We aimed at quantifying the extent to which agricultural management practices linked to animal production and land use affect environmental outcomes at a larger scale. Two practices closely linked to farm environmental performance at a larger scale are farming intensity, often resulting in greater off-farm environmental impacts (land, non-renewable energy use etc.) associated with the productio...

On-farm processing of value-added dairy products can be a way for small dairy farms to diversify production and increase revenue. This article examines characteristics of three groups of Vermont farmers who have grass-based dairy farms—those producing value-added dairy products, those interested in such products, and those not interested in such products—and their needs for information and assi...

Introduction Maintaining consumers trust is essential to ensure the future of the dairy industry. Production of high quality milk from healthy, well cared for animals is the goal of most dairy farmers. However, as fewer and fewer consumers are familiar with dairy farming, they have become more skeptical about the ability of farmers to properly care for farm animals. Public attention about the w...

Dairy cattle reared in western Kenya are exposed to medium to high levels of trypanosomosis risk. The social background, farm characteristics and dairy cattle productivity of 90 and 30 randomly selected farmers from medium- and high-risk trypanosomosis areas, respectively, were compared. All the 120 farmers were visited between July and August 2002. Data analysis was performed using descriptive...

has been a hotly debated issue in the US. The initial issue was the effect of drugs, chiefly antibiotics, on cheese manufacturing processes. Reports in the press highlighting contamination of milk and other dairy products with antibiotics and other animal drugs quickly raised the issue of food safety and resulted in the intervention of governmental agencies regulating the use of animal medicati...

Dairy farming has the potential to pollute waterways through the loss of nitrogen (N), Phosphorus (P) and Faecal Indicator Organisms (FIO). Two on-farm management actions that can reduce losses of N, P and FIOs are the use of wintering feedpads, and the application of nitrification inhibitors. In this paper we outline the results of research undertaken to explore the adoption of these amongst d...

#10 Seasonal breeding and calving is often used. Seasonal breeding and calving are not required to have a successful pasture-based dairy farm but cows bred to calve in one or possibly two compact seasons can simplify animal management. Use of two calving seasons allows more consistent year-round production of milk if that is of concern for cash flow or is a requirement for marketing milk. Poten...

The effects of unsteady electricity supply (power cuts) to an automatic milking system (AMS) on cattle behaviour caused by load management, are crucial for the success of the future farming technologies summarized by ―Integrated Dairy Farming –Stable 4.0‖. The influence of simulated power cuts on adrenocortical activity was assessed by a non-invasive stress monitoring method determining faecal ...

Agricultural policy faces conflicting social goals. On one hand, efficient large-scale agriculture provides an adequate, low cost food supply, but many Americans continue to idealize the smaller family farm, believing that it promotes a democratic society with strong values. The changing structure of agriculture from many small farms to fewer but larger farms is a concern often expressed. Many ...

Temporal changes in the distribution of Salmonella subtypes in livestock populations may have important impacts on human health. The first objective of this research was to determine the within-farm changes in the population of subtypes of Salmonella on Michigan dairy farms that were sampled longitudinally in 2000-2001 and again in 2009. The second objective was to determine the yearly frequenc...