Pig Farming - Animal Welfare Is Paramount

Back in 1965 a Technical Committee was convened to report on animal welfare issues arising from intensive farming systems. The committee produced the Bramble Report, which defined the first 'animal rights', enshrined in 'Bramble's Five Freedoms': these stated that animals should have the freedom to "stand up, lie down, turn around, groom themselves and stretch their limbs". Out of this committee came the Farm Animal Welfare Advisory Committee, from which in 1979 the Farm Animal Welfare Council (FAWC) was formed by the British Government. FAWC have developed the so-called 'five freedoms', on which the proper welfare of farm animals from farm to abattoir is based. These 'freedoms', or 'animal welfare needs' now cover the treatment of domestic pets as well as farm animals.

There is a scientifically proven link between the welfare levels of an animal's upbringing and meat quality, also, obviously a poorly kept animal won't be as productive as a fit and healthy one, and will cost the producer money (now, there's surely a big incentive to get your animal's welfare right?!).

Let's look at the freedoms that an animal should enjoy under law - and should enjoy anyway if you want to produce good quality food from your farm.

Freedom from hunger and thirst - a proper diet, including fresh water. Animal nutrition is so well researched that there can be no excuse for feeding any animal other than with a diet with the right balance of nutrients for it's growth / productivity. My dog is gluten intolerant, and she is very active and also fussy - dog dieticians have come up with a range of solutions for her; similarly my pregnant sow needs a different diet from my lactating sow, and a 10 kilo pig needs a different balance of nutrients to a 100 kilo animal. Oh, and always check your drinkers are working, in the same way as you'll have made sure the dog's water bowl is kept topped up.
Freedom from discomfort - somewhere suitable to live. The animal needs an appropriate environment, including shelter and a comfortable resting area. For the pig farmer this means giving outdoor sows somewhere to shelter from the sunshine (they can get sunburn) and to wallow (having no sweat glands means that getting covered in mud is not only fun, but cooling). Pigs need somewhere comfortable to rest and sleep - plenty of fresh, clean, dry straw is ideal, whatever size of pig we are considering.
Freedom for pain, injury or disease - protection from, and treatment of, illness and injury. This can be achieved through prevention, rapid diagnosis and appropriate treatment - for the pig farmer this means two things: excellent stockmanship and a great vet. The former comes through experience and training, the latter is an essential part of your 'team'. Find a vet that knows pigs, have him/her on your unit four times a year to check your stock and their environment over. Well-designed accommodation and handling facilities will help minimise disease challenges and injuries.
Freedom to express normal behaviour or, 'the ability to express normal behaviour' as the 'welfare needs' defines it. For a pig this means being able to root around and explore their environment: difficult on a concrete base (unless there's a good quantity of straw), and impossible on slats. A pig needs sufficient space, proper facilities and the company of other pigs. The space requirements are laid down in Government regulations, and there is a requirement under law to provide pigs with some form of environmental enrichment - 'manipulable materials', such as cardboard cartons or softwood 'toys'.
Freedom from fear and distress - for any need to be housed with, or apart from, other animals. This ensures conditions and levels of care that avoid mental suffering. Pigs in particular have social needs and a relatively high level of intelligence. A strange pig introduced into a group will often be killed, or die of stress related conditions - a lone pig will get lonely

Andrew is a qualified teacher of English as a foreign language (TEFL), a farmer with twenty years agricultural experience, and worked for fifteen years in the global automotive industry.

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Taking an Old Farming Method and Building for a New Age

Bring old world farming into modern times using new technology, taking water and old ways of growing and bring them up to date and onward into the future.

With modern manufacturing and materials it is not only possible to make a hydroponic system bring it up to date, but also to fabricate systems that can be used in space.

Past meets Present

A Hydroponics have been around for some time now we had the hanging gardens of Babylon for instance, which were in them selves not a new idea.

Coming up to modern times with modern materials, manufacturing techniques and fabrication processes it is surprising that Hydroponic farming is still in its infancy although widely known and used in some circles it has a certain stigma attached to it.

Hydroponics for confined areas

The plants can not only be grown in small surface areas a balcony for instance or in a window, but can be grow on top of each other into unused space, thereby doubling even tripling the crop for any given space, basically stacking.

Hydroponics in poor or no soil areas

You can have a system that can not only double the crop for a given area but can also be grown in an area with poor or no soil, getting high yield crop production from once useless or infertile land. A system can be installed almost any where there is free space.

Past meets Present meets the Future

Using modern manufacturing processes with light weight, strong up to date materials, Aeroponic systems are being manufactured to grow plants for the modern world.

Space travelers will use a hydroponics system to grow fresh food on long flights just like our ancestors used limes on sea voyages, they will grow crops that will supplement a healthy diet, getting the nutrients they will require for the rigors of long space flights.

Meeting Criteria

Close loop systems, feeding nutrient rich, oxygenated liquid to plants, meets all the criteria for the hydroponic farming, confined areas, poor or no soil, even stations on distant planets.

Windmills and the wind turbine, the past meets the present, the same is being done with the hydroponics system.

Plants

We have developed new stronger strains of plants, they grow higher yields, grow quicker and are more resilient to weather conditions, disease and pests.

Plants grow and produce not only the food we will require but the seeds and cuttings for the future propagation of even more resilient plants.

Why do you not try and Make a Hydroponic System you can make a small one in your kitchen for a tomato plant

Come visit us and check out what is happening in the world of Hydroponics Click Here

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A Brief Guide to Mushroom Farming

There are many people who are interested in mushroom farming and wish to know more about it. This article has been designed for readers who wish to know about the different techniques with which mushrooms are grown as well as the processes involved. First of all, you should know that burgeon farming cannot be done on a small piece of land, which means that you will require an appropriate setup in which to let your mushrooms grow. Otherwise, unless you are able to set up a controlled environment for your mushrooms, it will be very difficult for you to grow these burgeons without any hassle.

Mushroom farming requires an artificial set up, usually within a green house or a mushroom tunnel. This is because burgeons cannot be farmed in the open environment, which is why it is extremely important that you create a makeshift environment for your mushrooms to grow properly. Proper lighting, water and a carefully controlled ventilation system is important in the place where you are growing burgeons, mainly due to the fact that mushrooms require fresh air at certain times throughout their growing process. Water and lighting will also vary according to the stage of growth that your mushrooms are in.

Once that is done, you need to learn how to plant and farm those mushrooms, because different types of mushrooms have different requirements. Therefore, before you think about starting a mushrooming business, it is important that you learn about the types of burgeons that you can grow and the effort that you would need to put in if you wish to grow them properly.

Before proceeding with mushroom farming, it would be wise for a person to take a training course in order to understand the various types of mushrooms as well as the conditions in which they grow. Similarly, conversing about growing techniques with other farmers will also help you greatly in extracting tips and techniques with which you can improve your farming. You will also require mushroom farming equipment in order to harvest and properly store the mushrooms properly so that they don't turn bad.

Learning these things is extremely important for appropriate mushroom farming or otherwise it would be significantly difficult for people to be able to grow burgeons on their piece of land without any hassle at all. Learning about how to farm mushrooms is not difficult as well, mainly because a lot of resource material is available.

Feel free to visit our site for more information about mushroom farming.

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Livestock for Sale - Beef Farming Industry In NZ

Lying in the Pacific Ocean approximately 1,000 kilometres from Australia is located the most productive beef farming industry in the world... New Zealand. With a long history of providing world class dairy and agricultural products, the beef farming industry in NZ was the first to have no protection from imports from any part of the world. This was a result of the removal of all subsidisation of agricultural and dairy farming operations in New Zealand. Although the initial reaction was one of concern, with fear that the country's ability to compete in the world stage world be detrimentally affected, the application of external pressures from an open marketplace has worked to strengthen the beef farming industry in NZ.

The need to keep the quality of the agricultural and dairy product at its highest, as well as reduce the overall operating expenses, major investments were made into productive capacities which has resulted in a dairy industry that is simply second to none. This is why the New Zealand economy has been so resilient over the past twenty years, weathering well three global economic downturns.

New Zealand's economy is heavily dependent on overseas trade, from which a high proportion comes from dairy farming and agricultural. The performance of the dairy farming industry in NZ is directly representative of the health and performance of the New Zealand economy in general.

There have been numerous advances in dairy farming production methods, aiming to increase the productivity of specific tracts of land with new and improved inputs. One of the major factors relating to the productivity of the farm is the livestock held, with the preferred breeds producing more milk, gaining weight faster and responding better to the fertiliser, soil and nutritional inputs that are now a mainstay of the farming environment. The type livestock available for purchase, therefore, has a dramatic effect upon the productive capacities of the individual farms and farming industry. As a result, specialist businesses have that deal in livestock sales have been thriving, with the demand from farmers for quality livestock for sale increasing dramatically.

These businesses work as brokers in the beef farming industry in NZ, working closely with farmers to access the breed of livestock that is required for the farming operation, depending on their size, geography of the land and aims of production. In this sense, these businesses that focus on livestock for sale become a business partner, who provide valuable advice and access to quality livestock... what the dairy business is built upon.

Kelly Livestock is the largest independently owned livestock Company in the Taranaki Region. If you are looking for cattle, dairy cows / herds for sale take a look at livestock for sale online at http://www.cows4sale.co.nz/

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Pig Farming - The Rare Breeds

There are five major breeds of pig used on commercial pig units around the world, with commercial cross breeds /hybrids of these five being the main types of pig that you'll find, either indoors or in the field. They are the Large White, Landrace, Hampshire, Duroc and Pietrain.

But what of the many other breeds around the world? Do they have a place in the modern pig industry? Are they "rare for a reason", as the more cynical among the farming community would have it? Let's look at a few of them and see why things are as they are.

Towards the end of the nineteenth century in Europe the pig was a widespread back-yard necessity - it ate all the kitchen, garden, market and crop waste and turned it into a good quality protein and energy source for the rapidly industrializing populations. Pig units started to spring up near growing conurbations, and there was a need to improve the reproductive side of things. Historically, pig breeds had been locaiised/ regional phenomena, and not very prolific. Enter highly prolific breeds from China (for example to Meishan pig), which were crossed onto the locals in order to produce more pigs per sow every year.

The one breed to have missed out on this 'improvement', and therefore regarded as the most 'primitive' is the Tamworth. A brown/orange coloured pig with a very long noseand pricked ears, she is also known as the 'Old English Forest Pig' - and is one of the oldest breeds in the UK. Tamworths are milky, docile, hardy sows, and their meat has a distinctive strong flavour. Only 17 boars survived in the mid '70's following a long decline in numbers. In recent years the breed has been strengthened in numbers and quality by Australian imports.

The Berkshire pig: the Japanese love them, slaughterhouses don't (extremely fat with coarse black hair)! They are black, with distinctive pink feet and a pink blaze on their noses. First recorded as early as the 17th Century, the breed almost died out after World War 2: a specialist product, known in the USA as 'Black Gold'. Some supermarkets sell the Berkshire as a high value speciality line.

The 'Orchard Pig' or Gloucester Old Spot has been around for two or three centuries. Tough, hardy and quiet, with lopped ears that act as 'blinkers', this large pig is pink with a few black spots. In the UK it is the most numerous of the 'rare breeds'. Good carcass quality though too fat for modern processors. She is suited to outdoor production and specialised marketing. Recent research has looked at crossing the Gloucester onto commercial hybrid sows with the aim of producing quick growing, large litters which have the benefits of the sire's distinctive 'old fashioned' flavour: early results are encouraging, with excellent feedback from butchers and producers alike.

The Welsh is 'pear shaped' when viewed from the side or top, having deep hams, a long back and widely spaced legs. She is pink, and not unlike a Landrace to look at. An excellent bacon pig - the third most important sire line in the UK, originally from the Shropshire and Manchester breeds. Maybe less 'rare', and of increasing commercial interest, she's included here to show you where these breeds came from - yes, there was a 'Manchester Pig'!

Other 'rare breeds' include the Middle White, the British Lop, the Large Black and the British Saddleback (itself a mix of the Essex and Wessex Saddleback breeds). Each of these breeds has its champions, and (usually) very localised markets for their distinctive flavours.

These breeds are rare because there's no call for their more expensive (fatty, often more strongly flavoured, less tender) produce (in comparison to meat from commercial types: leaner, more tender, but sometimes bland tasting). They tend to be fat and grow slowly (thus costing more to get to slaughter weight). But they need preserving (having found loyal local markets to live amongst) to keep their hardiness and flavour traits available to breeders, either as terminal sires of as components in hybrid breeding programmes.

Andrew is a qualified teacher of English as a foreign language (TEFL), a farmer with twenty years agricultural experience, and worked for fifteen years in the global automotive industry.

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Poultry Farming: Birds and Requirements

Simply defined, poultry farming is the activity of raising fowl for meat, eggs or feathers, and this can be done for commercial purposes or for personal use. These birds mostly comprise of chickens, ducks, turkeys and geese. Out of these, chickens are the most popularly farmed birds, mainly for their meat and eggs, with a large number of people all over the world practicing this type of poultry farming. If you are looking to start a poultry farm, there a few things you should consider before you undertake the project. Though it is not overly demanding, poultry farming requires adequate planning to ensure you benefit fully.

Types of Birds to Keep:
Before you start poultry farming, you need to decide on a few things. It is important to determine what kind of birds you want to farm with. This will be in line with the purpose for raising the birds. Here are some of the functions different fowl can fulfill.

Geese - They can be raised for their eggs, meat, feathers, breeding, weeding or simply kept as pets. Geese produce feathers that are used for making pillows, stuffed animals and comforters. If kept as pets, geese are not only good company, but will also keep the yard free of weeds. They are even good 'watch dogs' and deter strangers. Their meat is fresh and tasty just like their eggs. Furthermore, you can raise these animals for breeding purposes and sell them. Types of geese to raise include Emdens, Toulouse, African and Chinese geese.

Turkeys - These birds are popular in North America. This kind of poultry farming can be practiced for eggs, meat, breeding purposes, as pets or for show. The turkey is the symbolic meal associated with
Thanksgiving; so many people breed and sell these birds. There is the Narragansett, White, Bronze and Black Turkey.

Ducks - There are more meat breeds than egg breeds for this species. If you choose to farm with ducks, make sure you are aware of what breed you go for. Muscovys, White Pekins and Rouens are usually kept for meat while Indian runner ducks are good for eggs. Ducks and geese cohabit well and are commonly referred to as waterfowl. Make sure you have a pool of water nearby for them to wade in if you choose ducks.

Chickens - The most prevalent form of poultry farming, chickens offer necessary protein to humans and are always in high demand. You can farm chickens for their eggs, meat, feathers, manure or for breeding purposes. Chickens that are kept for their eggs are known as layers and those raised for meat are called broilers.

Poultry Farming Requirements:

Once you have decided on what type of poultry you want to farm with, the next step is to prepare a suitable area for the birds. This will include:

• The coop or farmhouse for your birds of choice. Depending on the fowl, the housing should suite the birds that will live there e.g. for chickens, the chicken coop should be raised off the ground and kept warm with adequate lighting, especially for when the chicks are fairly young.

• Food, proper sanitation and medical supplements are very essential in poultry farming. Ensure you have proper feeding equipment, the right food supplies and that the necessary vaccinations are administered.

• It is also advisable to have some experience and knowledge of poultry farming. There are many sources of information, e.g. poultry farming books, magazines, other poultry farmers and also the internet.

• Lastly, plan your finances to avoid mismanagement or overspending.

About the Author:

Poultry farming is available only in local rural places. Forming Poultry units need a low budget and a small land. So it is like generating income that is sufficient for the rural population. Click here for Hatcheries

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Environmental Benefits of Grass Fed Beef Farming

What if there was a way you could contribute to saving the environment just by making a conscious decision in your choice of beef? This is a personal satisfaction experienced by those who choose grass fed beef.

There are several benefits which grass feeding of cows has on the environment, and when compared to the environmental damage that occurs when cows are raised on a feed lot, the choice is not a difficult one to make.

Grass Fed Beef Helps Keep Water Clean

The manure from cows is rich and when properly managed, can lead to greater biodiversity in the water. The problem stems from when that manure is not well managed as is the case with feed lot beef. When it comes to water pollution, these are the common problems with feed lot beef:

The antibiotics that are fed to feed lot beef pass into the manure unchanged.Because the manure is so much and so heavy, it is often just dumped on soil in the nearest field.The excess manure causes erosion and the top soil is washed away (which is another problem on its own).This manure that is washed away with the top soil often ends up in the water supply and pollutes it, killing the fish, destroying the biodiversity and making the water unhealthy.

Grass feeding, through rotational grazing ensures that the manure is evenly distributed through the soil and is used to ensure the healthy growth of pasture plants. In addition, grass fed beef do not need antibiotics so their manure is free from that. There is no instance of excess manure and the problem of erosion as a result, does not exist.

Grass Fed Beef Can Improve the Quality of the Soil

Soil quality is important to farmers and years of farming have degraded the soil quality in parts of the United States. Grazing has been a traditional means of restoring degraded land. Recent studies have shown that not only do grass fed beef help in restoring soil quality, but they could also potentially contribute to bringing down greenhouse gasses by removing them from the atmosphere and trapping them in the soil where they can contribute to plant growth.

Grass Fed Beef Can Reduce Greenhouse Gasses

Generally, raising cows has been associated with the release of greenhouse gasses into the environment. Methane gas is a green house gas which is belched up by ruminants when they are digesting their food. Methane gas contributes to global warming. When grazing is properly managed it could potentially draw the gasses from the air into the soil to stimulate plant growth. Feedlots have no plants growing in them with just dirt.

Methane gas is not the only form of greenhouse emission that is associated with raising cows, there is also carbon dioxide. However, the growth of plant for grazing helps to remove the carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and store in the soil.

When cows have been grass fed, it helps to reduce the impact of beef production on global warming.

The environmental benefits of grass fed beef are numerous. In addition to those listed above, grass fed beef keeps the air free from the air pollution which feed lot beef is known for. Eating grass fed beef is a way to keep you and the earth healthy.

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Pig Farming - Artificial Vs Natural Insemination

Now here's a question - should I use a boar or a 'straw' (that is a sachet or bottle of diluted pig semen) to get my sows pregnant? This is equally pertinent a question if you have 1200 sows or one, and the reasoning is pretty similar given either scenario - so lets start by comparing the two.

Boars need feeding and housing; semen packs simply need ordering, delivering and storing. I say simply: you have to remember to order the semen in time for it to be as fresh as possible when your sows are ready to be inseminated; you need to be able to get it from the postman or courier to storage as quickly as possible; and you need to be able to store it at (as near as is possible) a constant seventeen degrees Celsius for the duration of it's viability (which is about a week from collection given a long-life diluent and the right storage conditions).

So with the semen packs you're not having to pay for feed, you're not having to muck out pens, and you aren't running the risk of being bitten, chased, gored or eaten by them either. A semen pack will not need veterinary attention and won't smell either! It's easier to handle, and the insemination technique is easily learnt - a 'knack' rather than a great skill.

A boar, however, can tell when a sow is at her most receptive (and encourage her to that point), deliver semen in large doses (200 - 300ml at a time) into the right place inside the sow, and give you a consistent product during his useful lifetime on your unit.

But it'll always be his genes, and with pig genetics advancing year on year the semen pack from the AI (artificial insemination) stud will always be at the forefront of breeding, giving you more and better pigs per sow per year, year after year. The semen pack enables you to use more than one breed or bloodline, and gives you access to the best commercial sires available - they are a cost effective way of improving your output, which with the very tight financial margins involved in the pig industry is essential. Basically, by the time the young boar you've bought or bred (or kept back from your fattening pens) is ready to work, a genetically superior boar will be available to you from the AI stud.

Using 'teaser' boars it is possible to detect when a sow is ready to be served, and then use AI to get her pregnant, serving two or three times during her 24 - 36 hour standing oestrus (a boar will only be able to manage two or three times a week). It's an easily learnt technique, and results are excellent: most commercial farms now use AI, keeping only a few boars to encourage and detect standing heats (when a sow is at her most fertile she'll stand still given a pressure on the small of her back, whether that pressure is applied by a boar, a stockman or some mechanical device) - and then keeping the ladies chatting and interested whilst the stockman inseminates them (the teaser boars' main role is producing pheromones and grunting in just the right way).

But what if you've one got one or two sows to get pregnant? Is it worth keeping a large, potentially aggressive (and certainly strong and wilful) animal just to have it work a couple of times a year? Maybe you can hire one in for a few days (certainly the best option if you've got a rare breed) - but with this comes problems with disease transmission, problems with housing the visitor, as well as the technicalities of handling him and supervising service. One of the biggest problems with natural service (especially indoors with a single boar - less so in groups of pigs with multiple boars outdoors) is making sure that the boar has deposited his semen inside the right part of the pig, and so is best supervised in an appropriate facility.

In summary then, and in answer to our opening question: use a 'straw'! Today's technology enables pig keepers to use the best modern genetics, drawn from a variety of breeds and bloodlines without having to look after (and pay for) a boar for every ten females on the farm. The smallholder or pet-keeper can take advantage of AI too, reducing his costs and having a choice of sires.

Andrew is a qualified teacher of English as a foreign language (TEFL), a farmer with twenty years agricultural experience, and worked for fifteen years in the global automotive industry.

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Pig Farming - The Big Five

There are five major breeds of pig used on commercial pig units around the world, with commercial cross breeds /hybrids of these five being the main types of pig that you'll find, either indoors or in the field.

Whilst the so-called 'rare breeds' (particularly the Berkshire and Gloucester Old Spot) have their place on specialty units, supplying premium markets, they suffer from lower growth rates, poorer carcass conformation (i.e. fewer of the cuts that the consumer wants, and proportionally more of those that are more difficult to sell), and are generally less prolific. In short they produce too few pigs per year, which in turn grow too slowly, too fat and at too great a feed cost. Which should draw us to the reasons why the big five are so widely employed - they are prolific, grow quickly and economically, and produce bodies that the processor and consumer want. Let's look at the key points of each.

Originally from the Yorkshire breed, and first recognised in the 1860's, the Large White has proved itself as the basis for many of the commercial hybrids on the market today. This pig has erect ears, a slightly dished face, long back, and big hams. Hardy, and adaptable, they works well in either indoor or outdoor systems. The Large White pig makes an excellent terminal sire (the boar used to produce the slaughter generation on the farm) - put this boar on any sow and you'll see dad clearly in the offspring's conformation and growth rates. This is the principle meat-producing boar used in the UK and many other countries around the world.

Originally imported into the UK in 1949, from Sweden, the Landrace is now one of the most popular breeds in the country. In fact, they go further than these shores - 90% of hybrid gilts produced in Europe and the US contain Landrace bloodlines. The Landrace pig is a lop eared breed, with a long back and large hams - an excellent pig for both butcher and processor (e.g. Bacon production). The breed is versatile - performing well indoors or out, and makes an excellent mother, being docile and able to rear large strong litters.

The Duroc, a large ginger/orange coloured animal with slightly lopped ears was developed in the United States from a 'Red Pig' originally from UK. The breed was named after a Race Horse in the US, famous in the 1820's. An ideal outdoor pig, and extensively used in outdoor hybrids, it has long hair which moults in summer. The Duroc makes a good mother and is known for being very docile. As a terminal sire the boar produces heavily muscled finishing pigs, the succulent meat displaying good 'marbling' (intramuscular fat).

One of the most important breeds in the world is the Hampshire, developed in the USA, where it was first imported to USA in 1832 from Wessex. A black, prick eared high-lean pig with a pink 'belt' around its shoulders, the Hampshire was reintroduced to UK in 1968. It is the principle terminal sire in the USA.

Named after the Belgian village where they originated, the Pietrain came to the notice of a larger marketplace in the early 50's. It is an erect eared breed, mostly pink, with several black blotches over its body. The Pietrain is now the most popular terminal sire in Germany and Spain - Europe's biggest consumers of pigmeat with two of the largest national herds. The Pietrain has a very high lean meat yield, including 'double-muscled' hams, but is very highly prone to stress (a genetic problem leading to meat quality issues as well as problems on farm, which is now being bred out in the latest generations of the breed). In the UK it is used mainly for the production of hybrid pigs.

Andrew is a qualified teacher of English as a foreign language (TEFL), a farmer with twenty years agricultural experience, and worked for fifteen years in the global automotive industry.

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Interested in Dairy Farming?

Dairy farming is a strenuous and demanding job, but it is rewarding. Today, being a successful dairy farmer involves the awareness and understanding of technology, educational preparation and business skills. You will find that today's farmers attend training programs at university to learn about business and practice of agriculture. The daily life of a dairy farmer involves a large amount of hard work and the day starts early and ends late working both inside and outside. The classic dairy farmer has a strong work ethic, a positive attitude and usually a close relationship with his cows. They are dedicated to their profession and the job demands it.

The profession of dairy farming involves a huge amount more than just milking the cows. For a dairy farmer the day starts very early beginning with herding the cattle up to the milking shed. The cows are then given drink while the farmer prepares the shed for milking. After that the cows are given feed and the milking begins. If it is a wet and stormy day everything is given special attention as the cows need adequate shelter, farmers will often move their stock to a paddock with surrounding hedges offering shelter from the elements. The baby calves are given grain and milk. Cleaning the milking shed concludes the milking session. After this the heifers and dry cows are fed a special diet. Measurements of the food for the dairy cows are then done for the evening feeding and the feeding for the next morning. It is important to make sure the weight and measurements are correct so that excellent production is unhampered. This is often done twice a day.

During the different seasons of the year the dairy farmer has different priorities and jobs to focus on. In the spring time cows produce the most amount of milk and farmers milk their cows twice a day. Mating also occurs during this season. Planting of crops such as maize or turnips are also done in preparation for summer. Summertime is a slower period of the year as cows produce less milk due to the conditions of the weather. Hay making begins and cows graze the summer crops that were planted to help them through the dry season. Autumn brings a conclusion to the milking and it gives the dairy farmer an opportunity to work on the maintenance or development of the land. Things like fencing, drainage and water reticulation and shed maintenance are worked on as well as preparing for the next year. Milking has fully stopped by winter time and the focus is on the condition of the cows in preparation for milking and calving next season. Silage and hay are usually fed to the cows also to make up for the low amount of pasture.

Waibury Agricultural Investments owns and operates dairy farms and grazing-support farms situated predominantly in the North Canterbury region of New Zealand. Waibury secures on farm equity operators to increase the long-term productivity of these farms through prudent capital development if required. It maximizes production, cash flow and expected payout and its resulting in increased capital value.

The Waibury group owns and operates a number of dairy farming and grazing-support share farming locations throughout NZ and predominantly in the North Canterbury region.

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Is Opting for Mushrooms Farming a Good Idea?

Mushroom farming is a heady business, and if you are thinking about farming mushrooms, then you really have to put your heart in it if you wish to get any results out of it. Proper dedication and devotion is required for people who wish to farm mushrooms, mainly because of the different processes that are involved in farming mushrooms. Mushroom farming is a pretty good idea if you are interested in it, and a lot of money can be generated from it if you know how to grow good quality mushrooms.

However, as mentioned, it is important that you actually stick to the task, because unlike other crops that you can easily grow at home, mushroom farming is different and requires appropriate care throughout the growth and cultivation process of the mushrooms. If you have decided to start a mushroom farm, the first step that you need to take is to find a space for land and then choose the type of mushrooms that you will grow. Different kinds of mushrooms require different growing conditions, plus the weather also has a major impact, so you will have to make a list of the type of mushrooms that you will grow.

One of the ways that many farmers adopt is to set up a mushroom tunnel. This tunnel provides a completely controlled environment for the mushrooms to grow properly. However, a lot of investment is required to set up a mushroom tunnel because i) you need a large amount of land and ii) the installation of a tunnel requires a large amount of money. Climate control systems and water sprinklers can also installed if you are opting for large scale farming. If you can carry it out properly, mushroom farming can easily turn out to be a highly interesting and a profitable profession for many people.

Before you venture in to this profession, it would be wise to talk to various other mushroom farmers in order to get a better idea. It is always wise to get knowledge about this type of farming, and conversation with other farmers will also help you get crucial tips that will be profitable for you later on when you start your own farm. Take a training course and read a few guides in order to understand what you need to do at the beginning, so that you have no confusions in your head when you begin.

Feel free to visit our site for more information on mushrooms farming.

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Precision Agriculture With GIS - A New Approach To Farming

Precision farming offers farmers a new set of tools to help them visualize and manage their land, and to better understand their soil conditions. Precision farming uses GIS, which stands for Geographical Information Systems, to divide a field into small portions in order to look at the field in greater detail. Think of it as a magnifying glass for a field that allows you to fine tune farming practices which results in better crop yields and reduced waste and spending.

This information can be used to reduce fertilizer waste by providing precise information on what kind of nutrients are already in the soil, and what the ph of the soil area is.

This is accomplished by dividing the farm into small units, then analyzing the soil. If the soil is too alkaline or acidic in one area, it can lock the nutrients preventing the crops from absorbing them. With precision farming these areas can be treated to give the entire field a uniform ph level allowing for better crop management.

Farmers can also see what kind of nutrients are in the soil so that they don't waste money buying fertilizers that might already be in the soil. One area of a field may have a lot of nutrients, while another area may have very little. Precision farming will let you apply more precise amounts of fertilizer to your field reducing waste and increasing crop yields.

Water management is another area that farmers can benefit from because precision farming can show the areas where the water is draining to fast or slow. If the water flows to fast, it can take nutrients with it, if it flows to slow it could drown the roots reducing crop yield.

Here is a list of GIS map layers that can be used to help farmers determine their fields needs.

SOILMAPS: This is one of the most important maps available to a farmer for obvious reasons. This map shows you what kind of soil the field consists of, what the ph is, what nutrients are in the soil, and how well the soil drains.

DEMS: Short for Digital Elevation Models, this map is useful in showing where water flows, and how well it flows. This information can reveal areas that fertilizer and pesticide build up can be a problem. It can also show the farmer the areas that might be draining to fast removing needed fertilizers.

HYDROGRAPHY: This type of map deals with water issues. By revealing the flow and drain patterns of water, the farmer can better determine irrigation issues that might not be readily known by just looking at the field with the naked eye. This allows for more precise control of water resources resulting in reduced water usage.

Even though precision farming is still a fairly new field of research, it has a lot of exciting possibilities that the agriculture industry can greatly benefit from. A lot of farmers have already started using this technology and are experiencing positive results from the information GIS provides.

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Structured Water Used in Farming, Ranching and for Mankind

For a very long time, people have believed that consuming water is good for your health. And for a long time, people seem to strive to obtain the best quality they can afford in things they buy. Why should this be any different when it comes to water.

Water is a necessity to all forms of life, including human life. The body is made up of blood, flesh and bone. Some people believe that water is not just a beverage to drink, but instead, think it is actually a liquid form of life itself. Good, clean water is essential to healing and maintaining your blood, flesh and bone.

It is said that the perfect water for hydration is considered to be 'structured water'. This is not the processed water from your faucet and is said to contain a life-force and a higher level of energy. Its ph (potential hydrogen) balanced to about 7.5. This is close to what the body requires and it is clear and clean. Is has a larger caloric capacity, which may allow it to work, protect enhance and influence or energize the body. Structured water is a complicated area of study. Some say it increases solubility of blood, delivers higher amounts of oxygen and increases blood flow. It is said it may effect the biological process through Bio Photon Energy which may influence cell regeneration and growth.

We depend on water as part of having a healthy lifestyle. Life and health can be greatly improved just by drinking water. Water found in nature is usually alkaline. Water from the ground is often acidic. In further contrast, it is believed that structured water feels wetter, tastes better and is perfect for your body. It carries with it what is needed for life. Vitamins and minerals good for life is delivered to cells through structured water. It is believed that structured water molecules, as they passes through your body, will collect detrimental items they comes to, which the water will help to expel from your body.

Structured water is is a special kind of water that is found naturally in nature. For example, it can be found in clean mountain streams and in rain. Rain water may be the best natural source of this kind of water. It is good for humans. It is good for crops we eat. And it is good for animals - including those we raise for food consumption. Some say this water adds value and is used in the treatment of illness. And that it has had a major influence on life and shape of cells and contains benefits to biological events in the body.

Highly structured water is may improve life and health. Health benefits in plants, animals and humans are being claimed. For instance, some say it may provide a healthier life and a longer life for certain crops. Increasing freshness and agricultural crops longevity and useful life after harvest, and beauty and may have huge benefits for producers, shippers, suppliers, and for the buyer of harvested crops. Some cattle ranchers are saying they are seeing compound structured water's influence on cattle and livestock. Ranchers and feeders are seeing better feed conversions, weight gain increases, and increased milk production in dairy cattle. Highly structured water in animals and crops is enhancing liquid nutrients. Producers using structured water say bottom line they are seeing more pest resistant crops, higher nutrients, higher yields, great quality in crops and livestocks, lower costs and higher profits.

Highly structured water may offer great opportunities for farming crops, ranching and to man kind. The reader should investigate claims people in this industry are making, do their own investigation, and decide if claims some people are making are legitimate and if it will also bring them these desired benefits.

John Knipe is:

President of Knipe Land Company, Inc. http://knipeland.com/

Accredited Land Consultant with the Realtors® Land Institute

Past President of the Idaho Chapter of the National Association of Realtors® - Realtors® Land Institute

Past Regional Vice President of National Association of Realtors® - Realtors® Land Institute

Director at the World Organization Land Federation http://www.worldorganizationlandfederation.biz/

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Pig Farming in Kenya

Pig farming in Kenya is one of the most lucrative business ventures. Those who have engaged themselves in this activity have reaped good profits. Pigs can be raised as a small venture to provide food and nutrition to the family, or it can be expanded to become a commercial venture for profit-making purposes. Raising pigs is relatively simple as compared to other forms of livestock farming.

Feeds

You can feed pigs almost anything. Most people just let their pigs roam around in urban areas scavenging for leftovers. However this is against the law and it is not the most effective way to keep pigs. You can feed pigs with leftovers from the household kitchen, restaurants and hotels. You can also get commercial feeds to help in faster growth and maturation.

Market

There is no shortage of market for pigs in Kenya. The best time to sell the pigs is during the peak tourist season because the demand is very high. There are also many local meat shops especially around Nairobi that purchase pigs for slaughter. Farmers Choice, the biggest player in the market with a market share of 70% can enter into a deal with you to supply them with pigs for slaughter provided your pigs attain the required quality.

Profit

you can buy Young piglets at Ksh. 3,000 and they take up to six months to mature after which you can sell them at prices ranging from Ksh. 25,000 to Ksh. 40,000. As you can see it is quite profitable. The amount of inputs required is low and manageable. Pig farming is a good business enterprise if you want to recoup your investments in a short period.

Products

Some of the products that come from pig farming include pork, ham, bacon, sausages, pies, rolls, cuts, tallow & lard. Pig manure is also used as fertilizer. With such a diversified product range, finding a market for pigs is not difficult.

Potential challenges

Some of the challenges that might face a new pig farmer is getting the right commercial feeds. You can do some research on this field from the Farmers Choice exhibition farm, the internet and from other farmers. For others, the main challenge is religious and cultural hindrances. Some religions and culture prohibit consumption of pork and other pig products on the ground that pigs are unclean animals. However pigs are not as dirty as people think they are. If they are properly farmed, pigs can be as clean as any other livestock.

For further information on Pig Farming in Kenya as well as other workable business ideas, please visit Business Ideas in Kenya Website.

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Farming and Best Practices in Australia

Australia is second to Antarctica in terms of scarcity of water. Despite this condition, farming has always held a significant position in the economy and culture of Australia. Many Australians are directly or indirectly involved in farming.

Since the 1800s, the dry climate and infertile soil of Australia presented serious difficulties to farmers who settled in the country. Water availability and drought management were, and still are, key challenges for farmers throughout most of Australia.

Up to now, agriculture is an important sector for the Australian economy, generating up to $43 billion in gross value each year. The industry employs around 370,000 people across Australia. Although agriculture is not as extensive as at its peak in the mid 1970s, farms still take up around sixty per cent of all the land in the country. One state in Australia which regards farming as the most important industry in its history since settlement took place in the state is the island of Tasmania. But in order to sustain the industry given the existing water conditions in places like Tasmania, improved water use through efficient irrigation systems often play a key-role in helping farmers cope with the water scarcity stress.

With advances in technology, farming practices have been elevated to a different level. Although a traditional enterprise, the industry has evolved to cope with changing times. Part of this evolution is the employment of highly modern and improved irrigation systems and irrigation equipment to contribute to sustainable farming in the country. Irrigation is a very important factor in making farming viable in states like Tasmania, Queensland, Victoria and South Australia.

Australian farmers nowadays look for high quality and heavy duty pumps sets, hard hoses, irrigators, pivots, travelling irrigators and other irrigation equipment that will meet industry standards. Meeting industry standards are becoming increasingly important in order to address the challenges of increased productivity, resource management and environmental issues in our ever changing world. Industry standards connote performance standards for equipment while technical codes for practice involve methods such as engineering, installation, design and operation being done in a prescribed way.

A highly accepted irrigation method that has met industry standards in all farming communities in Australia and the rest of the world is the centre pivot and lateral move irrigation systems. Center pivot and lateral move irrigation systems are composed of self-propelled structures equipped with sprinkler irrigation and control elements which make it possible to irrigate large surfaces with low installation and maintenance costs. Agricultural communities like Tasmania, South Australia and other farming areas are prevalently using these systems. Likewise, combined technologies in Agriculture employing irrigation systems with pivot and with lateral move are also widely used.

The adoption of new technologies remains vital for farmers not just in Australia but all over the world to continue to operate sustainably and profitably. The advocacy of advancing sustainable farming practices will likewise benefit not just the agricultural industry but everyone in general to enhance the quality of food and promote eco-friendly usage of air, water and soil.

Van Diemen's Land Irrigation Pty. Ltd.
Address: 228 Charles Street
Launceston TAS 7250
Australia
Phone: 0363345600
Mobile nos.: 0408131692 (Sales Manager)
Fax no.: 0363345880
Email: info@vdlirrigation.com.au
Website: http://www.vdlirrigation.com.au/

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