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Get a feel for fiber farming! Welcome to a \"wool\" new world! The perfect starting point, this book focuses on four different fiber animal species to tackle all of your questions and curiosities. Understand the basics of keeping livestock for fiber, then progress into detailed information on raising sheep, Angora goats, alpacas, and Angora rabbits to discover which could be the best fit for you. Learn tips for grooming, housing, feeding, shearing, breeding, and more for each animal, plus get ideas on how to use the fiber you harvest. Author and Californian fiber farmer Chris McLaughlin began from a simple curiosity that converged with her existing hobby of raising and showing rabbits. The same can go for you, too! An essential introduction to raising livestock for fiber ; Focuses on four main wool-producing animals: sheep, Angora goats, alpacas, and Angora rabbits ; Provides insight on each animal's fiber, as well as health, grooming, housing, breeding, shearing, and other special considerations ; Shares ideas on how to use and market the fiber you harvest ; Bonus fiber farming resources guide you to further research, such as national clubs, books, magazines, websites, and more. -- back cover.

Organic farming has potential for the conservation of global biodiversity and associated ecosystem services. Despite this, knowledge of the effects of organic farming systems on farmland biodiversity is limited in Asia, the worldwide leader in rice production. We conducted the first national‐scale study to investigate the effects of three different rice farming systems (conventional, low‐input and organic) and specific management practices (e.g. herbicide and insecticide applications, crop rotation and levee‐vegetation management) on species richness and abundance of multiple taxonomic groups (plants, invertebrates, Pelophylax and Hyla japonica frogs, cobitid loaches and birds) in Japan during 2013–2015. Organic fields supported the highest richness and abundance of several taxonomic groups (native/Red List plants, Tetragnatha spiders, Sympetrum dragonflies and Pelophylax frogs), followed by low‐input and conventional fields. We also found taxon‐specific responses to specific management practices. For instance, plant richness and Tetragnatha and Sympetrum abundance increased with reduced herbicide and/or insecticide applications. Sympetrum and cobitid loach abundance increased in the absence of crop rotation, whereas H. japonica abundance increased with crop rotation. Pelophylax abundance increased with an increased height of levee vegetation. At spatial scales larger than single fields, waterbird richness and abundance were positively correlated with the proportion of organic rice fields, presumably due to increased prey abundance. Meanwhile, landbird richness and abundance were positively associated with annual precipitation and annual mean temperature, suggesting that such climate increases food availability. Synthesis and applications. We highlight the positive effects of organic and low‐input farming for biodiversity relative to conventional farming in rice paddies. We also provide the scientific basis of the current agri‐environmental schemes in Japan, subsidising organic and low‐input farming for biodiversity. The taxon‐specific associations with management practices indicate that avoiding crop rotation, maintaining levee vegetation and organic farming at large spatial scales can also be wildlife friendly. These practices may thus be incorporated into agri‐environment schemes for effective biodiversity conservation. 要旨 有機農業は、生物多様性と、それに関連する生態系サービスの保全に重要な役割を果たすと考えられている。しかし、有機農業が農地の生物多様性にもたらす影響は十分にわかっておらず、特に水稲の主要な生産地であるアジアにおいて知見が非常に少ない。 私たちは、日本の水田では初となる全国規模の野外調査を2013–2015年に行い、慣行、減農薬および有機栽培の3つの農法の違い、および、除草剤・殺虫剤の施用、輪作の有無、畦畔の植生管理等の管理手法の違いが複数の生物種群（植物、無脊椎動物、トノサマガエル属、ニホンアマガエル、ドジョウ科および鳥類）に与える影響を評価した。 在来／レッドリスト植物種数、アシナガグモ属、アカネ属およびトノサマガエル属の個体数は有機栽培の水田で最も多く、次いで減農薬栽培田、慣行栽培田となった。また、管理手法の違いに対する応答は分類群毎に異なることが明らかとなった。具体的には、植物種数、およびアシナガグモ属とアカネ属の個体数は除草剤もしくは殺虫剤施用の少ない水田に多かった。アカネ属とドジョウ科の個体数は輪作を実施しない水田に多かったが、一方でニホンアマガエルの個体数は輪作を実施する水田に多かった。トノサマガエル属の個体数は畦畔の植生高に比例して増加した。 水田団地のスケールでみると、水鳥類の種数・個体数は有機栽培田の面積率と正の相関を示しており、これは食物量の増加によるものと考えられた。一方、陸鳥類の種数・個体数は年降水量および年平均気温と正に相関しており、こうした気候が食物量を増加させる結果と示唆された。 総括および応用　慣行栽培と比較して、有機栽培および減農薬栽培が農地の生物多様性に正の影響をもたらすことが明らかになった。これにより、現在、日本で実施される農業環境政策（有機・減農薬栽培等に対する交付金制度）の効果について科学的な評価基盤を提供することができた。さらに、輪作を回避すること、畦畔植生を適当な高さに維持すること、および有機栽培を行う水田を空間的にまとめることも、特定の分類群の保全に有効であることがわかり、こうした取組の推進が望まれる。 We highlight the positive effects of organic and low‐input farming for biodiversity relative to conventional farming in rice paddies. We also provide the scientific basis of the current agri‐environmental schemes in Japan, subsidising organic and low‐input farming for biodiversity. The taxon‐specific associations with management practices indicate that avoiding crop rotation, maintaining levee vegetation and organic farming at large spatial scales can also be wildlife friendly. These practices may thus be incorporated into agri‐environment schemes for effective biodiversity conservation.

\"Becoming Salmon is the first ethnographic account of salmon aquaculture, the most recent turn in the human history of animal domestication. As fish are enrolled in new regimes of marine domestication, traditional distinctions between fish and animals are reconfigured, recasting farmed fish as sentient beings, capable of feeling pain and subject to animal welfare legislation. Drawing on ethnographic fieldwork in Norway and Australia, the author traces farmed Atlantic salmon through contemporary industrial practices, and shows how salmon are bred to be hungry, globally mobile, and alien in their watersheds of origin. Attentive to the economic context of industrial food production as well as the mundane practices of caring for fish, it offers novel perspectives on domestication, human-animal relations, and food production\"--Provided by publisher.

Digitalisation is an integral part of modern agriculture. Several digital technologies are available for different animal species and form the basis for precision livestock farming. However, there is a lack of clarity as to which digital technologies are currently used in agricultural practice. Thus, this work aims to present for the first time the status quo in Swiss livestock farming as an example of a highly developed, small-scale and diverse structured agriculture. In this context, the article focuses on the adoption of electronic sensors and measuring devices, electronic controls and electronic data-processing options and the usage of robotics in ruminant farming, namely, for dairy cattle, dairy goats, suckler cows, beef cattle and meat-sheep. Furthermore, the use of electronic ear tags for pigs and the smartphone usage for barn monitoring on poultry farms was assessed. To better understand the adoption process, farm and farmer’s characteristics associated with the adoption of (1) implemented and (2) new digital technologies in ruminant farming were assessed using regression analyses, which is classified at a 10% adoption hurdle. The results showed clear differences in the adoption rates between different agricultural enterprises, with both types of digital technologies tending to be used the most in dairy farming. Easy-to-use sensors and measuring devices such as those integrated in the milking parlour were more widespread than data processing technologies such as those used for disease detection. The husbandry system further determined the use of digital technologies, with the result that farmers with tie stall barns were less likely to use digital technologies than farmers with loose housing systems. Additional studies of farmers’ determinants and prospects of implementation can help identify barriers in the adoption of digital technologies.

The productivist model implemented after the second world war has succeeded in improving production to meet growing demands for food, but it has also deeply affected soil physicochemical properties, as well as of aboveground and belowground biodiversity. Alternative farming systems such as organic farming, biodynamic farming and soil conservation farming are actually developing to enhance the sustainability of farming systems. Although the impact of agricultural practices on soil ecological quality is well known, there is little knowledge on the impact of the different farming systems as a whole. Here, we analysed the impact of the main farming systems on soil biodiversity and functioning, reported in about 100 scientific publications. We found that conventional, organic, and biodynamic systems are the most widely studied, whereas soil conservation farming is poorly documented. Soil biological indicators are improved by ca. 70% in organic farming and biodynamic farming relative to conventional farming. 43% of soil bioindicators are improved in biodynamic farming relatively to organic farming. Soil conservation farming scores better than conventional farming for 57% of the indicators. Therefore, biodynamic farming displays the highest soil ecological quality, followed by organic farming, soil conservation farming and, last, conventional farming. Organic fertilisation and longer crop rotations are the most favourable practices, whereas pesticides and soil tillage are the most deleterious ones. The review also evidences a lack of studies on soil conservation farming and on bioindicators of the soil fauna.

\"Incorporating dairy goats into a diversified homestead can be key to greater self-sufficiency. Responding to questions and concerns from readers from all over North America and beyond, this fully revised and expanded edition will help readers raise goats to produce milk, cheese, meat, and more, without relying on drugs or the factory farm model.\"-- Provided by publisher.

Root-associated microbes play a key role in plant performance and productivity, making them important players in agroecosystems. So far, very few studies have assessed the impact of different farming systems on the root microbiota and it is still unclear whether agricultural intensification influences the structure and complexity of microbial communities. We investigated the impact of conventional, no-till, and organic farming on wheat root fungal communities using PacBio SMRT sequencing on samples collected from 60 farmlands in Switzerland. Organic farming harbored a much more complex fungal network with significantly higher connectivity than conventional and no-till farming systems. The abundance of keystone taxa was the highest under organic farming where agricultural intensification was the lowest. We also found a strong negative association ( R 2  = 0.366; P  < 0.0001) between agricultural intensification and root fungal network connectivity. The occurrence of keystone taxa was best explained by soil phosphorus levels, bulk density, pH, and mycorrhizal colonization. The majority of keystone taxa are known to form arbuscular mycorrhizal associations with plants and belong to the orders Glomerales , Paraglomerales , and Diversisporales . Supporting this, the abundance of mycorrhizal fungi in roots and soils was also significantly higher under organic farming. To our knowledge, this is the first study to report mycorrhizal keystone taxa for agroecosystems, and we demonstrate that agricultural intensification reduces network complexity and the abundance of keystone taxa in the root microbiome.

A meta-analysis assessing the relative yields of organic and conventional agriculture shows that organic yields are on average lower, but that the magnitude of the difference is dependent on context. Crop yields compared There is much debate over the relative merits of conventional farming, which has a large environmental impact on the land it uses, and organic farming, which may require greater land use for the same yield. Central to this debate — and the subject of some controversy — are the relative yields of the two farming systems. Seufert et al . present a meta-analysis of the available scientific literature on organic-to-conventional yield comparisons, and conclude that organic yields are indeed lower, but that the difference varies substantially according to crop type, growing conditions and management practices. For instance, for perennials grown on favourable soils organic yields are just 5% lower than conventional yields, but the yield difference between the most comparable conventional and organic systems is as high as 34%. The authors conclude that the factors that limit organic yields need to be better understood to enable meaningful comparisons between the rival forms of agriculture. Numerous reports have emphasized the need for major changes in the global food system: agriculture must meet the twin challenge of feeding a growing population, with rising demand for meat and high-calorie diets, while simultaneously minimizing its global environmental impacts 1 , 2 . Organic farming—a system aimed at producing food with minimal harm to ecosystems, animals or humans—is often proposed as a solution 3 , 4 . However, critics argue that organic agriculture may have lower yields and would therefore need more land to produce the same amount of food as conventional farms, resulting in more widespread deforestation and biodiversity loss, and thus undermining the environmental benefits of organic practices 5 . Here we use a comprehensive meta-analysis to examine the relative yield performance of organic and conventional farming systems globally. Our analysis of available data shows that, overall, organic yields are typically lower than conventional yields. But these yield differences are highly contextual, depending on system and site characteristics, and range from 5% lower organic yields (rain-fed legumes and perennials on weak-acidic to weak-alkaline soils), 13% lower yields (when best organic practices are used), to 34% lower yields (when the conventional and organic systems are most comparable). Under certain conditions—that is, with good management practices, particular crop types and growing conditions—organic systems can thus nearly match conventional yields, whereas under others it at present cannot. To establish organic agriculture as an important tool in sustainable food production, the factors limiting organic yields need to be more fully understood, alongside assessments of the many social, environmental and economic benefits of organic farming systems.