scholarly journals Mixing specialized farming systems in Flevoland (The Netherlands): agronomic, environmental and socio-economic effects

1999 ◽  
pp. 185-200
Author(s):  
J.F.F.P. Bos ◽  
G.W.J. Van De Ven
Keyword(s):  
Nutrient Balance ◽  
Dairy Farm ◽  
Farming Systems ◽  
Farming System ◽  
Economic Effects ◽  
Nutrient Balances ◽  
Animal Products ◽  
Mixed Farming ◽  
Labour Income ◽  
Key Factor

Mixed farming systems have potential agronomic, environmental and socio-economic advantages over specialized farming systems. This paper attempts to quantify these advantages for the Dutch province Flevoland. A mixed farming system at regional level is characterized by intensive cooperation between two or more specialized farms, each producing crop or animal products. To test the hypothesis that such a mixed farming system might improve sustainability of agriculture in Flevoland, nutrient balances, labour requirements and labour income were quantified for a specialized arable farm, a specialized dairy farm and both combined into a mixed farming system, exchanging land, labour and machinery. Scope for reduced biocide use in the mixed farming system was assessed in a qualitative way. In the mixed farming system, labour income per ha was 25% higher. Seventy percent of this increase could be explained through higher yields per ha of the profitable crops ware potato (Solanum tuberosum) and sugar beet (Beta vulgaris). The remaining 30% resulted from lower costs, mainly through a better utilization of available labour. Differences between the combined nutrient balance of both specialized farms and that of the mixed farming system were small. Indications of reduced biocide use in the mixed farming system could not be found. It was concluded that in a mixed farming system, it is possible to realize a higher income without increasing environmental pollution. Key factor is the ratio between animal and arable production, determining the extent to which crop rotations can be widened and the relative amounts of slurry that can be applied to grassland.

Comparing irrigated biodynamic and conventionally managed dairy farms. 1. Soil and pasture properties

2007 ◽  
Vol 47 (5) ◽  
pp. 479 ◽  
Author(s):  
L. L. Burkitt ◽  
D. R. Small ◽  
J. W. McDonald ◽  
W. J. Wales ◽  
M. L. Jenkin
Keyword(s):  
Cattle Breed ◽  
Farming Systems ◽  
Dairy Farms ◽  
Farming System ◽  
Biological Properties ◽  
Water Runoff ◽  
Animal Products ◽  
Soil P ◽  
Extractable P ◽  
P Balance

Ten paired irrigated dairy farms under biodynamic (BD) and conventional (CV) management were compared over a 4-year period (1991–94). The paired farms were located in the irrigation districts of northern Victoria and southern New South Wales and were matched for soil type, climate, cattle breed and farm area. Farms had been practising BD principles for an average of 16 years before the commencement of the study and had not received phosphorus (P) fertiliser for an average of 17 years. The effects of farm management on soil chemical and biological properties and the nutritive properties and botanical composition of pasture were examined at varying sampling times during the study. Soil Olsen extractable P concentrations were consistently 2–3 times higher under CV management at various sampling depths (mean = 22 mg/kg, 0–10 cm), and were generally marginal under BD management in the surface 10 cm (mean = 8.5 mg/kg). Low soil extractable P concentrations were also reflected in consistently lower mean pasture P concentrations under BD management (0.25 compared with 0.35% on CV farms). Lower soil and pasture P concentrations under BD management were the result of a large negative P balance across BD farms (–17 kg P/ha.year). A mean negative P balance under BD management was a result of low P imports (2 kg P/ha.year) in comparison with large quantities of P (19 kg P/ha.year) effectively lost from the farming system through animal products, estimated losses in water runoff and slowly reversible soil P reactions. These results suggest that greater P imports are required to ensure the future sustainability of BD dairy pasture farming systems. There were few differences in soil biological properties, with earthworm weights significantly higher under CV management, but no difference in soil organic carbon, humus concentration, the weight of the organic mat or microbial biomass, between the two management systems.

scholarly journals Livestock in rural piedmont regions of Algeria

2019 ◽  
Vol 35 (2) ◽  
pp. 199-208
Author(s):  
Khalila Bengouga ◽  
L LahmadiSalwa ◽  
Reguia Zeguerou ◽  
Moufida Maaoui ◽  
Youcef Halis
Keyword(s):  
Mediterranean Climate ◽  
Farming Systems ◽  
The Self ◽  
Third Place ◽  
Animal Products ◽  
Mixed Farming ◽  
North East ◽  
The Family ◽  
Breeding Mode ◽  
Semi Arid

A livestock survey conducted during 2013/2015 as part of a CRSTRA project in 4 villages situated at North east Biskra and south Batna in Algeria. These regions are located at elevation ranging around 250-831m asl, experiencing arid and semi-arid Mediterranean climate. Respondents of 86 families demonstrated that livestock is an integral part of the region?s mixed farming systems. Low livestock numbers per most households at present reflect the self-consumption breeding mode adapted in these regions. Currently, farmers focus on four main livestock types; goat, sheep, chicken and bee keeping in two regions, it is the case of Beni Souik and Branis , while Maafa includes beyond these types, turkey and pigeon whereas Ain Zaatout includes duck and swine beside the previous livestock types. In the same context; goat ranked first in the four regions, goat and sheep secondly then goat and poultry with goat combined to sheep and poultry in third place. Thus; most families use a combination of grazing, agriculture sub-products and industrial products for the nutrition of their livestock. Families keep livestock as source of milk, butter, wool or hair, leather and other products that are strongly used as nutritional, weaving supply or stocking covering resources for the family members or friends and in some cases for sell to seekers of animal products of indigenous territory origins. Most families use these products for family and friend consumption while a minority sell some of them on local markets.

Dairy farming systems based on efficient nutrient management.

1992 ◽  
Vol 40 (3) ◽  
pp. 285-299 ◽  
Author(s):  
H.F.M. Aarts ◽  
E.E. Biewing ◽  
H. van Keulen
Keyword(s):  
Nutrient Management ◽  
Dairy Farm ◽  
Farming Systems ◽  
Farming System ◽  
Dairy Farming ◽  
Prototype System ◽  
Dutch Government ◽  
Nutrient Losses ◽  
Main Components ◽  
Initial Results

In Dutch dairy farming, dramatic nutrient losses occur, causing serious environmental problems, and representing an economic and energy waste. So farming systems have to be developed based on efficient nutrient management. A dairy farm is characterized as a system with soils and crops, forage, cattle, and manure as main components. Simple models of nutrient flows in and between components of the farming system were used to design a prototype system for a new experimental farm on sandy soil, which has to meet strict environmental demands. Experimental results of this farm will be used to improve the models and the models will be used again to optimize the prototype system. Initial results of modelling suggest that nutrient losses can be reduced considerably by more accurate management, and introduction of relatively cheap and simple measures. However, more radical and expensive modifications of the farming system are necessary to meet further standards of the Dutch government for max. allowable emissions. (Abstract retrieved from CAB Abstracts by CABI’s permission)

scholarly journals Evolution of Farming Systems in the Mediterranean High Mountain: The Case of the Alpujarra Alta (Spain)

2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (3) ◽  
pp. 704
Author(s):  
Javier Calatrava ◽  
Samir Sayadi
Keyword(s):  
Local Development ◽  
Farming Systems ◽  
Farming System ◽  
High Mountain ◽  
Early Nineteenth Century ◽  
Neolithic Revolution ◽  
Key Factor ◽  
Rural Exodus ◽  
Agrarian Crisis ◽  
High Elevations

In mountainous Mediterranean areas, even at high elevations, the landscapes are generally strongly transformed by humans. Agriculture is a key factor in this because, until very recent times, farming has been the main occupation of its inhabitants and has dominated their history and culture. This study examines the evolution of agroecosystems in the Alpujarra Alta (a set of mountain valleys and ravines, located in south-eastern Spain, within the Penibetic Range), from the Neolithic revolution and the Roman period until the present emphasizing the eight centuries under Muslim rule and the serious agrarian crisis induced by the expulsion of the Moorish from the area in the last third of the 16th century. This provoked profound transformations leading to the so-called “evolved farming system” in the early nineteenth century. This system continued until the middle of the twentieth century, when a massive rural exodus, prompted by the industrialization of the country, made farming unfeasible, triggering a phase of gradual system degradation. Finally, the current situation is discussed, resulting from the degradation of the established system as well as from new opportunities arising from the processes of endogenous local development induced in the area during the last quarter of a century.

URBANIZATION: IMPACTS ON THE EVOLUTION OF ‘MIXED FARMING’ SYSTEMS IN SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA

2006 ◽  
Vol 42 (3) ◽  
pp. 259-287 ◽  
Author(s):  
MARY TIFFEN
Keyword(s):  
Land Tenure ◽  
Crop Residues ◽  
Farming Systems ◽  
Farming System ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
Grazing Land ◽  
Mixed Farming ◽  
Participative Research ◽  
Sub Saharan ◽  
Livestock Products

During the past two decades or so, rural population in Africa has increased slowly while urban population has grown dramatically. The hugely increased urban demand for cereals and pulses (which produce crop residues for livestock) and for livestock products is now the main force stimulating mixed farming systems in the semi-arid and sub-humid areas of sub-Saharan Africa. Grazing land has diminished, crop residues are becoming a more important element in raising livestock and fattening penned livestock has become profitable. The changes in land use, land tenure and the shift of livestock raising southwards in West Africa are illustrated. Farmers' adaptation to rapidly changing markets for their products and the factors of production are illustrated with examples from Senegal, Nigeria, Niger, and, by way of contrast, Kenya. The main challenges this sets to agricultural scientists are described. The livestock element in mixed farming system now requires careful economic analysis and participative research if scientists are to meet the evolving needs of farming as the urban sector enlarges.

scholarly journals The Role of Anaerobic Digestion in Reducing Dairy Farm Greenhouse Gas Emissions

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (5) ◽  
pp. 2612
Author(s):  
Alun Scott ◽  
Richard Blanchard
Keyword(s):  
Anaerobic Digestion ◽  
Greenhouse Gas ◽  
Ghg Emissions ◽  
Dairy Farm ◽  
Farming Systems ◽  
Farming System ◽  
N2o Emissions ◽  
Ghg Reduction ◽  
Carbon Dioxide Co2 ◽  
The Impact

Greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from dairy farms are significant contributors to global warming. However, much of the published work on GHG reduction is focused on either methane (CH4) or nitrous oxide (N2O), with few, if any, considering the interactions that changes to farming systems can have on both gases. This paper takes the raw data from a year of activity on a 300-cow commercial dairy farm in Northern Ireland to more accurately quantify GHG sources by use of a simple predictive model based on IPCC methodology. Differing herd management policies are examined together with the impact of integrating anaerobic digestion (AD) into each farming system. Whilst significant success can be predicted in capturing CH4 and carbon dioxide (CO2) as biogas and preventing N2O emissions, gains made can be lost in a subsequent process, negating some or all of the advantage. The process of extracting value from the captured resource is discussed in light of current farm parameters together with indications of other potential revenue streams. However, this study has concluded that despite the significant potential for GHG reduction, there is little incentive for widespread adoption of manure-based farm-scale AD in the UK at this time.

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