RB31-258 The Contribution fo Nebraska Farm Women to Family Income Through Poultry and Dairy Products

This investigation was made in 1929-1930 for the purpose of studying the activities of Nebraska farm women in the raising of poultry and in the care of dairy products, to discover whether or not such activities resulted in a contribution to the family income. With this in view, a group of women were asked to keep records for one year (from April 1, 1929 to March 31, 1930) of the value and amount of dairy and poultry products sold or used, of all expense incurred in production, and of the time spent both by the homemaker herself and by all other members of the household, in the production and sale of dairy and poultry products. When this study was outlined it was intended to cover only actual cash addition to the family income. This, however, did not prove to be feasible, as a considerable portion of the contribution to the family income was in the form of dairy and poultry products used at home.

RB30-245 Water Supply and Sewage Disposal Systems for Farm Homes

When the well "goes dry" or when the windmill or pump breaks down, every one in the household immediately appreciates the value fo plenty of water. In other words, "You never miss the water until the well runs dry." Fortunately, in most sections of this state, plenty of pure water may be obtained by sinking wells of moderate depth, yet surprisingly few farm homes are supplied with running water in the kitchen even though the barn yards are equipped with hydrants and tanks. It is the purpose of this bulletin to present a number of water supply and sewage disposal systems which have been used in Nebraska and surrounding states and which add greatly to the comfort and convenience of the farm home.

2006 Michigan Dairy Farm Business Analysis Summary

This report summarizes the financial and production records of 139 dairy farms from throughout Michigan in 2006. To be included, the farms must have produced at least 50 percent of gross cash farm income from milk and dairy animal sales. The records came from Michigan State University’s TelFarm project and the Farm Credit Service system in Michigan. The values were pooled into averages for reporting purposes. The farms are larger than would be the average of all dairy farms in Michigan. While considerable variation in the data exists, average values are reported in the summary tables and discussion that follows.

Book Review of Raising Less Corn, More Hell: The Case for the Independent Farm and Against Industrial Food by George Pyle

Raising Less Corn, More Hell may sound like a rallying cry for the nation's heartland farmers, but this well-written series of essays by George Pyle is meant for those who eat corn. Or rather, for those of us who eat the livestock fed on corn in confined animal feeding operations, then wash down those meals with drinks high in high-fructose corn syrups. Pyle, an editorial writer from Kansas now living in Utah, brings his journalist's skills to bear on what our industrial food system has brought us. It's not appetizing as he makes his case against a corporate-controlled system that doesn't have to be this way.

Epizootiologic Survey of Mycobacterium Bovis in Wildlife and Farm Environments in Northern Michigan

Bovine tuberculosis (bovine TB), caused by Mycobacterium bovis, has reemerged in northern Michigan, USA, with detections in white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) in 1994 and in cattle in 1998. Since then, significant efforts have been directed toward reducing deer densities in the area in the hopes of reducing the bovine TB prevalence rate in deer and eliminating spillover of the disease into cattle. Despite the success of the efforts to reduce deer densities, additional cattle herds have become infected. Other mammals can be infected with M. bovis, and some carnivores and omnivores had been found to be infected with the disease in northern Michigan, USA. We conducted a multiyear surveillance effort to detect bovine TB in wild species of mammals in the Michigan, USA, outbreak area. From 2002 to 2004, tissue samples from 1,031 individual animals of 32 species were collected, processed, and cultured for M. bovis. Only 10 (1.0%) were culture-positive for M. bovis (five raccoons [Procyon lotor], four opossums [Didelphis virginiana], and one grey fox [Urocyon cinereoargenteus]). We also found two raccoons and four opossums to be positive for Mycobacterium avium. We collected 503 environmental samples from cattle farms recently identified as bovine TB positive; none yielded positive M. bovis culture results. Finally, we used infrared cameras to document wildlife use of four barns in the area. Many avian and mammalian species of wildlife were observed, with raccoons being the most commonly observed species. This surveillance study identified no new wildlife species that should be considered significant reservoirs of bovine TB in the outbreak area in northern Michigan, USA. However, the relatively high, apparent bovine TB prevalence rates in some carnivorous and omnivorous species, their relatively long life spans, and their frequent use of barns, suggests that removal of raccoons, opossums, foxes, and coyotes (Canis latrans) should be considered when a newly infected farm is depopulated of cattle.

Farm Bureau Legislative Conference

Thank you for asking me to be here with you today. It's always a pleasure. I'm really pleased to talk about my requested topic, which deals with my vision for IANR. Believe me, my vision for the future of Nebraska agriculture and my vision for the future of the Institute of Agriculture and Natural Resources are intertwined, and very bright! That doesn't make me an oracle, of course, but it does make me enthusiastic about my topic!

RP97-75 Fixed and Flexible Cash Rental Arrangements for Your Farm

The kind of rental arrangements for cropland vary widely in each locality and from one geographic area to another. What is desirable for one particular landlord/tenant relationship is not acceptable for others. The purpose of this publication is to help tenants and landlords develop fair cash-rent arrangements and assist them in making sound decisions based on a fair evaluation of resources. The first section addresses whether a fixed cash-rent lease arrangement should be used. Part II discusses how to develop a fair fixed cash rental rate, while Part III provides information on setting rent for other cropland, pasture, and buildings. Part IV outlines the advantages and disadvantages of flexible cash-leasing arrangements. Part V discusses the importance of developing a written lease agreement. A sample lease form also is included.

RP96-11 The Farm Corporation: What It Is, How It Works, How It Is Taxed

A corporation is an artificial person that is created and operated according to state corporation statutes. It is a separate taxpayer subject to specific and detailed federal, state, and local tax laws. The advice and service of your lawyer are indispensable in organizing and operating a farm corporation. There are three basic forms of farm business organization, the sole proprietorship, the partnership, and the corporation. Variations of these forms have resulted in the limited partnership and the "tax option" corporation. These three basic forms are discussed in this research publication.

Determining Farm Custom Rates

As I write this, there is still snow in some ditches and fence rows, and many fields look like they are just about right for rice planting rather than corn or soybeans. Nonetheless, spring fever has hit and the field work will soon be going at full throttle. This raises a frequently asked question: “What are custom rates this year?” The Nebraska Custom Rate Survey is conducted every two years, and we are in the process of analyzing the data from our 2010 survey. We will publish those numbers as soon as possible. At this point we are working on the data for Part I, Spring and Summer Activities, and surveys are still coming in for Part II on Fall and Miscellaneous Operations. We thank all responders who helped out by completing surveys and sending us their information. We conduct a relatively extensive survey across the state, and as a result, it takes considerable time to get the data entered and analyzed by region.

RP97-43 Tax Planning When Buying or Selling a Farm

If you're like most farmers, one of your key goals is to maximize after-tax earnings. The more money left over after you've paid your farm bills land your taxes, the more you and your family will have to spend. You can increase thos enet earnings in sveral ways: by increasing production, by decreasing cost of supplies oer by finding a way to get more for your produce. But there's another way to increase your after-tax earnings. One that many farmers oculd afford to spen dmore time on: decreasing taxes. The key to avoiding unnecessary taxes is tax planning. This publication will help you do just that: plan for the future.

AN OVERVIEW OF DEPREDATING BIRD DAMAGE CONTROL IN CALIFORNIA

To many people, California is synonomous with Disneyland, freeways, Los Angeles smog, Yosemite, the California missions, or for you bird aficionados, the California Condor. But do you think about California when you eat strawberry shortcake? You should -- California leads the nation in strawberry production. How about artichokes? California produces over 98% of the artichokes raised in the United States. Dates? California produces over 99% of the dates in the United States. Yes, California is all of these, and it is much more. California may well be the most diverse state in the United States. Within its 100.2 million acres, California has the lowest place in the U.S. in Death Valley and one of the highest mountains with Mt. Whitney. Because California is such a diverse state and has a wide variety of micro- climates, it supports a uniquely diverse agriculture. Agriculture uses only about 36 million acres of its total 100.2 million acres, and most of the cash return from crops is produced on 8,6 million acres that are irrigated. California produces about 250 crops and livestock commodities (excluding nursery crops) and provides the U.S. with about 25% of its table foods. California leads the nation in the production of 46 commercial crops and livestock commodities; its farmers and ranchers marketed $8.6 billion of crop and livestock products in 1975, and the state’s harvested farm production in 1975 set a new record at 51.1 million tons. HISTORY OF BIRD PROBLEMS Records such as this are not achieved without some risk. Crops growing in Cali- fornia have always had competition from many types of vertebrate pests. The wide variety of crops grown in California and the varied climates and situations in which they are grown has resulted in many different species of birds damaging crops. Birds have compet- ed with man for his crops since the dawn of agriculture. McAtee (1932) cited examples of bird damage that occurred in a wide variety of crops in California during the early 1900s. During the 1920s, many requests for Information and relief from damage caused by a wide variety of birds, culminated in the assignment, in May 1929, of two biologists, S. E. Piper and Johnson Neff, of the former U.S. Bio- logical Survey, to initiate field studies in California. In cooperation with the Cali- fornia Department of Food and Agriculture and County Agricultural Commissioners, the study was to determine the problems and devise control procedures relative to bird depredations. Piper and Neff found such damage as Horned Larks pulling sprouting crops, House Finches disbudding deciduous fruit trees and devouring mature fruit. Blackbirds were a problem in the rice crop. Early controls were varied and, for the most part, lacked effectiveness. Flagging of fields was common to deter Horned Larks. Windmill devices were tried to frighten birds. Shooting to kill birds was common; scarecrows were.used. The six-year study brought forth the basis of most of the depredating bird control techniques still in use in California. At the end of the study, these two biologists compiled a book called “Procedure and Methods in Controlling Birds Injurious to Crops in California.” This was and still is the “Bible” for bird damage control techniques used in California. The thorough investigations conducted by these biologists resulted in techniques that have remained valid in California for over 40 years.

Soil profile, relief features and their relation to structure and distribution of Brazilian Atlantic rain forest trees

In tropical forests, the environmental heterogeneity can provide niche partitioning at local scales and determine the diversity and plant species distribution. Thus, this study aimed to investigate the variations of tree species structure and distribution in response to relief and soil profile features in a portion of the largest remnant of Brazilian Atlantic rain forest. All trees >= 5 cm diameter at breast height were recorded in two 0.99 ha plots. Topographic survey and a soil characterization were accomplished in both plots. Topsoil samples (0-20 cm) were taken from 88 quadrats and analyzed for chemical and particle size properties. Differences for both diversity and tree density were identified among three kinds of soils. A canonical correspondence analysis (CCA) indicated that the specific abundance varied among the three kinds of soils mapped: a shallow Udept - Orthent / Aquent gradient, probably due to differences in soil drainage. Nutrient content was less likely to affect tree species composition and distribution than relief, pH, Al3+, and soil texture. Some species were randomly distributed and did not show restriction to relief and soil properties. However, preferences in niche occupation detected in this study, derived from the catenary environments found, rise up as an important explanation for the high tree species diversity in tropical forests.

Breast Milk and Glucose for Pain Relief in Preterm Infants: A Noninferiority Randomized Controlled Trial

OBJECTIVE: The study goal was to compare the efficacy of expressed breast milk (EBM) versus 25% glucose on pain responses of late preterm infants during heel lancing. METHODS: In a noninferiority randomized controlled trial, a total of 113 newborns were randomized to receive EBM (experimental group [EG]) or 25% glucose (control group [CG]) before undergoing heel lancing. The primary outcome was pain intensity (Premature Infant Pain Profile [PIPP]) and a 10% noninferiority margin was established. Secondary outcomes were incidence of cry and percentage of time spent crying and adverse events. Intention-to-treat (ITT) analysis was used. RESULTS: Groups were similar regarding demographics and clinical characteristics, except for birth weight and weight at data collection day. There were lower pain scores in the CG over 3 minutes after lancing (P<.001). A higher number of infants in the CG had PIPP scores indicative of minimal pain or absence of pain (P = .002 and P = .003 on ITT analysis) at 30 seconds after lancing, and the mean difference in PIPP scores was 3 (95% confidence interval: 1.507-4.483). Lower incidence of cry (P = .001) and shorter duration of crying (P = .014) were observed for CG. Adverse events were benign and self-limited, and there was no significant difference between groups (P = .736 and P = .637 on ITT analysis). CONCLUSIONS: Results based on PIPP scores and crying time indicate poorer effects of EBM compared with 25% glucose during heel lancing. Additional studies exploring the vol and administration of EBM and its combination with other strategies such as skin-to-skin contact and sucking are necessary. Pediatrics 2012;129:664-670

Contribution to economic evaluation of systems that value animal welfare at farm

The demand for "welfare friendly" products increases as public conscience and perception on livestock production systems grow. The public and policy-makers demand scientific information for education and to guide decision processes. This paper describes some of the last decade contributions made by scientists on the technical, economical and market areas of farm animal welfare. Articles on animal welfare were compiled on the following themes: 1) consumer behavior, 2) technical and economical viability, 3) public regulation, and 4) private certification policies. Most studies on the economic evaluation of systems that promote animal welfare involved species destined to produce export items, such as eggs, beef and pork. Few studies were found on broilers, dairy cows and fish, and data regarding other species, such as horses, sheep and goats were not found. Scientists understand that farm animal welfare is not only a matter of ethics, but also an essential tool to gain and maintain markets. However, it is unfortunate that little attention is paid to species that are not economically important for exports. Studies that emphasize on more humane ways to raise animals and that provide economic incentives to the producer are needed. An integrated multidisciplinary approach is necessary to highlight the benefits of introducing animal welfare techniques to existing production systems.

High-frequency TENS in post-episiotomy pain relief in primiparous puerpere: A randomized, controlled trial

Aim: We evaluated the effectiveness of high-frequency transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (TENS) as a pain relief resource for primiparous puerpere who had experienced natural childbirth with an episiotomy. Methods: A controlled, randomized clinical study was conducted in a Brazilian maternity ward. Forty puerpere were randomly divided into two groups: TENS high frequency and a no treatment control group. Post-episiotomy pain was assessed in the resting and sitting positions and during ambulation. An 11-point numeric rating scale was performed in three separate evaluations (at the beginning of the study, after 60 min and after 120 min). The McGill pain questionnaire was employed at the beginning and 60 min later. TENS with 100 Hz frequency and 75 mu s pulse for 60 min was employed without causing any pain. Four electrodes ware placed in parallel near the episiotomy site, in the area of the pudendal and genitofemoral nerves. Results: An 11-point numeric rating scale and McGill pain questionnaire showed a significant statistical difference in pain reduction in the TENS group, while the control group showed no alteration in the level of discomfort. Hence, high-frequency TENS treatment significantly reduced pain intensity immediately after its use and 60 min later. Conclusion: TENS is a safe and viable non-pharmacological analgesic resource to be employed for pain relief post-episiotomy. The routine use of TENS post-episiotomy is recommended.