Historical Farm Research Articles

Landscape quality of farm buildings: The evolution of the design approach in Italy

Rural buildings have undergone deep changes with the historical transition from traditional agriculture to industrial society. This paper discusses these trends in Italy, focusing on major changes in agriculture, design approach, and land-use planning, referring to some regional cases and relative building typologies. The analysis of the main historical treatises on the subject of farm building design allowed us to evaluate how the evolution of the technical approach influenced the architectural quality of rural buildings. This latter was traditionally based on a close relation between aesthetic values, functionality, and simplicity, broadly acknowledged only recently, as shown by the loss of landscape integration of farm buildings constructed in the last decades. By analysing the processes of reuse of historical buildings and construction of new farm buildings, we have found out different and time-evolving ways of referring to rural heritage and identity. In some cases, they have been considered important references, even through typological evolution aimed at combining traditional values with new needs and available techniques. In other cases, old farm buildings have been considered unsuitable things of the past, or rather have inspired new constructions based on an idealized and mystified concept of rurality. Since landscape integration of rural buildings plays a crucial role in the EU concept of agriculture, the choice of architectural quality postulates to be adopted for the design of new rural buildings is a key theme. Both consistency with pre-industrial tradition and typological discontinuity must necessarily consider consciously the relationships with historical buildings, whose important values have increasingly come to the fore over the last years. Once consistency with historical farm buildings is assumed as a design postulate, contemporary interpretation of traditional typologies through modern building techniques is a very challenging and topical field of study. Various degrees of consistency with traditional typologies are possible. Therefore, this approach calls for the development of analytic and metadesign methods aimed at decomposing rural building typologies into their essential physiognomical features, allowing designers to modulate them to meet ever-changing requirements.

Formalized interpretation of compound land use objects – Mapping historical summer farms from a single satellite image

Notions of land cover relating to physical landscape characters are readily captured by satellite imagery. Land use on the other hand relates more to the societal aspects of a landscape. We argue that much of the spatial configuration of landscape characters is related to land use and that satellite data can be used to represent and investigate interpretations of land use. We propose and demonstrate the joint use of a novel SRPC procedure for satellite imagery together with an explicit representation of category semantics. We use these two mechanisms to identify a collection of conceptual spaces related to land use on Swedish historic summer farms. We also outline a framework for analysis of the relations between two separate ways of knowing: the machine-based knowledge and the human, mental knowledge. An evaluation demonstrates that satellite images can be used to identify land use processes as a mixture of land cover objects occurring in particular spatial contextual relationships closely tied to the land use category semantics. This opens up an unexplored possibility for research on vague spatial ontologies and questions on how to formally articulate different interpretations of space, land use, and other branches of spatial social science.

Regional impacts of abolishing direct payments: An integrated analysis in four European regions

The direct payment system of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) provides income transfers to European farmers. Recently, several countries including England and Sweden have advocated the elimination of direct payments after 2013. The extent to which an elimination of direct payments would affect the land use dynamics in Europe including impacts on structural change and the environment has not been addressed in the existing literature. In this paper, we combine participatory methods, to analyze regional preferences for functions and effects of agriculture, and farm-level modeling, to assess the impacts of such a policy change on farm structures and land use intensities in four European regions located in Germany, Denmark, Italy and Poland, each with different socio-economic and biophysical characteristics. In each region, the entire farm population consisting of different farm types with different production orientations and land management types was modeled under the presence and absence of direct payments using a combination of agent-based and bio-economic modeling. We found that the initial characteristics of the regions, such as the historical farm structure and regional site conditions, greatly influence the impact of direct support elimination and cause regionally different development trends. The results for the four regions were summarized in four specific storylines that emphasize how much the diversity of European regions matters for future policy decisions. An explicitly regional focus is, therefore, argued to be crucial to complement future policy analysis.

TEMPORAL TRENDS IN NATIVE CERAMIC TRADITIONS OF THE LOWER CATAWBA RIVER VALLEY

Bennie Keel’s 1972 work at Upper Sauratown was the opening salvo of the Research Laboratories of Archaeology’s 30-year Siouan Project, which continues under the guise of the ongoing Catawba Project. Keel’s early work at the protohistoric Hardins and early historic era Belk Farm sites in the Catawba River Valley continues to inform the current phase of Piedmont Siouan research. This study compares and contrasts Keel’s Hardins and Belk Farm ceramic assemblages with those from the later Catawba sites of Nassaw Town, Old Town, and New Town to achieve a diachronic view of Catawba ceramic development. This comparison reveals a long span of stylistic and technological continuity abruptly terminated by rapid emergence of the modern Catawba ceramic tradition between 1760 and 1770.

Farm Development in the Malangen Area, Northern Norway – A Pollen-Analytical Case Study

The present farms Engenes and Bakkejord constitute the sites of this investigation. The eastern limit of the historical Greipstad farm – Engenes – had a small permanent settlement from during the period c. AD 750–950. Bakkejord had a permanent settlement from about AD 1200–1250. Four different periods since the Birth of Christ with farm abandonment or very low anthropogenic activity are recorded, and the two youngest ones are discussed on the basis of historical information.

Stochastic utility-efficient programming of organic dairy farms

Opportunities to make sequential decisions and adjust activities as a season progresses and more information becomes available characterise the farm management process. In this paper, we present a discrete stochastic two-stage utility-efficient programming model of organic dairy farms, which includes risk aversion in the decision maker’s objective function as well as both embedded risk (stochastic programming with recourse) and non-embedded risk (stochastic programming without recourse). Historical farm accountancy data and subjective judgements were combined to assess the nature of the uncertainty that affects the possible consequences of the decisions. The programming model was used within a stochastic dominance framework to examine optimal strategies in organic dairy systems in Norway.

Studies on botany and environmental management relations on a wooded pasture between Pénzesgyőr and Hárskút villages

Wooded pastures are not only important parts of the Hungarian landscape, but they have preserved historical farming methods. Since the beginning of grazing activities in forests, humans and grazing animals have continuously formed their state. Forests of lower quality were ideal places to provide food and shade for grazing animals. Authors experienced such a sight during the first visit in the research area. A landscape with picturesque view and various, mosaic-like structure was recognized with huge old seed trees. As the territory is so diverse, authors investigated from different aspects such as landscape history, botany, forestry, nature conservation, landscape ecology and grassland management. Grazing of the research site was abandoned in the early 1990’s, therefore, the effects of natural succession are clearly visible now in this habitat and cultural landscape, being in close-to-natural condition despite the fact that it had been created by human activities. As a result of abandonment, the typical landscape – dominated by ancient seed trees – is on the way of disappearing. Authors’ aim was to explore the history and the present botanical state of the area and to follow the succession progress of the forests. By planning a habitat network and preparing a land use plan for the future, authors tried to ensure the preservation of this wooded pasture by ensuring ideas for nature conservation and sustainability. Organic matter content plays an important role as nutrient (Ercoli et al. 2006) and shallow soils have extreme water regime (Birkas et al. 2005). Any activity that reduces the soil cover by removing the vegetation is unfavorable, increases the effect of erosion processes, especially considering the effect of future climate change (Mudri et al. 2005). Observations on vegetation of pastures and its changes have got a high importance, especially in case of grass species (Poaceae), since it is mainly these species that ensure the most valuable forage for grazing animals (Sule et al. 2006. Penksza et al. 2005a, 2005b, 2005c).

Survey of the incidence and aetiology of mastitis on dairy farms in England and Wales

A survey of clinical and subclinical mastitis was carried out on 97 dairy farms in England and Wales, selected at random from members of a national milk recording scheme. The farmers were asked to collect aseptic milk samples from five consecutive cases of clinical mastitis and from five quarters with high somatic cell counts using a defined protocol, and they completed a questionnaire that included information on the cows sampled, the herd and the history of mastitis in the herd. The samples were collected throughout the year. The mean incidence of clinical mastitis was 47 cases per 100 cows per year (estimated from historic farm records) and 71 cases per 100 cows per year (estimated from the samples collected). Streptococcus uberis and Escherichia coli were isolated in pure culture from 23.5 per cent and 19.8 per cent, respectively, of the clinical samples; 26.5 per cent of the clinical samples produced no growth. The most common isolates from the samples with high cell counts were coagulase-negative staphylococci (15 per cent), S uberis (14 per cent) and Corynebacterium species (10 per cent). Staphylococcus aureus and coagulase-positive staphylococci together accounted for 10 per cent of the samples with high somatic cell counts; 39 per cent produced no bacterial growth.

Pesticides and other agricultural factors associated with self-reported farmer’s lung among farm residents in the Agricultural Health Study

Background: Farmer’s lung, or hypersensitivity pneumonitis, is an important contributor to respiratory morbidity among farmers. Methods: Using the 1993–7 enrolment data from the Agricultural Health Study, we conducted a cross-sectional...

Viabilidad económica de la producción de espárrago en la Región del Maule, Chile

En esta investigación se estimaron indicadores de viabilidad y de eficiencia económica de la producción de espárrago (Asparagus officinalis L.) en Chile. Los coeficientes técnicos fueron tomados de los registros históricos de un predio localizado en la zona de Linares, Región del Maule, Chile. Los indicadores de viabilidad calculados fueron el valor actual neto (VAN), tasa interna de retorno (TIR), índice de valor actual neto (IVAN), razón beneficio-costo (RBC), y período de recuperación del capital (PRC). Los indicadores de eficiencia económica fueron el costo medio total (CMET), margen unitario ponderado (MUP) y la rentabilidad sobre capital (RSC). Como unidad de análisis se consideró una hectárea. Para productores con tierra, los resultados obtenidos en la situación estándar fueron: Ch$1,52 millones (VAN), 12,1% (TIR), 0,3 (IVAN), 1,1 (RBC) y 10 años (PRC). Para la etapa de producción se proyectó un CMET mínimo de Ch $317,8 kg-1, un MUP máximo de Ch$407 kg-1 y una RSC de 20,3%. La principal conclusión es que el cultivo de espárrago en la región del Maule, en Chile, es viable para los productores con tierra.

THE CHRONOSTRATIGRAPHY AND GEOARCHAEOLOGICAL SIGNIFICANCE OF AN ALLUVIAL GEOARCHIVE: COMPARATIVE OSL AND AMS14C DATING FROM GREECE*

The Basin of Phlious in southern Greece is known for its thick colluvial and alluvial deposits from the Holocene. It offers a good opportunity to reconstruct the history of Holocene soil erosion and its interaction with historical farming activities. In this study, we present new results based on optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) dating from the Basin of Phlious. The comparison between OSL and14C AMS ages shows good agreement, and demonstrates the need for the detection of insufficiently bleached OSL samples in order to obtain accurate results. The discovery of a Neolithic site, buried under thick alluvial deposits, confirms the hitherto postulated Neolithic human impact on the landscape.

Anthropogenic influences on Zuni agricultural soils

AbstractFarmers in the Zuni area of the semiarid American Southwest have successfully cultivated maize and other crops for over three millennia without using artificial fertilizers. Zuni agricultural fields are among the oldest, more or less continuously cultivated areas in the United States. Traditional Zuni agriculture is based on runoff farming, a system whereby runoff and organic‐rich sediment generated in small watersheds are captured and directed onto fields for crop use. We conducted a study to compare soil properties associated with paired and unpaired cultivated, abandoned, and uncultivated fields to evaluate the long‐term effects of cultivation on soil quality. Sampling and analytical methods of this research are especially applicable to geoarchaeological studies of anthropogenic effects on soil fertility and agricultural sustainability in ancient and traditional historical farming systems. Results of the Zuni soil study indicate that cultivation has altered some soil properties, including bulk density, organic carbon, total nitrogen, and C:N ratios in paired fields, but there is no indication that agricultural soils are degraded. This assessment supports the perception of Zuni farmers that long‐term cultivation has not caused a decline in agricultural productivity. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Farm Buildings and the Industrial Age

Following a review of the nature of research on historic farm buildings during the past third of a century, it is suggested that buildings can be a source of primary historical evidence which complements material derived from written sources, rather than merely illustrating it, and that some of the greatest advances in understanding may arise from inter-disciplinary studies. Links between the development of agrarian and industrial production and society are explored, partly by means of a case study of farming in the Cheviot Hills in Northumberland.

Stooking the Peanuts: Historical Agriculture and the Management of a Dying Seasonal Landscape, North-East New South Wales, Australia

Popular interest in seasonal landscapes reflects the importance of ephemera in people's appreciation of landscapes. Landscape management tends to focus on long-term and reasonably permanent qualities, typically at annual and, especially, decadal time scales. However, human interest in shorter-term and ephemeral landscape qualities—such as seasonal qualities—allows people to use scales of direct human experience to identify and define landscapes. Brassley (1998), reviewing the ‘unrecognized significance of the ephemeral landscape’, notes that permanent components are managed through planning instruments; while ephemera may be crucial to landscape appearance, they are largely unprotected or not managed. Here a seasonal landscape of historic peanut farming that remains, in small pockets, in northern New South Wales, Australia, is examined with a view to identifying sustainable management of this landscape. The landscape becomes visually distinctive during the annual cycle of cropping when peanuts are placed in rows of stooks. Stooks are small circular stacks of harvested plants built around a tomato stake and capped by a sack, used to dry the peanuts immediately after harvesting; they appear to be unique. Following Brassley's observations regarding the lack of management of ephemera in landscapes, the long-term viability and conservation of this landscape are examined. The problem is further heightened by the fact that, while this landscape is visually distinctive, it also represents a social and agricultural activity that is in decline and unlikely to survive in the near future. This raises questions about the long-term sustainability of such a seasonal landscape—it is truly ephemeral both annually and in the long term—and options for the retention of at least some of the key landscape components within a contemporary landscape are explored.

A sow herd decision support system based on an embedded Markov model

A sow herd decision support system (SH-DSS) was developed, based on an embedded Markov process, representing sow herd dynamics and was implemented using object-oriented programming. It is primarily intended for pig managers, advisers and extension specialists. The SH-DSS is aimed to analyse production factors associated with reproductive and replacement management strategies of sow farms. Decision support is based on a comparative stationary analysis performance from model outputs. The user can explore and evaluate different reproductive and replacement management strategies and therefore can anticipate problems and make the most appropriate decisions. A graphic user interface provides the interaction with the system. The SH-DSS provides several tools to test the model's suitability in relation to a user's historical farm data. Its inputs include technical and economic parameters that characterise specific farm production situations. Technical parameters are those defining sow production (abortion rates, sow mortality and fertility rates, prolificity) and management characteristics of the farm (lactation length, maximum number of matings allowed, maximum number of farrowings). Economic parameters are related to the farm economic environment (feed prices, value of weaned piglets, value of purchased gilts, value of slaughtered sows). The outputs include technical and economic indices, herd structure and the sensitivity analysis of strategic parameters. The model assumes that the herd population is in steady-state.

Wayne D. Rasmussen, 1915-2004

Wayne D. Rasmussen, 1915–2004 Dana G. Dalrymple (bio) Wayne Rasmussen, former chief historian for the United States Department of Agriculture, and long considered the dean of agricultural historians, died on 30 April 2004 after a full life and productive career.1 He often said that he couldn't have had a better job. Wayne was a cheerful optimist, a trait that served him well. Life did not start easily for him. He was raised on a small cattle ranch in central Montana that went bottom-up during the Great Depression. Following his father's early death he worked his way through the University of Montana, where he met and became a lifelong friend of Senator Mike Mansfield. His bachelor's degree in history only qualified him for a position as an "under clerk-typist" in the Department of Agriculture in 1937; he was promoted to "assistant clerk, historical" in 1940. But Wayne had another purpose for coming to Washington: to start graduate work and become a college teacher. He received his M.A. from George Washington University in 1939. In the course of his subsequent studies for the Ph.D., he took German to fulfill a language requirement; this proved sufficient to land him a position in army intelligence in London and Germany during World War II. After the war he returned to the USDA, finished up his Ph.D. in history in 1950, and was off and running. Wayne's military experience gave him an acute understanding of how historical research could have practical applications. Throughout his career as a government historian he emphasized research that could better inform [End Page 683] policy making. He felt that "the historical background we could supply could help administrators avoid some of the mistakes made in the past and develop programs more useful to farmers and consumers." Thus, as he wrote, "Any research that I did usually bore on current problems."2 Click for larger view View full resolution Figure 1. Wayne D. Rasmussen, 1915-2004. (Copyright 1983, the Washington Post. Photo by Fred Sweets. Reprinted with permission.) Technology was one of two or three areas to which Wayne paid particular attention.3 His principal focus in his studies of technology, as in his [End Page 684] other research, was to examine the determinants of agricultural development.4 Yet these made up only part of a much larger body of work that included early studies on Latin America and a vast array of writings in other areas of the history of American agriculture.5 This broad scope enabled him to draw from one area of history to inform his writing in another. In total, Wayne authored or coauthored more than two hundred articles and several books, and edited a definitive four-volume documentary history of agriculture in the United States.6 Wayne's accomplishments extended well beyond scholarly writing. Since the main function of his office within the USDA was to provide historical background for policy development, he lived in both the past and present—and the present, with its delicate political issues, could be quite demanding. Wayne worked with some eleven secretaries of agriculture and numerous other department administrators. He was often in the thick of things. Still, he found time to interact with historian-colleagues in the department (steering me to to Mel Kranzberg and SHOT, for example) and the academy, serve on many graduate student committees, and act as the longtime secretary of the Agricultural History Society. He was also one of the founders of the Association of Living Historical Farms and Agricultural Museums, and served as its president.7 Wayne faced two chronic challenges in his official duties, which may be shared to varying degrees by other government historians. Every change in administration brought a need to rejustify the existence of an agricultural history unit. Few administrations arrive with a strong interest in history, though they soon come to realize its value, and perhaps their place in it. There could also be problems, particularly with Congress, related to the interpretation of history. This became particularly evident in the case of A Century of Service, a history of the Department of Agriculture prepared by Wayne and several others...

Satisfying No One? Some Reported Effects of Planning Guidance on the Conservation and Re-use of Historic Farm Buildings in England1

Satisfying No One? Some Reported Effects of Planning Guidance on the Conservation and Re-use of Historic Farm Buildings in England1

Determinants of the Strength of Strategic Adjustments in Farm Capital Structure

This study employs correlation relationships to measure the strength of trade-offs between business and financial risks as a representation of the strategic capital adjustment process. Under different business risk measures based on varying lengths of historical farm income data, results suggest that farmers tend to adopt a myopic perspective when contemplating risk-balancing plans. Cross-sectional regression results for two-time period models covering the decade of the 1980s and 1990s yielded important implications. The liquidity-constrained environment of the 1980s emphasizes the combination of risk-balancing plans, specialization, and market revenue-enhancing strategies. In the 1990s, risk balancing becomes compatible with risk-reducing crop diversification and insurance protection plans.

Residual phosphorus in runoff from successional forest on abandoned agricultural land: 2. Hydrological and soluble reactive P Budgets

Residual P from historical farm practices hasbeen linked to elevated soluble reactivephosphorus (SRP) transport in runoff from afield study site in the Catskills Mountains,New York, U.S.A., with a P source assay indicatingthat successional forest floor biomass was themajor contributor to runoff SRP. In thispaper, we assemble hydrological and SRP budgetsthat indicate net SRP loss of 0.123 kgha−1 yr−1 occurs from the site(composed of 0.044 kg ha−1 yr−1precipitation input, with 0.143 kg ha−1yr−1 and 0.024 kg ha−1 yr−1losses in runoff and groundwater,respectively). These findings contrast withconservative P cycling reported for undisturbedforests. Coupled hydrological and SRP data areanalyzed suggesting that catchment ambient andequilibrium SRP concentrations corresponding togroundwater and long-term average runoffconcentrations are in the range capable ofcontributing to eutrophication of receivingwaters. A physically based variable sourcearea hydrological model is tested to simulateSRP export using deterministic concentrations. The three-layer model (surface runoff, shallowlateral flow, and groundwater) is parameterizedusing spatially distributed data fromadditional P source assays and fieldhydrological monitoring for the site. Differences in simulated and observed outflowand SRP export are partially explained byforest evapotranspiration and frozen soilprocesses. The field data, SRP budgets andsimulations show that sufficient residual Ppools exist to prolong net SRP loss rates untilecosystem processes re-establish moreconservative P cycling.

Succession from farmland to heathland: a case for conservation of nature and historic farming methods

The succession of vascular plants was recorded in an old field during 22 years after farming ceased in 1975. The soil is poor, acid and sandy. Adjoining areas are Calluna–Empetrum heathland. During the first 2 years a few ruderal weedy species dominated completely. In years 3–5 Jasione montana and Rumex acetosella became dominant. More persistent perennials such as Hieracium pilosella and Deschampsia flexuosa slowly colonised, but after years 13–14 they decreased again. During the last 10 years Calluna vulgaris and Festuca ovina increased. Calluna vulgaris is now so abundant that the area is recognised as heathland, according to the definition in the Danish Nature Protection Act. The advantages of restoring heathland vegetation by natural succession are compared with more intensive actions. Rarer plant species than those occurring in either farmland or heathland are found, the process gives a more varied vegetation, and it is historically authentic.