Animal Crop Production Research Articles

Manure nutrient cycling in US animal agriculture basins-North Carolina case study.

Nutrient cycling in crop-animal production is impacted by changes in both systems, with imbalance hotspots in concentrated animal production regions severely impacting water quality. This study assesses manure-crop nutrient balances in five river basins in North Carolina and demonstrates a new approach for partial nutrient balances along hydrological boundaries. County-level crop production data were combined with crop-type spatial distribution data to derive spatially referenced nutrient uptake and removal. Similarly, spatially referred animal production inventory data were used to derive excreted and recovered manure nutrients. Partial nutrient balances were developed for both N and P in basins and hydrologic units. Excreted manure N and P were 139% and 159% of respective plant N and P removal at harvest across the five basins. Finer geographical scales revealed hotspots for manure surplus, particularly within the Cape Fear basin (up to 96% N and 97% P). Despite N hotspots, plant-available manure N met only 38% of crop N demand due to significant losses during storage. Plant-available manure P exceeded crop P removal by 54% over the entire area. Cape Fear showed the greatest P excess, 76% greater than crop removal. This study contributes to nutrient cycling improvements by connecting crop-animal nutrient budgets to hydrologic resources. Furthermore, we show the value of finer spatial scales to identify hotspots that play a significant role in nutrient losses. We conclude that nutrient-surplus basins require, in addition to manure nutrient conservation, a basin-wide redistribution and export strategies to address nutrient excesses and water quality impacts.

Landowners’ Activities Aimed at Improving the Economic Condition of Rural Farms in the Years 1918–1939 (On the Example of Kielce Voivodeship)

Large landownership was one of the main market players in the interwar period. It was a specific enterprise, legally and economically separated. It had its own organisational structure, human, financial and material resources. It carried out production and commercial activities with the aim of making a profit. The number of landowners in Kielce Voivodeship was estimated at 711, and together with their family members they made up a collective five times that number. The landowners were entrepreneurs, who coped with the economic reality with more or less success. The list of landowners was headed by owners of large estates – the Myszkowski, Drucki-Lubecki, Wielopolski, Łubieński, Czartoryski, Radziwiłł, Potocki, Tarnowski and Zamoyski families. However, farms consisting of a single manor, with an area of 180-300 ha, predominated. Apart from a small group of farm owners who wasted their fortune, the landowners were attached to the land and wanted to keep it in good economic condition. Owning a farm entailed responsibility for it. It obliged the owner to manage it properly and not leave it to its fate. My aim is to characterise the activities of landowners as entrepreneurs aiming to improve the economic condition of their property. I have in mind modernisation, which manifested itself in modern technical procedures, mechanisation, selective crop-animal production and the industrialisation of landed estates.

Agriculture Green Development: a model for China and the world

Realizing sustainable has become a global priority. This holds, in particular, for agriculture. Recently, the United Nations launched the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and the Nineteenth National People's Congress has delivered a national strategy for sustainable in China-realizing development. The overall objective of Agriculture Green Development (AGD) is to coordinate green with development to realize the transformation of current agriculture with high resource consumption and high environmental costs into a agriculture and countryside with high productivity, high resource use efficiency and low environmental impact. This is a formidable task, requiring joint efforts of government, farmers, industry, educators and researchers. The innovative concept for AGD will focus on reconstructing the whole crop-animal production and food production-consumption system, with the emphasis on high thresholds for environmental standards and food quality as well as enhanced human well-being. This paper addresses the significance, challenges, framework, pathways and potential solutions for realizing AGD in China, and highlights the potential changes that will lead to a more sustainable agriculture in the future. Proposals include interdisciplinary innovations, whole food chain improvement and regional solutions. The implementation of AGD in China will provide important implications for the countries in developmental transition, and contribute to global sustainable development.

Spatial characteristics of nitrogen flows in the crop and livestock production system of Shanxi Province, China

Nitrogen (N) use and flows in agriculture are largely related to the spatial distributions of crop and animal production systems. However, only limited quantitative information on the spatial variation is available related to nutrient flows, losses, and use efficiencies for crop–animal production systems. In this study, we comprehensively and quantitatively analyzed the N flows, losses, and use efficiencies (NUE) in the crop and animal production systems of Shanxi Province by using the simulation model — Nutrient flows in Food chains, Environment and Resources use (NUFER). Data were coupled with a geographical information system and a large, detailed statistical database collected from 11 municipalities of Shanxi Province in 2012. The results were classified into three production system levels, i.e., crop, animal, and crop–animal production systems.First, crop production systems of Shanxi created a total N input of 953Gg (equivalent to 240kg/ha) in 2012, with fertilizer as the largest input source, accounting for 59.2% of the total N input. Overall, southern regions of Shanxi experienced significantly higher N input than northern Shanxi. For example, the crop production N input of Yuncheng and Linfen municipalities was 178 and 143Gg (equivalent to 320kg/ha and 289kg/ha), respectively; however, the N input of Taiyuan and Yangquan municipalities was 27 and 13Gg, respectively. The harvested N from crop production was 110Gg in Yuncheng and only 7Gg in Yangquan. The large and varied N surpluses from the crop production systems across municipalities ranged from 74 to 150kg/ha, potentially creating the risk of environmental pollution and highlighting an urgent need to improve N management in the crop production system. Second, the total N input in the animal production systems also varied widely across the municipalities, ranging from 65kg/ha in Xinzhou to 187kg/ha in Jincheng municipality. The harvested N from animal production was the highest (16Gg) in Shuozhou and lowest in Yangquan (1Gg), among all the municipalities. Third, the N input to the crop–animal production system of Shanxi was 1000Gg in 2012 and among all the municipalities, was highest in Yuncheng (167Gg), and lowest in Yangquan (12Gg). Large amounts of N (425Gg) were released from crop residues and animal excreta, but only 47% of this (200Gg) was recycled to the cropland. Overall, the NUE of crop production (NUEc), animal production (NUEa), and coupled crop–animal production (NUEc+a) was 36%, 20%, and 15%, respectively. These low NUEs were mainly caused by the excessive N input during crop production and the low recycling rate of N from crop residues and animal excreta. The total N losses from crop–animal production were 610Gg, accounting for 61% of total N input. Of the total N losses, 41.4%, 30.6%, 26.8%, and 1.2% were lost via NH3 volatilization from cropland and animal manure, the combined effects of runoff, erosion, and leaching from cropland and manure, de-nitrification from cropland, and N2O emissions from cropland, respectively. In addition, N flows varied widely at the regional scale, e.g., N input and loss were significantly higher in the southeast than in the northwest. Large amount of straw residues and animal manure in Jincheng was used as nutrient input to the croplands in Yuncheng and Linfen, which are the two major agricultural regions. In conclusion, a quantitative understanding of the spatial distribution of nutrient flows, losses, and use efficiencies in the crop–animal system is necessary for improving the productivity and sustainability of agriculture while minimizing environmental impacts. N management should be optimized in both crop–animal production systems and at regional levels to significantly improve the NUE of Shanxi Province; this will reduce the risk of environmental pollution and ensure the sustainable development of agriculture.

Application of cycling index and input‐output environs for interpretation of nutrient flows in mixed rice‐beef production systems in Japan

The objective of the present study was to apply two methods developed in ecology, the cycling index and input-output environs, to interpret nutrient flows in mixed rice-beef production systems. The cycling index (CI) was a quantitative measure of nutrient cycling. It was defined as the proportion of cycled nutrients to the total amount of nutrient flows. On the other hand, the input-output environs provide a quantitative distribution on a particular input or output. In this study, these methods were applied to the nutrient flows in the mixed rice-beef production systems in Japan. The results of CI provided information on the effects of nutrient cycling on the efficient conversion of nutrient imports to nutrient export. The results of input-output environs indicated that the indices represent indirect effects provided by the interaction between rice and beef production. In conclusion, these methods indicated new findings on nutrient utilization in the systems. The results of this study implied the further applicability of these two methods to the study of nutrient flows in mixed crop-animal production systems.

Development and Implementation of a Long-term Agricultural Systems Study: Challenges and Opportunities

The Center for Environmental Farming Systems (CEFS) is dedicated to farming systems that are environmentally, economically, and socially sustainable. Established in 1994 at the North Carolina Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services (NCDACS) Cherry Farm near Goldsboro, N.C.; CEFS operations extend over a land area of about 800 ha (2000 acres) [400 ha (1000 acres) cleared]. This unique center is a partnership among North Carolina State University (NCSU), North Carolina Agriculture and Technical State University (NCATSU), NCDACS, nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), other state and federal agencies, farmers and citizens. Long-term approaches that integrate the broad range of factors involved in agricultural systems are the focus of the Farming Systems Research Unit. The goal is to provide the empirical framework to address landscape-scale issues that impact long-run sustainability of North Carolina's agriculture. To this end, data collection and analyses include soil parameters (biological, chemical, physical), pests and predators (weeds, insects and disease), crop factors (growth, yield, and quality), economic factors, and energy issues. Five systems are being compared: a successional ecosystem, a plantation forestry-woodlot, an integrated crop-animal production system, an organic production system, and a cash-grain [best management practice (BMP)] cropping system. An interdisciplinary team of scientistsfrom the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences at NCSU and NCATSU, along with individuals from the NCDACS, NGO representatives, and farmers are collaborating in this endeavor. Experimental design and protocol are discussed, in addition to challenges and opportunities in designing and implementing long-term farming systems trials.

Small farmers' production systems and the improvement of agriculture in Central America

Historically, Central American small farmers have been trapped in a state of poverty with little know-how, ways or means with which to change their status. The CATIE's Small Farmers' Production Systems Research Program (SFPS) has a long-term goal of helping the small farmers of Central America to search for ways in which to improve their economic and social situation. This project is identifying and defining pathways that lead to this goal. While objectives in the present short-term Small Farmers' Production Systems Research project are somewhat limited, they form part of longer range objectives intended to help the small farmers not only with problems in their crop-animal production and marketing systems but also with their entire farming systems, which include field and vegetable crops, animal production and perennial tree crops.