On-farm Processing Research Articles

A swine integrator's perspective on nutrient management procedures.

The goal of pork producers is to operate in a sustainable manner that includes among other requirements, environmental soundness, social acceptability, and profitability. Gains in efficiency have reduced nutrient by-products per pig, but competitive forces have led to specialization, larger farms, and concentrated areas of production that have resulted in new opportunities related to nutrient management. Available technology uses on-farm processing or storage facilities, and manure is applied to the land as an organic fertilizer. Knowledge of nutrient content of soils and crop uptake of nutrients is incorporated into manure application and crop removal plans to prevent either runoff or nutrient buildup on the land. This is to ensure water quality protection. Existing systems are adequate but lack flexibility, require effective management, may not have been incorporated into older farms, and do not offer obvious solutions to odor concerns. Cost-effective alternatives should address those needs. Advancement in nutrient management procedures will likely accelerate the ongoing changes in the structure of the swine industry.

Comparison of landscape features in organic and conventional farming systems

Four organic (biodynamic) farms coupled with conventional farms from their neighbourhood in The Netherlands, Germany and Sweden, and 3 organic farms and 4 conventional farms from the West Friesean region in The Netherlands were evaluated to compare their impact on landscape diversity. Materials used were soil-, water-, land use- and land-property maps, interviews with the farmers, repeated (several days) visits to the farms, allowing to make temporal transects, photographs and pictures of the farm-couples and their surroundings. Presence of diverse land use types, woody elements (plantings) and visual elements (vertical and horizontal coherence, colours and forms) were analysed. The results show that the diversity of landscapes and farming system was greater in organic farms. It regards to the land-use types, crops, livestock, plantings (hedges, solitary shrubs and trees), flora, sensorial information (more forms, colours, smells, sounds, spatial experiences) and labour (more on-farm processing and more people involved). Also, all forms of coherence were found to be greater in organic farms. In terms of landscape diversity the organic types of agriculture have a good potential for positive contributions to a sustainable agro-landscape management.

The economics of on-farm processing: model development and an empirical analysis

Abstract Recent trends in the developments of the Common Agricultural Policy suggest an increasing attention towards rural development issues. On-farm processing may offer an alternative for diversification, income generation and rural development in the event of increasingly deregulated agricultural markets. In this study, the economics of on-farm processing for the case of the Swedish potato industry is examined. An interregional partial equilibrium model is developed. Various stages of the potato marketing chain are explicitly modelled. It is empirically demonstrated that, in some regions, on-farm processing is a part of a socially optimal industry structure. Furthermore, it is shown that on-farm processors are more robust towards import competition than bulk product producers. Hence, the results support the notion that small scale processing may contribute towards satisfying some of the objectives of an effective rural development agenda.

The economics of on‐farm processing: model development and an empirical analysis

AbstractRecent trends in the developments of the Common Agricultural Policy suggest an increasing attention towards rural development issues. On‐farm processing may offer an alternative for diversification, income generation and rural development in the event of increasingly deregulated agricultural markets. In this study, the economics of on‐farm processing for the case of the Swedish potato industry is examined. An interregional partial equilibrium model is developed. Various stages of the potato marketing chain are explicitly modelled. It is empirically demonstrated that, in some regions, on‐farm processing is a part of a socially optimal industry structure. Furthermore, it is shown that on‐farm processors are more robust towards import competition than bulk product producers. Hence, the results support the notion that small scale processing may contribute towards satisfying some of the objectives of an effective rural development agenda.

Small scale gasification of biomass: The case of corn cob gasifiers

This paper reports on the operation and general feasibility of gasifiers intended for use on farms to supply a clean gas fuel for on-farm processing of food products. The particular concern is the availability of a gas fuel for grain drying that will be able to utilize existing farm drying and handling systems and relieve the farmer of dependence on potentially uncertain supplies of LP-gas and natural gas. The feasibility of a cob-gasification system is compared with conventional systems through the use of a simulation model of harvesting and drying systems. Timeliness, field losses and harvesting strategy are considered on the basis of 24 years of actual weather data to determine the technical and economic feasibility of cob-gasifier drying-systems. The gasifier system is analyzed as an integrated part of the total farming and harvesting operation, which provides a more realistic appraisal as compared with considering the drying system in isolation. The conclusion is that a cob-gasification system imposes minimal change upon the rest of the grain-drying and handling system, and that the collection of corn cobs for fuel can be integrated into current harvesting operations. From the economic standpoint, it appears that cob-gasification systems are likely to be more economic than solar systems and, under a variety of conditions, only a modest increase in the price of LP-gas would be necessary to make cob-gasification systems competitive with existing conventional systems.