Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

Evaluating Alternative Livestock Production Systems Sustainability And Farmer Income In Taipusi Banner, Inner Mongolia, Q. Tian, R. Jones, David L. Michalk, Geoff D. Millar, David R. Kemp, Z. Xu, J. Xie, Y. Zheng

IGC Proceedings (1997-2023)

No abstract provided.

In‐Herd Diversity Of Lifetime Performances: A Key For The Sustainability Of Livestock Farming System Based On Grassland, Laurence Puillet, D. Sauvant, M. Tichit

IGC Proceedings (1997-2023)

No abstract provided.

A Practical System For Wa South Coast Cattle Producers To Double Their Production With The C4 Grass, Kikuyu (Pennisetum Clandestinum), Nicole Y. Chalmer

IGC Proceedings (1997-2023)

No abstract provided.

Forage‐Based Indicators Of Environmental Sustainability Of Dairy Farms In Eastern Canada, V. Bélanger, A. Vanasse, Gilles Bélanger, D. Angers, Guy Allard

IGC Proceedings (1997-2023)

No abstract provided.

21st Century Pastoralism--Remote Management Innovations For Sustainability In Arid Rangeland Pastoral Production, M. R. C. Ashley, A. J. Bubb, Adrian R. James, Craig D. James, C. H. James

IGC Proceedings (1997-2023)

No abstract provided.

The Role Of Management In Maintaining Grassland Sustainability In The Carpathian Mountains From Romania, V. Vintu, C. Samuil, T. Iacob, Gh. Saghin, E. G. Teodorescu

IGC Proceedings (1997-2023)

No abstract provided.

Environmental Soft Law As A Governance Strategy, Cary Coglianese

All Faculty Scholarship

Soft law governance relies on nongovernmental institutions that establish and implement voluntary standards. Compared with traditional hard law solutions to societal and economic problems, soft law alternatives promise to be more politically feasible to establish and then easier to adapt in the face of changing circumstances. They may also seem more likely to be flexible in what they demand of targeted businesses and other entities. But can soft law actually work to solve major problems? This Article considers the value of soft law governance through the lens of three major voluntary, nongovernmental initiatives that address environmental concerns: (1) ISO 14001 …

Rangeland, Ecological Integrity And Sustainability: An Analysis In The Himalayan Mountain Context, Vir Singh, Babita Bohra, Manisha Joshi

IGC Proceedings (1997-2023)

No abstract provided.

The Use Of Criteria And Indicator Monitoring Of Ecosystem Sustainability To Assess Ecosystem Services On Grasslands/Rangelands, R. Dennis Child, Janette Kaiser, Ralph Crawford

IGC Proceedings (1997-2023)

No abstract provided.

Conservation Tillage Influence On Topsoil Aggregation And Carbon Content On The Loess Plateau, China, Jing Yang, Yuying Shen, Zhibiao Nan, Yining Niu, Liying Geng

IGC Proceedings (1997-2023)

No abstract provided.

Irish Grasslands 2010: A Sustainable Environment?, R. P. O. Schulte, N. Culleton

IGC Proceedings (1997-2023)

No abstract provided.

Digital Mapping Of Togo’S Soil Fertility: Savannah Region, Aminou Saibou

English Language Institute

A soil assessment was carried out in the savannah region of Togo in 2018, aiming at drawing the digital map of Togo’s soil fertility and making fertilizer recommendations. Soil samples were taken from geo-referenced GPS points and were analyzed for parameters such as water pH, Organic matter, available phosphorus and exchangeable potassium. Thematic maps have been drawn using an ArcGIS package. The results showed that the soils of the Savannah region in Togo are mainly (84%) not very acidic (pH = 5.5 to 6.5), overall poor to very poor (84%) in organic matter (<2% OM), essentially poor to very poor (86%) in available phosphorus (<15 mg/kg of soil) and mostly very poor (87%) in exchangeable potassium (<90 mg / kg of soil). These results allowed the agricultural research institute of Togo to make fertilizer use recommendations and to develop, in partnership with Morocco, a digital platform (fertitogo.tg ) for decision making in crop fertilization.

A Survey Of Dairy-Goat Keeping In Zanzibar, Tiffanie Stone, Charles A. Francis, L. O. Eik

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Faculty Publications

Dairy goats with improved genetics for milk production were recently introduced onto small-scale farms in Zanzibar through governmental and non-governmental projects. These projects were meant to support small-scale farmers by improving both income and household nutrition through milk production. No follow up had been conducted to understand what effects dairy goat keeping had on these small-scale farms, or how they could be improved. A survey of 193 dairy goat farmers in Zanzibar was conducted, including 30% and 60% of all dairy goat farmers on Unguja and Pemba, the two largest islands, respectively. The objective was to understand the impact keeping …

Drivers Of Rural Development Strategies At The Farm Level: A Case Study On Circular Agriculture In The Netherlands, Anna Berger Mulder

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The sustainability of the agricultural sector worldwide is increasingly being pressurized by ecological, economic, and social developments. The Dutch government is promoting enhancing circular agriculture as an important rural development strategy in response to the challenges the sector is facing. All farmers in the country will have to be involved in closed cycles by 2030, but many farmers do not want to or cannot make this transition. This study aims to identify the different factors that influence a farmer’s decision to transition towards circular agriculture. Based on thirteen semi-structured interviews with already transitioned farmers, a policy officer, a consultant, and …

Tapping The Sweet Spot: Predicting The Suitability Of A Woodlot’S Potential To Transition Into A Productive Sugarbush In Maine, Deven M. Teisl

Non-Thesis Student Work

Through conversations with Dr. Sara Velardi, a postdoctoral research associate who has been doing research on maple producers’ scale management decisions in Maine, most current owners and operators in the maple syrup industry have the common interest of expanding their current operations, but they are unsure of how to approach that problem. Due to these current issues, my research focused on creating a sugarbush assessment tool. This assessment tool consists of a set of guidelines which can be utilized by current or future producers and can be used to easily assess woodlots without having to hire a consulting forester to …

Sustainability And Optimization Of Rangeland Uses: Issues Of Perspective And Scale, T. L. Thurow

IGC Proceedings (1997-2023)

No abstract provided.

Year Long Water Quality Analysis Of White Horn Brook, Kevin Dyer

Senior Honors Projects

KEVIN DYER (Marine Biology)

Year-long Analysis of the Water Quality of White Horn Brook

Sponsor: Thomas Boving (Geological Sciences)

Water is the foundation for all life on earth and is the most vital resource on this planet. Despite this, oceans and waterways all over the world are being polluted and exploited in ways detrimental to their fundamental hydrologic functions. For instance, excess nitrate levels can lead to eutrophication which gives rise to harmful algae blooms. Low pH can cause the breakdown of CaCO3 exoskeletons of organisms, such mollusks. High temperature variations are major stressors to living things and can cause …

Design Of A Shallow-Aero Ebb And Flow Hydroponics System And Associated Educational Module For Tri Cycle Farms, Julie Halveland

Biological and Agricultural Engineering Undergraduate Honors Theses

Tri Cycle Farms, whose main mission is to reduce food insecurity in their community, is a non- profit urban farm in Fayetteville, Arkansas. The “Tri” in their name refers to the three parts of their foundation: giving a third of their yield to volunteers, giving a third to local food pantries, and selling a third to sustain the farm and demonstrate the economy of local food production. They want to expand on the third part and have a vision of building a hydroponic greenhouse with the intention that it will create more crops to sell and give, as well as …

Quantifying Greenhouse Gas Emissions And Ammonia Volatilization From Soil Amended With Excreta From Ruminants Fed Alternative Forage-Based Diets, Samuel Park

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Forage-based ruminant diets supplemented with condensed tannins or polyphenolic-containing legumes may alter nitrogen (N) metabolism in the animal and reduce gas emissions from soil receiving excreta. The objective of the study was to determine if soil receiving urine or manure from sheep fed forage diets supplemented with condensed tannin or polyphenolic-containing legumes would decrease N gas emissions. Two field trials were conducted: in the first trial, sheep were fed alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.) silage diets supplemented with 0, 9, 18, or 27% sericea lespedeza (Lespedeza cuneate [Dumont de Courset] G. Don) (n = 4). In the second trial sheep were …

Cultivating The Next Generation Of Pasture Scientists In Australia, Sarita Jane Bennett

IGC Proceedings (1997-2023)

Current students coming through agricultural faculties in Australian universities have grown up in an era of low wool and meat prices, the introduction and acceptance of no-till farming as the norm and a general decrease in mixed farming landscapes in favour of continuous cropping. Since the collapse of the wool reserve price scheme in 1991, wool prices declined and income on wool producing farms followed suit. R & D during this period has also declined from 5-4% agricultural GDP in 1986 to only 3% in 2005 and has favoured research related to cropping rather than that related to pastures and …

Farmers Teaching Farmers: What Motivates Volunteer Farm Trainers?, Evelyne Kiptot, Steven Franzel

IGC Proceedings (1997-2023)

This paper assesses the motivation behind the decisions of smallholder farmers to volunteer as farmer trainers despite the fact that they are not paid for their services. Volunteer farmer trainers (VFTs) are trained in livestock feeds and feeding methods by extension officers. They in turn train other farmers within their community without pay but receive training and seeds for setting up demonstration plots. Data collection was through a combination of focus group discussions and individual interviews with 99 VFTs from seven East Africa Dairy Development (EADD) sites in central and Rift Valley regions of Kenya. Findings of the study showed …

Grass-Based Health, Peter Ballerstedt

IGC Proceedings (1997-2023)

A true discussion of sustainability must focus on improving the condition of humanity. Too often, however, such a discussion is a "dialogue of values that defies consensual definition" (Ratner 2004), with participants implicitly accepting as true numerous foundational beliefs that are factually incorrect or unproven. Dietary policies recommending carbohydrate-based diets are one example. Falsehoods persist despite decades of contradictory re-search results and clinical findings, contaminating a variety of diverse disciplines and discussions. A rational, objective discussion of sustainability in grassland agriculture must confront the issue of public health policy, consider our physical health, the fiscal health of our communities, and …

Impact Of Guinea Grass, Congo Signal And Stylosanthes Hamata On Soil Physico-Chemical Properties And Beneficial Micro Fauna In Mango And Sapota Plantations, B. G. Shivakumar, Narendra S. Kulkarni

IGC Proceedings (1997-2023)

Farming systems are considered to be most important upcoming enterprises to reduce soil erosion and land degradation besides provide timber, fruits, nutritious fodder for live stock population in the poor soil areas (Roy et.al., 2000). Horticulture based farming systems have been recommended as alternate land use systems for sustainable agriculture in semi arid ecosystem for efficient soil plant management and soil fertility management. Studies on micro flora and micro fauna under farming system are required to increase the farming system productivity. Higher species diversity of soil arthropods was observed in grassland system closely followed by the silvipasture …

Should Native Pastures Be Fertilised?, Jo I. Powells, Doug J. Alcock, Luke C. Pope, Denys Garden

IGC Proceedings (1997-2023)

Considerable research has been conducted in recent years demonstrating the ongoing benefits of phosphorus (P) fertiliser in achieving and maintaining higher levels of production from native pastures (Graham 2006; Garden et al. 2003; Lodge et al. 2003; Michalk et al. 2003). However Garden et al. (2003), Hill et al. (2004) and Dorrough et al. (2008) all question the sustainability of this practice by highlighting changes in species composition of these pastures with regard to increasing the introduced annual grass and broadleaf weed components at the expense of the native grasses and forbs but in …

Using Forages To Conserve Water In Semi-Arid Irrigated Cropping Systems, Rick Kellison, V. G. Allen, C. P. Brown, D. L. Doerfert, P. N. Johnson, S. J. Maas, C. P. West

IGC Proceedings (1997-2023)

The Texas High Plains are part of the largest, contiguously irrigated cropland in the USA, and draws water from the Ogallala aquifer. High crop prices, increased demand for maize for ethanol production, and severe drought have increased water depletion rates. Research has shown that integrating forages and grazing cattle into the cotton-dominant cropping system can reduce overall water use (Allen et al. 2012) while still offering farmers positive net returns (Johnson et al. 2013). Integrating forages with row crops also reduces needs for nitrogen (N) fertilizer, rebuilds soil organic matter (Acosta-Martinez et al. 2010), and reduces fossil energy …

The North Wyke Farm Platform: Methodologies Used In The Remote Sensing Of The Quantity And Quality Of Drainage Water, Bruce A. Griffith, Jane M. B. Hawkins, Robert J. Orr, Martin S. A. Blackwell, Phil J. Murray

IGC Proceedings (1997-2023)

The North Wyke Farm Platform(NWFP) for agri-environmental research in temperate grassland was established in the UK in 2010 (Orr et al. 2011). Here we describe the instrumentation and methodologies used to monitor the quantity and quality of drainage water at a total of 15 H-flumes draining 5 sub-catchments within three farmlets. Each of 15 flume laboratories is supplied with 3 kW of mains power and connected to both fibre optic and UHF (Ultra High Frequency) radio networks for data exchange. The radio data network also provides telemetry for rain gauges and soil temperature/moisture probes located away from the flumes …

Botanical Composition And Nutritive Value Of Grazing Lands From Organic And Conventional Agrosilvopastoral Production Systems Of Tropical Southeastern Mexico, Claudia Delgadillo Puga, José Bernardo Sánchez Muñoz, José Nahed-Toral, Miguel Ángel Orantes Zebadua, José Luis Cruz Lopez, Mario Cuchillo Hilario

IGC Proceedings (1997-2023)

In the current situation of agriculture, organic livestock farming has been not only adapted to ameliorate undesirable impacts on environment but also it is challenged to hold or improve agricultural yields obtain-ed by conventional agriculture. In the Mesoamerican biological corridor, a region recognized with an abundant diversity, almost all animal husbandry is based on extensive grazing and traditional agrosilvopastoral systems (Nahed-Toral et al. 2009; Nahed et al. 2010). Furthermore, the conversion of natural jungle areas to new farmland through deforestation is a prevalent problem for biological conservation. Therefore, precise knowledge for suitable agriculture and livestock product-ion are needed …

Integrating Beef And Cotton Production Reduces Irrigation Needs In The Texas Southern High Plains, C. Philip Brown, V. G. Allen, Rick Kellison, P. Green, C. J. Zilverberg, P. Johnson, V. Acosta-Martinez, C. P. West

IGC Proceedings (1997-2023)

The Texas High Plains is a semiarid agricultural region located in the central south plains of the United States. This area exemplifies semiarid regions where water is becoming scarce. Crop production depends heavily on irrigation primarily from the Ogallala aquifer at non-sustainable rates of use. Irrigated monoculture cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L.) is the dominant crop but grazing livestock in this once vast grassland is re-emerging as the aquifer declines. Environmental benefits of integrated crop and livestock systems have been suggested. We compared a cotton monoculture with an integrated cotton-forage-beef stocker steer system over 10 yr to determine effects on …

Integrated Crop Livestock Systems--A Key To Sustainable Intensification In Africa, A. J. Duncan, S. A. Tarawali, P. Thorne, D. Valbuena, Katrien Descheemaeker, Sabine Homann-Keetui

IGC Proceedings (1997-2023)

Mixed crop-livestock systems provide livelihoods for a billion people and produce half the world’s cereal and around a third of its beef and milk. Market orientation and strong and growing demand for food provide powerful incentives for sustainable intensification of both crop and livestock enterprises in smallholders’ mixed systems in Africa. Better exploitation of the mutually reinforcing nature of crop and livestock systems can contribute to a positive, inclusive growth trajectory that is both ecologically and economically sustainable. In mixed systems, livestock intensification is often neglected relative to crops, yet livestock can make a positive contribution to raising productivity of …

Integrative Experience: Soil Microbes And The Sustainability Of Organic Agriculture, Kristen Deangelis, Luiz Domeignoz Horta

Microbiology Educational Materials

This curriculum describes a one-unit course designed to fulfill the University of Massachusetts requirement for Integrative Experience as part of the Gen Ed curriculum for undergraduates.