Agricultural Science Commons^™

Realising The Potential Of Youth In The Development Of Sustainable Grasslands, J. C. Bidogeza, Ralph Von Kaufmann

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

The declining interest of youth worldwide to remain in rural areas and pursue careers in agriculture and grasslands is a threat to all human welfare. Ways and means must be found to redress the decreasing interest of youths in grassland development. Ironically there is a lot of untapped potential for rewarding careers but the youths do not have the skills needed to exploit it. This cannot be corrected by providing occasional and piecemeal training opportunities. The perilous consequences of allowing the rangelands to degenerate are sufficiently serious to warrant a comprehensive approach to developing the wide range of skills needed …

Will Intergenerational Succession And Our Current Educational Systems Be Sufficient To Provide The Next Generation Of Farmers And Researchers?, Brian J. Revell

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

This paper reviews the implications of the age structure in farming and an aging farm population on productivity and innovation. It discusses the factors determining opportunities for new entrants, including those on family farms, and also those affecting outflow and retirement. The implications of recent international trends in agricultural graduate and post-graduate numbers are considered. Finally, issues and recent initiatives needed to address the problems of attracting new blood and expertise to the industry are outlined.

Pasture Management To Improve Dry Matter Intake, Marcus F. Rose, Earl Creech, Blair L. Waldron, S. Clay Isom, Michael Peel, Kara Thornton-Kurth, Jacob Hadfield, Kerry A. Rood

All Current Publications

Agricultural producers are constantly looking for ways to maximize returns while reducing input costs. On dairy operations, a move from confinement feeding to pasture grazing offers the potential to reduce costs associated with harvest and storage of feed. In such a transition, producers sometimes report a decline in milk production and growth of livestock—both of which can strongly correlate to dry matter intake. Fortunately, dry matter intake is something that can be influenced by management practices. In this publication, we discuss the pasture management practices to improve dry matter intake.

Master Grazer: Improving Grazing Management In Kentucky, S. Ray Smith, Garry D. Lacefield, Lyndsay Jones, Jeff Lehmkuhler, Donna M. Amaral-Phillips, Kelly Kramer

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

The Master Grazer Educational Program is the result of funding provided by the Kentucky Agricultural Development Board to educate producers on better utilization of grazing lands to improve livestock production and the profitability of the State. County agriculture and natural resource agents, extension specialists, industry contacts and producers work together to make this program a success. The Master Grazer Educational Program began in 2006 as evening lecture sessions taking place in local extension offices. In 2008, the program grew with the addition of a field session that showcased a farm with successful grazing practices, a farm with underdeveloped grazing practices, …

Creating An International Forage And Grasslands Curriculum, Brianna L. Randow, David B. Hannaway, Kimberly Japhet, Phil Shuler, Chunhua Yang, Zhihua Li, Peter J. Ballerstedt, Alan S. Cooper, Xianguo Wang

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

Grasslands cover nearly 2/3 of the land masses of the world and make up 1/4 of the earth's surface. Although various regions of the world have different names for their grasslands, common management principles govern maintaining and improving these lands for the food production and environmental services they provide. There is much talk today about “finding the balance between environmental protection and economic development” but there is little evidence of knowledge about grassland ecosystems being translated into effectively implemented policies designed to restore degraded grasslands. In contrast, there are many examples of the tragic consequences of economic development rather than …

Crops, Rumps And Woolly Jumpers: An Innovative Extension Approach Enabling The Complexities Of Mixed Farming To Be Shared And Understood, Geoff R. Casburn, Helen M. Burns, Michelle Anderson, Toni M. Nugent, Patrick Sproule, Matthew Olsen, Richard C. Hayes

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

The sheep-wheat belt of southern Australia accounts for about 19% and 57% of total Australian beef and sheep production, respectively. Most farm businesses in this zone are family owned and contain a mix of livestock and cropping enterprises. While the focus of most research, development and extension for mixed farming systems focuses on single components of the system (lamb, wool, beef, pastures, crops), the systems are complex and dynamic and cannot be understood by analysing the components in isolation. The enterprise synergies are dependent on economic, environmental and social factors. The farmers themselves are best equipped to explain the system …

The North Wyke Farm Platform: A New Uk National Capability For Research Into Sustainability Of Agricultural Temperate Grassland Management, Phil J. Murray, Bruce A. Griffith, Robert J. Orr, Martin S. A. Blackwell, Jane M. B. Hawkins, S. Peukert

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

The North Wyke Farm Platform is a new UK National Capability that will enable studies that can be closely monitored and controlled under different land-use options at the farm-scale. As a Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council-funded National Capability, the Farm Platform provides centralised scientific facilities including core data (field and water chemistry, water flow rates, greenhouse gas emissions from soils, livestock and agronomic data, and farm management records). Access to the Farm Platform for experimental work or to data will be available to other research users and collaborators. This shared approach will enhance the depth and breadth of information …

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

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

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 …

Revitalising Communities To Sustain Grassland Research, Jacqueline Rowarth

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

Participation in science subjects at school and University has decreased in developed countries as the curriculum has broadened and the proportion of students staying on at school and entering university has increased. Global shortfalls in STEM graduates (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) mean an increase in salaries, which in turn are decreasing the likelihood of students staying on at University for postgraduate study. This is unfortunate given the increasing challenges in sustainable food production – grassland research needs great people enjoying great careers in order to contribute to global sustainability. This paper addresses the complex issues which have been the …

Grasslands Are My Home: An Innovative Primary School Program Developed For Remote Chinese Villages, Limin Hua, Victor Squires, Chengzhang Zhao

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

Environmental education is a useful tool for changing the mind-set of people and it has been developed over many years and in many countries. This paper reports the environmental education program funded by World Bank/GEF pastoral development project in northwest China. The involved writing training materials for students and teachers, teaching in classroom, practicing in filed, and interactions with parents. The purpose of the environmental education program was training a student to influence the whole family, educate a class and help manage a community. The result showed that the environmental education program had positive impact on student attitudes toward environmental …

Strengths And Weaknesses Of National Agricultural Research Systems: Attracting The Next Generation Of Grasslands Researchers, James E. Pratley, Casper W. Roxburgh

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

In the 1960s and 1970s the world faced up to the poverty and hunger facing a significant proportion of the global population, which at the time was around 4 billion people. The efforts of Norman Borlaug and the Green Revolution resulted in food production increasing as the technologies and knowledge known at the time were directed to that task. The success of the Green Revolution was such that governments and the world communities turned attention to other issues and agricultural development slid down the list of priorities. The world population is now over 7 billion and projected to be over …

Traditional Practices For Sustainable Rangeland And Natural Resources Management: A Case Study Of The Barzok Region, Iran, Ali Hamidian, Mehdi Ghorbani

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

Livestock husbandry ranks second in importance the agricultural economy of Iran and also underpins the livelihood of many nomadic and sedentary peoples (Farhadi 2001). At the same time many rural locations such as the Bazok district have wide appeal to tourists because of cultural and natural features. This means local Iranian villagers must manage the grassland resources in a sustainable way according to geographical and climatic conditions. In general, utilization systems developed by local villages endeavour to combine social, cultural, economic and technical factors in such a way as to provide an optimal output of agricultural and eco-services (Papeli and …

Livestock Policy: Progressive Globalization Currently Focused On Environmental Issue, Food Quality And Safety In The Past And New Human-Animal Relationship In The Future, Jean François Tourrand, Pierre Valarié, Mohamed Taher Srairi, Fernando Coronato, Adama Faye, Mona Abd-El-Zaker Oman, Peggy Strankmann, Hermes Morales, Luming Ding, Liz Wedderburn, Paulo D. Waquil, Laura G. Duarte

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

Facing critics regarding the environmental impacts of livestock activities during the past decades, the MOUVE project and the LIFLOD network have developed a specific research to better understand the consequences of livestock policy at both the local and global scales.

In 2006, the FAO book “Livestock Long Shadow” (Steinfeld et al., 2006) drew attention on the environmental impacts of the livestock activities. Facing the incredible awareness, the FAO team tried to mitigate the critics by highlighting the positive functions of livestock (Steinfeld et al., 2010; Gerber et al., 2010; Gerber et al., 2013). Some …

Pasture Establishment And Sustainability In Arid Region Of Rajasthan, India: Prospects And Constraints, Surendra Singh Shekhawat, S. M. Kumawat, S. L. Godara

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

Rajasthan is the largest state of India and covers nearly 10.4 per cent (342.65 lakh ha) of total geographical area of the country. About 65 per cent of its population is dependent on agriculture. According to livestock census-2007, Rajasthan ranks at the third place (56.663 million) in the country for total livestock population after Uttar Pradesh (60.272 million) and Andhra Pradesh (60.175 million). The large livestock population of the state shows importance of fodder in the state. Western part of Rajasthan state covers the area of the state towards western side of Aravali range of hills, which divides the state …

A Research On Community-Based Livestock Of Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, Ze Bai, Gang Liu, Qunying Zheng, Hongxuan Zhang, Ligang Dao, Xiaoyi Wang, Xiaode Zhang, Zhi Lu

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

Qinghai-Tibet Plateau locates in Southwestern China, covering the whole area of Tibet Autonomous Region, Qinghai Province, Southern part of Gansu Province, Northwestern part of Sichuan Province and Northwestern part of Yunnan Province, with an area of around 139.08 million hectares of natural grassland, accounting for 39% of the total area of natural grassland in China. It is also the largest natural ecozones in China and one of the least disturbed regions by human activities, with its air, water sources, soil, grassland, wildlife in their pristine state.

Qinghai-Tibet Plateau is the native home for Tibetan people. Grassland animal husbandry is the …

Working With Farmers: The Key To Adoption Of Improved Fodder Technologies, Satyapriya, P. Singh, H. V. Singh, P. Sharma

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

The lack of a close working relationship between agricultural research organizations, different extension organizations and with different categories of farmers is one of the most difficult institutional problems of agricultural technological implementation in India. Agricultural research and extension organizations generally fight over the same limited government resources and they try to increase the flow of resources coming to their respective institutions to solve day-today management problems, rather than ensuring that their respective organizations contribute to the broader goal of getting improved agricultural technology to all major categories of farmers. In addition, the researchers and extension workers of many research and …

Mediating Socio-Political Barriers To Water Quality Improvement In Surface Water On Grazed Wildlands, Tipton D. Hudson

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

Acute and growing social and legal conflict over regulation of non-point source pollution in Washington State has hampered proactive efforts to improve water quality in streams dominated by grazed watersheds. Livestock farmers caught in the conflict over water quality experience legal risk, reduced quality of life, and financial risk. Nonpoint source pollution is “pollution that is not released through pipes but rather originates from multiple sources over a relatively large area”. This diffuse pollution is notoriously difficult to regulate. Because causality is often not definable, coercing behavior is problematic, and most efforts to address nonpoint source (NPS) pollution rely on …

The Potential And Limitations Of Grasslands For Livestock Production In West Shoa Zone Of Oromia Region, Ethiopia, Abule Ebro, Azage Tegegne, Adisu Abera, Endale Yadessa, Zewdie Adane, Berhanu Gebremedhin

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

Ethiopia holds the largest livestock population in Africa estimated at about 54 million heads of cattle, 25.5 million sheep, 24.06 million goats, 0.92 million camels, 4.5 million donkeys, 1.7 million horses, 0.33 million mules, 54 million chicken and 4.9 million beehives (CSA, 2012). Despite the huge livestock population, the productivity of livestock in general is low and compared to its huge resource its contribution to the national economy is below expected. Among the major problems affecting livestock production and productivity in Ethiopia, feed shortage in terms of quantity and quality is the leading problem (Alan et al., 2012). The …

The Compensation To Herders For Exploitation Of Minerals In China's Grasslands: Lack Of Security, Wenjun Li, Jian Zhang

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

Inner Mongolia is rich in mineral resources. Though a number of economic benefits were reaped from mineral exploitation, the exploitation occupied and destroyed large amounts of grasslands (Meji et al., 2009), which led to conflicts between herders and mining companies (Hilson et al., 2002). The compensation to herders who lost grasslands is the primary cause of conflicts. We have observed that the compensation herders received was awarded without a clear standard which caused much confusion. This paper is focused on the compensation herders received, the factors influencing the amount of compensation and the reason why the compensation to …

Utilizing Grassland Resources For Sub-Arctic Agriculture: Sustainable Muskox Farming In Alaska, Laura Starr, Joshua Greenberg, Mingchu Zhang, Steven Seefeldt, Janice Rowell

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

The 2005 Millennium Ecosystem Assessment broadly classifies Alaska as a Polar Ecosystem, characterized as being frozen most of the year and underlain by permafrost. Despite this bleak portrayal, some of the largest herds of grazing ungulates are indigenous to Alaska - and thriving. This is both a testament to the resilience of grazing systems in general as well as a statement to the suitability of grazing systems specifically for Alaska. In a state economy dominated by nonrenewable resource extraction, agricultural production has remained largely undeveloped (Fried 2013). However, today there is increasing interest in local agricultural production with the goal …