, Porcine Reproductive and Respiratory Syndrome (PRRS, as well as FMD. For cattle farms, biosecurity measures that improve disease awareness of farmers were ranked as both most important and most effective. For swine farms, the most important and effective measures identified were those related to animal movements. Among all single measures evaluated, education of farmers was perceived by the experts to be the most important and effective for protecting both Swiss cattle and swine farms from disease. The findings of this study provide an important basis for recommendation to farmers

  20. Expert Opinion on the Perceived Effectiveness and Importance of On-Farm Biosecurity Measures for Cattle and Swine Farms in Switzerland

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kuster, Karin; Cousin, Marie-Eve; Jemmi, Thomas; Schüpbach-Regula, Gertraud; Magouras, Ioannis

    2015-01-01

    Biosecurity is crucial for safeguarding livestock from infectious diseases. Despite the plethora of biosecurity recommendations, published scientific evidence on the effectiveness of individual biosecurity measures is limited. The objective of this study was to assess the perception of Swiss experts about the effectiveness and importance of individual on-farm biosecurity measures for cattle and swine farms (31 and 30 measures, respectively). Using a modified Delphi method, 16 Swiss livestock disease specialists (8 for each species) were interviewed. The experts were asked to rank biosecurity measures that were written on cards, by allocating a score from 0 (lowest) to 5 (highest). Experts ranked biosecurity measures based on their importance related to Swiss legislation, feasibility, as well as the effort required for implementation and the benefit of each biosecurity measure. The experts also ranked biosecurity measures based on their effectiveness in preventing an infectious agent from entering and spreading on a farm, solely based on transmission characteristics of specific pathogens. The pathogens considered by cattle experts were those causing Bluetongue (BT), Bovine Viral Diarrhea (BVD), Foot and Mouth Disease (FMD) and Infectious Bovine Rhinotracheitis (IBR). Swine experts expressed their opinion on the pathogens causing African Swine Fever (ASF), Enzootic Pneumonia (EP), Porcine Reproductive and Respiratory Syndrome (PRRS), as well as FMD. For cattle farms, biosecurity measures that improve disease awareness of farmers were ranked as both most important and most effective. For swine farms, the most important and effective measures identified were those related to animal movements. Among all single measures evaluated, education of farmers was perceived by the experts to be the most important and effective for protecting both Swiss cattle and swine farms from disease. The findings of this study provide an important basis for recommendation to farmers and

  1. Delousing efficiency of farmed ballan wrasse (Labrus bergylta) against Lepeophtheirus salmonis infecting Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar) post-smolts.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Leclercq, Eric; Davie, Andrew; Migaud, Hervé

    2014-08-01

    Cleaner-fish (wrasse, Labridae) are increasingly deployed within the Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar L.) industry as a biological control against sea-lice (Lepeophtheirus salmonis Krøyer). Two tank-based trials were performed to test the effect of farmed ballan wrasse (Labrus bergylta Ascanius) body mass and supplementary feeding on the delousing of Atlantic salmon post-smolts with an initial infection level of ∼12 lice salmon(-1) and a ∼5% wrasse:salmon ratio. Sea-louse levels below 0.5 lice salmon(-1) were obtained within 84 h, and preferential preying upon larger motile stages was found. The wrasse body mass and the availability of fresh, opened blue mussels (Mytilus edulis L.) did not significantly affect delousing efficiency. The functional predator response was linear, showing no minimum prey density threshold for sea-louse foraging and no satiation plateau, in spite of the high consumption rates measured. Sea-louse infection levels declined following a one-phase exponential decay model, with a standardised decline time constant of 0.8-1.3% h(-1) for each wrasse stocked per 100 salmon. Farmed ballan wrasse are confirmed as highly effective therapeutic and preventive biological controls against sea-lice. The study supports the current minimum hatchery size target (10 mm total length) and the use of supplementary feeding to sustain the wrasse stocks in operation. The functional predator response and the standardised decline time constant of sea-louse abundance are proposed as useful indicators of delousing efficiency. © 2013 Society of Chemical Industry.

  2. Quantification of landscape multifunctionality based on farm functionality indices

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Andersen, Peter Stubkjær; Vejre, Henrik; Dalgaard, Tommy

    2011-01-01

    ) wildlife habitats, and (4) recreation. At farm level each of these functions is defined by data on a number of farmers’ activities as well as farm characteristics which can be harvested by a selection of the interview questions. The selected interview questions are attached as indicators to the relevant...... present a bottom-up method in which landscape multifunctionality is quantified by using functional indices developed from farm questionaire data. The interview survey comprised 382 farms in a rural area of Denmark. The functional classes included in the method are: (1) production, (2) residence, (3...... function. A score spectrum is assigned to each indicator to enable a representation of its relative contribution to the function on each farm depending on the question responses from the interviewees. The values for each indicator are weighted in relation to each of the others and all the values are summed...

  3. Effect of fish farming on household food security in western Kenya ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    This study examined the impact of fish farming on household food security and livelihoods of fish farming and non-fish farming households in Siaya County. Fish farming involves raising fish commercially in tanks or enclosures, usually for food. Currently fish farming remains under developed in Western Kenya where pond ...

  4. An introductory survey of helminth control practices in South Africa and anthelmintic resistance on Thoroughbred stud farms in the Western Cape Province

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    S. Matthee

    2002-07-01

    Full Text Available Fifty-one per cent of 110 questionnaires, designed for obtaining information on helminth control practices and management on Thoroughbred stud farms in South Africa, were completed by farmers during 2000. The number of horses per farm included in the questionnaire survey ranged from 15 to 410. Foals, yearlings and adult horses were treated with anthelmintics at a mean of 7.3+ / -3.0, 6.6+ / -2.7 and 5.3+ / -2.3 times per year, respectively. An average of 3.4 different drugs were used annually, with ivermectin being used by most farmers during 1997-2000. On 43% of farms the weights of horses were estimated by weigh band and 45% of farmers estimated visually, while both were used on 7% of farms and scales on the remaining 5%. Doses were based on average group weight on 50% of the farms and on individual weights on 46%. Forty-three per cent of farmers performed faecal egg count reduction tests (FECRT. Most farmers rotated horses between pastures and treated new horses at introduction. Faecal removal was practiced on 61% of farms and less than 50% of farmers used alternate grazing with ruminants. Faecal egg count reduction tests were done on 283 horses, using oxibendazole, ivermectin and moxidectin on 10, 9 and 5 farms, respectively, in the Western Cape Province during 2001. While the efficacy of oxibendazole was estimated by FECRT to range from 0-88% and moxidectin from 99-100%, ivermectin resulted in a 100% reduction in egg counts. Only cyathostome larvae were recovered from post-treatment faecal cultures.

  5. Biogas production on organic farms: Sustainable energy and better nutrient cycling

    OpenAIRE

    Grieb, Beatrice; Zerger, Uli

    2014-01-01

    Biogas production in organic farming is an approach to combine renewable energy and organic farming with numerous positive impacts on the farming system. In Germany biogas on organic farms has a long tradition, now the EU Project “SUSTAINGAS” aims at promotion of this issue on an EU-level. In this context a description of organic biogas was established.

  6. Modelling seabird collision risk with off-shore wind farms

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Mateos, Maria; Arroyo, Gonzalo Munoz; Rosario, Jose Juan Alonso del

    2011-07-01

    Full text: Recent concern about the adverse effects of collision mortality of avian migrants at wind farms has highlighted the need to understand bird-wind turbine interactions. Here, a stochastic collision model, based on data of seabird behaviour collected on- site, is presented, as a flexible and easy to take tool to assess the collisions probabilities of off-shore wind farms in a pre-construction phase. The collision prediction model considering the wind farm area as a risk window has been constructed as a stochastic model for avian migrants, based on Monte Carlo simulation. The model calculates the probable number of birds collided per time unit. Migration volume, wind farm dimensions, vertical and horizontal distribution of the migratory passage, flight direction and avoidance rates, between other variables, are taken into account in different steps of the model as the input variables. In order to assess the weighted importance of these factors on collision probability predictions, collision probabilities obtained from the set of scenarios resulting from the different combinations of the input variables were modelled by using Generalised Additive Models. The application of this model to a hypothetical project for erecting a wind farm at the Strait of Gibraltar showed that collision probability, and consequently mortality rates, strongly depend on the values of the avoidance rates taken into account, and the distribution of birds into the different altitude layers. These parameters should be considered as priorities to be addressed in post-construction studies. (Author)

  7. Is carbon farming an effective climate mitigation option?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zelikova, T. J.; Funk, J.; Deich, N.; Amador, G.; Jacobson, R.

    2017-12-01

    "Carbon farming" refers to agricultural and land management practices that store carbon in soils and biomass. Carbon-farming techniques can include crop rotation, cover crops, no-till practices, and the application of compost to build up soil organic matter. Carbon farming also improves agricultural production and sustainability, while mitigating climate change. Despite well-documented benefits of carbon farming, these practices continue to be underutilized outside of experimental settings. One barrier to the widespread use of carbon farming is the challenge of fitting these practices into ongoing commercial operations, while managing the consequent market uncertainties across the value chain. To help address this barrier, we are working with landowners and local groups to establish demonstration "test beds" that can build experience among land managers and help resolve market uncertainties. We specifically focus on demonstrating the commercial viability of management practices that can enhance soil health, catalyzing economic and environmental synergies that come from healthy soils. Each test bed has a commercial agricultural operation at its center, and we bring together researchers, local groups, corporate partners, and key policymakers who can support wider adoption of these agricultural techniques. Early challenges have included finding commercial farms willing to shift their practices and face uncertain outcomes. A transition to new practices usually involves changes in equipment, scheduling, activities, and monitoring that have implications for the entire farm operation, its resources, and its bottom line. At the same time, practitioners have difficulty quantifying the carbon benefits they provide, due to persistent uncertainties, even with the benefit of decades of experimental research. We are building a network of farmers who are implementing carbon farming practices and addressing these challenges, step by step. We envision our test beds becoming hubs

  8. A study on adapting advanced traceability system between feed manufacturer and salmon farmer in a farmed salmon supply chain

    OpenAIRE

    Zhang, Yating; Kim, YunJin

    2015-01-01

    Adopting an advanced traceability system in a supply chain is crucial to solve food safety issue. It is certainly important for firms to improve their traceability to deal with potential recalls but it is up to the firms’ choice 'How much traceability' they want and on 'What level of granularity'. The purpose of this thesis is to investigate how different actors in a real farmed salmon supply chain perceive benefits of implementing the advanced trac...

  9. Is the increase of scale in the tropics a pathway to smallholders? Dimension and ecological zone effect on the mixed crop-livestock farms

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Rangel, J.; Espinosa, J.A.; Pablos-Heredero, C. de; Rivas, J.; Perea, J.; Angón, E.; García-Martínez, A.

    2017-07-01

    Mixed crop-livestock farms are widely spread in different tropical regions in the world; they contribute to food security, rural development, sustainability and poverty alleviation. The effect of scale on performance of dual purpose (DP) cattle farms was evaluated in two Mexican ecological zones: dry (DT) and wet tropics (WT). In 2011, a questionnaire of 184 items distributed into technical and social characteristics was applied to a representative sample of 3,285 farms with 50 or less cows (0.97%). The farms were classified into three groups according to their dimension: very small (1-9 cows), small (10-19 cows) and medium (20-50 cows). A general linear model (GLM) with two factors and their interactions was applied. Significant effects in dimension and ecological zone were found as well as seven interactions between both factors (p<0.05). Native pastures were used in all farms for grazing. However, small farms’ herds frequently grazed on cultivated pastures and on crop residues (p<0.05). Medium farms showed the highest grazing surface, but in the WT silage and green fodder were used while in the DT dry fodders were used (p<0.001). The interactions between factors showed a bigger specialization in milk production in DT farms, whereas WT farms were more specialized in meat production. The mixed crop-livestock system in tropic region requires an increase in herd size according to farm’s own productive structure, which is strongly influenced by the ecological zone. The systems would improve with the active participation of smallholders to identify and achieve best practices, higher technological adoption level and with an effective support from public and private Institutions.

  10. Is the increase of scale in the tropics a pathway to smallholders? Dimension and ecological zone effect on the mixed crop-livestock farms

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jaime Rangel

    2017-07-01

    Full Text Available Mixed crop-livestock farms are widely spread in different tropical regions in the world; they contribute to food security, rural development, sustainability and poverty alleviation. The effect of scale on performance of dual purpose (DP cattle farms was evaluated in two Mexican ecological zones: dry (DT and wet tropics (WT. In 2011, a questionnaire of 184 items distributed into technical and social characteristics was applied to a representative sample of 3,285 farms with 50 or less cows (0.97%. The farms were classified into three groups according to their dimension: very small (1-9 cows, small (10-19 cows and medium (20-50 cows. A general linear model (GLM with two factors and their interactions was applied. Significant effects in dimension and ecological zone were found as well as seven interactions between both factors (p<0.05. Native pastures were used in all farms for grazing. However, small farms’ herds frequently grazed on cultivated pastures and on crop residues (p<0.05. Medium farms showed the highest grazing surface, but in the WT silage and green fodder were used while in the DT dry fodders were used (p<0.001. The interactions between factors showed a bigger specialization in milk production in DT farms, whereas WT farms were more specialized in meat production. The mixed crop-livestock system in tropic region requires an increase in herd size according to farm’s own productive structure, which is strongly influenced by the ecological zone. The systems would improve with the active participation of smallholders to identify and achieve best practices, higher technological adoption level and with an effective support from public and private Institutions.

  11. Is the increase of scale in the tropics a pathway to smallholders? Dimension and ecological zone effect on the mixed crop-livestock farms

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Rangel, J.; Espinosa, J.A.; Pablos-Heredero, C. de; Rivas, J.; Perea, J.; Angón, E.; García-Martínez, A.

    2017-01-01

    Mixed crop-livestock farms are widely spread in different tropical regions in the world; they contribute to food security, rural development, sustainability and poverty alleviation. The effect of scale on performance of dual purpose (DP) cattle farms was evaluated in two Mexican ecological zones: dry (DT) and wet tropics (WT). In 2011, a questionnaire of 184 items distributed into technical and social characteristics was applied to a representative sample of 3,285 farms with 50 or less cows (0.97%). The farms were classified into three groups according to their dimension: very small (1-9 cows), small (10-19 cows) and medium (20-50 cows). A general linear model (GLM) with two factors and their interactions was applied. Significant effects in dimension and ecological zone were found as well as seven interactions between both factors (p<0.05). Native pastures were used in all farms for grazing. However, small farms’ herds frequently grazed on cultivated pastures and on crop residues (p<0.05). Medium farms showed the highest grazing surface, but in the WT silage and green fodder were used while in the DT dry fodders were used (p<0.001). The interactions between factors showed a bigger specialization in milk production in DT farms, whereas WT farms were more specialized in meat production. The mixed crop-livestock system in tropic region requires an increase in herd size according to farm’s own productive structure, which is strongly influenced by the ecological zone. The systems would improve with the active participation of smallholders to identify and achieve best practices, higher technological adoption level and with an effective support from public and private Institutions.

  12. Energy conservation on Nova Scotia farms: Baseline energy data

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Bailey, J.A.; Gordon, R.; Burton, D.; Yiridoe, E.K.

    2008-01-01

    Direct energy use is a small but essential component of the farm greenhouse gas (GHG) budget. Improvements in energy efficiency and renewable energy can help reduce farm operating costs, improve air quality and reduce GHG emission levels. Energy conservation is especially important in Nova Scotia (NS), Canada, where fossil fuels, particularly coal, remain the primary source of electrical generation. Responses from mail surveys were used to establish baseline data on a cross-section of NS farms with respect to direct energy costs and usage to demonstrate differences in farm type and size. A 32% (N=224) response rate was achieved. Based on this survey, the average energy bill for a NS farm in 2004 was $11,228, with most (61.7%) of their energy cost attributable to the purchase of petroleum products. Almost all farmers (96.4%) indicated that their energy cost was a primary concern. Farmers identified the operation of vehicles and mobile equipment, as well as lighting and heating as having the greatest energy requirements in their operations. Energy usage varied with farm type and size. NS farms consumed 1.2 petajoules of energy equivalent to 127 kilotonnes of CO 2 with 52.7% of emissions from electricity use in 2004

  13. IMPACT OF FARM SIZE AND TYPE ON COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE

    OpenAIRE

    Morgan, Jeffery D.; Langemeier, Michael R.

    2003-01-01

    This study examined sustained competitive advantage for a sample of Kansas farms. Whole-farm data for 224 farms with continuous data from 1982-2001 were used. Overall efficiency was computed for each farm and year. Sixty farms exhibited a sustained competitive advantage. Seventy-six farms exhibited a sustained competitive disadvantage. Farms with a competitive advantage were relatively larger, received more of their gross farm income from dairy and swine production, had significantly lower ex...

  14. Effect of Dry Season Tomato Farming on Poverty Alleviation among ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Effect of Dry Season Tomato Farming on Poverty Alleviation among Women ... their major sources of resources for tomato farming, marketing and marketing ... and the effect of dry season tomato farming as strategy for poverty reduction; ...

  15. Determinants of Engagement in Off-Farm Employment in the Sanjiangyuan Region of the Tibetan Plateau

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jianzhong Yan

    2017-11-01

    Full Text Available The Sanjiangyuan region is a typical ecologically vulnerable region. Although environmental initiatives in the region have had positive results, criticism has arisen that one of these, the ecological migration policy, did not achieve the desired results regarding the transition to off-farm employment and livelihoods. This study examined key factors influencing the engagement of pastoralists in the Sanjiangyuan region in off-farm employment. Binary logit and probit models were adopted along with in-depth household surveys in the Sanjiangyuan region to support the quantitative and qualitative analyses. The results indicate that off-farm employment in the region is generally not significant (18.13% of the investigated households had members working in off-farm sectors, and that education and government subsidies have had significantly positive effects on engagement in off-farm employment, while the number of livestock and the distance between house and town have had significantly negative effects. These results suggest that it is necessary to establish more financial support for off-farm employment and livelihood transitions, in addition to strengthening ecological compensation. Promising approaches could include offering different types of skill training and increasing employment opportunities in off-farm industries.

  16. Transfer of single farm payment entitlements to farm successors: impact on structural change and rental prices in Switzerland

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Gabriele Mack

    2013-09-01

    Full Text Available This paper analyses the impact of tradable and non-tradable single farm payment (SFP entitlements for farm successors on structural change and the lease market. Using the example of Swiss agriculture, the effects on rental-price trends and farm-exit rates are investigated. An ex-ante normative impact analysis is performed with the agent-based agricultural-sector model SWISSland, which simulates structural change processes and income trends in Swiss agriculture over a period of up to 15 years. A land market implemented at municipality level simulates the plot-by-plot leasing of land to surrounding neighbouring agents that is common in Switzerland. Allocation of plots to tenants as well as lease pricing is modelled taking into account the farm-specific land rents. The results show that personalised SFP entitlements which could not be transferred to a farm successor not only cause an intensification of structural change, but would also thus lead to a substantial reduction in rental prices. SFP entitlements which were successfully transferred to farm successors have only a slight impact on structural change and the rental prices of arable land. Only for grassland in the mountain region does a stronger shift result in a significant reduction in rental prices.

  17. Patterns of migrating soaring migrants indicate attraction to marine wind farms.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Skov, Henrik; Desholm, Mark; Heinänen, Stefan; Kahlert, Johnny A; Laubek, Bjarke; Jensen, Niels Einar; Žydelis, Ramūnas; Jensen, Bo Præstegaard

    2016-12-01

    Monitoring of bird migration at marine wind farms has a short history, and unsurprisingly most studies have focused on the potential for collisions. Risk for population impacts may exist to soaring migrants such as raptors with K-strategic life-history characteristics. Soaring migrants display strong dependence on thermals and updrafts and an affinity to land areas and islands during their migration, a behaviour that creates corridors where raptors move across narrow straits and sounds and are attracted to islands. Several migration corridors for soaring birds overlap with the development regions for marine wind farms in NW Europe. However, no empirical data have yet been available on avoidance or attraction rates and behavioural reactions of soaring migrants to marine wind farms. Based on a post-construction monitoring study, we show that all raptor species displayed a significant attraction behaviour towards a wind farm. The modified migratory behaviour was also significantly different from the behaviour at nearby reference sites. The attraction was inversely related to distance to the wind farm and was primarily recorded during periods of adverse wind conditions. The attraction behaviour suggests that migrating raptor species are far more at risk of colliding with wind turbines at sea than hitherto assessed. © 2016 The Author(s).

  18. The Economic Viability of Renewable Portfolio Standard Support for Offshore Wind Farm Projects in Korea

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Chang-Gi Min

    2015-09-01

    Full Text Available Offshore wind farm (WF projects have been promoted by support schemes as part of the expansion of renewable energy resources in Korea. This paper examines in detail how the Renewable Portfolio Standard (RPS, which was adopted post the Feed-in-Tariff scheme in 2012, has had a profound impact on the economic benefits of offshore WFs in Korea. A framework for analyzing the economic viability of RPS is presented and applied to the sixth basic plan for long-term electricity supply and demand in Korea. The electricity market price is forecast using a reformulated probabilistic production cost (PPC model, and the renewable energy certificate (REC price is calculated using its determination rule. The results show that the existing RPS will be ineffective in increasing the penetration of offshore WFs in Korea; however, they also indicate that the economic viability of offshore WFs could be improved by adjusting the existing RPS.

  19. Antimicrobial usage and risk of retreatment for mild to moderate clinical mastitis cases on dairy farms following on-farm bacterial culture and selective therapy.

    Science.gov (United States)

    McDougall, S; Niethammer, J; Graham, E M

    2018-03-01

    To assess antimicrobial usage for treatment of mild to moderate clinical mastitis, and risk of retreatment, following implementation of an on-farm bacterial culture system and selective therapy based on culture results, and to assess compliance with treatment decision tree protocols and the level of agreement between results from on-farm culture and laboratory-based microbiology methods. Herdowners from seven dairy herds were asked to collect milk samples from cases of mild to moderate clinical mastitis between July 2015 and May 2016. All samples were cultured on-farm using a commercially available selective media and were also submitted for laboratory-based culture. Within sequential pairs of cows with mastitis, half were assigned to be treated without regard to culture results (Blanket group), and half were treated based on the on-farm culture results (Selective group) according to decision tree diagrams provided to the farmers. Culture results, treatments, and retreatments for clinical mastitis were recorded. The sum of the daily doses of antimicrobials used per cow, the number of retreatments and interval to first retreatment were compared between treatment groups. The geometric mean sum of daily doses for quarters assigned to the Selective (1.72 (95% CI=1.55-1.90)) group was lower than for the Blanket (2.38 (95% CI=2.17-2.60)) group (p=0.005). The percentage of cows retreated for clinical mastitis did not differ between the Selective (21.7 (95% CI=10.5-25.9)%) and Blanket (26.1 (95% CI=20.9-31.3)%) groups (p=0.13), and there was no difference between groups in the hazard that cows would be retreated within 60 days of enrolment (hazard ratio=0.82 (95% CI=0.39-1.69); p=0.59). Compliance with the treatment protocols was higher amongst quarters assigned to the Selective (199/233; 85.4%) compared with the Blanket (171/249; 68.7%) group (p<0.001), and varied between farms from 64-94%. The overall agreement between results from on-farm and laboratory culture was 188

  20. Farm Population Trends and Farm Characteristics. Rural Development Research Report No. 3.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Banks, Vera J.

    While total farm population is declining, the number of people living on the farms which produce the bulk of the nation's food and fiber is increasing. The 1970-75 total farm population decline was 13 percent, but the number of people living on farms with annual sales greater than $40,000 increased 76 percent. Such farms account for about 80…

  1. Predictors of Parenting Stress in Lesbian, Gay, and Heterosexual Adoptive Parents During Early Parenthood

    Science.gov (United States)

    Goldberg, Abbie E.; Smith, JuliAnna Z.

    2014-01-01

    Little work has examined parenting stress in adoptive parents, particularly lesbian and gay adoptive parents. The current longitudinal study examined parent-reported child characteristics (measured post-placement) and parent and family characteristics (measured pre-placement) as predictors of post-placement parenting stress and change in parenting stress across three time points during the first 2 years of adoptive parenthood, among 148 couples (50 lesbian, 40 gay, and 58 heterosexual) who were first-time parents. Children in the sample were, on average, 5.61 months (SD = 10.26) when placed, and 2.49 years (SD = .85) at the 2 year post-placement follow-up. Findings revealed that parents who had been placed with older children, and parents who perceived severe emotional/behavioral problems in their children, reported more post-placement stress. In addition, parents who reported fewer depressive symptoms, more love for their partners, and more family and friend support during the pre-placement period, had less post-placement stress. Parenting stress decreased for parents who perceived severe emotional/behavioral problems in their children, while it increased somewhat for those who reported developmental problems in their children. Findings highlight vulnerabilities and resources that may shape adoptive parents’ experiences of stress in early parenthood, and have implications for both researchers and professionals who wish to support adoptive family adjustment. PMID:24611690

  2. How different farming systems respond to the continuously evolving European dairy market – a comparative case study of four different EU countries

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Thorsøe, Martin Hvarregaard; Noe, Egon; Aubert, Pierre-Marie

    2017-01-01

    This Paper analyses how five different Eu-ropean farming systems have been influenced by the increasingly volatile milk market and the strategic re-sponse that has been adopted by farmers and the dairy sector.......This Paper analyses how five different Eu-ropean farming systems have been influenced by the increasingly volatile milk market and the strategic re-sponse that has been adopted by farmers and the dairy sector....

  3. The effects of pre-slaughter pig management from the farm to the processing plant on pork quality.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Edwards, L N; Grandin, T; Engle, T E; Ritter, M J; Sosnicki, A A; Carlson, B A; Anderson, D B

    2010-12-01

    Two experiments (Exp.1, n=80; Exp.2, n=144) were conducted to determine the effects of pre-slaughter pig management on pork quality by monitoring blood lactate concentration ([LAC]) during marketing. [LAC] was measured at: (1) baseline at farm, (2) post-loading on truck, (3) pre-unloading after transport, (4) post-unloading at plant, (5) post-lairage, (6) post-movement to stun, and (7) exsanguination. Pearson correlations were used to determine relationships between [LAC] and meat quality. Higher [LAC] post-loading or a greater change in [LAC] during loading resulted in increased 24h pH (P=0.002, P=0.0006, Exp.1; P=0.0001, P=0.01, Exp.2, respectively), decreased L* (P=0.03, P=0.04; P=0.001, P=0.01) and decreased drip loss (P=0.02, P=0.12; P=0.002, P=0.01). Even though improved handling during loading is important to animal well-being, it will not necessarily translate into improved pork quality. Copyright © 2010 The American Meat Science Association. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  4. Feasibility study on the wind farm; Wind farm no kanosei chosa

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    NONE

    1997-03-01

    For assessment of the possibility of the wind farm (collective wind power facility) in Japan, site conditions, business plans and various issues in development were arranged using some projects in a planning stage. The case study of a system design was also conducted for a typical site. Four sites were selected based on geographical conditions, topographic features and weather conditions. Scales of every site are as large as 1000-3000kW and 400- 750kW in wind turbine capacity. Every developer expects a subsidy, and governmental economic support is indispensable for the wind farm. In the case of Hisai city, Mie prefecture with the most favorable wind condition in Japan, the annual mean wind velocity of the site is valued at nearly 8m/s, suggesting that it is promising for the wind farm. From the planned scale of 750kWtimes4, the annual generated power and availability factor are valued at 9,800,000kWh/y and 37%, respectively. From the construction cost of 1 billion yen including a subsidy of its half, the generation cost is valued at 14.5 yen/kWh in durability of 15 years, and 12.2 yen/kWh in 20 years, and the profitability is dependent on the purchase price of a power company. 27 figs., 36 tabs.

  5. A simulation of the SDC on-line processing farm

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Wang, C.; Chen, Y.; Dorenbosch, J.; Lee, J.; Sayle, R.

    1993-10-01

    In the Solenoidal Detector Collaboration (SDC) data acquisition system (DAQ), an enormous amount of data flows into a processor farm for extraction of interesting physics events. To design an efficient on-line filter, the operations in the farm must be carefully modeled. The authors present a simulation model developed at the Superconducting Super Collider Laboratory which efficiently allocates physics events to the farm

  6. Healthy depictions? Depicting adoption and adoption news events on broadcast news.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kline, Susan L; Chatterjee, Karishma; Karel, Amanda I

    2009-01-01

    Given that the public uses the media to learn about adoption as a family form, this study analyzes U.S. television news coverage of adoption between 2001 and 2005 (N = 309 stories), to identify the types of news events covered about adoption. A majority of news stories covered fraud, crime, legal disputes, and negative international adoption cases. Adoptees as defective or unhealthy were depicted more in negative news event stories, birth parents appeared less overall, and adoptive parents were most likely to have healthy depictions in positively oriented adoption experience, big family, and reunion stories. Although three quarters of the stories used primary adoption participants as news sources, one-third of the negative event stories did not contain healthy depictions of adoption participants. The authors discuss ways journalists and researchers might improve adoption news coverage.

  7. An ecosystem approach to assess soil quality in organically and conventionally managed farms in Iceland and Austria

    Science.gov (United States)

    van Leeuwen, J. P.; Lehtinen, T.; Lair, G. J.; Bloem, J.; Hemerik, L.; Ragnarsdóttir, K. V.; Gísladóttir, G.; Newton, J. S.; de Ruiter, P. C.

    2015-01-01

    Intensive agricultural production can be an important driver for the loss of long-term soil quality. For this reason, the European Critical Zone Observatory (CZO) network adopted four pairs of agricultural CZO sites that differ in their management: conventional or organic. The CZO sites include two pairs of grassland farms in Iceland and two pairs of arable farms in Austria. Conventional fields differed from the organic fields in the use of artificial fertilisers and pesticides. Soils of these eight farms were analysed in terms of their physical, chemical, and biological properties, including soil aggregate size distribution, soil organic matter contents, abundance of soil microbes and soil fauna, and taxonomic diversity of soil microarthropods. In Icelandic grasslands, organically farmed soils had larger mean weight diameters of soil aggregates than the conventional farms, while there were no differences on the Austrian farms. Organic farming did not systematically influence organic matter contents or composition, nor soil carbon and nitrogen contents. Also, soil food web structures, in terms of presence of trophic groups of soil organisms, were highly similar among all farms, indicating a low sensitivity of trophic structure to land use or climate. However, soil organism biomass, especially of bacteria and nematodes, was consistently higher on organic farms than on conventional farms. Within the microarthropods, taxonomic diversity was systematically higher in the organic farms compared to the conventional farms. This difference was found across countries and farm, crop, and soil types. The results do not show systematic differences in physical and chemical properties between organic and conventional farms, but confirm that organic farming can enhance soil biomass and that microarthropod diversity is a sensitive and consistent indicator for land management.

  8. Beyond preadoptive risk: The impact of adoptive family environment on adopted youth's psychosocial adjustment.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ji, Juye; Brooks, Devon; Barth, Richard P; Kim, Hansung

    2010-07-01

    Adopted children often are exposed to preadoptive stressors--such as prenatal substance exposure, child maltreatment, and out-of-home placements--that increase their risks for psychosocial maladjustment. Psychosocial adjustment of adopted children emerges as the product of pre- and postadoptive factors. This study builds on previous research, which fails to simultaneously assess the influences of pre- and postadoptive factors, by examining the impact of adoptive family sense of coherence on adoptee's psychosocial adjustment beyond the effects of preadoptive risks. Using a sample of adoptive families (n = 385) taking part in the California Long Range Adoption Study, structural equation modeling analyses were performed. Results indicate a significant impact of family sense of coherence on adoptees' psychosocial adjustment and a considerably less significant role of preadoptive risks. The findings suggest the importance of assessing adoptive family's ability to respond to stress and of helping families to build and maintain their capacity to cope with stress despite the sometimes fractious pressures of adoption.

  9. 29 CFR 780.136 - Employment in practices on a farm.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-07-01

    ... activity (§§ 780.104 through 780.144). Even though an employee may work on several farms during a workweek... an employee occurs off the farm will not affect this conclusion. Thus, an employee may spend a small amount of time within the workweek in transporting necessary equipment for work to be done on farms...

  10. The influence of reactive current on wind farm LVRT behavior

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Li, Qing; Zhang, Mei; He, Jing; Qin, Shi-yao [China Electric Power Research Institute, Beijing (China)

    2012-07-01

    The Low voltage ride through (LVRT) capability of the whole wind farm is required in Chinese grid code published in 2011. In order to analyze the influence of reactive current on wind farm during grid fault, a 100 MW wind farm was simulated with the wind turbines which have been tested. Based on the validated wind turbine model, the wind farm was detailed modelled in DigSILENT/PowerFactory. The model of wind turbines, transformers, feeders, main transformers, static var compensator, and transmission lines was considered in the simulation. Under the weak and strong grid conditions, the wind farm was simulated with different wind turbine reactive current behavior during grid fault, respectively. The voltage distribution, active and reactive power transient behavior at the point of interconnection was analyzed. The results show that wind farm LVRT behavior is related to reactive current and LVRT capability of wind turbine, wind farm electrical structure and grid conditions. And it is very important for wind turbine to have a flexible dynamic reactive current control capability. (orig.)

  11. CleverFarm - A SuperSCADA system for wind farms

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Giebel, G [ed.; Juhl, A; Gram Hansen, K; Biebhardt, J [and others

    2004-08-01

    The CleverFarm project started out to build an integrated monitoring system for wind farms, where all information would be available and could be used across the wind farm for maintenance and component health assessments. This would enable wind farm operators to prioritise their efforts, since they have a good view of the farm status from home. A large emphasis was placed on the integration of condition monitoring approaches in the central system, enabling estimates of the remaining lifetime of components, especially in the nacelle. During the 3,5 years of the project, software and hardware was developed and installed in two wind farms in Denmark and Germany. The connected hardware included two different condition monitoring systems based on vibration sensors from Gram&Juhl and ISET, plus a camera system developed by Overspeed. Additionally, short-term predictions of the wind farm output were delivered by DMI and Risoes Prediktor system throughout the period of the project. All these diverse information sources are integrated through a web interface based on Java Server Pages. The software was developed in Java, and is delivered as so-called CleverBeans. The main part of the software is open-sourced. The report contains the experiences and results of a one-year experimental period. This report is a slightly edited version of the final publishable report to the EU Commission as part of the requirements of the CleverFarm project.

  12. Harmonic Stability Analysis of Offshore Wind Farm with Component Connection Method

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Hou, Peng; Ebrahimzadeh, Esmaeil; Wang, Xiongfei

    2017-01-01

    In this paper, an eigenvalue-based harmonic stability analysis method for offshore wind farm is proposed. Considering the internal cable connection layout, a component connection method (CCM) is adopted to divide the system into individual blocks as current controller of converters, LCL filters...

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

    Science.gov (United States)

    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

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

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ruth E Feber

    Full Text Available 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

  15. A Wind Farm Electrical Systems Evaluation with EeFarm-II

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jan Pierik

    2010-03-01

    Full Text Available EeFarm-II is used to evaluate 13 different electrical systems for a 200 MW wind farm with a 100 km connection to shore. The evaluation is based on component manufacturer data of 2009. AC systems are compared to systems with DC connections inside the wind farm and DC connection to shore. Two options have the best performance for this wind farm size and distance: the AC system and the system with a DC connection to shore. EeFarm-II is a user friendly computer program for wind farm electrical and economic evaluation. It has been built as a Simulink Library in the graphical interface of Matlab-Simulink. EeFarm-II contains models of wind turbines, generators, transformers, AC cables, inductors, nodes, splitters, PWM converters, thyristor converters, DC cables, choppers and statcoms.

  16. Safety on North Carolina and Kentucky trout farms.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ogunsanya, T J; Durborow, R M; Myers, M L; Cole, H P; Thompson, S L

    2011-01-01

    The objective of this study was to identify and describe work-related safety hazards, injuries, and near-injury events (close calls) that occurred on trout farms in North Carolina and Kentucky. An interview instrument was used to collect information on occupational hazards, injuries, and near-injury events that resulted from work-related activities. Trout farmers reported occupational hazards including falling live tank lids, slippery surfaces on hauling trucks, lifting strains, falls from raceway walls and walkways, needlesticks while vaccinating fish, allergies, hypothermia/drowning, falls from cranes, chemical exposure, fire/explosions related to oxygen exposure, and electrical contact with overhead power lines. This study also reports solutions suggested by farm safety researchers or used by farmers to prevent the safety hazards found on trout farms.

  17. Dairy farm demographics and management factors that played a role in the re-emergence of brucellosis on dairy cattle farms in Fiji.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tukana, Andrew; Gummow, B

    2017-08-01

    Little is published on risk factors associated with bovine brucellosis in Pacific island communities. The 2009 re-emergence of bovine brucellosis in Fiji enabled us to do an interview-based questionnaire survey of 81 farms in the Wainivesi locality of the Tailevu province on the main island of Fiji to investigate what risk factors could have played a role in the re-emergence of the disease. The survey was conducted on 68 farms that had no positive cases of bovine brucellosis and on 13 farms in the same area where cattle had returned a positive result to the Brucella Rose Bengal test. Descriptive statistical methods were used to describe the demographic data while univariate analysis and multivariate logistic regression were used to evaluate the association between the selected risk factors and the presence of brucellosis on the farms at the time of the outbreak. The demographics of Fijian dairy farms are presented in the article and the biosecurity implications of those farming systems are discussed. Two risk factors were strongly associated with farms having brucellosis, and these were history of reactor cattle to brucellosis and or bovine tuberculosis on the farm (OR = 29, P ≤ 0.01) and farms that practised sharing of water sources for cattle within and with outside farms (OR = 39, P ≤ 0.01). Possible reasons why these were risk factors are also discussed. The potential risks for human health was also high as the use of personal protective equipment was low (15%). A high proportion of farmers (62%) could not recognise brucellosis thus contributing to the low frequency of disease reports (44%) made. The article also highlights other important risk factors which could be attributed to farming practices in the region and which could contribute to public health risks and the re-emergence of diseases.

  18. Post commissioning noise study

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Heraud, P.

    2008-01-01

    This presentation described a wind farm post-commissioning study conducted at a wind farm owned by Helimax Energy Inc. The farm was located in a partly-forested, partly cultivated region in Quebec that featured gently rolling hills. Over 600 dwellings were located within 2 km of the wind farm, and 44 dwellings were within the wind farm's boundaries. The noise impact assessments were conducted at various points near the wind farm. The wind farm was designed using an International Standards Organization (ISO) noise propagation model and a 40 dBA to provide adequate setbacks. The study was conducted using 10 days of continuous measurements at selected points of a wind farm. Points of reception included points from 650 m to 800 m. Noise over 2 km was not thought to be contributed by the wind turbine. The nearest dwelling was 512 m from one of the farm's wind turbines. The study also considered ground factor, temperature, relative humidity, and the height of the receptors. Quebec noise level limits are 40 dBA at night, and 45 dBA during the day. Noise level limits are independent of wind speed. Measured noise contributions over 40 dBA were not observed during the measurement program. The wind turbines were only audible for 1 night out of the 30 night study period. It was concluded that the ISO noise propagation model is a reliable tool for conducting noise impact assessments. tabs., figs

  19. LANDSCAPE PATTERN VERSUS FARMING DEVELOPMENT. THE CASE OF THE POST-MARL HOLLOWS (PMH LANDSCAPE IN POLAND

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Iwona MARKUSZEWSKA

    2017-04-01

    Full Text Available This article discusses the presence of unique landscape elements (post-marl hollows in an intensively operated farming region. The selected case study (the environs of Krotoszyn in the Wielkopolska region, Poland represents an example of a human-designed landscape in which post-marl hollows (PMH were created as a consequence of the soil-marling process. PMH are vital ecological habitats which have an influence on the high quality of the rural landscape. Currently, as PMH are undergoing the vanishing process, it seems essential to find a solution to maintain these unique landscape elements. The main aim of this paper is to analyse human-nature relationships during the current changes taking place in the agricultural landscape in order to get the answer to the question: how is this affecting the PMH? The study evaluates farmers’ pro-environmental behaviour and defines their identity with the local landscape that has been beneficial in predicting the forthcoming shaping of the landscape. The data describing the PMH were collected in the years 1998-2016, while conducting cartographic analysis, a literature review and repetitive field research. Additionally, remote sensing and geoportal database were used to analyse the PMH changes. Also, interviews and discussions with farmers and representatives of the local administrative body were conducted. Results indicated that local rural communities are little concerned about the environment, particularly when it pertains to the issue of conservation of the local landscape heritage (i.e. PMH. In addition, the lack of support from the administrative body makes more difficult the opportunity to maintain a unique landscape pattern, as described in this paper.

  20. Multiple Cropping for Raising Productivity and Farm Income of Small Farmers

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Mina Nath Paudel

    2016-12-01

    Full Text Available Multiple cropping is an agriculture system long adopted by marginalized small holder farmers especially in hills and mountains. This practice was a meant to enhance farm productivity when farming area is limited. Here, in this paper, a brief review on the benefits of multiple cropping is presented focusing on the practices adopted by marginalized farmers, in general. In multiple cropping, it is generally argued that the practice favors an efficient utilization of resources like air, water, light, space, and nutrients by companion crops in both temporal and spatial dimensions due to their differential growth habits and seasonality. Multiple cropping could be one of the viable alternatives to cope uncertainties and changes, where food and nutritional uncertainty looming large. The ultimate outcome of multiple cropping could be visualized in adverse or harsh environment for increase agriculture production, livelihood and income. Various food products are obtained through multiple cropping. Land equivalent ratio (LER, relative yield total (RYT and income equivalent ratio (IER can be increased with mixed/intercropping systems. Multiple cropping helps in getting more than one crop simultaneously, so even if the selling price of one commodity is less, the other might compensate. In the tropics, smallholder farms, which produce over 60% of the food resources of developing nations from intercropping of cereals with many crops mostly legumes, had been the field of much investigation because of synergistic effects of diversifying food production and household cash incomes in these systems. This clearly implies the importance of multiple cropping for small farmers who constitute majority in the developing countries.

  1. Empowerment Of Farmer Group In Improving Chilli Farming Income In Kerinci District, Indonesia

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Indra Karim

    2013-08-01

    Full Text Available Purpose of the agricultural development is to raise the quality of human resources and the livelihood of farmers and their families. The role of farmer groups are very important in supporting the agricultural intensification program, but their ability to adopt new technologies are still very limited. Base on these facts then problems of this research is role of the chilli farmers group empowerment in improving the farming revenues.The research was carried out in the Air Hangat Timur Subdistrict, Kerinci District, many farmers who insist the chili farming traditionally, they have not implemented the recommended agrotechnologies package. The number of samples as much as two groups of farmers, including 28 farmers from the Pinang-Jaya farmers group and 17 farmers from Usaha-Sepakat farmer groups. To find out the improvement level of farmers ability in improving farmer income, it is conducted the Coefficient Spearman test.The results showed that the ability of chilli agrotechnology implementation is included in the category of “intermediate”. There is a strong relationship between farmer age, educational level, experience farming and the number of family member with the farmer capability in implementing chilli agrotechnologies. Keywords: farmer group, chili farming, farming income

  2. Towards a deeper understanding of parenting on farms: A qualitative study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Elliot, Valerie; Cammer, Allison; Pickett, William; Marlenga, Barbara; Lawson, Joshua; Dosman, James; Hagel, Louise; Koehncke, Niels; Trask, Catherine

    2018-01-01

    Children living on farms experience exceptionally high risks for traumatic injury. There is a large body of epidemiological research documenting this phenomenon, yet few complementary studies that have explored the deep underlying reasons for such trends. Fundamental to this is understanding the decision-making processes of parents surrounding their choice to bring children, or not, into the farm worksite. To (1) document farm parent views of the risks and benefits of raising children on a family farm, and, (2) understand more deeply why children are brought into the farm worksite. Interviews were conducted as part of a larger cohort study, The Saskatchewan Farm Injury Cohort. Subsequent to an initial mail-out question focused on parental decision-making, 11 semi-structured telephone interviews were conducted with rural Saskatchewan farm parents. Interviews were digitally recorded and transcribed verbatim, then thematically analyzed using interpretive description methodology. This parental decision-making process on farms fundamentally involves weighing the risks vs. benefits of bringing children into the worksite, as if on a balance scale. One side of this scale holds potential risks such as exposure to physical and chemical farm hazards, in the absence of full supervision. The other side holds potential benefits such as meeting family needs for childcare, labour, and family time; building work ethic and pride; and the positive impacts of involvement and responsibility. Decision-making 'tips the scales', in part dependent upon parental perceptions of the risk-benefit trade-off. This 'perceptual lens' is influenced by factors such as: the agricultural way of life, parents' prior knowledge and past experience, characteristics of children, and safety norms. This novel qualitative study provides deep insight into how Saskatchewan farm parents approach a fundamental decision-making process associated with their parenting. The proposed model provides insight into the

  3. Short communication: planning considerations for on-farm dairy processing enterprises.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Smith, S M; Chaney, E A; Bewley, J M

    2013-07-01

    Across the world, more dairy producers are considering on-farm dairy processing to add value to the milk produced on their farms. Dairy producers may bottle milk or process their milk into cheese, ice cream, butter, yogurt, or cream. The primary objective of this research was to establish a series of sound factors or indicators of success for those considering on-farm processing. A survey was employed to collect opinions and advice from managers of on-farm processing enterprises. Surveys were distributed online (n=120), with 31 surveys returned, accounting for a 25.8% response rate. Most (64%) respondents had been involved in on-farm dairy processing for less than 10 yr. Sixty-one percent of respondents attained a positive cash flow in 1 to 3 yr. The primary products manufactured were cheese (69%), milk (59%), ice cream (31%), yogurt (25%), and butter (21%). Factors influencing the decision to start an on-farm dairy processing enterprise included commodity milk prices (61%), desire to work with the public (41%), an opportunity to promote the dairy industry (39%), a desire to maintain or expand a small family operation (29%), and product differentiation (16%). Respondents cited dealing with regulations (26%), product marketing (19%), manufacturing technicalities (19%), and securing funding (17%) as the most difficult parts of starting the business. Open-ended responses provided by the respondents of this survey were also documented to give future dairy producers advice. The most common advice to future on-farm processors was to work on realistic business plans, develop and follow realistic budgets, and observe and use market surveys within the industry. These results provide a useful array of information for future on-farm dairy processing enterprises. Copyright © 2013 American Dairy Science Association. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  4. CONSIDERATIONS ON UTILIZED AGRICULTURAL LAND AND FARM STRUCTURE IN THE EUROPEAN UNION

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Agatha POPESCU

    2013-12-01

    Full Text Available The paper aimed to analyze the EU-27 agricultural land, farms structure and size based on Eurostat data. In the EU, farm structure shows that farms have a small size accounting for 12 ha in average. The highest farm size is in Czech Republic (152 ha and the smallest one in Romania and Cyprus (3 ha. The size of farms has slowly increased from a year to another while the number of farms declined. About 80 % farms are situated in Romania, Italy, Poland, Spain, Greece, Hungary and France. Three countries France, Italy and Germany produces 50.51 % gross margin of the EU-27 which accounted for Euro 278.33 Billion in 2010. A number of 199,400 farms achieved 46.6 % of the total gross margin, more exactly Euro 129,810 million. These farms utilized 25 % of the Eu-27 agricultural land. The farms with less than Euro 2,000 gross margin represent 45.44 % of the total number of farms and keep 5 % of the utilized agricultural land and produce 3.39 % of the EU-27 gross margin. The farms with a higher dimension produce the highest gross margin proving that farm size has a direct influence on profitability and economic efficiency.

  5. Effectiveness of emamectin benzoate for treatment of Lepeophtheirus salmonis on farmed Atlantic salmon Salmo salar in the Bay of Fundy, Canada.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jones, Patti G; Hammell, K Larry; Dohoo, Ian R; Revie, Crawford W

    2012-12-03

    Emamectin benzoate (an avermectin chemotherapeutant administered to fish as an in-feed treatment) has been used to treat infestations of sea lice Lepeophtheirus salmonis on farmed Atlantic salmon Salmo salar in the Bay of Fundy, New Brunswick, Canada, since 1999. This retrospective study examined the effectiveness of 114 emamectin benzoate treatment episodes from 2004 to 2008 across 54 farms. Study objectives were to establish whether changes in the effectiveness of emamectin benzoate were present for this period, examine factors associated with treatment outcome, and determine variables that influenced differences in L. salmonis abundance after treatment. The analysis was carried out in 2 parts: first, trends in treatment effectiveness and L. salmonis abundance were explored, and second, statistical modelling (linear and logistic regression) was used to examine the effects of multiple variables on post-treatment abundance and treatment outcome. Post-treatment sea lice abundance increased in the later years examined. Mean abundance differed between locations in the Bay of Fundy, and higher numbers were found at farms closer to the mainland and lower levels were found in the areas around Grand Manan Island. Treatment effectiveness varied by geographical region and decreased over time. There was an increased risk for unsuccessful treatments in 2008, and treatments applied during autumn months were more likely to be ineffective than those applied during summer months.

  6. Transfer of Biogas Technology to Support Mixed Crop and Livestock Farming Systems in Indonesia

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Putra, Ahmad Romadhoni Surya

    Mixed crop and livestock (MCL) farming systems has been applied for many years to manage the limited resources owned by smallholder farmers. This farming practice is considered as the best practice to cultivate the limited resources by adopting an integrated life cycle approach within crop...... and livestock production. However, within this farming system, some externalities may appear because of the untreated livestock waste which may pollute air and the surrounding water environment at the farm. This may also affect greenhouse gas emission that potentially contributes to an increase of global...... such as reduction of air and water pollution and gas emission caused by manure. However, despite its multiple benefits, the biogas technology transfer is facing a slow rate of diffusion in most farm households in developing countries. This phenomenon calls for identification of reasons in order to develop solutions...

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

    Science.gov (United States)

    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 (residualprofitability 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.

  8. Longitudinal study of Senecavirus a shedding in sows and piglets on a single United States farm during an outbreak of vesicular disease.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tousignant, Steven J P; Bruner, Laura; Schwartz, Jake; Vannucci, Fabio; Rossow, Stephanie; Marthaler, Douglas G

    2017-08-31

    The study highlights the shedding pattern of Senecavirus A (SVA) during an outbreak of vesicular disease in a sow farm from the South-central Minnesota, USA. In this study, 34 individual, mixed parity sows with clinical signs of vesicular lesions and 30 individual piglets from 15 individual litters from sows with vesicular lesions were conveniently selected for individual, longitudinal sampling. Serum, tonsil, rectal, and vesicular swabs were collected on day1 post outbreak, and then again at 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, and 9 weeks post outbreak. Samples were tested at the University of Minnesota Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory for SVA via Real Time Polymerase Chain Reaction (RT-PCR) RESULTS: In sows, vesicular lesions had the highest concentration of SVA, but had the shortest duration of detection lasting only 2 weeks. Viremia was detected for 1 week post outbreak, and quickly declined thereafter. SVA was detected at approximately the same frequency for both tonsil and rectal swabs with the highest percentage of SVA positive samples detected in the first 6 weeks post outbreak. In suckling piglets, viremia quickly declined 1 week post outbreak and was prevalent in low levels during the first week after weaning (4 weeks post outbreak) and was also detected in piglets that were co-mingled from a SVA negative sow farm. Similar to sows, SVA detection on rectal and tonsil swabs in piglets lasted approximately 6 weeks post outbreak. The study illustrates the variation of SVA shedding patterns in different sample types over a 9 week period in sows and piglets, and suggests the potential for viral spread between piglets at weaning.

  9. Validation of good agricultural practices (GAP) on Minnesota vegetable farms.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hamilton, Karin E; Umber, Jamie; Hultberg, Annalisa; Tong, Cindy; Schermann, Michele; Diez-Gonzalez, Francisco; Bender, Jeff B

    2015-02-01

    The United States Food and Drug Administration and the Department of Agriculture jointly published the "Guide to Minimize Microbial Food Safety Hazards for Fresh Fruits and Vegetables," which is used as a basis for Good Agricultural Practices (GAP) audits. To understand barriers to incorporation of GAP by Minnesota vegetable farmers, a mail survey completed in 2008 was validated with visits to a subset of the farms. This was done to determine the extent to which actual practices matched perceived practices. Two hundred forty-six producers completed the mail survey, and 27 participated in the on-farm survey. Over 75% of the on-farm survey respondents produced vegetables on 10 acres or less and had 10 or fewer employees. Of 14 questions, excellent agreement between on-farm interviews and mail survey responses was observed on two questions, four questions had poor or slight agreement, and eight questions had no agreement. Ninety-two percent of respondents by mail said "they took measures to keep animals and pests out of packing and storage buildings." However, with the on-site visit only 45% met this requirement. Similarly, 81% of respondents by mail said "measures were taken to reduce the risk of wild and/or domestic animals entering into fruit and vegetable growing areas." With direct observation, 70% of farms actually had taken measures to keep animals out of the growing areas. Additional, on-farm assessments were done regarding employee hygiene, training, presence of animals, water sources, and composting practices. This validation study demonstrated the challenge of creating nonleading and concise questions that are not open to broad interpretation from the respondents. If mail surveys are used to assess GAP, they should include open-ended questions and ranking systems to better assess farm practices. To provide the most accurate survey data for educational purposes or GAP audits, on-farm visits are recommended.

  10. A Hidden Markov Model Representing the Spatial and Temporal Correlation of Multiple Wind Farms

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Fang, Jiakun; Su, Chi; Hu, Weihao

    2015-01-01

    To accommodate the increasing wind energy with stochastic nature becomes a major issue on power system reliability. This paper proposes a methodology to characterize the spatiotemporal correlation of multiple wind farms. First, a hierarchical clustering method based on self-organizing maps is ado....... The proposed statistical modeling framework is compatible with the sequential power system reliability analysis. A case study on optimal sizing and location of fast-response regulation sources is presented.......To accommodate the increasing wind energy with stochastic nature becomes a major issue on power system reliability. This paper proposes a methodology to characterize the spatiotemporal correlation of multiple wind farms. First, a hierarchical clustering method based on self-organizing maps...... is adopted to categorize the similar output patterns of several wind farms into joint states. Then the hidden Markov model (HMM) is then designed to describe the temporal correlations among these joint states. Unlike the conventional Markov chain model, the accumulated wind power is taken into consideration...

  11. Nonmarket cobenefits and economic feasibility of on-farm biogas energy production

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Yiridoe, Emmanuel K.; Gordon, Robert; Brown, Bettina B.

    2009-01-01

    Standard analysis of the economic feasibility of on-farm biogas energy production tend to emphasize primarily on direct financial benefits to farmers, and abstracts from the nonmarket cobenefits associated with anaerobic digestion of livestock manure and other biomass feedstock. This shortcoming of the standard feasibility analysis raises a fundamental question: How is the economic feasibility of on-farm anaerobic biogas energy production affected by the associated nonpecuniary cobenefits? Incorporating key nonmarket cobenefits from biogas energy production extends the standard economic feasibility analysis, and provides important insights. When nonmarket cobenefits were excluded, on-farm biogas energy production was generally not financially feasible for the dairy and swine farm size ranges studied (except for 600- and 800-sow farms). Overall, results of the financial feasibility analysis did not change compared to a base scenario (without nonmarket cobenefits) when an estimated annual total nonmarket cobenefits of CND$5000 was incorporated into the analysis, for both dairy and swine farms. Biogas energy production was generally financially viable for small-size dairy (i.e., 50-cow) and swine (i.e., 200-sow) farms when the nonmarket cobenefits were valued at CND$15,000 (or higher). Improvements in financial feasibility were more dramatic for dairy than for swine farms

  12. Use and non-use values as motivational construct dimensions for farm animal welfare: impacts on the economic outcome for the farm.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hansson, H; Lagerkvist, C J; Azar, G

    2018-01-24

    This study explored how farmers' motivation in terms of use values and/or non-use values to work with farm animal welfare are associated with the economic outcome for the farm. Use values in farm animal welfare refer to economic value derived from productivity and profitability considerations. Non-use values in farm animal welfare refer to economic value derived from good animal welfare, irrespective of the use the farmer derives from the animal, currently or in the future. The analysis was based on detailed information about the income statements of a sample of Swedish dairy farmers, obtained from the Swedish Farm Economic Survey, complemented with survey information about their perceived use and non-use values in farm animal welfare. The findings suggest that farm economic outcome is significantly associated with motivation in terms of use values, but not so much with motivation in terms of non-use values. This is interesting from a policy point of view, because it indicates that farmers with different approaches to farm animal welfare may experience different economic outcomes for their farms. Findings can, for instance, be used to strengthen farmers' engagement in various private quality assurance standards, which generally focus on values of non-use type, by pointing to that realisation of such values will not impair the economic outcome of the farms. Moreover, findings also suggest that farmers' economic incentives for engagement in such standards may need to be further strengthened in order to become more attractive, as findings point to that a focus on non-use values generally is not associated with more favourable economic outcomes.

  13. A Survey of Reproductive Management Strategies on US Commercial Dairy Farms

    OpenAIRE

    Olynk, Nicole J.; Wolf, Christopher A.

    2008-01-01

    Reproductive performance on the dairy farm affects the dairy’s profit because it directly affects milk production, the availability of replacements, the amounts of voluntary and involuntary culling, breeding costs, and costs associated with veterinary care (Britt, 1985). Reproductive management programs selected for implementation differ across farms due to varying on-farm costs, such as labor costs, opportunity costs of management and labor, as well as facilities, farm goals and values, and ...

  14. Including spatial data in nutrient balance modelling on dairy farms

    Science.gov (United States)

    van Leeuwen, Maricke; van Middelaar, Corina; Stoof, Cathelijne; Oenema, Jouke; Stoorvogel, Jetse; de Boer, Imke

    2017-04-01

    The Annual Nutrient Cycle Assessment (ANCA) calculates the nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) balance at a dairy farm, while taking into account the subsequent nutrient cycles of the herd, manure, soil and crop components. Since January 2016, Dutch dairy farmers are required to use ANCA in order to increase understanding of nutrient flows and to minimize nutrient losses to the environment. A nutrient balance calculates the difference between nutrient inputs and outputs. Nutrients enter the farm via purchased feed, fertilizers, deposition and fixation by legumes (nitrogen), and leave the farm via milk, livestock, manure, and roughages. A positive balance indicates to which extent N and/or P are lost to the environment via gaseous emissions (N), leaching, run-off and accumulation in soil. A negative balance indicates that N and/or P are depleted from soil. ANCA was designed to calculate average nutrient flows on farm level (for the herd, manure, soil and crop components). ANCA was not designed to perform calculations of nutrient flows at the field level, as it uses averaged nutrient inputs and outputs across all fields, and it does not include field specific soil characteristics. Land management decisions, however, such as the level of N and P application, are typically taken at the field level given the specific crop and soil characteristics. Therefore the information that ANCA provides is likely not sufficient to support farmers' decisions on land management to minimize nutrient losses to the environment. This is particularly a problem when land management and soils vary between fields. For an accurate estimate of nutrient flows in a given farming system that can be used to optimize land management, the spatial scale of nutrient inputs and outputs (and thus the effect of land management and soil variation) could be essential. Our aim was to determine the effect of the spatial scale of nutrient inputs and outputs on modelled nutrient flows and nutrient use efficiencies

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

    Science.gov (United States)

    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.

  16. Temporal and spatial water use on irrigated and nonirrigated pasture-based dairy farms.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Higham, C D; Horne, D; Singh, R; Kuhn-Sherlock, B; Scarsbrook, M R

    2017-08-01

    Robust information for water use on pasture-based dairy farms is critical to farmers' attempts to use water more efficiently and the improved allocation of freshwater resources to dairy farmers. To quantify the water requirements of dairy farms across regions in a practicable manner, it will be necessary to develop predictive models. The objectives of this study were to compare water use on a group of irrigated and nonirrigated farms, validate existing water use models using the data measured on the group of nonirrigated farms, and modify the model so that it can be used to predict water use on irrigated dairy farms. Water use data were collected on a group of irrigated dairy farms located in the Canterbury, New Zealand, region with the largest area under irrigation. The nonirrigated farms were located in the Manawatu region. The amount of water used for irrigation was almost 52-fold greater than the amount of all other forms of water use combined. There were large differences in measured milking parlor water use, stock drinking water, and leakage rates between the irrigated and nonirrigated farms. As expected, stock drinking water was lower on irrigated dairy farms. Irrigation lowers the dry matter percentage of pasture, ensuring that the amount of water ingested from pasture remains high throughout the year, thereby reducing the demand for drinking water. Leakage rates were different between the 2 groups of farms; 47% of stock drinking water was lost as leakage on nonirrigated farms, whereas leakage on the irrigated farms equated to only 13% of stock drinking water. These differences in leakage were thought to be related to regional differences rather than differences in irrigated versus nonirrigated farms. Existing models developed to predict milking parlor, corrected stock drinking water, and total water use on nonirrigated pasture-based dairy farms in a previous related study were tested on the data measured in the present research. As expected, these models

  17. Retro-fitting of tank farm to comply with new environmental standards

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Rinne, N.F.

    1993-01-01

    Trans Mountain Enterprises transports jet fuel via an NPS 6 pipeline from refineries in the Vancouver area and the Company's marine terminal to a tank farm located at the Vancouver International Airport. The pipeline operates on a nearly continual basis and delivers product into tankage before releasing it to the airlines for distribution to the aircraft. Constructed in 1967 on Sea Island at the mouth of the Fraser River, the tank farm is situated on land leased from the Government of Canada and managed by the transportation agency, Transport Canada. The presence of wild life areas and a large salmon fishery combine to make the island a sensitive environmental area. The five above-ground storage tanks provide a combined storage volume of approximately 45,000 bbls. An operational spill at the tank farm in the fall of 1981 precipitated a two year clean up of the underlying soils and groundwater around the site. Although Trans Mountain assumed that the site was satisfactorily remediated by 1983 it was not until 1989 when Trans Mountain proposed an improvement to the tank bay containment area did it become aware of changing environmental and facility standards being adopted by Transport Canada. Following three years of negotiations with Transport Canada and their environmental advisors, Environment Canada, Trans Mountain completed a unique design to bring the site into compliance with Transport Canada's current standards for the Vancouver International Airport. The liner design was complicated by recent changes in the environmental standards for soil and groundwater at the site. These new changes were being adopted by Environment Canada during the design phase of this project

  18. Results of an online questionnaire to survey calf management practices on dairy cattle breeding farms in Austria and to estimate differences in disease incidences depending on farm structure and management practices.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Klein-Jöbstl, Daniela; Arnholdt, Tim; Sturmlechner, Franz; Iwersen, Michael; Drillich, Marc

    2015-08-19

    Calf disease may result in great economic losses. To implement prevention strategies it is important to gain information on management and to point out risk factors. The objective of this internet based survey was to describe calf management practices on registered dairy breeding farms in Austria and to estimate differences in calf disease incidences depending on farm structure and management practices. A total of 1287 questionnaires were finally analysed (response rate 12.2 %). Herd characteristics and regional distribution of farms indicated that this survey gives a good overview on calf management practices on registered dairy farms in Austria. The median number of cows per farm was 20 (interquartile range 13-30). Significant differences regarding farm characteristics and calf management between small and large farms (≤20 vs >20 cows) were present. Only 2.8 % of farmers tested first colostrum quality by use of a hydrometer. Storing frozen colostrum was more prevalent on large farms (80.8 vs 64.2 %). On 85.1 % of the farms, whole milk, including waste milk, was fed to the calves. Milk replacer and waste milk were more often used on large farms. In accordance with similar studies from other countries, calf diarrhoea was indicated as the most prevalent disease. Multivariable logistic regression analysis revealed that herd size was associated with calf diarrhoea and calf respiratory tract disease, with higher risk of disease on large farms. Furthermore, feeding waste milk to the calves was associated with increasing calf diarrhoea incidence on farm. In the final model with calf respiratory tract disease as outcome, respondents from organic farms reported less often a respiratory tract disease incidence of over 10 % compared with conventional farms [odds ratio (OR) 0.40, 95 % confidence interval (CI) 0.21-0.75] and farmers that housed calves individually or in groups after birth significantly reported more often to have an incidence of respiratory tract

  19. Assessment of the strategy countermeasures by the French farming working group

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Cessac, B.; Reales, N.; Gallay, F.

    2004-01-01

    In France, for several years, the Institute for Radiological Protection and Nuclear Safety (IRSN) has been working on technical solutions for the rehabilitation of rural, urban and industrial areas, contaminated by radioactivity. Then, the complexity of the radioactivity integration' s mechanisms into the environment and into the food chain, but also the important number of concerned actors and the inevitable incompatibilities between their respective expectations of the rehabilitation, make the post accidental management a challenging question for the responsible organisations at local, national and international levels. The involvement of persons in charge of agriculture in a collective reflection on the conditions and means of the post accidental situation's management seemed therefore necessary, in order to allow them to express the farmers point of view. On this basis, IRSN is deeply engaged in actions involving these other stakeholders, in particular in rural environment, in order to collect their appraisal and to obtain data and operational tools for the global evaluation of the countermeasures. The FARMING project, initiated in 2000 by the European Commission, constituted an interesting initiative in this direction. The French group has been constituted around the National Institute for Agronomy of Paris Grignon, which ensures its coordination. Within this framework, this group has notably been involved in the evaluation of a rural countermeasures compendium, at the request of STRATEGY, another European network on the post-accidental situation. With the support of a French farmers national association (FNSEA), the French FARMING group built up a working group composed of technical specialists of agriculture and radiation protection. All these actions facilitated the expression of the specific request for information, coming from the agricultural stakeholders, to the actors of radiation protection, and the design of new projects involving radiation

  20. A decision-tree model to detect post-calving diseases based on rumination, activity, milk yield, BW and voluntary visits to the milking robot.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Steensels, M; Antler, A; Bahr, C; Berckmans, D; Maltz, E; Halachmi, I

    2016-09-01

    Early detection of post-calving health problems is critical for dairy operations. Separating sick cows from the herd is important, especially in robotic-milking dairy farms, where searching for a sick cow can disturb the other cows' routine. The objectives of this study were to develop and apply a behaviour- and performance-based health-detection model to post-calving cows in a robotic-milking dairy farm, with the aim of detecting sick cows based on available commercial sensors. The study was conducted in an Israeli robotic-milking dairy farm with 250 Israeli-Holstein cows. All cows were equipped with rumination- and neck-activity sensors. Milk yield, visits to the milking robot and BW were recorded in the milking robot. A decision-tree model was developed on a calibration data set (historical data of the 10 months before the study) and was validated on the new data set. The decision model generated a probability of being sick for each cow. The model was applied once a week just before the veterinarian performed the weekly routine post-calving health check. The veterinarian's diagnosis served as a binary reference for the model (healthy-sick). The overall accuracy of the model was 78%, with a specificity of 87% and a sensitivity of 69%, suggesting its practical value.

  1. Facilitating smallholder tree farming in fragmented tropical landscapes: Challenges and potentials for sustainable land management.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rahman, Syed Ajijur; Sunderland, Terry; Roshetko, James M; Healey, John Robert

    2017-08-01

    Under changing land use in tropical Asia, there is evidence of forest product diversification through implementation of tree-based farming by smallholders. This paper assesses in two locations, West Java, Indonesia and eastern Bangladesh, current land use conditions from the perspective of smallholder farmers, the factors that facilitate their adoption of tree farming, and the potential of landscape-scale approaches to foster sustainable land management. Data were collected through rapid rural appraisals, focus group discussions, field observations, semi-structured interviews of farm households and key informant interviews of state agricultural officers. Land at both study sites is typically fragmented due to conversion of forest to agriculture and community settlement. Local land use challenges are associated with pressures of population increase, poverty, deforestation, shortage of forest products, lack of community-scale management, weak tenure, underdeveloped markets, government decision-making with insufficient involvement of local people, and poor extension services. Despite these challenges, smallholder tree farming is found to be successful from farmers' perspectives. However, constraints of local food crop cultivation traditions, insecure land tenure, lack of capital, lack of knowledge, lack of technical assistance, and perceived risk of investing in land due to local conflict (in Bangladesh) limit farmers' willingness to adopt this land use alternative. Overcoming these barriers to adoption will require management at a landscape scale, including elements of both segregation and integration of land uses, supported by competent government policies and local communities having sufficiently high social capital. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  2. Evaluation of Two Models of Non-Penetrating Captive Bolt Devices for On-Farm Euthanasia of Turkeys.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Woolcott, Caitlin R; Torrey, Stephanie; Turner, Patricia V; Serpa, Lilia; Schwean-Lardner, Karen; Widowski, Tina M

    2018-03-20

    On-farm euthanasia is a critical welfare issue in the poultry industry and can be particularly difficult to perform on mature turkeys due to their size. We evaluated the efficacy of two commercially available non-penetrating captive bolt devices, the Zephyr-EXL and the Turkey Euthanasia Device (TED), on 253 turkeys at three stages of production: 4-5, 10, and 15-20 weeks of age. Effectiveness of each device was measured using both ante- and post-mortem measures. Application of the Zephyr-EXL resulted in a greater success rate (immediate abolishment of brainstem reflexes) compared to the TED (97.6% vs. 89.3%, p = 0.0145). Times to last movement ( p = 0.102) and cardiac arrest ( p = 0.164) did not differ between devices. Ante- and post-mortem measures of trauma and hemorrhage were highly correlated. Skull fractures and gross subdural hemorrhage (SDH) were present in 100% of birds euthanized with both the Zephyr-EXL and TED devices. Gross SDH scores were greater in birds killed with the Zephyr-EXL than the TED ( p < 0.001). Microscopic SDH scores indicated moderate to severe hemorrhage in 92% of turkeys for the Zephyr-EXL and 96% of turkeys for the TED, with no difference between devices ( p = 0.844). Overall, both devices were highly effective inducing immediate insensibility through traumatic brain injury and are reliable, single-step methods for on-farm euthanasia of turkeys.

  3. The profitability of automatic milking on Dutch dariy farms

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    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

  4. Assessing the impact on birds of prey of nine established wind farms in Thrace, NE Greece

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Kret, Elzbieta; Carcamo, Beatriz; Zografou, Christina; Vasilakis, Dimitris

    2011-07-01

    Full text: In this study, we evaluate the impact on birds of prey of nine already established wind farms in Thrace, where a large scale wind farm development project of at least 930 MW is under development. Moreover, the area is acknowledged as of high ornithological interest, used for nesting, wintering and passage by rare territorial birds of prey, including the Near Threatened black vultures that use it for foraging. Finally, ca 50% of the wind farm development project area is covered by Natura 2000 sites. During the monitoring (2008-2010), carcass surveys were carried out in order to estimate mortality. In addition, avian space use surveys were carried out, in order to calculate indexes and to establish comparisons with a previous monitoring study run in 2004-05. In total, 14 birds of prey were found dead (one black vulture, four griffon vultures, one booted eagle, two short-toed eagles, one western marsh harrier, one Eurasian sparrow hawk, three common buzzards, one hawk species). The estimated mortality rate was 0.152 birds of prey (including vultures/turbine/year). Griffon vultures, black vultures and common buzzards comprised more than 50% of observations in the study area. Crossing densities between wind turbines were positively correlated with east exposition and the inclination of the slope, and the length of the wind turbines. gaps, while it was negatively correlated with north exposition. The use of the area was more intensive four years after the initial monitoring, but numbers of common buzzard observations drastically decreased. We suggest that during the planning phase of wind farms it is important to avoid steep slopes, east expositions and to take into account the distance between consecutive wind turbines. Our findings indicate that running a post-construction monitoring during only one year may not be enough to properly assess the impact of wind farms on birds of prey. (Author)

  5. Parents' Attitudes to Risk and Injury to Children and Young People on Farms.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nilsson, Kerstin

    2016-01-01

    Children and young people growing up in a farm environment run a greater risk of being injured or dying in an accident than their non-farming counterparts. This study examines farming parents' attitudes and experiences of having their children grow up on farms, one of the most dangerous work environments as their home, everyday environment and playground. Data were collected using two ethnological methods, a question list and interviews, with a study population of 20 parents. The data were analysed phenomenologically. The analysis pursued four themes: i) the most dangerous places and situations on the farm; ii) children's tasks on the farm; iii) children as a safety risk on the farm; and iv) farm risk education for children. Most parents know the risks on their farm, but are sometimes careless when working under stress or exhaustion. Some parents wanted more information and some wanted compulsory preventative or safety measures by manufacturers, e.g. a safety belt as standard on the extra seat in tractors. Children's friends were described as one of the greatest risks for injury due to peer pressure. Some parents mentioned that people who grow up on farms are sometimes 'blind' to the dangers. Other parents seemed to overlook the risks and had their children carrying out tasks for which they were not mentally or physically equipped. Some of the tasks the children reportedly carried out on farms contravened Swedish legislation. It is thus important for farming parents to be repeatedly reminded of the risks to their children and to increase their awareness of how to prevent and eliminate risks in order to avoid accidents on the farm. The situation for farm children is highlighted in a critical discussion.

  6. Parents' Attitudes to Risk and Injury to Children and Young People on Farms.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Kerstin Nilsson

    Full Text Available Children and young people growing up in a farm environment run a greater risk of being injured or dying in an accident than their non-farming counterparts. This study examines farming parents' attitudes and experiences of having their children grow up on farms, one of the most dangerous work environments as their home, everyday environment and playground.Data were collected using two ethnological methods, a question list and interviews, with a study population of 20 parents. The data were analysed phenomenologically.The analysis pursued four themes: i the most dangerous places and situations on the farm; ii children's tasks on the farm; iii children as a safety risk on the farm; and iv farm risk education for children.Most parents know the risks on their farm, but are sometimes careless when working under stress or exhaustion. Some parents wanted more information and some wanted compulsory preventative or safety measures by manufacturers, e.g. a safety belt as standard on the extra seat in tractors. Children's friends were described as one of the greatest risks for injury due to peer pressure. Some parents mentioned that people who grow up on farms are sometimes 'blind' to the dangers. Other parents seemed to overlook the risks and had their children carrying out tasks for which they were not mentally or physically equipped. Some of the tasks the children reportedly carried out on farms contravened Swedish legislation. It is thus important for farming parents to be repeatedly reminded of the risks to their children and to increase their awareness of how to prevent and eliminate risks in order to avoid accidents on the farm. The situation for farm children is highlighted in a critical discussion.

  7. Effect of farming practices and farm history on incidence of coconut ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Management of coconut (Cocos nucifera) lethal yellowing disease (CLYD), which has killed about eight million coconut trees in Mozambique, has proved challenging. The objective of this study was to investigate the impact of farming practices and related history, on the CLYD incidence in Mozambique. The methodology ...

  8. Modification of the Feline-Ality™ Assessment and the Ability to Predict Adopted Cats’ Behaviors in Their New Homes

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Emily Weiss

    2015-02-01

    Full Text Available It is estimated that 2.5 million cats enter animal shelters in the United States every year and as few as 20% leave the shelter alive. Of those adopted, the greatest risk to post-adoption human animal bond is unrealistic expectations set by the adopter. The ASPCA®’s Meet Your Match® Feline-ality™ adoption program was developed to provide adopters with an accurate assessment of an adult cat’s future behavior in the home. However, the original Feline-ality™ required a three-day hold time to collect cat behaviors on a data card, which was challenging for some shelters. This research involved creating a survey to determine in-home feline behavior post adoption and explored the predictive ability of the in-shelter assessment without the data card. Our results show that the original Feline-ality™ assessment and our modified version were predictive of feline behavior post adoption. Our modified version also decreased hold time for cats to one day. Shelters interested in increasing cat adoptions, decreasing length of stay and improving the adoption experience can now implement the modified version for future feline adoption success.

  9. Multi-criteria decision making on strategic selection of wind farms

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Lee, Amy H.I. [Department of Industrial Engineering and System Management, Chung Hua University, Hsinchu (China); Chen, Hsing Hung [Faculty of Management and Administration, Macau University of Science and Technology, Taipa (Macau); Kang, He-Yau [Department of Industrial Engineering and Management, National Chin-Yi University of Technology, Taiping, Taichung (China)

    2009-01-15

    With maturity of advanced technologies and urgent requirement for maintaining a healthy environment with reasonable price, China is moving toward a trend of generating electricity from renewable wind resources. How to select a suitable wind farm becomes an important focus for stakeholders. This paper first briefly introduces wind farm and then develops its critical success criteria. A new multi-criteria decision-making (MCDM) model, based on the analytic hierarchy process (AHP) associated with benefits, opportunities, costs and risks (BOCR), is proposed to help select a suitable wind farm project. Multiple factors that affect the success of wind farm operations are analyzed by taking into account experts' opinions, and a performance ranking of the wind farms is generated. (author)

  10. On Farm Feeding;Replacing Bought in Pig Feed with Home-Grown Straights at Sheepdrove Organic Farm

    OpenAIRE

    Nelder, Rebecca

    2009-01-01

    Organic systems aim to operate in an ecological and economical way, importing cereals grown thousands of miles away, processed at a mill and then transported again to our farms is costly in oil and therefore money. It is neither ecologically nor economically sustainable. British farms are capable of producing a large amount of high quality cereal, the majority of which is usually sold. Transportation and processing of the grain uses oil and leaves farms vulnerable to market prices. If farm...

  11. Employers' Perspective on Childcare Services for Hired Farm Workers.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lee, Barbara C; Salzwedel, Marsha A; Chyou, Po-Huang; Liebman, Amy K

    2017-01-01

    The goal of this project was to protect children while parents work in agriculture by improving off-farm services for children of migrant and seasonal farm workers. Large agricultural enterprises have policies forbidding children in the worksite. At the same time, their employees, who are trying to generate income, seek as many work hours as possible but often lack viable options for childcare services. As employers strive to increase their labor pool, and workers seek off-farm childcare, there is mutual interest in improving access to childcare services in agricultural regions dependent on large numbers of full-time and seasonal workers. This report describes the employers' perspectives on childcare needs of hired farm workers' families and their barriers and motivators to facilitating off-farm childcare services. Using descriptive survey research methodology, data were collected from a convenience sample of 102 agribusiness owners and Human Resource directors attending an agricultural conference regarding labor laws or personnel management. Results revealed significant differences for those companies employing more than 25 workers compared to their counterparts. Primary motivators for offering childcare as an employment benefit were improved employee morale, enhanced company reputation, and a more stable workforce. A major barrier was that half of large-scale enterprises lack guidance on how to provide childcare options for their workers. Survey results are being used to facilitate collaboration among employers, farm workers, and childcare providers to offer a safe, nurturing environment for children while their parents work in agriculture.

  12. "We don't know her history, her background": adoptive parents' perspectives on whole genome sequencing results.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Crouch, Julia; Yu, Joon-Ho; Shankar, Aditi G; Tabor, Holly K

    2015-02-01

    Exome sequencing and whole genome sequencing (ES/WGS) can provide parents with a wide range of genetic information about their children, and adoptive parents may have unique issues to consider regarding possible access to this information. The few papers published on adoption and genetics have focused on targeted genetic testing of children in the pre-adoption context. There are no data on adoptive parents' perspectives about pediatric ES/WGS, including their preferences about different kinds of results, and the potential benefits and risks of receiving results. To explore these issues, we conducted four exploratory focus groups with adoptive parents (N = 26). The majority lacked information about their children's biological family health history and ancestry, and many viewed WGS results as a way to fill in these gaps in knowledge. Some expressed concerns about protecting their children's future privacy and autonomy, but at the same time stated that WGS results could possibly help them be proactive about their children's health. A few parents expressed concerns about the risks of WGS in a pre-adoption context, specifically about decreasing a child's chance of adoption. These results suggest that issues surrounding genetic information in the post-adoption and ES/WGS contexts need to be considered, as well as concerns about risks in the pre-adoption context. A critical challenge for ES/WGS in the context of adoption will be balancing the right to know different kinds of genetic information with the right not to know. Specific guidance for geneticists and genetic counselors may be needed to maximize benefits of WGS while minimizing harms and prohibiting misuse of the information in the adoption process.

  13. Whole Farm Management to Reduce Nutrient Losses From Dairy Farms: A Simulation Study

    OpenAIRE

    Rotz, C.A.; Oenema, J.; Keulen, van, H.

    2006-01-01

    Whole-farm simulation provides a tool for evaluating long-term impacts of nutrient conservation technologies and strategies on dairy farms. A farm simulation model was verified to predict the production and nutrient flows of the De Marke experimental dairy farm in the Netherlands. On this farm, technologies such as a low ammonia emission barn floor, enclosed manure storage, manure injection into the soil, and intraseeding of a grass cover crop on corn land were used to reduce nitrogen loss an...

  14. Study on the Post-Fire Safe-Shutdown Analysis for CANDU NPPs

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Kim, In Hwan; Kim, Yun Jung; Park, Mun Hee [KHNP Central Research Institute, Daejeon (Korea, Republic of)

    2015-10-15

    The purpose of this paper is to study a method of the Post-Fire Safe-Shutdown Analysis in order to apply to CANDU NPPs when one group of the Safety Structures, Systems and Components(SCCs) is failed by Fire. The purpose of Fire Protection is prevention, suppression of the fire and mitigation of the effect on the Nuclear Safety. When fire takes place at the Nuclear Power Plants(NPPs), the reactor should achieve and maintain safe shut-down condition and minimize radioactive material release to an environment. The purpose of the Post-Fire SSA process is an evaluation process during a fire at NPPs. At this study, the process was conceptually adopted for control room complex of CANDU NPPs. The Core Damage Frequency of the Reactor will be evaluated more accurately if the SSA is adopted adequately at a fire.

  15. On a Multiprocessor Computer Farm for Online Physics Data Processing

    CERN Document Server

    Sinanis, N J

    1999-01-01

    The topic of this thesis is the design-phase performance evaluation of a large multiprocessor (MP) computer farm intended for the on-line data processing of the Compact Muon Solenoid (CMS) experiment. CMS is a high energy Physics experiment, planned to operate at CERN (Geneva, Switzerland) during the year 2005. The CMS computer farm is consisting of 1,000 MP computer systems and a 1,000 X 1,000 communications switch. The followed approach to the farm performance evaluation is through simulation studies and evaluation of small prototype systems building blocks of the farm. For the purposes of the simulation studies, we have developed a discrete-event, event-driven simulator that is capable to describe the high-level architecture of the farm and give estimates of the farm's performance. The simulator is designed in a modular way to facilitate the development of various modules that model the behavior of the farm building blocks in the desired level of detail. With the aid of this simulator, we make a particular...

  16. Effects on harbour porpoises from Roedsand 2 Off-shore Wind Farm

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Teilmann, J.; Tougaard, J.; Carstensen, J.

    2012-11-15

    E.ON Vind Sverige has been commissioned the construction of Roedsand 2 Offshore Wind Farm comprising 90 wind turbines, south of Lolland-Falster, Denmark. The location of the wind farm is 3 km west of the existing Nysted Offshore Wind Farm with 72 turbines. In combination the two wind farms represents the largest wind farm area in the world. Porpoises were monitored by automatic acoustic dataloggers (T-PODs) according to a statistical BACI design and deployed during baseline (Sep 2008-Feb 2009) and during operation (Sep 2011-Mar 2012). These instruments were deployed at 10 stations covering a coastal stretch of 35 km from Gedser to Roedby, including the wind farm area with reference areas on both sides. In addition, background noise at four of the T-POD stations was recorded by automatic noise loggers. In order to assess the potential cumulative effect of two adjacent wind farms, similar data from the Nysted Offshore Wind Farm were also analysed. We found no overall change in echolocation activity over the entire monitoring area from baseline to operation of Roedsand 2 Offshore Wind Farm. Also, there was no significant change in the echolocation activity in Roedsand 2 Offshore Wind Farm relative to each or a combination of the three reference areas, i.e. changes from baseline to operation were similar in the impact and reference areas. Also no significant change in noise levels audible to porpoises was found. This could be due to a generally high noise level in the area, masking the turbine noise or that the noise loggers in the wind farm were deployed between the wind turbines, i.e. at distances {approx}350-450 m from the turbines. This study also shows that the echolocation activity is still significantly lower in Nysted Offshore Wind Farm since the baseline in 2001-2002, although the difference seem to gradually diminish possibly due to a habituation of the porpoises to the wind farm or better feeding posibilities. We found no cumulative effect of the two wind

  17. Farm production performance in Russian regions: farm panel data analysis

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Bezlepkina, I.

    2003-01-01

    The Russian agricultural sector has experienced many problems since the beginning of the 1990s that resulted in a fall in farm output. Employing a production function approach and, unlike other studies, farm-level data on more than 20,000 Russian large-scale farms for the period 1995-2000, this

  18. Antimicrobial use on Canadian dairy farms.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Saini, V; McClure, J T; Léger, D; Dufour, S; Sheldon, A G; Scholl, D T; Barkema, H W

    2012-03-01

    Antimicrobial use (AMU) data are critical for formulating policies for containing antimicrobial resistance. The present study determined AMU on Canadian dairy farms and characterized variation in AMU based on herd-level factors such as milk production, somatic cell count, herd size, geographic region and housing type. Drug use data were collected on 89 dairy herds in 4 regions of Canada, Alberta, Ontario, Québec, and the Maritime provinces (Prince Edward Island, New Brunswick, and Nova Scotia) for an average of 540 d per herd. Dairy producers and farm personnel were asked to deposit empty drug containers into specially provided receptacles. Antimicrobial use was measured as antimicrobial drug use rate (ADUR), with the unit being number of animal defined-daily doses (ADD)/1,000 cow-days. Antimicrobial drug use rates were determined at farm, region, and national level. Combined ADUR of all antimicrobial classes was 14.35 ADD/1,000 cow-days nationally. National level ADUR of the 6 most commonly used antimicrobial drug classes, cephalosporins, penicillins, penicillin combinations, tetracyclines, trimethoprim-sulfonamide combinations, and lincosamides were 3.05, 2.56, 2.20, 1.83, 0.87, and 0.84 ADD/1,000 cow-days, respectively. Dairy herds in Ontario were higher users of third-generation cephalosporins (ceftiofur) than in Québec. Alberta dairy herds were higher users of tetracyclines in comparison to Maritimes. Antimicrobial drug use rate was higher via systemic route as compared with intramammary and other routes of administration (topical, oral, and intrauterine). The ADUR of antimicrobials used intramammarily was higher for clinical mastitis treatment than dry cow therapy. For dry cow therapy, penicillin ADUR was greater than ADUR of first-generation cephalosporins. For clinical mastitis treatment, ADUR of intramammary penicillin combinations was greater than ADUR of cephapirin. Herd-level milk production was positively associated with overall ADUR, ADUR of

  19. Role of Pigeonpea Cultivation on Soil Fertility and Farming System Sustainability in Ghana

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    S. Adjei-Nsiah

    2012-01-01

    Full Text Available The productivity of the smallholder farming system in Ghana is under threat due to soil fertility decline. Mineral fertilizer is sparingly being used by smallholder farmers because of prohibitive cost. Grain legumes such as pigeonpea can play a complementary or alternative role as a source of organic fertilizer due to its ability to enhance soil fertility. Despite its importance, the potential of pigeonpea as a soil fertility improvement crop has not been exploited to any appreciable extent and the amount of land cultivated to pigeonpea in Ghana is vey negligible. This paper synthesizes recent studies that have been carried out on pigeonpea in Ghana and discusses the role of pigeonpea cultivation in soil fertility management and its implication for farming system sustainability. The paper shows that recent field studies conducted in both the semi-deciduous forest and the forest/savanna transitional agro-ecological zones of Ghana indicate that pigeonpea/maize rotations can increase maize yield by 75–200%. Barrier to widespread adoption of pigeonpea include land tenure, market, and accessibility to early maturing and high yielding varieties. The paper concludes among other things that in order to promote the cultivation of pigeonpea in Ghana, there is the need to introduce varieties that combine early maturity with high yields and other desirable traits based on farmers preferences.

  20. Stance and strategy: post-structural perspective and post-colonial engagement to develop nursing knowledge.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sochan, Anne M

    2011-07-01

    How should nursing knowledge advance? This exploration contextualizes its evolution past and present. In addressing how it evolved in the past, a probable historical evolution of its development draws on the perspectives of Frank & Gills's World System Theory, Kuhn's treatise on Scientific Revolutions, and Foucault's notions of Discontinuities in scientific knowledge development. By describing plausible scenarios of how nursing knowledge evolved, I create a case for why nursing knowledge developers should adopt a post-structural stance in prioritizing their research agenda(s). Further, by adopting a post-structural stance, I create a case on how nurses can advance their disciplinary knowledge using an engaging post-colonial strategy. Given an interrupted history caused by influence(s) constraining nursing's knowledge development by power structures external, and internal, to nursing, knowledge development can evolve in the future by drawing on post-structural interpretation, and post-colonial strategy. The post-structural writings of Deleuze & Guattari's understanding of 'Nomadology' as a subtle means to resist being constrained by existing knowledge development structures, might be a useful stance to understanding the urgency of why nursing knowledge should advance addressing the structural influences on its development. Furthermore, Bhabha's post-colonial elucidation of 'Hybridity' as an equally discreet means to change the culture of those constraining structures is an appropriate strategy to enact how nursing knowledge developers can engage with existing power structures, and simultaneously influence that engagement. Taken together, 'post-structural stance' and 'post-colonial strategy' can refocus nursing scholarship to learn from its past, in order to develop relevant disciplinary knowledge in its future. © 2011 Blackwell Publishing Ltd.

  1. A decision support system for strategic planning on pig farms

    OpenAIRE

    Backus, Ge B.C.; Timmer, G. Th.; Dijkhuizen, A.A.; Eidman, V.R.; Vos, F.

    1995-01-01

    This paper reported on a decision support system (DSS) for strategic planning on pig farms. The DSS was based . on a stochastic simulation model of investment decisions (ISM). ISM described a farm with one loan and one building using 23 variables. The simulation model calculated the results of a strategic plan for an individual pig farm over a time horizon of a maximum of 20 years for a given scenario. For six distinct replacement strategies, regression metamodels were specified to describe t...

  2. Calculating carbon budgets of wind farms on Scottish peatlands

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    D.R. Nayak

    2010-04-01

    Full Text Available The reliability of calculation methods for the carbon emission savings to be achieved in Scotland by replacing power generated from fossil fuels (and other more conventional sources with that produced by large-scale wind farm developments is a cause for concern, largely in relation to wind farms sited on peatlands. Scottish Government policy is to deliver renewable energy without environmental harm, and to meet biodiversity objectives including the conservation of designated wildlife sites and important habitats such as peatlands. The implications for carbon emissions of developing a wind farm are, therefore, just one aspect of the suite of considerations that the planning system takes into account. This paper presents a simple methodology for prospectively calculating the potential carbon emission savings to be realised by developing wind farms on peatland, forestland or afforested peatland. The total carbon emission savings of an individual wind farm are estimated by accounting emissions from the power source that will be replaced by wind power against: loss of carbon due to production, transportation, erection, operation and dismantling of the wind farm components (the infrastructure overhead; loss of carbon due to backup power generation; loss of carbon stored in peat and forest; loss of carbon-fixing potential of peatland and forest; and carbon savings due to habitat improvement. Most of the carbon losses are determined by national infrastructure, but those from peat soil and plants are influenced by site selection and management practices. The extent of drainage around each constructed element of the wind farm is a major factor for greenhouse gas emissions. Consideration of an example site with a low extent of drainage, where management practices that minimise net carbon losses (e.g. undrained floating roads, habitat improvement and site restoration on decommissioning were used indicates that emissions from the soil and plants may cancel

  3. Integrating gene flow, crop biology, and farm management in on-farm conservation of avocado (Persea americana, Lauraceae).

    Science.gov (United States)

    Birnbaum, Kenneth; Desalle, Rob; Peters, Charles M; Benfey, Philip N

    2003-11-01

    Maintaining crop diversity on farms where cultivars can evolve is a conservation goal, but few tools are available to assess the long-term maintenance of genetic diversity on farms. One important issue for on-farm conservation is gene flow from crops with a narrow genetic base into related populations that are genetically diverse. In a case study of avocado (Persea americana var. americana) in one of its centers of diversity (San Jerónimo, Costa Rica), we used 10 DNA microsatellite markers in a parentage analysis to estimate gene flow from commercialized varieties into a traditional crop population. Five commercialized genotypes comprised nearly 40% of orchard trees, but they contributed only about 14.5% of the gametes to the youngest cohort of trees. Although commercialized varieties and the diverse population were often planted on the same farm, planting patterns appeared to keep the two types of trees separated on small scales, possibly explaining the limited gene flow. In a simulation that combined gene flow estimates, crop biology, and graft tree management, loss of allelic diversity was less than 10% over 150 yr, and selection was effective in retaining desirable alleles in the diverse subpopulation. Simulations also showed that, in addition to gene flow, managing the genetic makeup and life history traits of the invasive commercialized varieties could have a significant impact on genetic diversity in the target population. The results support the feasibility of on-farm crop conservation, but simulations also showed that higher levels of gene flow could lead to severe losses of genetic diversity even if farmers continue to plant diverse varieties.

  4. Technology Adoption and Productivity Difference among Growers of New Rice for Africa in Savanna Zone of Nigeria

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Rahji, MAY.

    2009-01-01

    Full Text Available The use of New Rice for Africa (NERICA and complementary rice production technology is being promoted by Nigeria government in order to increase productivity of upland rice farming. This study examines the levels, determinants and effects of complementary technology adoption on productivity of NERICA rice farming. Data for the study were obtained from sample survey of 227 NERICA rice farmers in the guinea savanna zone using multistage sampling technique. Data collected were analyzed using Tobit regression model and Cobb-Douglas production function. Results showed that the average technology score was 52.1 percent (+ 0.242. Fifty-five percent of the farmers who scored above the mean were categorized as low technology users. Tobit regression estimation shows that farmers' technology score was affected significantly (P< 0.05 by farmer's level of education (0.0127, extension visit (0.0145, farming experience (0.0085, land ownership status (0.0687, credit use (0.0698 and level of rice commercialization (0.3783. Cobb-Douglas production estimation shows a neutrally outward shift in production function as the level of complementary technology increases, indicating increasing productivity. Thus, promotion of complementary technology in NERICA rice production is a worthwhile effort and should continue to be funded. Improvement of those factors that significantly affect adoption of complementary technology is recommended.

  5. The contamination on farm products from 125I

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Zhao Wenhu; Xu Shiming; Hou Lanxin

    1990-02-01

    The 125 I contamination on 15 farm products have been investigated. The effects of 12 farm crops (wheat, bean, eggplants and other vegetables) contaminated by 125 I during the growing stage on their fruits and seeds have been studied. The results show that the 125 I radioactive substance is mainly concentrated on the fruit surface, and the radioactivity rapidly decreased towards its kernel. The fruits and seeds would not be contaminated when plants were contaminated in the seedling stage

  6. On-Farm Demonstrations with a Set of Good Agricultural Practices (GAPs Proved Cost-Effective in Reducing Pre-Harvest Aflatoxin Contamination in Groundnut

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Vijayaraju Parimi

    2018-01-01

    Full Text Available Aflatoxin contamination in groundnut is an important qualitative issue posing a threat to food safety. In our present study, we have demonstrated the efficacy of certain good agricultural practices (GAPs in groundnut, such as farmyard manure (5 t/ha, gypsum (500 kg/ha, a protective irrigation at 90 days after sowing (DAS, drying of pods on tarpaulins after harvest in farmers’ fields. During 2013–2015, 89 on-farm demonstrations were conducted advocating GAPs, and compared with farmers’ practices (FP plots. Farmers’ awareness of GAPs, and knowledge on important aspects of groundnut cultivation, were also assessed during our experimentation in the selected villages under study. Pre-harvest kernel infection by Aspergillus flavus, aflatoxin contamination, and pod yields were compared in GAPs plots, vis-à-vis FP plots. The cost of cultivation in both the plots was calculated and compared, based on farmer’s opinion surveys. Results indicate kernel infections and aflatoxins were significantly lower, with 13–58% and 62–94% reduction, respectively, in GAPs plots over FP. Further, a net gain of around $23 per acre was realized through adoption of GAPs by farmers besides quality improvement of groundnuts. Based on our results, it can be concluded that on-farm demonstrations were the best educative tool to convince the farmers about the cost-effectiveness, and adoptability of aflatoxin management technologies.

  7. Falta Petroleo! Perspectives on the emergence of a more ecological farming and food system in post-crisis Cuba

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Wright, J.

    2005-01-01

    Keywords: ecological / organic / agriculture / transition / farming systems / co-operatives / Cuba / food security / food system / institutional learning / crisis / rural livelihoods / coping strategies / localisation

    This research takes as its

  8. Assessment of herd management on organic and conventional dairy farms in the United States.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Stiglbauer, K E; Cicconi-Hogan, K M; Richert, R; Schukken, Y H; Ruegg, P L; Gamroth, M

    2013-02-01

    The objective of this study was to evaluate management characteristics on organic and similarly sized conventional dairy farms located in New York, Wisconsin, and Oregon. Data from 192 organic farms (ORG), 64 conventional nongrazing farms (CON-NG), and 36 conventional grazing farms (CON-GR) were collected during farm visits and were size-matched and analyzed. The average lactation number of animals on ORG and CON-GR farms was 2.6 lactations, which was greater than that on CON-NG farms (2.3 lactations). A greater percentage of first-lactation heifers were found on conventional farms than on ORG farms. Facilities used by adult animals, including housing and milking facilities, did not differ among the grazing systems. Cattle on conventional farms were fed approximately twice as much grain as cattle on ORG farms and had greater milk production. Little difference was found for the average reported somatic cell count and standard plate count, suggesting that milk quality is not dependent on grazing system. Milking procedures were similar across all 3 grazing systems, indicating that an industry standard now exists for milking and that milk quality problems will need to be addressed with other management problems in mind. Although some disease prevention measures were commonly utilized on ORG farms, such as keeping a closed herd and having a written record of treatments administered to the animals, the use of outside support and vaccinations were found to be less prevalent on organic farms than on conventional farms. Copyright © 2013 American Dairy Science Association. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  9. On-farm conservation of Zaer lentil genetic resources

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    N. Benbrahim

    2018-01-01

    Full Text Available Zaer lentil has been on-farm conserved thanks to farmers’ knowledges and practices add to its genetic diversity. Its notoriety is related to its specific adaptation and organoleptic traits. The main objective of this study is to identify farmers’ practices that have allowed a dynamic adaptation potential and an add value on quality product. It was based on (1 farmers’ survey on seed management system, (2 Zaer lentil genetic diversity analysis using agro-morphological traits and (3 technological and nutritional analysis. The results show that the on-farm conservation of Zaer lentil is linked to its specific adaptation related to seed production and seed exchange system, to its genetic diversity (21.7% on farmers’ category and growing season climate, and to its typical organoleptic characteristics. The adding-value of Zaer lentil under a distinctive sign of origin and quality (IG since 2015 might strengthen its on-farm conservation.

  10. Farmers’ Preference for Rice Traits: Insights from Farm Surveys in Central Luzon, Philippines, 1966-2012

    Science.gov (United States)

    Laborte, Alice G.; Paguirigan, Neale C.; Moya, Piedad F.; Nelson, Andrew; Sparks, Adam H.; Gregorio, Glenn B.

    2015-01-01

    Many modern rice varieties (MVs) have been released but only a few have been widely adopted by farmers. To understand farmers’ preferences, we characterized MVs released in the Philippines from 1966 to 2013 and identified important characteristics of the varieties that were widely adopted in Central Luzon using farm surveys conducted in 1966–2012. We found that farmers adopt MVs that are high yielding, mature faster, and have long and slender grains, high milling recovery, and intermediate amylose content. The amylose content of adopted varieties has been declining, suggesting value in developing softer rice. To have a high potential for adoption, new MVs should have characteristics within the ranges of values observed for the adopted MVs. In addition, new MVs should have higher head rice recovery, less chalky grains, and better resistance to pests and diseases. Most MVs released in 2005–2013 compared poorly in these three traits. To reduce the risk of severe outbreaks, broad spectrum resistance should be incorporated into new MVs. This analysis of five decades of farm surveys provides insights into the varietal characteristics preferred by farmers which could contribute to the establishment of a product profile for developing improved MVs that are more targeted and, hence, would have high potential for adoption by farmers in Central Luzon and similar areas. We recommend a similar analysis be done in other major rice growing regions to aid the development of MVs that are more responsive to farmers’ needs and preferences. PMID:26317505

  11. A Wind Farm Electrical Systems Evaluation with EeFarm-II

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Pierik, J.; Axelsson, U.; Eriksson, E.; Salomonsson, D.; Bauer, P.; Czech, B.

    2010-01-01

    EeFarm-II is used to evaluate 13 different electrical systems for a 200 MW wind farm with a 100 km connection to shore. The evaluation is based on component manufacturer data of 2009. AC systems are compared to systems with DC connections inside the wind farm and DC connection to shore. Two options

  12. Potential for biogas on farms in the UK (1990 update)

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Mosey, F.E.

    1991-01-01

    In a previous report, the potential for generating renewable energy as biogas on farms in the UK using a new generation of 'package plant' anaerobic digestion units was investigated. It was concluded that the digestion technology was rugged and reliable but rather expensive for general farm use. An update report is presented to determine whether anaerobic digester design concepts, increasing environmental constraints on farm waste disposal and the Electricity Industry's Non-Fossil Fuel Obligation has modified these conclusions. (UK)

  13. An empirical analysis of ERP adoption by oil and gas firms

    Science.gov (United States)

    Romero, Jorge

    2005-07-01

    Despite the growing popularity of enterprise-resource-planning (ERP) systems for the information technology infrastructure of large and medium-sized businesses, there is limited empirical evidence on the competitive benefits of ERP implementations. Case studies of individual firms provide insights but do not provide sufficient evidence to draw reliable inferences and cross-sectional studies of firms in multiple industries provide a broad-brush perspective of the performance effects associated with ERP installations. To narrow the focus to a specific competitive arena, I analyze the impact of ERP adoption on various dimensions of performance for firms in the Oil and Gas Industry. I selected the Oil and Gas Industry because several companies installed a specific type of ERP system, SAP R/3, during the period from 1990 to 2002. In fact, SAP was the dominant provider of enterprise software to oil and gas companies during this period. I evaluate performance of firms that implemented SAP R/3 relative to firms that did not adopt ERP systems in the pre-implementation, implementation and post-implementation periods. My analysis takes two different approaches, the first from a financial perspective and the second from a strategic perspective. Using the Sloan (General Motors) model commonly applied in financial statement analysis, I examine changes in performance for ERP-adopting firms versus non-adopting firms along the dimensions of asset utilization and return on sales. Asset utilization is more closely aligned with changes in leanness of operations, and return on sales is more closely aligned with customer-value-added. I test hypotheses related to the timing and magnitude of the impact of ERP implementation with respect to leanness of operations and customer value added. I find that SAP-adopting companies performed relatively better in terms of asset turnover than non-SAP-adopting companies during both the implementation and post-implementation periods and that SAP-adopting

  14. Adoption of Innovation from the Business Sector by Post-Primary Education Organizations

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hazzan, Orit; Zelig, Dafna

    2016-01-01

    Business organizations adopt innovation with the objective of meeting competition and improving their business performance; education organizations, likewise, operate in a competitive environment, are evaluated by stakeholders, and adopt innovation. The research presented here links these two sectors; its objective was to characterize the process…

  15. Modification of the Feline-Ality™ Assessment and the Ability to Predict Adopted Cats’ Behaviors in Their New Homes

    Science.gov (United States)

    Weiss, Emily; Gramann, Shannon; Drain, Natasha; Dolan, Emily; Slater, Margaret

    2015-01-01

    Simple Summary While millions of cats enter animal shelters every year, only 11.5% of pet cats are obtained from a shelter in the United States. Previous research has indicated that unrealistic expectations set by adopters can increase the chances of an adopted cat returning to the shelter. The ASPCA®’s Meet Your Match® Feline-ality™ adoption program was designed to provide adopters with accurate information about an adult cat’s future behavior in the home. This research explored the ability of the modified Feline-ality™ assessment when done one day after the cat entered the shelter. Our modified version was predictive of feline behavior post adoption. Abstract It is estimated that 2.5 million cats enter animal shelters in the United States every year and as few as 20% leave the shelter alive. Of those adopted, the greatest risk to post-adoption human animal bond is unrealistic expectations set by the adopter. The ASPCA®’s Meet Your Match® Feline-ality™ adoption program was developed to provide adopters with an accurate assessment of an adult cat’s future behavior in the home. However, the original Feline-ality™ required a three-day hold time to collect cat behaviors on a data card, which was challenging for some shelters. This research involved creating a survey to determine in-home feline behavior post adoption and explored the predictive ability of the in-shelter assessment without the data card. Our results show that the original Feline-ality™ assessment and our modified version were predictive of feline behavior post adoption. Our modified version also decreased hold time for cats to one day. Shelters interested in increasing cat adoptions, decreasing length of stay and improving the adoption experience can now implement the modified version for future feline adoption success. PMID:26479138

  16. Management practices for male calves on Canadian dairy farms.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Renaud, D L; Duffield, T F; LeBlanc, S J; Haley, D B; Kelton, D F

    2017-08-01

    Morbidity, mortality, and antimicrobial use and resistance are major concerns in the rearing of male dairy calves, so information to support disease prevention is important. The objective of this cross-sectional study was to describe management practices associated with the care of male calves during their first days of life on Canadian dairy farms. A survey was completed by dairy producers across Canada between March 1 and April 30, 2015. The survey included 192 questions covering producer background, farm characteristics, biosecurity practices, disease prevalence, calf health, animal welfare, lameness, milking hygiene, reproduction, and Internet and social media use. A total of 1,025 surveys were completed online, by telephone, or by mail, representing 9% of all dairy farms in Canada. Five percent of respondents (n = 49) answered that they had euthanized at least 1 male calf at birth in the previous year, and blunt force trauma was commonly used in these cases. The majority of respondents always fed colostrum to male calves; however, 9% (n = 80) did not always feed colostrum. Almost 40% (n = 418) of respondents reported always dipping the navels of male calves, 12% (n = 123) vaccinated male calves, and 17% (n = 180) did not provide the same quantity of feed to male calves as heifer calves. The care of male calves differed greatly depending on the geographical region of the respondents. However, some regional effects may be confounded by economic conditions and the logistics of marketing male dairy calves in different parts of the country. Herd size was another important variable in many aspects of the management of male calves on dairy farms. Larger herd sizes were more likely to use an appropriate method of euthanasia at birth but were less likely to always feed colostrum to their male calves or feed them the same as female calves. Familiarity with the Code of Practice for the Care and Handling of Dairy Cattle (National Farm Animal Care Council) by respondents

  17. Post-colonial agricultural participation in livelihood strengthening

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Chigozie Azunna

    2018-01-01

    Full Text Available Post-colonial agricultural initiatives, programmes and models in Nigeria are aimed at empowering rural farmers to better yields and productivity while creating employment at community level. It necessitates food security, quality domestic food production and improvement in general welfare and livelihood and the farmers. The post-colonial era in Nigeria has witnessed numerous agricultural programmes. Example includes but not the least, the National Accelerated Food Production Project (NAFPP 1972, Agricultural Development Projects, ADPs 1975, the Accelerated Development Area Project ADAP 1982, and the Multi-state Agricultural Development Projects MSADP 1986. The application of PEA in AVM ensures that positive outcomes and productions are expected through increase in farmers' awareness of modern technologies and practices. AVM is a multidisciplinary and multidimensional approach to improve the livelihood of rice farmers. Structured questionnaire and face to face interview were used to collect the data and SPSS was used to analyse the data. Human livelihood capital is characterized as a two-way thing, that is, it is concerned with both environmental influence on human life and human influences on the environment, focusing on the nature and quality of the relationship that exists between human communities and the ecosystem and how the environment provides the resource base for human existence. AVM prompted a shift from the usual way of financing farm projects to government involvement and providing farmers with information on how to secure loans, credit and financial incentives. Therefore, the study conclude that the introduction and adoption of AVM brought about substantial changes to the farmers livelihood capitals.

  18. Saving water? : analysis of options for rice-based farms in Tamil Nadu, India

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Senthilkumar, K.

    2008-01-01

    Keywords: Modified rice cultivation, Water-saving, Farm typology, Technology adoption, Policy interventions, Farmers livelihoods, Resource use efficiency and Linear programming.

    The looming water crisis and water-intensive nature of rice cultivation are driving the search for alternative

  19. Incidence of unintentional injuries in farming based on one year of weekly registration in Danish farms

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Rasmussen, K; Carstensen, Ole; Lauritsen, J M

    2000-01-01

    In Denmark, farming ranks as the industry with the highest incidence rate of fatal injuries. For nonfatal injuries, insufficient registration practices prevent valid comparisons between occupations. This study examines the occurrence of farm accidents and injuries, as well as work-specific factors......, via weekly registration in a representative sample of 393 farms in one county during 1 year....

  20. Reducing non-allocative costs on Danish dairy farms

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Lund, Mogens; Jacobsen, Brian H.; Hansen, Lars C.E.

    1993-01-01

    inefficiencies are far more important for dairy farms than inefficiencies due to sub-optimal farm size. Non-proportional reductions are shown to be as important as reductions due to scale economies. The paper closes with a discussion of the implications for farm policy and management practice....

  1. Transfer of 137Cs to cow's milk: investigations on dairy farms in Sweden

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Karlen, G.; Johanson, K.J.; Bertilsson, J.

    1995-01-01

    Since 1986, the year of the nuclear accident at Chernobyl, 137 Cs activity concentrations in cow's milk on dairy farms were studied in Sweden. Transfer coefficients, F m , of 137 Cs from pasture and fodder to cow's milk were determined on farms in the counties of Uppsala, Gaevleborg and Vaestmanland in central Sweden for one month on winter-fodder, and for the first month in 1987 and 1988 on pasture. The average F m for all investigations (of 10 farms on winter-fodder and 11 farms on pasture in 1987 and 4 farms on pasture in 1988) south of Gaevle was estimated to be 0.0055 with a range of 0.0039 to 0.0080. The 137 Cs activity concentration in milk decreased with time. In summer 1992 and 1993, 137 Cs in milk, on the farms still producing milk, was determined. On these farms, 137 Cs activity concentration in milk was found to be -1 . The effective ecological half-life from 1987 was estimated to be 1.4 ± 0.5(sd) years for milk from 10 farms with a range of 0.8-2.0 years. One farm where 137 Cs milk decreased at a slower rate, or not at all, used semi-natural and uncultivated pasture, forest meadows. On intensely managed farms, where potassium fertilizer was distributed, ploughing was performed and, in 1986, forage was cut at a higher stubble-height, the decrease of 137 Cs in milk was observed to be faster. (Author)

  2. Appraisal of Farm Forestry Department around Tinderet Forest

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Nyambati, R.O; Koech, C.K; Muok, G

    2007-01-01

    Tinderet forest is one of the most important catchment areas of lake victoria. It is the main source of numerous springs, streams, and rivers that flow into the lake. The forest is also an important habitat for wide variety of water plants and animal species. Although the forest is gazetted as a forest reserve, it has undergone different levels of degradation due to over exploitation of timber, posts, firewood, charcoal and honey by the community living next to the forest. Resource from the forest supplement the communities' meagre income from subsistence farming. A survey was conducted in four Divisions (Chichila, Kipkelion, Fort-Tanan and Tinderet) around the forest to evaluate the status of farm forestry development and underlying reasons for encroachment in the forest. The results showed that, 61% of the people around Tinderet forest were settlers, whose duration of settlement is between 30-40 years. Most farmers were involved in various forms of farming (livestock or crop production) but forestry was not reported as a major activity. Clearing for livestock and crop production, timber for construction and firewood are the main causes of vegetation depletion on farms. Upto 60% of the households were not self reliant on wood products mainly timber and firewood and Fort-Tana (78%) and Kipkelion (70%) were the most affected. Forestry extension services were mainly provided by the Ministry of Agriculture and East African Wildlife Society (EAWS) and were found to be poor on the ground. Other issues that hampered forest development are inadequate provision of germplasm (seed and seedlings). There is therefore a need to build the capacity of the community in the farm forestry through establishment of nurseries and provision of adequate extension services. This would contribute to enhancement of self-reliance in wood products and increased income reducing encroachment into the gazetted forest

  3. Women's health, equality and empowerment in tobacco farming - findings from two counties in Yunnan, China

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Weilin Jie

    2018-03-01

    Full Text Available Background Research takes place in Yunnan, the most important tobacco producing province in China, to gather empirical evidence of women´s role in tobacco farming. Methods Research adopts mixed methods. Quantitative data was collected with structured questionnaire while qualitative data was obtained through individual interviews and focus group discussions. Participatory research method was employed as well in order to better understand the workload of women. Due to sensitivity of tobacco control in Yunnan, respondents had to be reached through personal contacts. Thus a convenience sampling method was used. The information was collected from a sample of 436 female tobacco farmers in two counties in October - November 2015. Results Women spend 50% of working hours on tobacco farming. In tobacco farming season, women work 16+ hours a day and on average they spend 2-3 hours more than their husbands on tobacco farming. 50.1% of respondents had to hire temporary help and 58.0% had to exchange labour (without pay with neighbours / relatives for tobacco farming. 62.4% of respondents borrowed money for tobacco farming. The average income from tobacco farming is US$1,490, accounting for about 26-35% of the household income. Respondents experienced discomforts while growing and picking tobacco leaf, but did not associate these discomforts with tobacco farming. 50.5% of respondents were not aware of negative health effect of tobacco farming. There is no mechanism or entity representing tobacco farmers to bargain with the tobacco corporation. Instead, farmers lost autonomy over farming activity under the pressure of both government and tobacco corporation. Women are even more vulnerable because they rarely participate in decision making at community and above levels although they have significant power over family finance and household farming activity.. Conclusions Being at the bottom of exploitation chain, women lack awarness, knowledge, resource and

  4. Centralized configuration system for a large scale farm of network booted computers

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ballestrero, S.; Brasolin, F.; Dârlea, G.-L.; Dumitru, I.; Scannicchio, D. A.; Twomey, M. S.; Vâlsan, M. L.; Zaytsev, A.

    2012-12-01

    The ATLAS trigger and data acquisition online farm is composed of nearly 3,000 computing nodes, with various configurations, functions and requirements. Maintaining such a cluster is a big challenge from the computer administration point of view, thus various tools have been adopted by the System Administration team to help manage the farm efficiently. In particular, a custom central configuration system, ConfDBv2, was developed for the overall farm management. The majority of the systems are network booted, and are running an operating system image provided by a Local File Server (LFS) via the local area network (LAN). This method guarantees the uniformity of the system and allows, in case of issues, very fast recovery of the local disks which could be used as scratch area. It also provides greater flexibility as the nodes can be reconfigured and restarted with a different operating system in a very timely manner. A user-friendly web interface offers a quick overview of the current farm configuration and status, allowing changes to be applied on selected subsets or on the whole farm in an efficient and consistent manner. Also, various actions that would otherwise be time consuming and error prone can be quickly and safely executed. We describe the design, functionality and performance of this system and its web-based interface, including its integration with other CERN and ATLAS databases and with the monitoring infrastructure.

  5. Assessment of shrimp farming impact on groundwater quality using analytical hierarchy process

    Science.gov (United States)

    Anggie, Bernadietta; Subiyanto, Arief, Ulfah Mediaty; Djuniadi

    2018-03-01

    Improved shrimp farming affects the groundwater quality conditions. Assessment of shrimp farming impact on groundwater quality conventionally has less accuracy. This paper presents the implementation of Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) method for assessing shrimp farming impact on groundwater quality. The data used is the impact data of shrimp farming in one of the regions in Indonesia from 2006-2016. Criteria used in this study were 8 criteria and divided into 49 sub-criteria. The weighting by AHP performed to determine the importance level of criteria and sub-criteria. Final priority class of shrimp farming impact were obtained from the calculation of criteria's and sub-criteria's weights. The validation was done by comparing priority class of shrimp farming impact and water quality conditions. The result show that 50% of the total area was moderate priority class, 37% was low priority class and 13% was high priority class. From the validation result impact assessment for shrimp farming has been high accuracy to the groundwater quality conditions. This study shows that assessment based on AHP has a higher accuracy to shrimp farming impact and can be used as the basic fisheries planning to deal with impacts that have been generated.

  6. Social Skills in Children Adopted from Socially-Emotionally Depriving Institutions

    OpenAIRE

    Julian, Megan M.; McCall, Robert B.

    2015-01-01

    This study assessed social skills in post-institutionalized (PI) children with respect to age-at-adoption, age-at-assessment, and gender. Parent ratings of social skills (Social Skills Rating System) and behavior problems (Child Behavior Checklist) were obtained for 214 children and 127 adolescents who were adopted from socially-emotionally depriving Russian institutions. Results showed that children adopted before 18 months of age have better social skills than those adopted after this age; ...

  7. Factors Influencing Farmers’ Adoption of Soil and Water Control Technology (SWCT in Keita Valley, a Semi-Arid Area of Niger

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Boureima Yacouba Karidjo

    2018-01-01

    Full Text Available The AderDoutchiMaggia in Niger, as with other Sahelian zones, undergoes a process of climatic deterioration, which combines with the growing social and economic needs of the increasing population and causes a general economic crisis. Land degradation due to biophysical factors requires that priority action be given to land reclamation and soil conservation and to activities intended to increase agricultural production. This paper takes a look at socio-economic and established factors affecting the adoption of soil and water control technology (SWCT in Keita valley, a semi-arid area in the central of Niger. Well-designed questionnaire survey on key agents was used to gather the indispensable data from farm ménages. The binary dichotomous logistic regression model prognosticated six factors to be affecting the adoption of soil and water control technology in Keita. These variables cover the gender of the respondent, age of the household’s head, income evolution within the family, small craft referring to off farm income, training provide by local institutions, use of credit and, possession of full rights on land and its resources. The results revealed that diffusion of adoption from local organized community is a good alternative to increase the adoption of soil and water control technology in Keita valley agriculture system in Niger. Researchers and policy makers should conceive proper strategies and agenda reflecting the farmers’ interest, position and restriction in advocating new technologies for greater assumption and adoption by the farmers.

  8. Whole farm management to reduce nutrient losses from dairy farms: a simulation study

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Rotz, C.A.; Oenema, J.; Keulen, van H.

    2003-01-01

    Whole farm simulation provides a tool for evaluating the impact of nutrient conservation technologies and strategies on dairy farms. A farm simulation model was verified by simulating the production and nutrient flows of the De Marke experimental dairy farm in the Netherlands. Technology such as a

  9. Nitrogen Turnover on Organic and Conventional Mixed Farms

    OpenAIRE

    Halberg, Niels; Kristensen, Erik Steen; Kristensen, Ib Sillebak

    1995-01-01

    Separate focus on crop fertilization or feeding practices inadequately describes nitrogen (N) loss from mixed dairy farms because of (1) interaction between animal and crop production and between the production system and the manager, and (2) uncertainties of herd N production and crop N utilization. Therefore a systems approach was used to study N turnover and N efficiency on 16 conventional and 14 organic private Danish farms with mixed animal (dairy) and crop production. There were signifi...

  10. Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus in pigs and farm workers on conventional and antibiotic-free swine farms in the USA.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Tara C Smith

    Full Text Available Much uncertainty remains about the origin and public health implications of livestock-associated methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (LA-MRSA. This study aimed to investigate the occurrence and prevalence of MRSA in general and LA-MRSA in particular in pigs and farm workers in five states. We collected nasal swabs from pigs and farm workers at 45 swine herds (21 antibiotic-free herds; 24 conventional herds in Illinois, Iowa, Minnesota, North Carolina and Ohio. MRSA was isolated from 50 of 1085 pigs (4.6% and 31 of 148 (20.9% of farm workers. MRSA-positive pigs and people were clustered in four conventional swine farms in Iowa and Illinois. Based on genotyping, spa type t034, a common livestock associated variant, was predominant among both human and swine isolates. These results confirm the presence of LA-MRSA in pigs and swine farm workers in the USA, but the prevalence found is relatively low compared with European studies.

  11. Effects of the Horns Reef wind farm on harbour porpoises

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Tougaard, J.; Teilmann, J.; Rye Hansen, J.

    2004-09-01

    Horns Reef offshore wind farm was established in 2002. It consists of 80 2 MW wind turbines, mounted on steel monopile foundations. A harbour porpoise monitoring program was set up in connection with the environmental impact assessment (EIA) of the wind farm project. This monitoring program started in 1999 with collection of baseline data and has continued though construction and operational period. The program continues through 2005. Baseline studies showed that harbour porpoises are abundant in the area, including the area where the wind farm is now located. Significant effects on behaviour and distribution of the porpoises were observed during the construction of the wind farm. Changes could be linked to pile driving operations, where monopile foundations were rammed into the seabed. This procedure produced high levels of underwater noise and mitigation procedures in the form of a ramp up procedure and deployment of acoustic alarms were employed. During the construction period very few animals were observed inside the wind farm area. Acoustic monitoring data showed a significant increase in waiting time between porpoise encounters in connection with pile driving operations, followed by a rapid return to levels normal for the construction period as a whole. However, when the entire construction period was considered as a whole, T-POD activity increased relative to baseline. Observations during operation of the wind farm in 2003 showed a return to baseline levels on most of the indicators derived from the acoustic monitoring and animals were again seen inside the wind farm area. (au)

  12. The effect of organic farming systems on species diversity

    Science.gov (United States)

    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.

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

    Science.gov (United States)

    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

  14. Prevalence of and risk factors for Listeria species on dairy farms.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Vilar, M J; Yus, E; Sanjuán, M L; Diéguez, F J; Rodríguez-Otero, J L

    2007-11-01

    This cross-sectional study determined the prevalence of Listeria spp. in bulk-tank milk on dairy farms in the region of Galicia in northwest Spain. The aim was to identify management practices associated with the presence of Listeria spp. and possible effects on milk hygienic quality. A total of 98 farms was randomly selected on the basis of an expected prevalence of 6.5% for Listeria monocytogenes from 20,107 dairy farms in the region. Bulk-tank milk samples were obtained from 98 farms, fecal samples from lactating cows from 97 farms, and silage samples from 83 farms. Listeria monocytogenes was detected in 6.1, 9.3, and 6.0% of these samples, respectively. Statistical analyses confirmed the relationship between low silage quality (as indicated by high pH) and presence of Listeria spp. in silage (29.5 vs. 6.2% for pH above or below 4.5, respectively). Only milking system [tie-stall systems (28.6%) vs. parlor milking (10%)] and inadequately controlled milking order [yes (32.0%) vs. no (10.7%)] had statistically significant effects on management practices for increasing the risk of Listeria contamination of bulk-tank milk.

  15. Water resource protection in Australia: Links between land use and river health with a focus on stubble farming systems

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bowmer, Kathleen H.

    2011-06-01

    SummaryStubble farming (conservation farming, minimum tillage, zero tillage) has increased in Australia over several decades with claims of improved productivity, landscape stability and environmental benefit including ecosystem services downstream, yet recent audits show a dramatic and general decline in river health. This review explores explanations for this apparent anomaly. Many confounding factors complicate interactions between land use and river condition and may disguise or over-ride the potential benefits of adoption of stubble systems or other improvements in agricultural land use practice. These factors include climate change and variability; land use changes including an increase in bushfires, growth of farm dams and afforestation; lag times between land use change and expression of benefits in river systems; use of inappropriate scale that disguises local benefit; variations in the extent of ecosystem resilience; impacts of river regulation; and impacts of introduced species. Additionally, the value of river condition and utility is complicated by different local or regional perceptions and by contrasting rural and urban outlooks. The use of indicators, risk frameworks and biophysical modelling may help elucidate the complex relationships between land use and downstream ecosystem impact. The strengthening of local, regional and catchment scale approaches is advocated. This includes the re-integration of land management and governance with water management and planning. It is encouraging that farmers are themselves developing systems to optimise trade-offs between on-farm activities and ecosystem service benefits. This approach needs to be supported and extended.

  16. Wind farm related mortality among avian migrants - a remote sensing study and model analysis

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Desholm, M

    2006-11-15

    This thesis is the result of a PhD study on bird-wind farm collisions and consists of a synopsis, five published papers, one submitted manuscript and another ready for submission. The papers describe the findings from pre- and post-construction visual, radar and thermal imaging studies (1999-2006) of migrating birds at the Nysted offshore wind farm in the Baltic Sea, Denmark. This thesis poses and answers the following questions: a) what hazard factors do offshore wind farming pose to wild birds, b) how should one choose the key focal species to study, c) how can remote sensing techniques be applied to the study of bird wind farm interactions, and d) specifically, how do water birds react when approaching an offshore wind farm? The main aim of the study was the development of a predictive bird-wind farm collision model that incorporates the avoidance rate of birds at multiple scales. Out of 235,136 migrating sea ducks only 47 individuals were predicted to collide with the wind turbine rotor-blades, equivalent to an overall mean collision risk of c. 0.02%. This thesis shows the added value of modelling in supplementing sound empirical studies in accessing the effects of major human development pressures on migratory bird populations. (au)

  17. Can selection explain the protective effects of farming on asthma?

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Wijnand Eduard

    2015-09-01

    No healthy worker selection into farming was observed and changes in asthma prevalence due to early retirement were small. Selection effects are therefore unlikely to explain the protective effects of farming on asthma.

  18. Institutional Regime, Off-Farm Employment, and the Interaction Effect: What are the Determinants of Households’ Forestland Transfer in China?

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Han Zhang

    2017-10-01

    Full Text Available The development of the land rental market has been widely attributed to the associated institutional regime and the functioning of the off-farm labor market. However, little is known of the interaction effect of these two factors. To fill this gap, we employ a nationwide representative household dataset to investigate the effects of China’s collective forest tenure reform (CFTR and off-farm employment on forestland transfer in China. Special interest is focused on their potential interaction effect. The Smith-Blundell instrumental variable tobit model is adopted to account for the endogeneity of off-farm employment. The estimation results show that both the tenure reform and off-farm employment significantly influence forestland transactions. However, compared to the positive effect of the reform on both renting in and renting out forestland, the effect of off-farm employment is mixed, that is, its effect is negative when forestland is rented in but positive on rent-out decisions. An important finding is that the CFTR imposes a negative enhancement effect on forestland rent-in through its interaction term with off-farm employment. In contrast, the enhancement effect on rent-out is not statistically significant, which may be due to the neutralization by the endowment effect of the CFTR.

  19. INTERNET USE ADOPTION AMONG ACADEMICIANS: Comparing Innovative Adopters and Other Adopter Types

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Norbayah BTE MOHD SUKI

    2006-04-01

    Full Text Available Online shopping represents an innovation to be adopted or rejected by online consumersglobally. Previous experiences and knowledge of innovation are the main factors affectingpeople’s willingness to adopt a new innovation. We explore how Internet use differsbetween academicians who are innovative adopters and other types of adopters.Academicians who are innovative adopters are hypothesized to: have more years of experience on online shopping, have greater frequency of purchase, and pay a higher price for items purchased online.Data were collected from 301 respondents. Results provide new perspective on innovativeadopters among Malaysian academicians; they have less experience than other adopters inshopping for products online, make fewer purchases online and pay small amount ofmoney in shopping for products online than other adopters. Directions for future research are also discussed.

  20. The impact of shrimp farming on mangrove ecosystems

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Ashton, Elizabeth Clare

    2008-01-01

    . Policy to position shrimp farms behind mangroves can be effective but also requires good institutional capacity and coordination, effective enforcement, incentives, land tenure and participation of all stakeholders for success. Better management practices have been identified which reduce impacts......Farmed shrimp production and value continue to increase with Asia producing the global majority of shrimp and the USA, Japan and Europe being the main importers. Shrimp farming systems are very diverse in their management, size and impacts. There are many causes for mangrove loss but the conversion...... of mangroves to shrimp farms has caused considerable attention. The major issues of shrimp farming include the loss of important ecological and socio-economic functions of mangrove ecosystems, changes in hydrology, salinization, introduction of non-native species and diseases, pollution from effluents...

  1. Information networks that generate economic value: A study on clusters of adopters of new or improved technologies and practices among oil palm growers in Mexico

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Aguilar-Gallegos, N.; Muñoz-Rodríguez, M.; Santoyo-Cortés, H.; Aguilar-Ávila, J.; Klerkx, L.W.A.

    2015-01-01

    The area under cultivation of oil palm has undergone considerable growth in Mexico, but yields are far below their potential. This is related to the low rate of adoption of new or improved technologies and practices in areas such as plantation management and farm administration. This study

  2. Energy demand on dairy farms in Ireland.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Upton, J; Humphreys, J; Groot Koerkamp, P W G; French, P; Dillon, P; De Boer, I J M

    2013-10-01

    Reducing electricity consumption in Irish milk production is a topical issue for 2 reasons. First, the introduction of a dynamic electricity pricing system, with peak and off-peak prices, will be a reality for 80% of electricity consumers by 2020. The proposed pricing schedule intends to discourage energy consumption during peak periods (i.e., when electricity demand on the national grid is high) and to incentivize energy consumption during off-peak periods. If farmers, for example, carry out their evening milking during the peak period, energy costs may increase, which would affect farm profitability. Second, electricity consumption is identified in contributing to about 25% of energy use along the life cycle of pasture-based milk. The objectives of this study, therefore, were to document electricity use per kilogram of milk sold and to identify strategies that reduce its overall use while maximizing its use in off-peak periods (currently from 0000 to 0900 h). We assessed, therefore, average daily and seasonal trends in electricity consumption on 22 Irish dairy farms, through detailed auditing of electricity-consuming processes. To determine the potential of identified strategies to save energy, we also assessed total energy use of Irish milk, which is the sum of the direct (i.e., energy use on farm) and indirect energy use (i.e., energy needed to produce farm inputs). On average, a total of 31.73 MJ was required to produce 1 kg of milk solids, of which 20% was direct and 80% was indirect energy use. Electricity accounted for 60% of the direct energy use, and mainly resulted from milk cooling (31%), water heating (23%), and milking (20%). Analysis of trends in electricity consumption revealed that 62% of daily electricity was used at peak periods. Electricity use on Irish dairy farms, therefore, is substantial and centered around milk harvesting. To improve the competitiveness of milk production in a dynamic electricity pricing environment, therefore, management

  3. The relation between input-output transformation and gastrointestinal nematode infections on dairy farms.

    Science.gov (United States)

    van der Voort, M; Van Meensel, J; Lauwers, L; Van Huylenbroeck, G; Charlier, J

    2016-02-01

    Efficiency analysis is used for assessing links between technical efficiency (TE) of livestock farms and animal diseases. However, previous studies often do not make the link with the allocation of inputs and mainly present average effects that ignore the often huge differences among farms. In this paper, we studied the relationship between exposure to gastrointestinal (GI) nematode infections, the TE and the input allocation on dairy farms. Although the traditional cost allocative efficiency (CAE) indicator adequately measures how a given input allocation differs from the cost-minimising input allocation, they do not represent the unique input allocation of farms. Similar CAE scores may be obtained for farms with different input allocations. Therefore, we propose an adjusted allocative efficiency index (AAEI) to measure the unique input allocation of farms. Combining this AAEI with the TE score allows determining the unique input-output position of each farm. The method is illustrated by estimating efficiency scores using data envelopment analysis (DEA) on a sample of 152 dairy farms in Flanders for which both accountancy and parasitic monitoring data were available. Three groups of farms with a different input-output position can be distinguished based on cluster analysis: (1) technically inefficient farms, with a relatively low use of concentrates per 100 l milk and a high exposure to infection, (2) farms with an intermediate TE, relatively high use of concentrates per 100 l milk and a low exposure to infection, (3) farms with the highest TE, relatively low roughage use per 100 l milk and a relatively high exposure to infection. Correlation analysis indicates for each group how the level of exposure to GI nematodes is associated or not with improved economic performance. The results suggest that improving both the economic performance and exposure to infection seems only of interest for highly TE farms. The findings indicate that current farm recommendations

  4. A Solution on Identification and Rearing Files Insmallhold Pig Farming

    Science.gov (United States)

    Xiong, Benhai; Fu, Runting; Lin, Zhaohui; Luo, Qingyao; Yang, Liang

    In order to meet government supervision of pork production safety as well as consumeŕs right to know what they buy, this study adopts animal identification, mobile PDA reader, GPRS and other information technologies, and put forward a data collection method to set up rearing files of pig in smallhold pig farming, and designs related metadata structures and its mobile database, and develops a mobile PDA embedded system to collect individual information of pig and uploading into the remote central database, and finally realizes mobile links to the a specific website. The embedded PDA can identify both a special pig bar ear tag appointed by the Ministry of Agricultural and a general data matrix bar ear tag designed by this study by mobile reader, and can record all kinds of inputs data including bacterins, feed additives, animal drugs and even some forbidden medicines and submitted them to the center database through GPRS. At the same time, the remote center database can be maintained by mobile PDA and GPRS, and finally reached pork tracking from its origin to consumption and its tracing through turn-over direction. This study has suggested a feasible technology solution how to set up network pig electronic rearing files involved smallhold pig farming based on farmer and the solution is proved practical through its application in the Tianjińs pork quality traceability system construction. Although some individual techniques have some adverse effects on the system running such as GPRS transmitting speed now, these will be resolved with the development of communication technology. The full implementation of the solution around China will supply technical supports in guaranteeing the quality and safety of pork production supervision and meet consumer demand.

  5. On-farm biosecurity practices and causes of preweaning mortality in Canadian commercial mink kits.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Compo, Nicole; Pearl, David L; Tapscott, Brian; Storer, Amanda; Hammermueller, Jutta; Brash, Marina; Turner, Patricia V

    2017-09-08

    Mink are an important animal commodity group in Canada and excessive kit mortality represents a significant loss to production. National biosecurity standards have been developed for Canadian mink farms, but it is unclear how well these standards have been implemented as there are no studies correlating management practices of mink producers with causes of death in mink kits. To that end, we surveyed Ontario mink producers on their biosecurity and management practices and conducted almost 5660 post mortem examinations on found-dead, preweaned kits to characterize mink farm biosecurity practices and causes of death in preweaned kits. We found that very few biosecurity and management practices were uniformly used by producers, despite good awareness of appropriate practices. Use of personal protective equipment was implemented by fewer than 50% of respondents, while control of mink shed access, disinfection of feed containers after use, and use of a rodent control program were the only practices implemented by greater than 70% of respondents. Only 18% of producers reported regular use of antimicrobials in feed or water, although 91% stated they used antimicrobials for treatment of bacterial diseases on a regular basis. On post mortem examination, no gross abnormalities were noted in 71% of the kits, 45% were thought to be stillborn or aborted, 27% had some form of abnormal fluid distribution in the body, and 2% had a congenital malformation. A subset of 69 gastrointestinal tract samples was submitted for bacterial culture, of which 45 samples yielded sufficient growth. Most interesting was the identification of Salmonella enterica serovar Heidelberg in 11% of samples. The results of this study will provide a benchmark for Canadian mink producers and their veterinarians, defining the areas to which greater attention should be given to ensure more rigorous biosecurity practices are in place. Ultimately, these improvements in practices may contribute to increased mink

  6. Efficiency of dairy production on a family farm

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Zoran Grgić

    2002-01-01

    Full Text Available This paper presents the evaluation of economic efficiency of dairyproduction on a family farm with 14 dairy cows in the breeding stock, and with average production from 3.206 to 3.407 lit. of milk annually. On the basis of survey data for three-year period from 1998 to 2000, economic indicators were calculated, as well as the cost price of milk, income and the revenue of total production and per production head. In the family farm with an average annual sale from 2.827 to 2.972 lit. of milk per head, total revenue has been realized from 44.884 to 47.695 kuna and the profit from 606 to 8.515 kuna. Revenues per production head were from 5.655 to 6.495 kuna and the profitfrom 177 to 726 kuna. The milk cost price in the analyzed period was 1.71, 1.66 and 1.69 kn. per lit, and the profit per liter of milk was 0.06, and 0.21 kn. Basic economic indicators point out on efficiency of dairy production for the investigated farm on the stated production level. The biggest influence on the dairy production efficiency on the farm, regarding the cost price structure, has been registered from the costs of fodder production, while the favorable parity of the cost price and producer-sale price of milk determines the increase in dairy production efficiency and income from dairy production in the analyzed period.

  7. Farm-level feasibility of bioenergy depends on variations across multiple sectors

    Science.gov (United States)

    Myhre, Mitchell; Barford, Carol

    2013-03-01

    The potential supply of bioenergy from farm-grown biomass is uncertain due to several poorly understood or volatile factors, including land availability, yield variability, and energy prices. Although biomass production for liquid fuel has received more attention, here we present a case study of biomass production for renewable heat and power in the state of Wisconsin (US), where heating constitutes at least 30% of total energy demand. Using three bioenergy systems (50 kW, 8.8 MW and 50 MW) and Wisconsin farm-level data, we determined the net farm income effect of producing switchgrass (Panicum virgatum) as a feedstock, either for on-farm use (50 kW system) or for sale to an off-farm energy system operator (8.8 and 50 MW systems). In southern counties, where switchgrass yields approach 10 Mg ha-1 yr-1, the main determinants of economic feasibility were the available land area per farm, the ability to utilize bioheat, and opportunity cost assumptions. Switchgrass yield temporal variability was less important. For the state median farm size and switchgrass yield, at least 25% (50 kW system) or 50% (8.8 MW system) bioheat utilization was required to economically offset propane or natural gas heat, respectively, and purchased electricity. Offsetting electricity only (50 MW system) did not generate enough revenue to meet switchgrass production expenses. Although the opportunity cost of small-scale (50 kW) on-farm bioenergy generation was higher, it also held greater opportunity for increasing farm net income, especially by replacing propane-based heat.

  8. Is Farm Management Skill Persistent?

    OpenAIRE

    Li, Xin; Paulson, Nicholas

    2014-01-01

    Farm management skills can affect farm managers' performance. In this article, farm management performance is analyzed based on yearly Illinois Farm Business Farm Management (FBFM) panel data across 6,760 farms from 1996 through 2011. Two out-of-sample measures of skill are used to analyze the ability of farm managers that consistently perform well over yearly and longer time horizons. Persistence tests show management skills are consistent and predictable. Results also suggest that the most ...

  9. Environmental impact of heifer management decisions on Dutch dairy farms

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Mourits, M.C.M.; Berentsen, P.B.M.; Huirne, R.B.M.; Dijkhuizen, A.A.

    2000-01-01

    Dairy farming contributes substantially to Dutch environmental problems. A dynamic heifer rearing model was used to determine the extent to which the rearing activity influences nutrient flows on a dairy farm. Based on current rearing conditions, the economic optimal rearing policy resulted in an

  10. Differential recovery of habitat use by birds after wind farm installation: A multi-year comparison

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Farfán, M.A.; Duarte, J.; Real, R.; Muñoz, A.R.; Fa, J.E.; Vargas, J.M.

    2017-01-01

    Onshore wind farms remain one of the most widely used technologies for the production of renewable energy. These are known to affect birds through disturbance or collision. Most research focus on the impact of wind farms on raptors or other large bird species, especially those of conservation concern. However, limited information exists on the effect of wind farms on small birds. Recovery of large versus small bird populations impacted by wind farms is also largely unstudied. A reason for this is the lack of long-term datasets based on standardized, systematic assessments. We monitored birds in the vicinity of a wind farm in an upland habitat in southern Spain (Malaga province), immediately after installation and 6.5 years post-construction. During both study periods, we observed 11 raptor and 38 non-raptor species (including 30 passerines). We found differences in recovery rates between raptors and non-raptors. Raptors showed an upturn in numbers but non-raptor abundance fell significantly. Greater attention should be paid to the recovery of wildlife after initial impact assessments than at present. This study confirms that regulatory authorities and developers should consider the likely impacts of wind farms on small bird populations. Mitigation measures focused particularly on non-raptor species should be considered and implemented as a means to reduce these negative effects.

  11. Differential recovery of habitat use by birds after wind farm installation: A multi-year comparison

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Farfán, M.A., E-mail: mafarfanaguilar@hotmail.com [Biogea Consultores, Calle Navarro Ledesma 243, Portal 4, 3° C, 29010, Málaga (Spain); Departamento de Biología Animal, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad de Málaga, Campus de Teatinos, 29071, Málaga (Spain); Duarte, J., E-mail: jddofitecma@gmail.com [Departamento de Biología Animal, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad de Málaga, Campus de Teatinos, 29071, Málaga (Spain); Ofitecma, Calle Colombia 5, 29400 Ronda, Málaga (Spain); Real, R. [Departamento de Biología Animal, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad de Málaga, Campus de Teatinos, 29071, Málaga (Spain); Muñoz, A.R., E-mail: roman@uma.es [Departamento de Biología Animal, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad de Málaga, Campus de Teatinos, 29071, Málaga (Spain); Departamento de Botànica, Facultad de Farmacia, Universidad de Valencia, Avda. Vicente Andrés Estellés s/n, Burjassot, Valencia (Spain); Fa, J.E., E-mail: jfa949@gmail.com [Division of Biology and Conservation Ecology, School of Science and the Environment, Manchester Metropolitan University, Manchester M1 5GD (United Kingdom); Vargas, J.M. [Departamento de Biología Animal, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad de Málaga, Campus de Teatinos, 29071, Málaga (Spain)

    2017-05-15

    Onshore wind farms remain one of the most widely used technologies for the production of renewable energy. These are known to affect birds through disturbance or collision. Most research focus on the impact of wind farms on raptors or other large bird species, especially those of conservation concern. However, limited information exists on the effect of wind farms on small birds. Recovery of large versus small bird populations impacted by wind farms is also largely unstudied. A reason for this is the lack of long-term datasets based on standardized, systematic assessments. We monitored birds in the vicinity of a wind farm in an upland habitat in southern Spain (Malaga province), immediately after installation and 6.5 years post-construction. During both study periods, we observed 11 raptor and 38 non-raptor species (including 30 passerines). We found differences in recovery rates between raptors and non-raptors. Raptors showed an upturn in numbers but non-raptor abundance fell significantly. Greater attention should be paid to the recovery of wildlife after initial impact assessments than at present. This study confirms that regulatory authorities and developers should consider the likely impacts of wind farms on small bird populations. Mitigation measures focused particularly on non-raptor species should be considered and implemented as a means to reduce these negative effects.

  12. Non-farm diversification and its impacts on income inequality and ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Non-farm diversification and its impacts on income inequality and poverty: evidence from rural Ethiopia. ... Ethiopian Journal of Development Research ... non-farm sector can provide a feasible option to tackling rural poverty and vulnerabilities ...

  13. Microbiological analysis of composts produced on South Carolina poultry farms.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Shepherd, M W; Liang, P; Jiang, X; Doyle, M P; Erickson, M C

    2010-06-01

    The purpose of this study was to determine whether the methods used in compost operations of small and medium-sized poultry farms resulted in the production of an amendment free of foodborne pathogens. Nine compost heaps on five South Carolina poultry farms were surveyed at different stages of the composting process. Compost samples were analysed for coliforms and enriched for Escherichia coli O157:H7, Salmonella spp. and Listeria monocytogenes. The waste materials and composting practices differed among the surveyed farms. On two farms, new materials were added to heaps that had previously completed the active composting phase. Five compost heaps did not reach an internal temperature of 55 degrees C, and c. 62% of all internal samples in the first composting phase contained moisture contents poultry wastes. This research provides information regarding the effectiveness of the composting practices and microbiological quality of poultry compost produced by small- and medium-sized farms. Ensuring the safety of compost that may be applied to soils should be an integral part of preharvest food safety programme.

  14. No-till systems on the Chequen Farm in Chile: A success story in bringing practice and science together

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    D. Reicosky

    2014-03-01

    Full Text Available No-till cropping systems provide an opportunity to protect the soil from erosion, while contemporaneously maintaining high yields and contributing to global food security. The historical aspects and the remarkable development of no-till systems on the Chequen Farm in Chile are reviewed. The adoption of no-till over the last 40 years has been a major turning point in reducing the devastating effects of soil erosion and a model for the evolution of sustainable crop production in highly erodible terrain in other parts of the world. The process of adoption of no-till systems in severely eroded foothills of Chile is described, as well as the environmental benefits and the sustainability of the system. The practical aspects of these developments are supported by scientific literature where appropriate, illustrating the value and coincident knowledge gained when combining analogue observations and information with scientific principles.

  15. Farming for Ecosystem Services: An Ecological Approach to Production Agriculture.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Philip Robertson, G; Gross, Katherine L; Hamilton, Stephen K; Landis, Douglas A; Schmidt, Thomas M; Snapp, Sieglinde S; Swinton, Scott M

    2014-05-01

    A balanced assessment of ecosystem services provided by agriculture requires a systems-level socioecological understanding of related management practices at local to landscape scales. The results from 25 years of observation and experimentation at the Kellogg Biological Station long-term ecological research site reveal services that could be provided by intensive row-crop ecosystems. In addition to high yields, farms could be readily managed to contribute clean water, biocontrol and other biodiversity benefits, climate stabilization, and long-term soil fertility, thereby helping meet society's need for agriculture that is economically and environmentally sustainable. Midwest farmers-especially those with large farms-appear willing to adopt practices that deliver these services in exchange for payments scaled to management complexity and farmstead benefit. Surveyed citizens appear willing to pay farmers for the delivery of specific services, such as cleaner lakes. A new farming for services paradigm in US agriculture seems feasible and could be environmentally significant.

  16. Assessment of on-farm anaerobic digester grid interconnections

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ruhnke, W.

    2006-01-01

    While several anaerobic digestion (AD) pilot plants have recently been built in Canada, early reports suggest that interconnection barriers are delaying their widescale implementation. This paper examined grid interconnection experiences from the perspectives of farmers, local distributing companies (LDCs) and other stakeholders. The aim of the paper was to identify challenges to the implementation of AD systems. Case studies included an Ontario Dairy Herd AD system generating 50 kW; a Saskatchewan hog farm AD system generating 120 kW and an Alberta outdoor beef feedlot AD system generating 1000 kW. Two survey forms were created for project operators, and LDCs. The following 3 category barriers were identified: (1) technical concerns over islanding conditions, power quality requirements, power flow studies and other engineering analyses; (2) business practices barriers such as a lack of response after initial utility contact; and (3) regulatory barriers including the unavailability of fair buy-back rates, the lack of net metering programs, restrictive net metering programs, and pricing issues. It was suggested that collaborative efforts among all stakeholders are needed to resolve barriers quickly. Recommendations included the adoption of uniform technical standards for connecting generators to the grid, as well as adopting standard commercial practices for any required LDC interconnection review. It was also suggested that standard business terms for interconnection agreements should be established. Regulatory principles should be compatible with distributed power choices in regulated and unregulated markets. It was concluded that resolving interconnection barriers is a critical step towards realizing market opportunities available for AD technologies. refs., tabs., figs

  17. FARM PERFORMANCE AND MANAGEMENT STRATEGIES

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Li Li

    2018-04-01

    Full Text Available This article emphasizes the strategic and operations aspects of managing a farm. In this article, farm management performance is analyzed based on yearly Illinois Farm Business Farm Management (FBFM panel data across 9,831 farms from 1996 through 2014. The alpha scores (or skill estimates for farm managers are analyzed to determine if most profitable farmers possess specific skills or knowledge against adverse events in a volatile environment. Farms are evaluated under different scenarios of management skill portfolios. Fundamental farm management basics are discussed in this study, including budgeting, production planning, financial analysis, financial management, investment analysis, and control management. We find substantial difference of farm management styles and performance efficiency in management skill portfolios. We also find evidence of most skilled farm managers are more efficient on both revenue side and costs side. The approaches used in this study also allow comparison among farms of different sizes and types. The activities of top farms can be replicated by poorer performers and the study provide a unique way for comparing the farm management styles and ability of most skilled farm managers to that of less skilled ones. The innovative method is framed by comparing business strategies and performance styles in the following aspects: production and operations planning, land management and control, and production costs evaluation. Farm managers will want to consult it as well to improve the effectiveness, objectivity, and success of their decisions.

  18. Modelling the economics of farm-based anaerobic digestion in a UK whole-farm context

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Jones, Philip; Salter, Andrew

    2013-01-01

    Anaerobic digestion (AD) technologies convert organic wastes and crops into methane-rich biogas for heating, electricity generation and vehicle fuel. Farm-based AD has proliferated in some EU countries, driven by favourable policies promoting sustainable energy generation and GHG mitigation. Despite increased state support there are still few AD plants on UK farms leading to a lack of normative data on viability of AD in the whole-farm context. Farmers and lenders are therefore reluctant to fund AD projects and policy makers are hampered in their attempts to design policies that adequately support the industry. Existing AD studies and modelling tools do not adequately capture the farm context within which AD interacts. This paper demonstrates a whole-farm, optimisation modelling approach to assess the viability of AD in a more holistic way, accounting for such issues as: AD scale, synergies and conflicts with other farm enterprises, choice of feedstocks, digestate use and impact on farm Net Margin. This modelling approach demonstrates, for example, that: AD is complementary to dairy enterprises, but competes with arable enterprises for farm resources. Reduced nutrient purchases significantly improve Net Margin on arable farms, but AD scale is constrained by the capacity of farmland to absorb nutrients in AD digestate. -- Highlights: •Lack of empirical data on UK farm AD is barrier to investment and policy formulation. •A modelling approach used to assess economic viability of AD in whole-farm context. •AD increases dairy and arable farm net margin including by savings in nutrient costs. •AD margins better for a few crops than other uses, especially wheat and beet crops. •AD co-exists with dairy, but to obtain best margin displaces conventional cropping

  19. Metrics and methods for characterizing dairy farm intensification using farm survey data.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gonzalez-Mejia, Alejandra; Styles, David; Wilson, Paul; Gibbons, James

    2018-01-01

    Evaluation of agricultural intensification requires comprehensive analysis of trends in farm performance across physical and socio-economic aspects, which may diverge across farm types. Typical reporting of economic indicators at sectorial or the "average farm" level does not represent farm diversity and provides limited insight into the sustainability of specific intensification pathways. Using farm business data from a total of 7281 farm survey observations of English and Welsh dairy farms over a 14-year period we calculate a time series of 16 key performance indicators (KPIs) pertinent to farm structure, environmental and socio-economic aspects of sustainability. We then apply principle component analysis and model-based clustering analysis to identify statistically the number of distinct dairy farm typologies for each year of study, and link these clusters through time using multidimensional scaling. Between 2001 and 2014, dairy farms have largely consolidated and specialized into two distinct clusters: more extensive farms relying predominantly on grass, with lower milk yields but higher labour intensity, and more intensive farms producing more milk per cow with more concentrate and more maize, but lower labour intensity. There is some indication that these clusters are converging as the extensive cluster is intensifying slightly faster than the intensive cluster, in terms of milk yield per cow and use of concentrate feed. In 2014, annual milk yields were 6,835 and 7,500 l/cow for extensive and intensive farm types, respectively, whilst annual concentrate feed use was 1.3 and 1.5 tonnes per cow. For several KPIs such as milk yield the mean trend across all farms differed substantially from the extensive and intensive typologies mean. The indicators and analysis methodology developed allows identification of distinct farm types and industry trends using readily available survey data. The identified groups allow the accurate evaluation of the consequences of the

  20. Metrics and methods for characterizing dairy farm intensification using farm survey data.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Alejandra Gonzalez-Mejia

    Full Text Available Evaluation of agricultural intensification requires comprehensive analysis of trends in farm performance across physical and socio-economic aspects, which may diverge across farm types. Typical reporting of economic indicators at sectorial or the "average farm" level does not represent farm diversity and provides limited insight into the sustainability of specific intensification pathways. Using farm business data from a total of 7281 farm survey observations of English and Welsh dairy farms over a 14-year period we calculate a time series of 16 key performance indicators (KPIs pertinent to farm structure, environmental and socio-economic aspects of sustainability. We then apply principle component analysis and model-based clustering analysis to identify statistically the number of distinct dairy farm typologies for each year of study, and link these clusters through time using multidimensional scaling. Between 2001 and 2014, dairy farms have largely consolidated and specialized into two distinct clusters: more extensive farms relying predominantly on grass, with lower milk yields but higher labour intensity, and more intensive farms producing more milk per cow with more concentrate and more maize, but lower labour intensity. There is some indication that these clusters are converging as the extensive cluster is intensifying slightly faster than the intensive cluster, in terms of milk yield per cow and use of concentrate feed. In 2014, annual milk yields were 6,835 and 7,500 l/cow for extensive and intensive farm types, respectively, whilst annual concentrate feed use was 1.3 and 1.5 tonnes per cow. For several KPIs such as milk yield the mean trend across all farms differed substantially from the extensive and intensive typologies mean. The indicators and analysis methodology developed allows identification of distinct farm types and industry trends using readily available survey data. The identified groups allow the accurate evaluation of the

  1. Investigations on dairy welfare and performance on German organic farms

    OpenAIRE

    Hoerning, Bernhard; Simantke, Christel; Aubel, Erhard

    2005-01-01

    An investigation was carried out on 74 organic dairy farms in Germany. Results were an average milk production of 5.960 kg, 223.000 somatic cell counts (SCC), 387 days calving interval, 23.5 % culling rate, 46 Euro annual veterinary costs per cow. Farmers were asked for disease incidences. Cows were scored for injuries and body condition. The results were combined with possible influencing factors (herd size, breed, region, farming association, housing system, housing factors, amounts of conc...

  2. Tourism as revitalizing factor of farms- example of Cvetni salaš (Flowery farm and Majkin salaš (Grandma′s farm in Palić

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Dragićević Vanja

    2007-01-01

    Full Text Available Farms are cultural and ambience special feature of pannonian plain and, in the sense of cultural heritage, they are the protective symbol of Northern Bačka. Farm or "salaš" on Serbian language, represents green oasis made of house, farm buildings, sweep and the endless cultivated plain, but also represents the way of living. As a specific creation of folk architecture and as a special ethnographic museum, with preserved old tools, pottery, folk costume and folk customs, usually situated in preserved natural ambience, farms are attractive for tourists. Unfortunately, they have never been used enough in tourist presentation. The best results in tourist valorization are achieved with farms near towns Subotica and Sombor. These farms require relatively small investments for tourist arrangement and farmers are interested in developing tourism, which can contribute in different ways to revitalization of farms. Farms should create tourist offer, based on unique experience of the plain, authentic ambience, tradition, healthy food. In many European countries, tourism has been recognized as an appropriate tool to revitalize rural areas and to ensure their sustainable development. In this paper, there is going to be presented tourist arrangement and offer of Cvetni salaš (Flowery farm and Majkin salaš (Grandma’s farm, which are situated on Palić, settlement with long tourist tradition.

  3. RESTRICTING PESTICIDE USE: THE IMPACT ON PROFITABILITY BY FARM SIZE

    OpenAIRE

    Whittaker, Gerald W.; Lin, Biing-Hwan; Vasavada, Utpal

    1995-01-01

    A sample of 226 cash grain farms in the Lake States-Corn Belt region are analyzed to estimate the impact of restricting pesticide use on profits. These 226 farms are classified into small medium, and large farms according to their sale revenues. The results suggest the existence of pest management practices that could substantially reduce pesticide use without incurring economic losses. The reductions in profit associated with gradual reduction in pesticide expenditure appear to increase with...

  4. Farm workers' health and pesticide residue analysis of three farms in ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Cross sectional survey on the health status of the farm workers, engaged with pesticide use, at three agricultural farms; one in Debre zeit and two in Meki, Ethiopia, was conducted. A low prevalence of respiratory symptoms, chronic cough = 2.4%, in the farm workers as well as, chronic cough = 2.7%, in the control group was ...

  5. Effects of the Tunoe Knob offshore wind farm on birdlife

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Guillemette, M.; Kyed Larsen, J.; Clausager, I.

    1997-01-01

    As part of the plans of the Danish government to expand offshore wind energy production, The Ministry of Environment and Energy, in collaboration with the Danish power companies, initiated a three-year study of the effects of the Tunoe Knob offshore wind farm on bird life. The aim of this study was to investigate the potential conflict between offshore wind farms and water birds. Danish coastal waters support very large, internationally important concentrations of moulting, migrating and wintering water birds which depend on shallow water areas as major feeding habitats. The wind farm was established at Tunoe Knob, a shoal in Aarhus Bugt, and consisted of ten 500 kW turbines erected in 3-5 m of water during the late summer of 1995. All studies were carried out during the winter period, and results are reported for eider Somateria mollissima and common scoter Melanitta nigra, which composed the great majority of the bird population. In the part of Tunoe knob where the wind farm was build, eider numbers decreased markedly over the study period. However, this decline was comparable to that observed on other parts of Tunoe Knob. Furthermore, detailed mapping showed a high degree of annual and within season variation in spatial distribution over the area, including occurrence in the immediate vicinity of the wind farm. These results suggest that the observed changes in eider numbers in the wind farm area were due to natural variation. (EG) 21 refs

  6. The Impact of Farming and Land Ownership on Soil Erosion

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Olga Čermáková

    2014-01-01

    Full Text Available The aim of this paper was to compare two methods of farming, especially their effect on water soil erosion. The examined methods were (1 large-scale farming, where more than 50% of the land was leased, and (2 small-scale farming, where the land was almost exclusively privately owned. The research area was 8 cadastres in the district of Hodonín, South Moravia, Czech Republic. In these cadastres 48 land blocks representing both large-scale and small-scale farming (i.e. owners and tenants were chosen. The long-term average annual soil loss caused by water erosion (G was calculated using the erosion model USLE 2D and ArcGIS 10.1. The nonparametric Mann-Whitney test was used for the statistical evaluation of the data. The difference between the soil loss (G on land blocks farmed by small producers (owners and large producers (tenants was significant (p < 0.05. Differences between the values of the cropping-management factor (C were not statistically significant (p = 0.054. Based on the analysis of other variables in the USLE equation it can be stated that a continuous slope length, conditioned by the size of land blocks, played an important role in the amount of soil loss caused by water erosion. Above all, to protect the soil from erosion and maintain soil quality it is necessary to reduce the size of land blocks farmed by tenants and improve the crop rotation systems.

  7. Sensory quality and onset of rigor mortis for farmed turbot under various post slaughter conditions

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Schelvis-Smit, A.A.M.; Veldman, M.; Kruijt, A.W.; Vis, van de J.W.

    2006-01-01

    As is the case for most farmed fish, the production of turbot is targeting the fresh markets established in Europe and Asia. Usually turbot is packed whole, dead or alive and transported directly to the market. On some occasions the fish are bled and gutted prior to delivery.

  8. Effect of social capital on food security among rural farming ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    The study analyzed the effect of social capital on food security of rural farming households in Abia State, Nigeria with specific focus on measuring social capital dimensions among the rural farming households; determining the food security status of the households; analyzing the influence of socioeconomic characteristics of ...

  9. Investment appraisal of technology innovations on dairy farm electricity consumption

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Upton, J.; Murphy, M.; Boer, de I.J.M.; Groot Koerkamp, P.W.G.; Berentsen, P.B.M.; Shalloo, L.

    2015-01-01

    The aim of this study was to conduct an investment appraisal for milk-cooling, water-heating, and milk-harvesting technologies on a range of farm sizes in 2 different electricity-pricing environments. This was achieved by using a model for electricity consumption on dairy farms. The model simulated

  10. Associations between biosecurity and outbreaks of canine distemper on Danish mink farms in 2012-2013

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Gregers-Jensen, Louise; Agger, Jens Frederik; Hammer, Anne Sofie Vedsted

    2015-01-01

    distemper virus. Mortality was only assessed on the case farms, and there was a non-significantly lower mortality on vaccinated farms than on the non-vaccinated farms. Furthermore, the proportion of farms with observations of wild red foxes (Vulpes vulpes) inside the farm enclosures were larger for case...

  11. Monitoring the on-farm welfare of sheep and goats

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Agostino Sevi

    2010-01-01

    Full Text Available Schemes for on-farm welfare assessment in sheep and goats are not yet available. Factors responsible for this lack of availability are discussed in the first part of this review. Requisites for reliable methods of welfare assessment to be used in sheep and goat farms are discussed, taking into account the peculiarities of the small ruminant production systems in terms of flock management and farm location. Some housing parameters related to structures, design and micro-environment are reviewed and could be included in schemes of welfare assessment on farm. Human-animal interaction, health status of the animals in terms of body condition scoring, skin and hair conditions, lameness and injuries, and management practices in relation to cleanliness, animal handling and moving, milking procedures and abnormal behaviours, are proposed as potential animal-based indicators. When available, validity, reliability and feasibility of the proposed parameters are discussed. The voluntary adhesion to welfare standards in Sardinia and the application of a scientifically validated protocol in Basilicata are reported as examples of practical experiences.

  12. Measuring the post-adoption customer perception of mobile banking services.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yu, Tai-Kuei; Fang, Kwoting

    2009-02-01

    With liberalization and internalization in the financial market and progress in information technology, banks face dual competitive pressures to provide service quality and administrative efficiency. That these recent developments are fueled by technology might misleadingly suggest that the adoption of mobile banking is largely based on technological criteria. The purpose of this study is to establish a better measurement model for postadoption user perception of mobile banking services. Based on 458 valid responses of mobile banking users, the results show that the instrument, consisting of 21 items and 6 factors, is a reliable, valid, and useful measurement for assessing the postadoption perception of mobile banking.

  13. High Penetrated Wind Farm Impacts on the Electricity Price

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Haji Bashi, Mazaher; Yousefi, G. R.; Bak, Claus Leth

    2016-01-01

    of the high penetrated wind farm integration into electricity markets. Then, stochastic programming approach is employed to compare the volume of trades for a typical wind farm in a high and low wind penetrated market. Although increasing price spikes and volatility was reported in the literature......Energy trading policies, intermittency of wind farm output power, low marginal cost of the production, are the key factors that cause the wind farms to be effective on the electricity price. In this paper, the Danish electricity market is studied as a part of Nord Pool. Considering the completely...... fossil fuel free overview in Danish energy policies, and the currently great share of wind power (more than 100% for some hours) in supplying the load, it is an interesting benchmark for the future electricity markets. Negative prices, price spikes, and price volatility are considered as the main effects...

  14. Investigating personal characteristics on e-banking adoption

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ali Arfaeian

    2013-12-01

    Full Text Available During the past few years, there have been increasing interests on doing banking transactions using online services through internet. In this paper, we present an empirical investigation to study the role of personal and social characteristics on acceptance of e-banking adoption. The proposed study designs two questionnaires and distributes them among 384 randomly selected people who use online banking in province of Alborz, Iran. The proposed study examines the effects of five factors including Neuroticism, Extraversion, Openness to experience, Conscientiousness and Agreeableness on e-banking adoption. Using regression techniques, the study has confirmed that Neuroticism and Agreeableness have negative and meaningful impact on e-banking adoption while Conscientiousness has positive and meaningful relationship with e-banking adoption.

  15. Development of renewable energies apart from biomass on farms

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Brule, K.; Pindard, A.; Jaujay, J.; Femenias, A.

    2009-01-01

    This paper proposes an overview and a prospective glance at the development of renewable energies in farms, apart those which are based on the production or use of biomass. Some indicators are defined (energy production and consumption). Stake holders are identified. Some retrospective major and emerging trends are discussed. The major trends are: growth and diversification of renewable energy production, calling to renewable energy production in farms. The emerging trends are: a recent increase of renewable energy production in farms apart from biomass, locally stressed land market, economic profitability of photovoltaic installations due to purchase tariffs. Some prospective issues are discussed: technical support, financial support, development of other energy sources, and tax policy on fossil energy used in agriculture. Three development hypotheses are discussed

  16. Nutrition educator adoption and implementation of an experiential foods curriculum.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Diker, Ann; Cunningham-Sabo, Leslie; Bachman, Kari; Stacey, Jane E; Walters, Lynn M; Wells, Linda

    2013-01-01

    Describe changes in Nutrition Educator (NE) and Extension Agent (EA) motivation, self-efficacy, and behavioral capability over time after experiential food tasting curriculum training. Identify promoters of curriculum adoption, implementation, and future use. Mixed methods design including surveys, lesson implementation reports, and interviews. New Mexico limited-resource schools. Convenience sample of New Mexico Extension NE (n = 42) and their EA supervisors (n = 21). Three-hour curriculum training employing Social Cognitive Theory and Diffusion of Innovations. Perceived change in motivation, self-efficacy, and behavioral capability from post-training through 8-month post-training; promoters and challenges to curriculum adoption, implementation, and future use. Repeated-measures ANOVA analyzed perceived behavior change over time. Significance was set at P ≤ .05. Qualitative responses were categorized by theme. Gains in NE motivation, self-efficacy, and behavioral capability were sustained at 8 months post-training. High adoption/implementation rates (79%) were attributed to strong implementation expectations, observational learning, experiential training elements, and perceived curriculum compatibility. Environmental factors including time constraints, personnel turnover, and scheduling conflicts proved challenging. Maximizing curriculum simplicity and compatibility and incorporating behavioral capability, observational learning, and expectations into training support adoption and use. Adaptations and techniques to problem-solve challenges should be provided to new curricula implementers. Published by Elsevier Inc.

  17. Associations between biosecurity and outbreaks of canine distemper on Danish mink farms in 2012-2013

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Gregers-Jensen, Louise; Agger, Jens Frederik; Hammer, Anne Sofie Vedsted

    2015-01-01

    During 8 months from July 2012 to February 2013, a major outbreak of canine distemper involving 64 mink farms occurred on the Danish peninsula of Jutland. The canine distemper outbreak was associated with exposure of farmed mink to infected wild carnivores and could represent a deficit...... distemper from July 2012 to February 2013. The control group included 54 farms without an outbreak of canine distemper in 2012 or 2013, selected as the closest geographical neighbour to a case farm. The results showed that significantly more control than case farms had vaccinated their mink against canine...... distemper virus. Mortality was only assessed on the case farms, and there was a non-significantly lower mortality on vaccinated farms than on the non-vaccinated farms. Furthermore, the proportion of farms with observations of wild red foxes (Vulpes vulpes) inside the farm enclosures were larger for case...

  18. Estimating the effect of mastitis on the profitability of Irish dairy farms.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Geary, U; Lopez-Villalobos, N; Begley, N; McCoy, F; O'Brien, B; O'Grady, L; Shalloo, L

    2012-07-01

    The objective of this paper was to estimate the effect of the costs of mastitis on the profitability of Irish dairy farms as indicated by various ranges of bulk milk somatic cell count (BMSCC). Data were collected from 4 sources and included milk production losses, cases treated, and on-farm practices around mastitis management. The Moorepark Dairy Systems Model, which simulates dairying systems inside the farm gate, was used to carry out the analysis. The cost components of mastitis that affect farm profitability and that were included in the model were milk losses, culling, diagnostic testing, treatment, veterinary attention, discarded milk, and penalties. Farms were grouped by 5 BMSCC thresholds of ≤ 100,000, 100,001-200,000, 200,001-300,000, 300,001-400,000, and > 400,000 cells/mL. The ≤ 100,000 cells/mL threshold was taken as the baseline and the other 4 thresholds were compared relative to this baseline. For a 40-ha farm, the analysis found that as BMSCC increased, milk receipts decreased from €148,843 at a BMSCC 400,000 cells/mL. In addition, as BMSCC increased, livestock receipts increased by 17%, from €43,304 at a BMSCC 400,000 cells/mL. This reflected the higher replacement rates as BMSCC increased and the associated cull cow value. Total farm receipts decreased from €192,147 at the baseline ( 400,000 cells/mL. Total farm costs increased as BMSCC increased, reflecting treatment, veterinary, diagnostic testing, and replacement heifer costs. At the baseline, total farm costs were €161,085, increasing to €177,343 at a BMSCC > 400,000 cells/mL. Net farm profit decreased as BMSCC increased, from €31,252/yr at the baseline to €11,748/yr at a BMSCC > 400,000 cells/mL. This analysis highlights the impact that mastitis has on the profitability of Irish dairy farms. The analysis presented here can be used to develop a "cost of mastitis" tool for use on Irish dairy farms to motivate farmers to acknowledge the scale of the problem, realize the value

  19. Building on a national health information technology strategic plan for long-term and post-acute care: comments by the Long Term Post Acute Care Health Information Technology Collaborative.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Alexander, Gregory L; Alwan, Majd; Batshon, Lynne; Bloom, Shawn M; Brennan, Richard D; Derr, John F; Dougherty, Michelle; Gruhn, Peter; Kirby, Annessa; Manard, Barbara; Raiford, Robin; Serio, Ingrid Johnson

    2011-07-01

    The LTPAC (Long Term Post Acute Care) Health Information Technology (HIT) Collaborative consists of an alliance of long-term services and post-acute care stakeholders. Members of the collaborative are actively promoting HIT innovations in long-term care settings because IT adoption for health care institutions in the United States has become a high priority. One method used to actively promote HIT is providing expert comments on important documents addressing HIT adoption. Recently, the Office of the National Coordinator for HIT released a draft of the Federal Health Information Technology Strategic Plan 2011-2015 for public comment. The following brief is intended to inform about recommendations and comments made by the Collaborative on the strategic plan. Copyright 2011, SLACK Incorporated.

  20. Action Learning: A New Method to Increase Tractor Rollover Protective Structure (ROPS) Adoption

    Science.gov (United States)

    Biddle, Elyce Anne; Keane, Paul R.

    2016-01-01

    Action Learning is a problem-solving process that is used in various industries to address difficult problems. This project applied Action Learning to a leading problem in agricultural safety. Tractor overturns are the leading cause of fatal injury to farmworkers. This cause of injury is preventable using rollover protective structures (ROPS), protective equipment that functions as a roll bar structure to protect the operator in the event of an overturn. For agricultural tractors manufactured after 1976 and employee operated, Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) regulation requires employers to equip them with ROPS and seat belts. By the mid-1980s, US tractor manufacturers began adding ROPS on all farm tractors over 20 horsepower sold in the United States (http://www.nasdonline.org/document/113/d001656/rollover-protection-for-farm-tractor-operators.html). However, many older tractors remain in use without ROPS, putting tractor operators at continued risk for traumatic injury and fatality. For many older tractor models ROPS are available for retrofit, but for a variety of reasons, tractor owners have not chosen to retrofit those ROPS. The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) attempted various means to ameliorate this occupational safety risk, including the manufacture of a low-cost ROPS for self-assembly. Other approaches address barriers to adoption. An Action Learning approach to increasing adoption of ROPS was followed in Virginia and New York, with mixed results. Virginia took action to increase the manufacturing and adoption of ROPS, but New York saw problems that would be insurmountable. Increased focus on team composition might be needed to establish effective Action Learning teams to address this problem. PMID:22994641

  1. Effects of rigor status during high-pressure processing on the physical qualities of farm-raised abalone (Haliotis rufescens).

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hughes, Brianna H; Greenberg, Neil J; Yang, Tom C; Skonberg, Denise I

    2015-01-01

    High-pressure processing (HPP) is used to increase meat safety and shelf-life, with conflicting quality effects depending on rigor status during HPP. In the seafood industry, HPP is used to shuck and pasteurize oysters, but its use on abalones has only been minimally evaluated and the effect of rigor status during HPP on abalone quality has not been reported. Farm-raised abalones (Haliotis rufescens) were divided into 12 HPP treatments and 1 unprocessed control treatment. Treatments were processed pre-rigor or post-rigor at 2 pressures (100 and 300 MPa) and 3 processing times (1, 3, and 5 min). The control was analyzed post-rigor. Uniform plugs were cut from adductor and foot meat for texture profile analysis, shear force, and color analysis. Subsamples were used for scanning electron microscopy of muscle ultrastructure. Texture profile analysis revealed that post-rigor processed abalone was significantly (P abalone meat was more tender than pre-rigor processed meat, and post-rigor processed foot meat was lighter in color than pre-rigor processed foot meat, suggesting that waiting for rigor to resolve prior to processing abalones may improve consumer perceptions of quality and market value. © 2014 Institute of Food Technologists®

  2. Social and ecological challenges of market-oriented shrimp farming in Vietnam.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lan, Ngo Thi Phuong

    2013-01-01

    Vietnam is one of the largest shrimp exporters in the world. Since 2010, Vietnam has earned about two billion dollars annually through shrimp exports. As a fertile area of greatest potential for agricultural production in Vietnam, the Mekong Delta has been a major contributor to the country's achievements, especially in the agricultural sector. During recent decades, trade liberation along with various policies in support of aquaculture has accelerated the development of shrimp production in the Delta. Based on an ethnographic study of shrimp farming in the Mekong Delta of Vietnam, I assert that along with great rewards arising from the expansion of shrimp farming areas, productivity, and export value, the shrimp industry has brought various environmental, economic and social challenges. Consequently, shrimp farming is a risky business and local inhabitants have relied on various strategies to cope with these challenges. Risk mitigation in shrimp production and labor migration are the two important strategies of local inhabitants for securing their livelihoods. Water pollution and poor quality post-larvae shrimp are direct consequences of market-oriented production.

  3. A Strategy Anthelmintic Control for Helminthoses of Sheep: Some Experiences in On-Farm Trials in Smallholder Farms in Central Kenya

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Nginyi, J.M

    2002-01-01

    An on-farm in Kenya to evaluate the merits of a strategic drenching regime against the existing control measures showed that it was difficult to get statistically significant sample sizes within individual farms and that differences in farm management existed especially where animals are communally grazed. Consequently, production data were rendered difficult to analyse and interpret. Unlike in on-station trials, it was evident that the large number of smallholder farms (up to 80) that was required for realistic statistical comparisons conflicted with the limits of logistics and funding. The strategic treatment for gastrointestinal nematodes in sheep resulted in lower mean faecal egg counts in treated animals for most of the study period but overall, there was no significant effect of strategic treatment over the existing treatments on FEC, birth weight and growth rates in lambs. Possible approaches in future studies, could include use of clusters of smallholder farms that are far apart in different treatment groups. Commonly grazed flocks can either be excluded completely in such trials or if that method of grazing is predominant, entire village or cleary designated locations could be used in different treatment groups. Even with above, the use of production data (growth rate, off-take, mortality etc) need to be handled with great caution

  4. IMPACT OF CORRUPTION ON FARM PRODUCTION AND PROFIT

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Asif Reza Anik

    2013-02-01

    Full Text Available By analyzing experiences of 210 rice farmers belonging to six villages of six different districts in Bangladesh this article estimates the impact of corruption on farm production and profit. Unlike existing literature corruption here is defined in broader term. Both explicit and implicit cost items are included while calculating the cost of corruption. Through estimating the marginal physical product of fertilizer, a relative impact of corruption on farm production is estimated. Then by hypothesizing different scenarios with different levels of corruption, changes in a farmer's benefit cost ratio is estimated. It has been observed that with reducing cost of corruption farmers observe higher benefit cost ratio and vice versa. Cost of corruption is found to be relatively higher in restricted input market situation and relatively lower when the market is more competitive. Thus our results are suggestive for competitive market policy to reduce corruption which will ultimately result in more farm production and profit.

  5. Wildlife Presence and Interactions with Chickens on Australian Commercial Chicken Farms Assessed by Camera Traps.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Scott, Angela Bullanday; Phalen, David; Hernandez-Jover, Marta; Singh, Mini; Groves, Peter; Toribio, Jenny-Ann L M L

    2018-03-01

    The types of wildlife and the frequency of their visits to commercial chicken farms in Australia were assessed using infrared and motion-sensing camera traps. Cameras were set up on 14 free-range layer farms, three cage layer farms, two barn layer farms, five non-free-range meat chicken farms, and six free-range meat chicken farms in the Sydney basin region and South East Queensland. Wildlife visits were found on every farm type and were most frequent on cage layer farms (73%), followed by free-range layer farms (15%). The common mynah ( Acridotheres tristis) was the most frequent wildlife visitor in the study (23.9%), followed by corvids (22.9%) and Columbiformes (7.5%). Most wildlife visits occurred during the day from 6 am to 6 pm (85%). There were infrequent observations of direct contact between chickens and wildlife, suggesting the indirect route of pathogen transfer may be more significant. The level of biosecurity on the farm is suggested to impact the frequency of wildlife visits more so than the farm type.

  6. Analysis of small-scale biogas utilization systems on Ontario cattle farms

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    White, Andrew J.; Kirk, Donald W.; Graydon, John W.

    2011-01-01

    The production of biogas through the anaerobic digestion of cattle manure and its subsequent use in the generation of electricity on larger farms in Ontario is currently economically attractive. This is a result of the Ontario Feed-In Tariff (FIT) program, which provides incentivized rates for the production of electricity from biogas. Although larger farms can take advantage of the higher rates for electricity, there are substantially more smaller farms for which individually designed and engineered biogas systems would be prohibitively expensive. By employing the concept of modular biogas plants, this analysis evaluates the economics of small-scale biogas utilization systems. Dairy farms with at least 33 animals and beef farms with at least 78 animals can operate economically attractive biogas systems. This analysis shows that approximately 9000 additional Ontario cattle farms would be able to take advantage of the FIT program, which would add 120 MW e of renewable energy capacity to the Ontario electrical grid. (author)

  7. American Citizens’ Views of an Ideal Pig Farm

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sato, Patrycia; Hötzel, Maria J.; von Keyserlingk, Marina A.G.

    2017-01-01

    Simple Summary The public, who also make up the largest proportion of consumers of animal products, often criticize farm animal industries in regards to their care and handling of farm animals. The U.S. swine industry has not been exempt from such criticisms. The aim of this study was to explore the views of the people not affiliated with the swine industry on what they perceived to be the ideal pig/pork farm, and their associated reasons. Through an online survey, participants were invited to respond to the following open-ended question: “What do you consider to be an ideal pig/pork farm and why are these characteristics important to you?”. Respondents considered animal care, profitability, farm size, compliance with sanitary, environmental rules and regulations, farm cleanliness and sanitary standards, and workers’ rights and welfare important, but also raised concerns relating to pigs’ quality of life including space to move, feeding, contact with outdoors or nature, absence of pain, suffering and mistreatment. Perspectives were also raised regarding the ideal farm as a profitable business operation, clean, and with optimal sanitary conditions. Respondents also emphasized naturalness, frequently stating that pigs should have access to the outdoors, and rejected the use of hormones, antibiotics, and other chemicals for the purposes of increasing production. Abstract Food animal production practices are often cited as having negative animal welfare consequences. The U.S. swine industry has not been exempt from such criticisms. Little is known, however, about how lay citizens who are not actively engaged in agricultural discussions, think about swine production. Thus, the aim of this study was to explore the views of people not affiliated with the swine industry on what they perceived to be the ideal pig/pork farm, and their associated reasons. Through an online survey, participants were invited to respond to the following open-ended question: “What do

  8. Farm Population of the United States: 1976. Current Population Reports: Farm Population.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Banks, Vera J.; And Others

    Prepared cooperatively by the Bureau of the Census and the Economic Research Service of the U.S. DeparLment of Agriculture, this document presents narrative and tabular data on: demographic and social characteristics of the farm population; economic characteristics of the farm population; revision of farm population processing procedures; and…

  9. ANALYSIS OF FOOD SECURITY STATUS OF FARMING HOUSEHOLDS IN THE FOREST BELT OF THE CENTRAL REGION OF GHANA

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    John K.M. Kuwornu

    2013-01-01

    Full Text Available The study seeks to examine the Food Security Status of Farming Households in the Forest Belt of the Central Region of Ghana. A multistage sampling technique was used to select the respondents that were interviewed. In all 134 farming households were interviewed but 120 were selected for analysis after removing the questionnaires which were not properly administered. The households were selected from eight communities in two districts. Food consumption data of 851 individuals in 120 households were used for the analysis. The study reveals that the majority of the farming households (60% were found to be food insecure. Further, the Binary Logit Model results reveal that an increase in household's income, having access to credit as well as increase in the quantity of own farm production improve the food security status of farming households in the Forest Belt of the Central Region of Ghana. However, holding all other factors constant, increases in non-working member of households worsens the food security status of farming households. Most of the food insecurity coping strategies adopted by household's are not severe and can only be used to avert the impact of food insecurity on a temporal basis. These results have policy implications for Food Security Status of Farming Households in developing countries.

  10. Invited review: Learning from the future-A vision for dairy farms and cows in 2067.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Britt, J H; Cushman, R A; Dechow, C D; Dobson, H; Humblot, P; Hutjens, M F; Jones, G A; Ruegg, P S; Sheldon, I M; Stevenson, J S

    2018-05-01

    The world's population will reach 10.4 billion in 2067, with 81% residing in Africa or Asia. Arable land available for food production will decrease to 0.15 ha per person. Temperature will increase in tropical and temperate zones, especially in the Northern Hemisphere, and this will push growing seasons and dairy farming away from arid areas and into more northern latitudes. Dairy consumption will increase because it provides essential nutrients more efficiently than many other agricultural systems. Dairy farming will become modernized in developing countries and milk production per cow will increase, doubling in countries with advanced dairying systems. Profitability of dairy farms will be the key to their sustainability. Genetic improvements will include emphasis on the coding genome and associated noncoding epigenome of cattle, and on microbiomes of dairy cattle and farmsteads. Farm sizes will increase and there will be greater lateral integration of housing and management of dairy cattle of different ages and production stages. Integrated sensors, robotics, and automation will replace much of the manual labor on farms. Managing the epigenome and microbiome will become part of routine herd management. Innovations in dairy facilities will improve the health of cows and permit expression of natural behaviors. Herds will be viewed as superorganisms, and studies of herds as observational units will lead to improvements in productivity, health, and well-being of dairy cattle, and improve the agroecology and sustainability of dairy farms. Dairy farmers in 2067 will meet the world's needs for essential nutrients by adopting technologies and practices that provide improved cow health and longevity, profitable dairy farms, and sustainable agriculture. Copyright © 2018 American Dairy Science Association. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  11. Associations between biosecurity and outbreaks of canine distemper on Danish mink farms in 2012-2013.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gregers-Jensen, Louise; Agger, Jens Frederik; Hammer, Anne Sofie Vedsted; Andresen, Lars; Chrièl, Mariann; Hagberg, Emma; Jensen, Mette Kragh; Hansen, Mette Sif; Hjulsager, Charlotte Kristiane; Struve, Tina

    2015-09-30

    During 8 months from July 2012 to February 2013, a major outbreak of canine distemper involving 64 mink farms occurred on the Danish peninsula of Jutland. The canine distemper outbreak was associated with exposure of farmed mink to infected wild carnivores and could represent a deficit in biosecurity on the mink farms. The aim of this study was to investigate the extent and association of specific biosecurity measures with the outbreak. The study was carried out in an epidemiological case-control design. The case group consisted of the 61 farms, which had a confirmed outbreak of canine distemper from July 2012 to February 2013. The control group included 54 farms without an outbreak of canine distemper in 2012 or 2013, selected as the closest geographical neighbour to a case farm. The results showed that significantly more control than case farms had vaccinated their mink against canine distemper virus. Mortality was only assessed on the case farms, and there was a non-significantly lower mortality on vaccinated farms than on the non-vaccinated farms. Furthermore, the proportion of farms with observations of wild red foxes (Vulpes vulpes) inside the farm enclosures were larger for case farms, indicating that the control farms had a better biosecurity or were not equally exposed to canine distemper virus. Generally, all farms had very few specific precautions at the gate entrance in respect to human visitors as well as animals. The use of biosecurity measures was very variable in both case and control farms. Not using plastic boot covers, presence of dogs and cats, presence of demarcated area for changing clothes when entering and leaving the farm area and presence of hand washing facilities significantly lowered the odds of the farm having a canine distemper virus outbreak. The results of the study indicate that consistent use of correct vaccination strategies, implementation of biosecurity measures and limiting human and animal access to the mink farm can be

  12. The Research of Computer Aided Farm Machinery Designing Method Based on Ergonomics

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gao, Xiyin; Li, Xinling; Song, Qiang; Zheng, Ying

    Along with agricultural economy development, the farm machinery product type Increases gradually, the ergonomics question is also getting more and more prominent. The widespread application of computer aided machinery design makes it possible that farm machinery design is intuitive, flexible and convenient. At present, because the developed computer aided ergonomics software has not suitable human body database, which is needed in view of farm machinery design in China, the farm machinery design have deviation in ergonomics analysis. This article puts forward that using the open database interface procedure in CATIA to establish human body database which aims at the farm machinery design, and reading the human body data to ergonomics module of CATIA can product practical application virtual body, using human posture analysis and human activity analysis module to analysis the ergonomics in farm machinery, thus computer aided farm machinery designing method based on engineering can be realized.

  13. Modeling Commercial Freshwater Turtle Production on US Farms for Pet and Meat Markets.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ivana Mali

    Full Text Available Freshwater turtles are being exploited for meat, eggs, traditional medicine, and pet trade. As a response, turtle farming became a booming aquaculture industry in the past two decades, specifically in the southeastern states of the United States of America (US and across Southeast Asia. However, US turtle farms are currently producing turtles only for the pet trade while commercial trappers remain focused on catching the largest individuals from the wild. In our analyses we have created a biological and economic model that describes farming operations on a representative turtle farm in Louisiana. We first modeled current production of hatchling and yearling red-eared slider turtles (Trachemys scripta elegans (i.e., traditional farming for foreign and domestic pet markets, respectively. We tested the possibility of harvesting adult turtles from the breeding stock for sale to meat markets to enable alternative markets for the farmers, while decreasing the continued pressures on wild populations (i.e., non-traditional farming. Our economic model required current profit requirements of ~$13/turtle or ~$20.31/kg of meat from non-traditional farming in order to acquire the same profit as traditional farming, a value which currently exceeds market values of red-eared sliders. However, increasing competition with Asian turtle farms and decreasing hatchling prices may force the shift in the US toward producing turtles for meat markets. In addition, our model can be modified and applied to more desirable species on the meat market once more knowledge is acquired about species life histories and space requirements under farmed conditions.

  14. Modeling Commercial Freshwater Turtle Production on US Farms for Pet and Meat Markets

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mali, Ivana; Wang, Hsiao-Hsuan; Grant, William E.; Feldman, Mark; Forstner, Michael R. J.

    2015-01-01

    Freshwater turtles are being exploited for meat, eggs, traditional medicine, and pet trade. As a response, turtle farming became a booming aquaculture industry in the past two decades, specifically in the southeastern states of the United States of America (US) and across Southeast Asia. However, US turtle farms are currently producing turtles only for the pet trade while commercial trappers remain focused on catching the largest individuals from the wild. In our analyses we have created a biological and economic model that describes farming operations on a representative turtle farm in Louisiana. We first modeled current production of hatchling and yearling red-eared slider turtles (Trachemys scripta elegans) (i.e., traditional farming) for foreign and domestic pet markets, respectively. We tested the possibility of harvesting adult turtles from the breeding stock for sale to meat markets to enable alternative markets for the farmers, while decreasing the continued pressures on wild populations (i.e., non-traditional farming). Our economic model required current profit requirements of ~$13/turtle or ~$20.31/kg of meat from non-traditional farming in order to acquire the same profit as traditional farming, a value which currently exceeds market values of red-eared sliders. However, increasing competition with Asian turtle farms and decreasing hatchling prices may force the shift in the US toward producing turtles for meat markets. In addition, our model can be modified and applied to more desirable species on the meat market once more knowledge is acquired about species life histories and space requirements under farmed conditions. PMID:26407157

  15. Modeling Commercial Freshwater Turtle Production on US Farms for Pet and Meat Markets.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mali, Ivana; Wang, Hsiao-Hsuan; Grant, William E; Feldman, Mark; Forstner, Michael R J

    2015-01-01

    Freshwater turtles are being exploited for meat, eggs, traditional medicine, and pet trade. As a response, turtle farming became a booming aquaculture industry in the past two decades, specifically in the southeastern states of the United States of America (US) and across Southeast Asia. However, US turtle farms are currently producing turtles only for the pet trade while commercial trappers remain focused on catching the largest individuals from the wild. In our analyses we have created a biological and economic model that describes farming operations on a representative turtle farm in Louisiana. We first modeled current production of hatchling and yearling red-eared slider turtles (Trachemys scripta elegans) (i.e., traditional farming) for foreign and domestic pet markets, respectively. We tested the possibility of harvesting adult turtles from the breeding stock for sale to meat markets to enable alternative markets for the farmers, while decreasing the continued pressures on wild populations (i.e., non-traditional farming). Our economic model required current profit requirements of ~$13/turtle or ~$20.31/kg of meat from non-traditional farming in order to acquire the same profit as traditional farming, a value which currently exceeds market values of red-eared sliders. However, increasing competition with Asian turtle farms and decreasing hatchling prices may force the shift in the US toward producing turtles for meat markets. In addition, our model can be modified and applied to more desirable species on the meat market once more knowledge is acquired about species life histories and space requirements under farmed conditions.

  16. On-farm feed: the potential for improving profitability in aquaculture

    OpenAIRE

    Ibiyo, L.M.O.; Olowosegun, T.

    2005-01-01

    The urge to develop a standard practical diet for farmed fish in Nigeria has been on the increase since the last decade. Since ages diets has ever represent the largest single cost item of most fish farm operations. This is the reason why careful selection of feed ingredients for use in aqafeed plays a vital role in the resultant nutritional and economic success of farmed fish. In an attempt to meet the objectives of culturing fish two main sources of fish feed have been identified for meetin...

  17. Dairy farmers' perceptions toward the implementation of on-farm Johne's disease prevention and control strategies.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ritter, C; Jansen, J; Roth, K; Kastelic, J P; Adams, C L; Barkema, H W

    2016-11-01

    Implementation of specific management strategies on dairy farms is currently the most effective way to reduce the prevalence of Johne's disease (JD), an infectious chronic enteritis of ruminants caused by Mycobacterium avium subspecies paratuberculosis (MAP). However, dairy farmers often fail to implement recommended strategies. The objective of this study was to assess perceptions of farmers participating in a JD prevention and control program toward recommended practices, and explore factors that influence whether or not a farmer adopts risk-reducing measures for MAP transmission. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 25 dairy farmers enrolled in a voluntary JD control program in Alberta, Canada. Principles of classical grounded theory were used for participant selection, interviewing, and data analysis. Additionally, demographic data and MAP infection status were collected and analyzed using quantitative questionnaires and the JD control program database. Farmers' perceptions were distinguished according to 2 main categories: first, their belief in the importance of JD, and second, their belief in recommended JD prevention and control strategies. Based on these categories, farmers were classified into 4 groups: proactivists, disillusionists, deniers, and unconcerned. The first 2 groups believed in the importance of JD, and proactivists and unconcerned believed in proposed JD prevention and control measures. Groups that regarded JD as important had better knowledge about best strategies to reduce MAP transmission and had more JD risk assessments conducted on their farm. Although not quantified, it also appeared that these groups had more JD prevention and control practices in place. However, often JD was not perceived as a problem in the herd and generally farmers did not regard JD control as a "hot topic" in communications with their herd veterinarian and other farmers. Recommendations regarding how to communicate with farmers and motivate various

  18. Farm tourism

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Blichfeldt, Bodil Stilling; Nielsen, Niels Christian; Just, Flemming

    2011-01-01

    This paper draws on a study of one specific type of small tourism enterprises (i.e. farm tourism enterprises) and argues that these enterprises differ from other enterprises in relation to a series of issues other than merely size. The analysis shows that enterprises such as these are characterized......, our study suggests that it is problematic to threat farm tourism enterprises as if they have much in common with both larger corporations and other types of SMTEs. Farm tourism enterprises seem to differ significantly from other enterprises as the hosts are not in the tourism business because...

  19. Simulation of power fluctuation of wind farms based on frequency domain

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Lin, Jin; Sun, Yuanzhang; Li, Guojie

    2011-01-01

    , however, is incapable of completely explaining the physical mechanism of randomness of power fluctuation. To remedy such a situation, fluctuation modeling based on the frequency domain is proposed. The frequency domain characteristics of stochastic fluctuation on large wind farms are studied using...... the power spectral density of wind speed, the frequency domain model of a wind power generator and the information on weather and geography of the wind farms. The correctness and effectiveness of the model are verified by comparing the measurement data with simulation results of a certain wind farm. © 2011...

  20. Climate change and agricultural risk management: the role of the family-farm characteristics

    Science.gov (United States)

    Quaranta, G.; Salvia, R.

    2009-04-01

    incidence and distribution of natural events, constitutes the theoretical background of the emphasis posed on social agents. Innovative interpretative frameworks, derived from this paradigm, are necessary in order to reshape both management approaches and policy elaboration. Local authorities and local actors should increase awareness and have suitable and new tools to improve the management and to mitigate the risks impacts on agro-natural resources where the role of the social agents is explicitly acknowledged. Mitigation and adaptation strategies should be shaped mainly taking in account the end-users characteristics. The framework presented and discussed in this paper internalizes the social agents perspective recognizing that perception of the risks in the agricultural sector may affect the farmers compliance decision and the level of management practices undertaken. Therefore the intensity of management practices both structural and non-structural has captured in two participatory stages: a model of perception in the first stage and a model of adoption (compliance) and the level of adoption of management practices. In the first stage the factors that condition the farmer perception of the risk linked to water availability are examined. The factors considered are household-specific elements that influence diffusion of information, social capital, farm assets, labour force characteristics. The second stage is finalized to examine the factors that determine the rate of adoption. The methodology has been used in a pilot area of Southern Italy and it has demonstrated to be very effective in depicting farm behaviours definitely showing a great attitude to be utilized for policies ex-ante evaluation and rural policies formulation.

  1. Assessing the Impact of Internet Access on Household Income and Financial Performance of Small Farms

    OpenAIRE

    Khanal, Aditya R.; Mishra, Ashok K.

    2013-01-01

    With increased focus on survival strategies for small farm businesses, we investigate the impact of Internet access on income and farm expenses of small farm business and households. Using a nation-wide farm-level data in the U.S. and non-parametric matching estimators, the study finds a significant positive impact of Internet access on total household and off-farm income.

  2. Profitability and Farmers Conservation Efforts on Sustainable Potato Farming in Wonosobo Regency

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Liana Fatma Leslie Pratiwi

    2017-07-01

    Full Text Available It takes into account in potato farming sustainability, since it was recognised as a holticultural commodity for farmers’ subsistence in Wonosobo Regency. For the reason that farming land was being degraded by errossion, the potato productivity apparently continued to decline. Potato farming sustainability can be deliberated from economic (profitability and environmental (conservation efforts points of view in order to remain profitable in a long term sustainable environment. This study is aimed to (1 to analyse the profitability of potato farming; (2 to analyse farmers’ effort on soil conservation and factors which affected sustainability of potato farming. The method used in this study was basic descriptive analysis. The study site was in Kejajar District, Wonosobo Regency, subsequently 50 random farmers as respondences was obtained. Gross Margin, Return on Invested Capital, and Operating Ratio were used to measure the profitability of potato farming. Conservation Activity Index (CAI was used to measure farmers’ effort on soil conservation, while paired liner regression model with Ordinary Least Square (OLS method was used to understand the factors which affected the conservation efforts of test sites. The study results revealed that the potato farming was profitable. Farmers conservation efforts mostly was in average category (74%, and only view in high category (16% and low category (10%. Factors affected the farmers conservation efforts i.e. land area, potato products, potato price, the off-farm income, number of family members, farmers ages, and village dummy.

  3. Questionnaire study on parasite control practices on Thoroughbred and Standardbred breeding farms in New Zealand.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bolwell, Charlotte F; Rosanowski, Sarah M; Scott, Ian; Sells, Patrick D; Rogers, Chris W

    2015-04-15

    Against a global background of increasing anthelmintic resistance in parasites, little is known about the current parasite control strategies adopted within the equine industry in New Zealand. The aim of the study was to describe and compare the current parasite management and control practices used on Thoroughbred and Standardbred stud farms in New Zealand. An online questionnaire was used to collect data on the demographics of respondents, parasite control methods, grazing management, and use of faecal egg counts. Questions regarding parasite control strategy, how often horses were dewormed, number of treatments per year and stocking density were stratified by horse type: young stock (foals/weanlings/yearlings), wet mares (nursing a foal) or dry mares, and industry (Thoroughbred and Standardbred). Questions on grazing management were stratified by horse type and the breeding and non-breeding season. In total, 136 respondents completed the survey, of which most (66%; 90/136) were involved in the Thoroughbred breeding industry. Most (98%; 134/136) respondents used anthelmintic products to treat the horses on their property, and regardless of industry type most respondents were using interval drenching for young stock (86/129; 53%), dry mares (51/124; 41%) or wet mares (50/126; 40%). Of those respondents treating on regular interval, 55% (68/123), 42% (50/119) and 38% (46/122) were treating young stock, wet mares and dry mares every 6-8 weeks. The median number of treatments per year for young stock, dry mares and wet mares was 6 (IQR 4-8), 4 (IQR 3-6) and 4 (IQR 3-6), respectively; there was no difference in frequency of treatments by industry type. In the last 12 months respondents used a median of 2 (IQR 2-4) and 3 (IQR 2-4) different anthelmintic products to treat horses on Thoroughbred and Standardbred breeding farms, respectively. Of the respondents reporting the anthelmintic products used in the last 12 months, 95% used at least one product containing

  4. Breeding birds on organic and conventional arable farms

    OpenAIRE

    Kragten, Steven

    2009-01-01

    As a result of agricultural intensification, farmland bird populations have been declining dramatically over the past decades. Organic farming is often mentioned to be a possible solution to stop these declines. In order to see whether farmland birds really benefit from organic farming a study was carried out comparing breeding bird densities, breeding success and bird food abundance between organic and conventional arable farms in Flevoland, the Netherlands. skylark (Alauda arvensis) and lap...

  5. Sampling pig farms at the abattoir in a cross-sectional study − Evaluation of a sampling method

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Birkegård, Anna Camilla; Hisham Beshara Halasa, Tariq; Toft, Nils

    2017-01-01

    slaughter pigs. It was not possible to visit farms within the designated timeframe. Therefore, it was decided to use convenience sampling at the abattoir. Our approach was carried out in three steps: 1) planning: using data from meat inspection to plan at which abattoirs and how many farms to sample; 2......A cross-sectional study design is relatively inexpensive, fast and easy to conduct when compared to other study designs. Careful planning is essential to obtaining a representative sample of the population, and the recommended approach is to use simple random sampling from an exhaustive list...... of units in the target population. This approach is rarely feasible in practice, and other sampling procedures must often be adopted. For example, when slaughter pigs are the target population, sampling the pigs on the slaughter line may be an alternative to on-site sampling at a list of farms. However...

  6. Air Pollution from Livestock Farms Is Associated with Airway Obstruction in Neighboring Residents.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Borlée, Floor; Yzermans, C Joris; Aalders, Bernadette; Rooijackers, Jos; Krop, Esmeralda; Maassen, Catharina B M; Schellevis, François; Brunekreef, Bert; Heederik, Dick; Smit, Lidwien A M

    2017-11-01

    Livestock farm emissions may not only affect respiratory health of farmers but also of neighboring residents. To explore associations between spatial and temporal variation in pollutant emissions from livestock farms and lung function in a general, nonfarming, rural population in the Netherlands. We conducted a cross-sectional study in 2,308 adults (age, 20-72 yr). A pulmonary function test was performed measuring prebronchodilator and post-bronchodilator FEV 1 , FVC, FEV 1 /FVC, and maximum mid-expiratory flow (MMEF). Spatial exposure was assessed as (1) number of farms within 500 m and 1,000 m of the home, (2) distance to the nearest farm, and (3) modeled annual average fine dust emissions from farms within 500 m and 1,000 m of the home address. Temporal exposure was assessed as week-average ambient particulate matter livestock farms within a 1,000-m buffer from the home address and MMEF, which was more pronounced in participants without atopy. No associations were found with other spatial exposure variables. Week-average particulate matter livestock air pollution emissions are associated with lung function deficits in nonfarming residents.

  7. Alley Farming in Thailand

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Teerapol Silakul

    2010-08-01

    Full Text Available Poverty alleviation and environmental preservation are very important issues to many governments. Alley farming is beneficial to the environment because it conserves soil and sustains yields over time. Specifically, alley farming reduces soil erosion, which is a major problem in Thailand. Alley farming was conducted on a farmer’s field at Khaokwan Thong, a village in Uthaithani Province, Northern Thailand. We did a two-by-two factorial with and without alley farming, and with and without fertilizer. From this study, we observed that the two species used, Leucaena leucocephala and Acacia auriculiformis, grow well in Thailand, and that alley farming is suitable for Thailand. Few Thai farmers have heard about alley farming. However, it is nevertheless useful to know that there is potential for alley farming in Thailand using the two species. These plants, based upon the diameter and height measurements provided, grew well.

  8. Evaluation by employees of employee management on large US dairy farms.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Durst, Phillip T; Moore, Stanley J; Ritter, Caroline; Barkema, Herman W

    2018-05-23

    Employees, many of whom are not native English speakers, perform the majority of work on large US dairy farms. Although management of employees is a critical role of dairy owners and managers, factors that improve employee engagement and retention are not well known. Objectives were to (1) identify key dairy farm employee management issues based on employee perceptions, (2) evaluate strengths and weaknesses of farms based on employee responses, (3) investigate differences between Latino and English-speaking employees, and (4) investigate differences in perception between employers and employees. Employees from 12 US dairy farms (each with a minimum of 10 employees) were interviewed by phone following a questionnaire provided. Employees provided their responses to 21 Likert scale questions and 8 open-ended questions. There was a wide range in employee turnover among farms (100%). Latino employees had much shorter tenure and were more often employed in milking and livestock care than English-speaking employees. Employee perceptions differed among farms regarding whether they would recommend their farm as a place to work, teamwork within the dairy, whether rules were fairly applied, availability of tools and equipment, clear lines of supervision, and recognition for good work in the previous 15 d. Latino employees (n = 91) were more positive in many of these measures than their English-speaking counterparts (n = 77) but less often provided ideas to their employer on how to improve the business. Employers, surveyed on how they thought their employees would answer, underestimated employee responses on several questions, particularly the interest of employees in learning about dairy. When asked to cite 3 goals of the operation, there were differences among owners, managers, and employees. Although employees rated their commitment to the farm and their interest in learning as high, based on turnover, there was an obvious disparity between reality and ideal employee

  9. Hydroacoustic registration of fish abundance of offshore wind farms. Horns Rev offshore wind farm. Annual report 2004.

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Hvidt, C.B.; Bruenner, L.; Reier Knudsen, F.

    2005-05-15

    Elsam Engineering AS has approved the implementation of a project concerning the registration of fish communities in Horns Rev Offshore Wind Farm with use of hydroacoustic methods. In a joint effort, Bio/consult as, Carl Bro as and SIMRAD AS have monitored the fish communities at Horns Rev Offshore Wind Farm using a new hydroacoustic methodology. The new hydroacoustic technique combines the use of scientific sonar acoustics with GPS to determine the density, diversity and location of fish. The objectives of this project were to test the possibility of using hydroacoustic techniques as alternative methods to traditional techniques to assess the fish assemblage inhabiting offshore wind farms and to investigate the possible effect from the wind farm and hard bottom substrates (turbine foundations) on fish abundance. The field study was carried out October 9-10, 2004 and consisted of four horizontal hydroacoustic survey transects each covering impact and reference areas. Transects were surveyed in order to achieve identical impact and reference transect pairs concerning environment, topography and time correspondence. The hydroacoustic equipment consisted of a SIMRAD EK60/EY60 echo sounder with a split-beam transducer (Simrad ES 120-4x10) mounted on a pan and tilt unit, a transceiver, a laptop extended with a GPS-receiver and additional large external hard discs. The raw data files from EK60 were converted to echogram files suitable for the post processing application, Sonar5-Pro. The Sonar5-Pro software makes it possible to filter out echo detections from the surface and the bottom, as well as perform cross filter detection. The validity of the results using the hydroacoustic method is high due to the cross filtering and single target tracking technique. From the hydroacoustic results, no or very little effect from the wind farm or from hard bottom substrates was found on the fish densities at Horns Rev Wind Farm at the time of the survey. The execution of the field

  10. Analysis of the asset position of the Hungarian pig farming sector based on the data of the Farm Accountancy Data Network (FADN

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ildikó ÁBEL

    2017-03-01

    Full Text Available The goal of the study was the examination of the Hungarian pig sector with particular attention paid to the available assets, to the composition of the non-current assets, to the depreciation value, to the value of gross and net investments and to the value of various supports. It was found that the position of individual farms was more unfavorable; only from 2012 exceeded the value of their investments the value of depreciation, consequently these investments did not result in farm development. Corporate farms on the other hand were able to increase their investments - partly because they were more successful in utilizing the various support measures. Although individual farms had an increased value of investment in the last examined year, the statement above is still valid. Companies characteristically invested in high-value fixed assets, particularly in real estate property, while individual farms preferred intermediate assets, particularly machinery and breeding stock. The results of the study also show that farms keeping fewer pigs (below 50 livestock units chose to increase the size of their breeding stock while reducing their real estate and machinery investment. In the case of medium size pig farms (livestock units 50-150 the situation were more diverse. In 2010 the biggest investment activity occurred in increasing the size of the breeding stock, in 2011 in real estate investment and from 2012 machinery investment had the biggest value. Farms having more than 150 livestock units purchased mainly breeding stock in the first two years, and invested in real estate property from 2012. The small and medium size pig farms realized negative net investment indicating a decreasing productive capacity and falling behind in terms of development. These farms were not able to replace their depreciated assets. In terms of developments only the big pig farms were successful having sufficient resources and successful partaking in the various support

  11. Post-partum reproductive performance of the Icelandic dairy cow

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Eldon, J.; Olafsson, T.; Thorsteinsson, T.

    1990-01-01

    The aim of the studies was to monitor the reproductive performance of Icelandic dairy cow herds with and without histories of fertility problems under normal farming conditions. Artificial inseminations and calvings were recorded, pregnancy was diagnosed by rectal palpation, and progesterone concentration was measured by radioimmunoassay in sequential samples of milk. Blood samples were collected at regular intervals and the concentrations of glucose, urea, calcium and magnesium were determined. Clinical ketosis and low glucose were found in one third of the cows on problem farms. The mean time of first post-partum ovulation was 49 days for cows with ketosis, compared with 34 days for cows free of ketosis. Cows in the normal herds ovulated considerably later than is reported for many other breeds of dairy cows; however, the time of first post-partum AI, the time of conception and the conception rate were similar to those reported for other breeds. The effects of season and herd were statistically significant for the time of first post-partum ovulation, AI and conception; the effect of area was highly significant for the time of ovulation. Progesterone profiles showed that over 50% of the first post-partum ovarian cycles were short and had low progesterone concentrations. Season had significant effects on the length of the interval from calving to first post-partum ovulation, AI and conception, on the conception rate to first AI and consequently on the number of AIs per conception, and on the blood levels of glucose, urea and calcium. (author). 28 refs, 3 figs, 3 tabs

  12. Farm Population of the United States: 1972. Current Population Reports: Farm Population.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bureau of the Census (DOC), Suitland, MD. Population Div.

    Based on data derived from the Current Population Survey of the Bureau of Census, this statistical report presents demographic and labor force characteristics of the U.S. farm population and comparisons of the farm and nonfarm populations. Tabular data are presented as follows: (1) U.S. Population, Total and Farm: April 1960 to 1972; (2) Persons…

  13. Farm Population of the United States: 1971. Current Population Reports: Farm Population.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bureau of the Census (DOC), Suitland, MD. Population Div.

    Based on data derived from the Current Population Survey of the Bureau of the Census, this statistical report presents demographic and labor force characteristics of the U.S. farm population and comparisons of the farm and nonfarm populations. Tabular data are presented as follows: (1) U.S. Population, Total and Farm: April 1960 and 1971; (2)…

  14. Influence of offshore wind farms layout on electrical resonances

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Holdyk, Andrzej; Holbøll, Joachim; Koldby, Erik

    2014-01-01

    , winding resistances and winding capacitances. Considering the frequency range of the present investigations, up to about 1 MHz, a lumped representation of the transformer characteristics was deemed sufficient. Breakers and capacitors are modelled as ideal components. The chosen wind farm layout includes...... ranges. The results show the influence of specific parameters being varied depending on the farm layout. In particular, cable lengths and transformer broad band characteristics turned out to have significant impact on the results....

  15. Sustainability evaluation of automatic and conventional milking systems on organic dairy farms in Denmark

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Oudshoorn, Frank W; Kristensen, Troels; van der Zijpp, A J

    2012-01-01

    Organic dairy farmers in Denmark currently are implementing automatic milking systems (AMS) to save labour costs. As organic agriculture aims at sustainable production, the introduction of a new technology such as AMS should be evaluated regarding its economic viability, environmental impact...... conventional milking systems (CMS). Sustainability indicators were quantified for economic performance of the farm, on-farm eutrophication, on-farm biodiversity, animal welfare (including health), grazing time, milk composition and labour time. Milk yield per cow per year was higher for AMS farms (9021 kg...... was not due to the use of AMS but was caused by a higher export of manure by the CMS farms. The number of veterinary treatments per cow per year was unaffected by AMS use, but culling rate was higher for the AMS farms (38%) than for the CMS farms (32%). There was no difference between the AMS and CMS farms...

  16. Methane gas on farm and plantation

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Martin-Leake, H

    1952-12-01

    It is proposed that cooperative gas plants intermediate in size between individual farm and city plants be composed of a number of batch digesters. The gas would be used for a variety of purposes, and the effluent be used in the production of compost on the site.

  17. Profitability of Nitrification Inhibitors for Abatement of Nitrate Leaching on a Representative Dairy Farm in the Waikato Region of New Zealand

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Upa H. Paragahawewa

    2011-11-01

    Full Text Available Direct policies for the management of nonpoint source pollution are difficult to apply given asymmetric information, spatial and temporal variability, and uncertainty. There is increasing awareness that these limitations may be overcome where profitable mitigation practices are broadly adopted by polluters. Nitrification inhibitors (chemicals applied to paddocks that retard the nitrification process in soils are a rare example of a mitigation practice that reduces pollutant loads and potentially increases farm profit through promoting pasture production. This study investigates their capacity to achieve both goals to inform policy makers and producers of their potential for simultaneously improving farm profit and water quality. With an assumed 10 percent increase in pasture production in response to nitrification inhibitor application, nitrification inhibitors are a profitable innovation because greater pasture production supports higher stocking rates. Nonetheless, their overall impact on farm profit is low, even when the cost of inhibitors or their impact on subsequent pasture production is substantially altered. However, inhibitors are found to be a critical mitigation practice for farmers posed with decreasing leaching loads to satisfy regulatory requirements. These findings suggest that, despite their shortcomings for nonpoint pollution regulation, direct policies appear to be the only way to motivate producers to account for their impact on environmental values given the current lack of profitable mitigations.

  18. Risks, resources and reason: understanding smallholder decisions around farming system interventions in Eastern Indonesia

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Clemens M. Grünbühel

    2016-11-01

    Full Text Available Adoption of new cattle management practices by Indonesian smallholders occurs less as a ‘technology transfer’ in the classical sense but rather as a series of conscious decisions by farming households weighing risks and resources as well as matching innovations to livelihood strategies. This paper uncovers the context of decisions and communication of innovations by way of social networks. The research looks at two geographically distinct cases where new cattle management practices have been introduced. We apply the lens of a common sense framework initially introduced by Clifford Geertz. Smallholder decisions are analysed within a socio-cultural context and a particular set of resources, risks and livelihood objectives. We show that the respective value placed on land, cattle and food security is central to adoption of new cattle management techniques. Far from accepting everything novel, smallholders are selective and willing to make changes to their farming system if they do not conflict with livelihood strategies. Innovations are communicated through a range of existing social networks and are either matched to existing livelihood strategies or perceived as stepping-stones out of agriculture.

  19. On the Impact of Wind Farms on a Convective Atmospheric Boundary Layer

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lu, Hao; Porté-Agel, Fernando

    2015-10-01

    With the rapid growth in the number of wind turbines installed worldwide, a demand exists for a clear understanding of how wind farms modify land-atmosphere exchanges. Here, we conduct three-dimensional large-eddy simulations to investigate the impact of wind farms on a convective atmospheric boundary layer. Surface temperature and heat flux are determined using a surface thermal energy balance approach, coupled with the solution of a three-dimensional heat equation in the soil. We study several cases of aligned and staggered wind farms with different streamwise and spanwise spacings. The farms consist of Siemens SWT-2.3-93 wind turbines. Results reveal that, in the presence of wind turbines, the stability of the atmospheric boundary layer is modified, the boundary-layer height is increased, and the magnitude of the surface heat flux is slightly reduced. Results also show an increase in land-surface temperature, a slight reduction in the vertically-integrated temperature, and a heterogeneous spatial distribution of the surface heat flux.

  20. Social Skills in Children Adopted from Socially-Emotionally Depriving Institutions.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Julian, Megan M; McCall, Robert B

    This study assessed social skills in post-institutionalized (PI) children with respect to age-at-adoption, age-at-assessment, and gender. Parent ratings of social skills (Social Skills Rating System) and behavior problems (Child Behavior Checklist) were obtained for 214 children and 127 adolescents who were adopted from socially-emotionally depriving Russian institutions. Results showed that children adopted before 18 months of age have better social skills than those adopted after this age; those assessed in childhood demonstrate better social skills than those assessed in adolescence. PI females, especially later-adopted adolescents, have particularly poor social skills. Children with poor social skills tend to have higher rates of behavior problems.