The young farmer's manual: detailing the manipulations of the farm in a plain and intelligent manner. With practical directions for laying out a farm and erecting buildings, fences, and farm gates. Embracing also the young farmer's workshop: giving full directions for the selection of good farm and shop tools, their use and manufacture, with numerous original illustrations of fences, gates, tools, etc., and for performing nearly every branch of farming operations.

Vol. 2 has title: The young farmer's manual; or, How to make farming pay, giving plain and practical details of general farm management; with a chapter on soils, and their cultivation, and much other valuable matter of a practical character.

Toward farm security /

Cover title.

War and farm work /

"May 1942."

Planning that pays : achievements of farm families who are teaming up with the Farmers Home Administration.

Mode of access: Internet.

Managing the tenant-operated farm

Mode of access: Internet.

Farm practices to manage the impact of severe tropical cyclone damage on banana production – a case study from tropical Australia

Most Australian banana production occurs on the north-eastern tropical coast between latitudes 15-18°S, and can experience summer cyclone activity. Damage from severe tropical cyclones has serious impact on banana-based livelihoods. The most significant impacts include immediate loss of production and income for several months, the region-wide synchronization of cropping and the expense of rehabilitating affected plantations. Severe tropical cyclones have directly affected the main production region twice in recent years Tropical Cyclone (TC) Larry (Category 4) in March 2006 and TC Yasi (Category 5) in February 2011. Based on TC Larry experiences, pre- and post-cyclone farm practices were developed to reduce these impacts in future cyclonic events. The main pre-cyclone farm practice focused on maintaining production units and an earlier return to fruit production by partially or completely removing the plant canopy to reduce wind resistance. Post-cyclone farm practices focused on managing the industry-wide crop synchronization using crop timing techniques to achieve a staggered return to cropping by scheduling production to provide continuous fruit supply. With TC Yasi in 2011, some banana producers implemented these practices, allowing them to examine their effectiveness in reducing cyclonic impacts. Additional research and development activities were conducted to refine our understanding of their effectiveness and improve their application for future cyclonic events. Based on these activities and farm-based observations, suggested practice-based management strategies can be developed to help reduce the impact of severe tropical cyclones in the future. Canopy removal maintained banana plants as productive units, and provided earlier but smaller bunches, generating earlier-than-expected income. Queensland producers expressed willingness to adopt canopy removal for future cyclone threats where appropriate, despite its labor-intensiveness. Mechanization would allow larger scale adoption. Implementing a staggered cropping program successfully achieved a consistent, continuous fruit supply after a cyclone impact. Both techniques should be applicable to other cyclone-prone regions.

Rangeland profitability in the northern Gulf region of Queensland: understanding beef business complexity and the subsequent impact on land resource management and environmental outcomes

The farm-gate value of extensive beef production from the northern Gulf region of Queensland, Australia, is ~$150 million annually. Poor profitability and declining equity are common issues for most beef businesses in the region. The beef industry relies primarily on native pasture systems and studies continue to report a decline in the condition and productivity of important land types in the region. Governments and Natural Resource Management groups are investing significant resources to restore landscape health and productivity. Fundamental community expectations also include broader environmental outcomes such as reducing beef industry greenhouse gas emissions. Whole-of-business analysis results are presented from 18 extensive beef businesses (producers) to highlight the complex social and economic drivers of management decisions that impact on the natural resource and environment. Business analysis activities also focussed on improving enterprise performance. Profitability, herd performance and greenhouse emission benchmarks are documented and discussed.

Management interventions in dairy herds: exploring within herd uncertainty using an integrated Bayesian model

Knowledge of the efficacy of an intervention for disease control on an individual farm is essential to make good decisions on preventive healthcare, but the uncertainty in outcome associated with undertaking a specific control strategy has rarely been considered in veterinary medicine. The purpose of this research was to explore the uncertainty in change in disease incidence and financial benefit that could occur on different farms, when two effective farm management interventions are undertaken. Bovine mastitis was used as an example disease and the research was conducted using data from an intervention study as prior information within an integrated Bayesian simulation model. Predictions were made of the reduction in clinical mastitis within 30 days of calving on 52 farms, attributable to the application of two herd interventions previously reported as effective; rotation of dry cow pasture and differential dry cow therapy. Results indicated that there were important degrees of uncertainty in the predicted reduction in clinical mastitis for individual farms when either intervention was undertaken; the magnitude of the 95% credible intervals for reduced clinical mastitis incidence were substantial and of clinical relevance. The large uncertainty associated with the predicted reduction in clinical mastitis attributable to the interventions resulted in important variability in possible financial outcomes for each farm. The uncertainty in outcome associated with farm control measures illustrates the difficulty facing a veterinary clinician when making an on-farm decision and highlights the importance of iterative herd health procedures (continual evaluation, reassessment and adjusted interventions) to optimise health in an individual herd.

Dormancy release in Lolium rigidum seeds is a function of thermal after-ripening time and seed water content

Dormancy release in seeds of Lolium rigidum Gaud. (annual ryegrass) was investigated in relation to temperature and seed water content. Freshly matured seeds were collected from cropping fields at Wongan Hills and Merredin, Western Australia. Seeds from Wongan Hills were equilibrated to water contents between 6 and 18% dry weight and after-ripened at constant temperatures between 9 and 50degreesC for up to 23 weeks. Wongan Hills and Merredin seeds at water contents between 7 and 17% were also after-ripened in full sun or shade conditions. Dormancy was tested at regular intervals during after-ripening by germinating seeds on agar at 12-h alternating 15degreesC (dark) and 25degreesC (light) periods. Rate of dormancy release for Wongan Hills seeds was a positive linear function of after-ripening temperature above a base temperature (T-b) of 5.4degreesC. A thermal after-ripening time model for dormancy loss accounting for seed moisture in the range 6-18% was developed using germination data for Wongan Hills seeds after-ripened at constant temperatures. The model accurately predicted dormancy release for Wongan Hills seeds after-ripened under naturally fluctuating temperatures. Seeds from Merredin responded similarly but had lower dormancy at collection and a faster rate of dormancy release in seeds below 9% water content.

Stimulating dormancy release and emergence of annual ryegrass (Lolium rigidum) seeds using short-term hydrated storage in darkness

Experiments were performed to determine whether the dormancy release effect of hydrated storage in darkness (dark-stratification) is common amongst annual ryegrass populations and has the potential to occur under field conditions. Dormant seeds from all populations tested (22) became sensitive to light during dark-stratification, enabling them to germinate when subsequently exposed to light. Under controlled temperature (25/15degreesC), light (12-h photoperiod), and hydration (solidified agar-water) conditions, more seeds germinated by 28 days if the first 14 days were in darkness followed by exposure to light for 12 h per day than if they were exposed to light throughout or darkness throughout. Constraint over the conditions imposed during dark-stratification and germination was gradually reduced to investigate whether the dormancy release effect was diminished. Dark-stratification was effective in promoting germination when performed under natural diurnal temperatures, and burial in moist soil provided suitable conditions for dark-stratification to occur. The surface of moist soil, with natural diurnal temperatures and sunlight, was suitable for germination of dark-stratified seeds. Dark-stratification is a quick and effective means to enhance the sensitivity of dormant annual ryegrass seeds to light, enabling the majority of the population to germinate. However, large quantities of light are required to promote germination of dark-stratified seeds, so buried seeds must be moved to the soil surface to allow exposure to adequate light for germination.

Participatory assessment of rural livelihoods in the Central Highlands of Vietnam

There is a need for improved monitoring and evaluation (M&E) of participatory research with smallholder farmers, in particular to help differentiate between different types of farm household with different needs. This paper reports some of the results of a study to develop participatory M&E tools for the Forages for Smallholders Project in Southeast Asia, focusing on an upland commune in central Vietnam with a highly diverse crop-livestock system. Participatory rural appraisal techniques were used within a rural livelihoods framework to assess the differing livelihoods of poor, average, and better-off households. There were found to be marked differences between households, particularly in human resources, landholdings, and cattle numbers, affecting the livelihood strategies pursued. The improved understanding of livelihood strategies was gained in a cost-effective way and could be readily used by project participants to monitor the impacts of the introduced forages within the commune, enabling better focusing of the participatory research process on the needs and circumstances of poor farmers. (C) 2003 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.