Assessing the Sustainability Index of Part-Time and Full-time Hazelnut Farms in Giresun and Ordu Province, Turkey

The study's primary purposes were to assess the sustainability index of hazelnut farms and explore the effects of part-time and full-time farming types on sustainability index in hazelnut production in the Giresun and Ordu Province of Turkey. One hundred fifty-two hazelnut farms were selected using the stratified sampling method, and data were collected. Several steps were taken, including using factor analysis after standardizing the variables to determine their weights to calculate the composite hazelnut farms sustainability index. The research findings showed that overall hazelnut sustainability scores of farms varied from 0.28 to 0.59, and the average score was 0.44 at sampled farms. The composite hazelnut sustainability index was at an unsatisfactory level. The social and economic sustainability index value of farms was equal, and they were higher than the environmental index value. The values were 0.50 and 0.30, respectively. While the economic sustainability index score of full-time farms was higher than that of part-time farms, and part-time farms had higher environmental sustainability index scores than that of full-time farms. Social sustainability scores were not different in terms of farm type. It was recommended that when designing and regulation support policies, policy-makers should differentiate part-time and full-time hazelnut farming. Training and extension programs must be planned to increase the level of knowledge of every willing farmer. In addition, training and certification programs must be implemented to enhance the quality of the foreign labor force.

Prevalence of Bovine Mastitis in the Western Region of Cameroon

Mastitis is the major disease in milking cows causing huge losses to the dairy industry worldwide. It is in view to contribute to the eradication of this pathology that the present study was carried out in cattle farms of the West Region of Cameroon from March 2020 to November 2020. A total of 473 lactating cows of local and improved breeds were screened for mastitis. Screening for clinical and sub-clinical mastitis was based on the observation of clinical signs and on the use of the California Mastitis Test (CMT) respectively. The overall prevalence was 34.88%, among which 9.72% and 25.16% represented clinical and subclinical mastitis respectively. In summary, the factors influencing the occurrence of mastitis were: the divisions surveyed (p<0.001), breed type (p=0.003), age range (p<0,001), farm type (p=0.05), soil type (p<0,001), cleaning frequency (p<0.001), feeding method (p<0.001), hygiene of udder (p=0.05) and stage of lactation (p=0.02). The results obtained allow us to recommend an improvement of the breeding conditions to prevent mastitis, because once mastitis appears in a farm, it becomes very difficult to eradicate it.

Antimicrobial Resistance in Isolates from Cattle with Bovine Respiratory Disease in Bavaria, Germany

Patterns of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) regarding Pasteurella multocida (n = 345), Mannheimia haemolytica (n = 273), Truperella pyogenes (n = 119), and Bibersteinia trehalosi (n = 17) isolated from calves, cattle and dairy cows with putative bovine respiratory disease syndrome were determined. The aim of this study was to investigate temporal trends in AMR and the influence of epidemiological parameters for the geographic origin in Bavaria, Germany, between July 2015 and June 2020. Spectinomycin was the only antimicrobial agent with a significant decrease regarding not susceptible isolates within the study period (P. multocida 88.89% to 67.82%, M. haemolytica 90.24% to 68.00%). Regarding P. multocida, significant increasing rates of not susceptible isolates were found for the antimicrobials tulathromycin (5.56% to 26.44%) and tetracycline (18.52% to 57.47%). The proportions of multidrug-resistant (MDR) P. multocida isolates (n = 48) increased significantly from 3.70% to 22.90%. The proportions of MDR M. haemolytica and P. multocida isolates (n = 62) were significantly higher in fattening farms (14.92%) compared to dairy farms (3.29%) and also significantly higher on farms with more than 300 animals (19.49%) compared to farms with 100 animals or less (6.92%). The data underline the importance of the epidemiological farm characteristics, here farm type and herd size regarding the investigation of AMR.

The German Population of Siberia in the Conditions of Social Transformations of the 1900s-1920s

At the turn of the 19th – 20th century Siberia became a “melting pot” once again, where the representatives of various ethnic groups found themselves. The reasons for the resettlement beyond the Urals were of predominant economic character. The purpose of this paper is to analyze the impact of various social events of the first third of the 20th century on the life of Siberian Germans. Russian Germans engaged in agriculture were forced to seek the ways to survive inside Russia in the situation of the agrarian crisis. Modernization of the state migration policy at the beginning of the 20th century and development of the railway transport allowed for labor migration, as a result of which Siberia turned into one of the agrarian regions, being on the rise, by the mid-1910s. German immigrants, who created capitalist farm type households there and became a model for Russian old-timers and other immigrants, contributed greatly to his process. However, the events of 1914-1922 disrupted the customary pace of life in the German village. The economic policy of the Bolsheviks who came to power provoked famine in the first half of the 1920s.The German population suffered from hunger as well, which drove up emigration sentiments. However, NEP and restoration of cooperation allowed them to start rapid recovery of the small-scale economy. The All-Russian Mennonite Agricultural Union played a pivotal role in this process. The gradual curtailment of NEP and transition to a command-administrative economic model were connected with pressure on the German population among which the conservative-clerical sentiments prevailed. It was sure to provoke a new round of confrontation between the Russian Germans and the Soviet state in the late 1920s already. The article is intended for those interested in the history of ethnic minorities (Russian Germans) and national politics in the twentieth century.

Seroprevalence and Associated Risk Factors of Infectious Bronchitis Virus in Chicken in Northwest Ethiopia

Avian infectious bronchitis virus is a highly contagious disease occurring in respiratory, urogenital, and reproductive tissues of chicken causing considerable losses due to death, egg drop, and reduced production. This preliminary study was conducted to investigate the prevalence of antibodies against infectious bronchitis virus (IBV) and to assess the potential risk factors in chickens of northwest Ethiopia. A cross-sectional study was conducted from November 2020 to June 2021. A total of 768 serum samples from three zones were collected. To investigate the presence of antibodies against IBV, the indirect ELISA serological test was applied. Positivity for anti-IBV antibodies was observed in 23.96% (95% CI: 20.98–27.14) of the samples. The mixed-effect logistic regression analysis of potential risk factors showed that IBV prevalence was significantly higher in young chickens than adults ( p < 0.001 ) and higher in intensive farm type than in extensive type ( p < 0.001 ). Based on the production purposes of the chickens, the odds of seropositivity for IB was significantly higher in layers than in broilers ( p < 0.001 ) and dual purposes ( p < 0.001 ). This study revealed higher seroprevalence in farms which had the “all-in-all-out” rearing method than in farms with different batches in one house with a significant difference ( p < 0.001 ), higher seroprevalence in the poor ventilated type than in good ones ( p < 0.001 ), and higher seroprevalence in the houses that did not remove used litter at all than houses of completely disposed and partially disposed litter ( p = 0.002 ). Moreover, disinfection of houses had significant effect on the occurrence of IB. Having personal protective equipment was significantly affecting the occurrence of IB, being higher in the farms that have no wearing clothes and shoe than in those having wearing clothes and shoe ( p = 0.002 ). In conclusion, the seroprevalence finding in the present study indicated that the organism is circulating among the population of chickens and high enough to cause significant economic losses Therefore, poultry houses should be cleaned, disinfected, and well ventilated and farm attendants should have separate farm shoe and clothes. Further studies on the virus isolation and molecular characterization of the target gene are needed in the study area.

US farm typology from agricultural census: labor resource analysis

This article analyzes the labor resources by farm type in the United States based on the 2017 Agricultural Census. The subject of the research is the system of statistical indicators of the availability and composition of labor resources, the object is the population of farms in the United States. Based on the study of the US experience, it is proposed to expand the program of the agricultural census of the Russian Federation under the section “Labor resources” and the system of groupings of observation units, including typological ones, when publishing the results. The analysis of labor resources by types of farms in the United States showed that there are significant differences in the availability and composition of labor resources.

Farm Type and High Tunnel Management: Connections between Farm Characteristics and High Tunnel Outcomes in Indiana

High tunnels are a low-cost technology that can strengthen local and regional food systems and have been shown to help farmers extend the growing season and increase the yield and shelf life, and improve the quality of their crops. This study addresses a need for a better understanding of farmers’ experience with integrating high tunnels into their operations, to understand the human dimensions of high tunnel management. We present an analysis of survey and interview data to examine how farm characteristics affect the outcomes of growing specialty crops in high tunnels. Our findings show that farmers managing different types of farms have taken distinct approaches to integrating and managing high tunnels on their farms, with important implications for farm-level outcomes. We identify three types of farms commonly adopting high tunnels in Indiana: 1) alternative food and agriculture enterprises (AFAEs) are consumer-oriented, small-scale farms that sell their products directly to their customers in relationship-based market networks such as farmers’ markets and community-supported agriculture; 2) mixed enterprise farmers have larger operations and sell into both conventional commodity markets and direct markets; and 3) side enterprise farmers operate small-scale enterprises and their primary household income comes from off-farm employment or another business. Farm type is associated with divergent levels of time and labor investment, resulting in higher capacity use of high tunnels and greater financial return for AFAE farmers who make high tunnels central to their business, compared with mixed and side enterprise farmers who invest less time and labor into their high tunnels. We explain how farm characteristics and approaches to adopting the infrastructure shape farmers’ success and high-capacity use of high tunnels.

Macroeconomic Efficiency of Photovoltaic Energy Production in Polish Farms

The public’s awareness of threats to the natural environment, as well as the hazard to human lives and health posed by the use of fossil fuels to generate energy has resulted in the growing interest in renewable energy sources, thus promoting attempts to reduce the dependency on conventional energy sources. Among the former, solar energy is one of the most promising. The aim of this study is to assess the macroeconomic efficiency of investments in photovoltaic installations to meet the demand for electricity of farms and agricultural production. Calculations were prepared for 48 variants comprising three farm types (dairy farms, field cropping farms, and mixed production farms), as well as 16 locations throughout Poland. The obtained results indicate high efficiency of electricity production using photovoltaic installations to cover the needs of farms in Poland. In macroeconomic accounting, NPV ranges from EUR 8200 to almost EUR 23,000, with the payback period depending on the farm type ranging from 4.3 up to 6 years, while the internal rate of return amounts to 21–32%. Increasing the scope of investments in photovoltaics (PV) to cover the electricity demand not only of the household, but also of the agricultural production leads to improved economic efficiency of energy production both in the macro- and microeconomic terms.

Targeting Irrigation Expansion to Address Sustainable Development Objectives: A Regional Farm Typology Approach

Sustainable water management is a core sustainable development goal (SDG) that also contributes to other SDGs, including food and water security, ecosystem health, and climate adaptation. To achieve these synergies, policies must target efforts to regions that best correspond with development objectives. This study designs a targeting strategy for irrigation expansion in southern Mexico—a region long considered to have strong potential for sustainable irrigation development. We use an integrated farm typology and decision tree approach to identify priority municipalities for irrigation expansion. We use multivariate statistics to examine the relationships among farm characteristics in 933 municipalities, classifying each according to four farm types: lowland, midland, midland-irrigated, and highland. We then partition municipalities into 11 farm-type subgroups, each ranked by priority level for receiving irrigation interventions following Mexico’s National Water Program guidelines. Results identify a ‘highest-priority’ subgroup of 73 municipalities comprised mostly of midland and highland farm types. These types are characterized by low irrigation use, small farmland areas, high vulnerability to climate, high marginalization (poverty), strong representation from indigenous communities, low maize yield, and high rates of subsistence production. Findings provide a crucial first approximation of where irrigation expansion would best address water policy priorities and sustainable development objectives in southern Mexico. This study also provides a useful framework for scaling organizations tasked with targeting development efforts across large spatial scales.