The mass release of irradiated insects to reduce the size of agricultural pest populations of the same species has a more than 50-year record of success. Using these techniques, insect pests can be suppressed without necessarily dispersing chemical insecticides into the environment. Ongoing release programs include the suppression of medfly at numerous locations around the globe (e.g., Californ...

Introduction Throughout the world, the business of dairy farming is rapidly evolving. Consumption of dairy products remains strong but fewer farms are producing more milk using less labor and more purchased services. In the United States, the number of dairy farms dropped from 192,700 in 1990 to 92,000 in 2002 (Wisconsin Agricultural Statistics, 2003). The productivity of these larger farms has...

Thirty-two dairy cattle farms with fasciolosis as an established herd problem were visited and divided into groups according to the location of the habitats of the intermediate host of Fasciola hepatica. The farms were revisited 4-5 years later and those that had followed the recommended measures were compared to those that had not. Egg shedding and seroprevalence was significantly reduced in c...

Intestinal coccidiosis, caused by Eimeria species, is an economically-important disease of poultry production industry worldwide. This study was designed to investigate the prevalence of different Eimeria species in the farmed broilers of Khoy city, West Azarbaijan, North West Iran. A total of 26 broiler farms of different production capacities were arbitrarily selected and examined in 2013. In...

The aim of this study was to assess the effect of grazing (G) vs. zero-grazing (ZG), level of milk production, and quality and type of housing system [free stalls (FS) and straw yards (SY)] on the prevalence of lameness and leg injuries in dairy cows. Observations were made on 37 commercial dairy farms across Great Britain. A single visit of 5 d duration was made to each farm. During this visit...

OBJECTIVES To compare the prevalence of antibodies against Marek's disease herpes virus (MDV) and against avian leukosis viruses type C (ALV) in groups of workers exposed to poultry and in unexposed groups. METHODS Antibodies directed against avian viral proteins were detected by enzyme linked immunosorbent assay in 549 subjects. Exposure to chickens was high in two subgroups: farmers on inte...

To reduce the environmental burden of agriculture, suitable methods to comprehend and assess the impact on natural resources are needed. One of the methods considered is the life cycle assessment (LCA) method, which was used to assess the environmental impacts of 18 grassland farms in three different farming intensities — intensive, extensified, and organic — in the Allgäu region in southern Ge...

We conducted a spatial analysis of low pathogenic H5N2 avian influenza (AI) outbreaks, that affected 41 chicken farms in Japan in 2005. A statistically significant (p=0.001) cluster of AI-positive farms was identified in the central part of Ibaraki Prefecture. Inside the AI cluster, the density was high for both chicken farms and chicken population, the proportion of layer finisher type farms w...

Recent advancements in photovoltaic (PV) system technologies have decreased their investment cost and enabled the construction of large PV farms for bulk power generations. The output power of PV farms is aaected by both failure of composed components and solar radiation variability. These two factors cause the output power of PV farms be random and diierent from that of conventional units. The...

Recent declines in managed honey bee, Apis mellifera L., colonies have increased interest in the current and potential contribution of wild bee populations to the pollination of agricultural crops. Because wild bees often live in agricultural fields, their population density and contribution to crop pollination may be influenced by farming practices, especially those used to reduce the populati...