Agriculture Commons^™

Carbon Farming In Wa, Department Of Agriculture And Food, Western Australia, Department Of Regional Development And Lands, Western Australia

Natural resources published reports

Fact sheets:

1. Applying biochar to improve soil quality and crop productivity

2. Reducing methane emissions from cattle using feed additives

3. Cattle breeding for lower greenhouse gas emissions

4. Managing genetic codes to reduce methane emissions from cattle

5. Managing pastures and stocking rate to reduce methane emissions from cattle

6. Claying as a method of increasing soil carbon content

7. Green and brown manuring as part of carbon farming

8. Permanent environmental plantings to earn carbon credits

9. Nitrous oxide emissions from agricultural soils

10. Sheep genetics in methane reduction

11. Managing sheep pastures to reduce methane production …

Trace Element Soil Contamination At Urban Community Gardens In Washington, Dc, Adam J. Long

Environmental Analysis Program Mellon Student Summer Research Reports

In recent years, urban gardening has become a popular form of environmental, food, and social justice. Urban community gardens such as those in Washington, DC can reduce the environmental footprint of food production, provide access to healthy produce in “food deserts,” and provide other social, educational, and even financial benefits. However, the rising popularity of urban gardening has put many people in close contact with urban soils, which are likely to contain various contaminants due to concentrated human activity over extended periods of time. This study investigates heavy metal soil contaminants found in community gardens located in Washington, DC. 45 …

The New England Food System In 2060: Envisioning Tomorrow's Policy Through Today's Assessments, Margaret Sova Mccabe, Joanne Burke

Law Faculty Scholarship

This Essay analyzes how the New England states' planning processes are envisioning revitalized local, state, and regional food systems. This Essay has five parts. First, it begins with examining compelling reasons for promoting more sustainable food systems based on national and global trends, and identifies strategies for promoting regional food systems approaches with a brief introduction to the major influences on the national and New England food system. Second, it describes the states' planning efforts and their enabling legislation or source of authority.

The Essay then introduces the New England Food Vision 2060 (the Vision) an emerging discussion of food …

Agricultural Greenhouse Gas Emissions, Meredith Fairbanks, David Bowran, Geraldine Pasqual

Bulletins 4000 -

Agriculture contributes 15.5 per cent of Australia’s emissions (Figure 1), largely due to methane, from ruminant livestock digestion, nitrous oxide from soils and carbon dioxide from fossil fuel use (Australian National Greenhouse Accounts 2011; ABARES 2011).

This bulletin identifies current ways to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from Australian agriculture.

Of Backyard Chickens And Front Yard Gardens: The Conflict Between Local Governments And Locavores, Sarah B. Schindler

Faculty Publications

Locavores aim to source their food locally. Many locavores are also concerned more broadly with living sustainably and decreasing reliance on industrial agriculture. As more people have joined the locavore movement, including many who reside in urban and suburban areas, conflict has emerged between the locavores’ desires to use their private property to produce food — for personal use and for sale — and municipal zoning ordinances that seek to separate agriculture from residential uses.

In this article, I consider the evolution of this conflict and its implications for our systems of land use, local government, and environmental law. Specifically, …

Food, Fibre And The Future : Report On Surveys Of Students’ And Teachers’ Knowledge And Understanding Of Primary Industries, Kylie Hillman, Sarah Buckley

National Surveys

Primary Industry plays a vital role in Australian’s economy and society, but the gap between rural and urban communities is growing, contributing to a lack of understanding of where food and other basic necessities of life come from. The goal of the Primary Industries Education Foundation (PIEF) is to provide a source of information on primary industries for educators, to better equip students with not only knowledge about what goes into their food and fibres but also what career opportunities exist in primary industries. In 2010, PIEF contracted the Australian Council for Educational Research (ACER) to design and conduct a …

We Can Grow It: Reporting On Women In Agriculture In India, Belize And The U.S., Colleen Stewart

Mahurin Honors College Capstone Experience/Thesis Projects

Women produce more than half of the world’s food, according to the U.N. Food and Agricultural Organization. This aligns with the Chinese proverb– “Women Hold up Half the Sky.” As the role of women in agriculture increases in the developed and developing world, female economic activity in agriculture serves as a beacon for poverty reduction, increased food security, and environmental sustainability. In the United States, there has been a 30-percent increase in the number of female-run farms in the U.S. since 2002 and women, now the largest “minority” group in agriculture in the U.S., operate approximately 300,000 farms throughout the …

Market Development In Support Of Sorghum And Millet Farmers In Tanzania And Zambia, J. Mark Erbaugh, Emmanuel R. Mbiha, Fredy T.M. Kilima, Precious Hamukwala, Gelson Tembo, Donald W. Larson

INTSORMIL Presentations

Problem: Sorghum and millet productivity, production and consumption have been stagnant or declining for 20 years.

Challenge: How to increase the productivity and incomes of sorghum and millet farmers to improve food security and accelerate economic growth.

Solution: Better technology and linking producers to markets are important parts of the solution to the problem.

Objectives

Examine the effects of new production and marketing technology on sorghum and millet producers’ income and productivity in Tanzania and Zambia.

Identify better technologies, enhance market linkages between producers and buyers, improve quality and diversify utilization to ensure food security and increase farm income.

Conclusions: …

Current And Future Food Demand In Western Australia. Module 1 Scoping Study, Andrew Weinert, Robert R. Rouda

Farm Systems and Economics published reports

Maintaining and growing our food industries are priorities of the Western Australian Government and its Department of Agriculture and Food, Western Australia (DAFWA). Understanding our current food consumption levels, imports, exports and production limitations is critical to the formulation of effective agricultural and food polices.

The WA food industries are affected by several factors that include previous domestic policies and market instruments; general lack of scale; geographical isolation; access to suitable land and water; the availability and use of new technology, communication, processing and transport infrastructure that facilitate efficient marketing; sales and administration; social factors; international tariffs and other trade …

Interview With Shari Sirkin, Dancing Roots Farm, 2008 (Audio), Shari Sirkin

All Sustainability History Project Oral Histories

Interview of Shari Sirkin by Brian Francetich at Troutdale, Oregon on May 28th, 2008.

The interview index is available for download.

Sustainability In A Time Of Climate Change: Developing An Intensive Research Framework For The Platte River Basin And The High Plains Proceedings From The 2008 Climate Change Workshop, Monica Norby, Ashley Washburn

Office of Research and Economic Development: Publications

Proceedings from the 2008 Climate change Workshop, Nebraska Sandhills, May 19-22, 2008. Hosted by the University of Nebraska–Lincoln and the U.S. Geological Survey

Garland, Robert F. (Sc 1478), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

Manuscript Collection Finding Aids

Finding aid and scan (Click on "Additional Files" below) for Manuscripts Small Collection 1478. Letter from Robert F. Garland to Rubin Morris of Bowling Green, Kentucky, in which he discusses family matters and farming in Wilson County, Tennessee.

Changing Maine, 1960-2010: Teaching Guide, Richard Barringer, New England Environmental Finance Center

Maine History & Policy Development

Unlike forty years ago, none of us is now certain what the future holds for Maine – except that it will be different. Maine has been transformed by the events of the recent decades. We have come into a new world, a new time – a new historical era, if you will. This new era, like previous eras in Maine history, will require of us new ways of thinking, new ways of understanding, new ways of organizing ourselves as a community of people, if the values and culture we share and cherish are to endure and flourish.

Gross Margins Guide 2005 Western Australia, Allan Herbert

Farm Systems and Economics published reports

The Western Australian Department of Agriculture has prepared this 2005 booklet with the following aim:

To provide budgeting information for farmers, agribusiness, and other students of agriculture to enhance understanding and more informed decision making.

It builds on a previous similar booklet - "Gross Margins Guide 2003" - which was produced in 2002 with Commonwealth Bank sponsorship. 2,500 copies of that booklet were produced and gained wide readership. Gross margins for broad area agriculture had not been published by the Department for the previous 1 O years. Feedback and further requests suggested that an update was necessary - hence this …

Miscellaneous Publication 8/2004 - Midas User Manual. Version 1, Ross Kingwell, Felicity Flugge, Emma Kopke, Michael O'Connell

Farm Systems and Economics published reports

What is MIDAS?

It's a computer model of dryland farming in Western Australia. MIDAS is an acronym (Model of an Integrated Dryland Agricultural System). Currently there are five versions of MIDAS, each describes a representative farm in a particular farming region of Western Australia. Versions exist for the following regions (see Figure 1):

• the Eastern Wheatbelt;
• the Central Wheatbelt;
• the West Midlands;
• the Great Southern; and,
• the South Coast.

Each of these versions is a mathematical programming model of a representative farm.

Miscellaneous Publication 26/2003 - Benefit -Cost Analysis Of Soil Acidity Research Development And Extension In Western Australia, 1992-93 To 2001-02, Michael O'Connell, Chris Gazey

Farm Systems and Economics published reports

The program of publicly funded soil acidity RD&E' conducted in Western Australia from 1992-93 to 2001-02 is expected to deliver benefits to the farm sector over future years. Benefit-cost analysis indicates that these industry benefits should outweigh the public cost of the RD&E several times over.

Using a 20-year analysis period, the RD&E is estimated to have a net present value (NPV) of $84 million, and a benefit-cost ratio (BCR) of 5.8. Extending the analysis to 30 years results in an NPV of $135 million and a BCR of 8.7. These large returns are due to a combination of factors: …

G03-1528 Recommended Seeding Rates And Hybrid Selection For Rainfed (Dryland) Corn In Nebraska, Robert N. Klein, Drew J. Lyon

University of Nebraska-Lincoln Extension: Historical Materials

Differences in climate between Lincoln and Scottsbluff are as great as from Lincoln to the east coast of the United States. These climatic differences across the state greatly affect recommended seeding rates for rainfed corn in Nebraska. This NebGuide provides information useful in assessing accumulated growing degree days, soil type and field conditions, average precipitation, and the field's microclimate when determining seeding rate for dryland corn.

G03-1521 Using Corn Hybrid Yield Data To Improve Selection Of Rapidly Changing Hybrids, Robert N. Klein, Lenis Alton Nelson, Roger Wesley Elmore

University of Nebraska-Lincoln Extension: Historical Materials

How often should you change hybrids? One might conclude that to maximize corn yield, hybrids must be constantly replaced. Choosing the proper hybrid can greatly enhance crop production profitability. This NebGuide illustrates how to use corn hybrid test data and adjust it to your farm when selecting seed.

G03-1527 Annual Forages For The Nebraska Panhandle, Burt A. Weichenthal, David D. Baltensperger, K. P. Vogel, S. D. Masterson, J.M. Blumenthal, J.M. Krall

University of Nebraska-Lincoln Extension: Historical Materials

Annual forages have value as pasture, green chop, silage, and hay. With adequate soil moisture, these forages grow very rapidly during their appropriate growing seasons. Advantages and disadvantages of various annual forages, results of dryland and irrigated forage trials, tips for achieving quality forage, and issues related to animal health and feeding forages are discussed in this NebGuide.

G03-1525 Coping In Stressful Times During Drought, Linda S. Boeckner, Kathy Bosch, Catherine E. Johnston

University of Nebraska-Lincoln Extension: Historical Materials

Families are affected by drought in many ways, including financially, emotionally, and physically. Although additional research is needed to learn how families cope with personal and work lives during drought, reliable information is available to understand how families react and cope with economic hardship, stressful times and difficult situations.

This NebGuide will address financial, emotional, and physical issues that families may experience during stressful times in addition to providing help on how families may access resources.

Ec03-1892 Identifying Soybean Rust

University of Nebraska-Lincoln Extension: Historical Materials

This four-color extension circular identifies the different diseases of soybeans: soybean rust, bacterial blight, bacterial pustle, and downy mildew. It also shows diseases that are similar looking: Cercospora blight, Frogeye leaf spot and brown spot. It also discusses what to look for when scouting for soybean rust.

G03-1521 Using Corn Hybrid Yield Data To Improve Selection Of Rapidly Changing Hybrids, Robert N. Klein, Lenis Alton Nelson, Roger Wesley Elmore

University of Nebraska-Lincoln Extension: Historical Materials

Choosing the proper hybrid can greatly enhance crop production profitability. This NebGuide illustrates how to use corn hybrid test data and adjust it to your farm when selecting seed. How often should you change hybrids? An Auburn University study compared the top corn hybrids from a 3-year regional trial (114 bushel average) with the top hybrids from the previous year's test (119 bushel average). Since the yields went from 114 to 119 bushels - a 5 bushel increase - using data from 11 locations and 8 years, should we expect twice that difference - a 10 bushel increase - with …

Invest For Success - Investing In Agriculture In The South West Irrigation Area, Caroline Hatherly, Janet Mccreddin, Georgia Thomas

Farm Systems and Economics published reports

For the South West Irrigation Area to grow and prosper, it is essential that information be gathered and shared, the region promoted, and water used efficiently. The INTERACT project has been developed to do just that and will be a driver for agricultural development into the future.

" Once SWI just delivered water; now it is helping its irrigation industries to grow." Vision statement, South West Irrigation

Cc02-424 Achieving Success With A Business Plan: Case Study To Prepare A Grain Farm Business Plan, Jody Wichmann, John Hanson, Thomas Dorn, H. Douglas Jose

University of Nebraska-Lincoln Extension: Historical Materials

This publication is a case study on how to prepare a grain farm business plan. It covers the history and overview of the farming operation; the layout, mission statement and goals; strategic outlook; production situation and summary; financial situation and summary; marketing situation and plan; current personnel situation; job description, salary and benefits; labor and training goals; and personnel summary.

Cc02-428 Achieving Success With A Business Plan: Case Study Of A Diversified Farm Business Plan, Jody Wichmann, Thomas Dorn, H. Douglas Jose

University of Nebraska-Lincoln Extension: Historical Materials

This publication is a case study of a diversified farm business plan. It covers the business organization; history and overview of operation; operation layout; mission statement and goals; strategic outlook; present business, legal and contractual situation; production, financial marketing, and personnel situations; job description, salary, benefits and labor training; and personnel summary.

Cc02-426 Achieving Success With A Business Plan: Case Study Of A Cow/Calf Business Plan, Jody Wichmann, John Hanson, H. Douglas Jose

University of Nebraska-Lincoln Extension: Historical Materials

This publication is a case study of a cow/calf business plan. It covers the business organization; history and overview of the operation; the operation layout; mission statement and goals; present business, legal and contractual situations; production, financial, marketing and personnel situations; job description, salary, benefits and labor training; and personnel summary.

Ec02-826 2002 Nebraska Farm Custom Rates - Part Ii, H. Douglas Jose, Lydee Jo Brown

University of Nebraska-Lincoln Extension: Historical Materials

Every two years a survey of the custom operations is conducted to determine the current rates charged for specific machinery operations. The survey is divided into two parts: spring and summer operations, including planting and small grains harvest in Part I, and information about fall and miscellaneous oeprations in Part II.

Ec02-153 Selecting Alfalfa Varieties For Nebraska 2002, Bruce Anderson, Michael Trammell, Charles A. Shapiro, Patrick E. Reece

University of Nebraska-Lincoln Extension: Historical Materials

Yield potential, pest resistance and seed price should be considered when selecting alfalfa varieties in Nebraska. The most important variety decision on many farms and ranches is the selection of alfalfa. The choice of alfalfa variety affects production for three to 10 or more years, whereas varieties of annual crops can be changed every year. Many alfalfa varieties are available from private and public plant breeders. Over the years, yield trials conducted at widely distributed Nebraska locations have tested most varieties sold in the state.

Manure Utilization Guidelines, Maine Department Of Agriculture

Maine Collection

Manure Utilization Guidelines

Maine Department of Agriculture, Food and Rural Resources, State House Station No.28, Augusta, Maine 04333 (November 1, 2001).

Contents: Table of Content / Nutrient Management Plan / Standards / Attachments 1-7

Cc01-371 Estimated Irrigation Costs, 2001, Roger Selley

University of Nebraska-Lincoln Extension: Historical Materials

This extension circular consists of a series of tables to help the operator estimate irrigation costs for the year 2001. Costs were calculated at four well depths for a gravity system which has an output of 1,000 gpm and irrigates 100 acres.

Irrigation costs were estimated with the aid of the Irrigation System Cost Analysis computer program. Energy prices used in the cost computations are those which were expected to occur in 2001. Irrigation equipment and well drilling costs were collected by a telephone survey from selected dealers. These costs do not include sales tax, personal property tax, insurnace, or …