Pig Farming - The Rare Breeds

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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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Taking an Old Farming Method and Building for a New Age

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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 Few Facts About Organic Farming

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Organic farming has taken a giant hold on the farming industry in the last 20+ years. It has grown from what many thought was a fad, to--forgive the pun--much greener pastures.

So what is the hype behind organic farming? For one, there is a lack of both pesticides and herbicides. In the past, consumers didn't have much of a choice in the way their fruits and veggies were produced, and let's face it, negative results occurred. Pesticides and herbicides are not only threatening to the environment, they are directly affecting our children. Any product out in the market that is chemically enhanced is always subject to criticism, and the basic statistics show that, although this may not be as immediately profitable, it is the way to go in matters of living a healthy lifestyle.

The differences between this method and traditional farming are many. Aside from the pesticide/herbicide issue, there are a great many other reasons to consider supporting your local organic farmer (or gardener!)...

First among these, in my personal opinion, is water. Yep, water. No fruit or vegetable can grow to optimal heath without a pure water content. Farming in this method insists on having either a creek, stream or other water source to feed their crops. The most beneficial of which are heading in a decline (meaning to a lower land level, gravitationally). This will ensure that the deposits and run-off from your crops will not affect your local watering hole, so to speak.

Another is energy. Farming organically employs everything from solar power and wind energy, to a reduction in the use of inefficient energy sources overall. The estimate is that organic farmers use 25% less energy to produce crops for consumption than traditional farming methods. This means a reduction on greenhouse gases, negative effects on the ozone and a general spike in healthy eating habits. Many are turned-off from buying certain fruits and vegetable based merely on the concern of pesticide-inducement.

The research is there if you want it, but overall, traditional methods of farming are quickly becoming a thing of the past. Farmers should take the opportunity to learn and educate themselves about organic farming. It is eco-friendly, eliminates pollution, and is more oriented towards a healthy society. Although it may take up to three seasons to compete with traditional farming, after that basic hump, you are not only providing a healthy resource for yourselves and your family, you are also helping others to be involved in the organic-slash-green industry.

If you would like to learn more about organic farming and gardening, please read my Organic Farming Tips, and 'Organic Farming Benefits'.

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Pig Farming - The Big Five

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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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Using a Scientific Approach To Increase Rice Crop Yields

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The revolution of elections over the last decades has produced two technologies that will impact in our agriculture in the next decade. These technologies are GPS and GIS. Along with these technologies are wide range of sensors, controllers, and monitors for the agricultural equipment. Together they enable the farmers to use the electronic guidance aids to direct the movements of the equipments more accurately, analyze all of the data that are associated with the sources of data, and provide precise positioning for all the actions of the equipment and chemical action.

Topcon Precision Agriculture is a business unit of TPS that designs and manufactures precise positioning products and solutions for agriculture. In fact the Topcon Positioning Systems, Inc. (TPS) has designed software for the professional farmer. Topcon Positioning Systems has been supplying the agricultural market with the positioning software and hardware technology in the areas of precision land leveling, mapping, water use management, and machine control. This is another step filling out the Topcon agriculture product portfolio so to provide a complete solution for precision farming. Precision farming is not only thought as yield mapping and variable rate fertilizer application and then evaluated on only one or the other. The precision farming technologies affect the entire production function of the farm. This kind of farming allows for improved economic analyses. This makes farm planning more complex and easier. There is so much more map date in order to utilize long term cropping plans, salinity controls, and erosion controls. But those farmers who are implementing precision farming are likely working closer with the professionals in the GPS, agricultural, and computing sciences. Precision farming does not happen as soon as the farmers purchase a GPS unit or a yield monitor. It happens as the farmer adopts the new level of management intensity on the rice farm. This includes a better understanding on the types of soils, micro climates, hydrology, and the aerial photography. The farmer should identify first the variance of factors within the rice fields that affect the crop yield before the yield map is acquired.

Over the past decades, larger and faster farm machines have delivered the capacity of the farmers to manage the ever-expanding farms. Farmers have the most part to continue to treat the large fields into uniform elements. Precision agriculture is actually a cyclic process but a farmer can get started on specific site farming at about any time of the year. Normally, farmers need to perform the annual planning, analyzing steps to complete the precision, and data collection. Yield monitoring is possibly the most important foundation of the precision agriculture. The modern yield monitor utilizes sensors in combination of the continuous log grain flow rate during the harvest period. The collected information is then used to precisely evaluate the optimum sowing density, to more accurately predict crop yields, and to estimate fertilizers and other needed inputs. This helps in avoiding unwanted practices to the crop regardless of the local conditions such that it reduces water, labor, pesticides, fertilizers, etc, and more importantly to assure the quality of the rice.

Farmers have the most part to continue to treat the large fields into uniform elements. Precision agriculture is actually a cyclic process but a farmer can get started on specific site farming at about any time of the year. Normally, farmers need to perform the annual planning, analyzing steps to complete the precision, and data collection. Yield monitoring is possibly the most important foundation of the precision agriculture.

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Nutrient Pollution - Consequences In Water - Causes And Effects

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Nutrient pollution refers to a form of pollution in which nutrients, usually nitrogen and phosphorus, are present in a high concentration that is damaging to ecosystems. Nutrient pollution is primarily a problem in aquatic ecosystems, such as streams, rivers, bays, and lakes. It is particularly an issue of concern in lakes and relatively closed or contained bays, like the Chesapeake bay. Nutrient pollution is caused primarily by the over-use of fertilizers in agriculture, or by waste from animal farming operations. The negative effects of this pollution are to disrupt, damage, or destroy aquatic ecosystems, which often can have negative environmental impacts, by destroying fishing industries.

This article gives a brief overview of nutrient pollution, including its causes in agriculture and its effects on waterways and fishing industries. The article concludes with some concrete recommendations of what can be done to prevent this type of pollution, both for farmers, and for concerned citizens.

How does nutrient pollution work?

Nutrients such as nitrogen and phosphorus are essential for all living ecosystems. Phosphorus is present in soils, and typically originates from the underlying rock or geologic substrates. Nitrogen is present in the atmosphere, but only enters the ecosystem through a complex process of nitrogen fixation, which is carried out primarily by certain plants and bacteria. The growth of plants are limited by the availability of nitrogen, phosphorus, and other nutrients, so in agriculture, the yield of crops can often be improved by applying fertilizers containing these nutrients.

Plants, however, will only utilize a certain amount of nutrients; once they have as much as they need, they are then limited by other factors, like the availability of sun or water, and the remainder of the nutrients will remain in the soil, where it leeches out when it rains, and runs off into the water table or nearby streams.

Although nutrients are beneficial to some plants, an overabundance of nutrients can cause problems in aquatic ecosystems, primarily because it can cause algal blooms. Algae, which are fast-growing microorganisms or simple plants, respond to the influx of nutrients by growing rapidly. The new growth can choke out existing plants, cloud the water, and clog waterways. When the algae begin to die, the process uses up dissolved oxygen, and if the algal bloom was big enough, it can create a dead zone. This process is called eutrophication. Eutrophication is primarily an issue in lakes and closed bodies of water, but it also happens in rivers and bays as well. Even in areas where eutrophication does not happen, nutrients can still harm and disrupt ecosystems by altering the balance of the various species.

Impact on the fishing industry:

The issue of pollution caused by runoff of nutrients from agriculture is not just an issue of protecting the environment. This form of pollution has immediate and tangible economic impacts. When an aquatic ecosystem is disrupted, the populations of all animals, including fish, crabs, oysters, and other shellfish, are disrupted. In many cases, such as in the Chesapeake bay, whole fishing industries have been destroyed. Whole towns, reliant on fishing for their livelihood, have been driven to economic ruin as a result of the waning populations of fish, caused in part by nutrient pollution, combined with other types of agricultural and industrial pollution.

Causes of nutrient pollution:

The overwhelming majority of cases of nutrient pollution are caused by runoff from agriculture. The main two culprits are the over-use of fertilizer by farming operations growing crops, and the runoff of waste from animal farming operations, such as pig farms or chicken farms.

Nutrient runoff is a wasted resource:

Because nutrients are valuable inputs into the agricultural process, nutrient pollution involves unnecessary waste, waste of inputs, or a wasted resource which is being discarded. In sustainable farming practices, the farmer will apply only the amount of fertilizer that is needed, and the nutrients will be taken up completely by the crops being grown. In sustainable production of animals, the animal waste will be gathered and used as fertilizer for other crops. For example, traditional farming methods use manure from cows and large animals, as well as chicken and pig waste, to fertilize other crops.

A point for hope:

This last realization is a point for hope. Nutrient pollution is not necessary; it represents an inefficiency. It is a problem that can be solved. But there are other ways in which people can prevent or minimize the effects of this form of pollution. One simple but powerful solution is the creation of buffer zones, wild green spaces, along waterways. By filling the areas along streams and rivers with lush growth of plants, the plants will extract nutrients from the water before it runs into the river, and use it for their own growth. The preservation and restoration of wetlands also has a similar effect, filtering nutrients out of the water, as plants use them for their own growth. By raising awareness of these issues, we can ultimately solve the problem of nutrient pollution.

Alex Zorach is the founder and editor-in-chief of RateTea, the first online community where anyone can rate and review teas, with a searchable database of teas and herbal teas, classified by brand, style, and region. RateTea has a wealth of information and articles about tea production, health, sustainability, and related topics. Visit RateTea to read about tea and sustainability, including discussion of organic and fair trade certification in teas, biodynamic agriculture, composting of tea, sustainable tea packaging, locally grown tea and herbs, and the relationship of tea to the slow food movement.

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Why Efficient Irrigation Is a Must in Australia

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In history, irrigation has been around for as long as humans have started growing plants. The first invention after man has learned to cultivate plants from seeds was probably a bucket. You can just imagine the archaic method of how people from the ancient times manually water their crops by hauling buckets of water so that they can water their plants. Fast forward to the 21st century and you'll see how times have drastically changed with the onset of more efficient irrigation systems and mechanized methods now available for everyone's ease and benefit.

In countries like Australia, irrigation is a widespread practice to supplement low rainfall levels with water from other sources to assist in the production of crops or pasture. Considered to be one of the driest inhabited countries in the world, irrigation is required in many areas of Australia like Tasmania and Queensland in agriculture. In Tasmania alone, a third of its total land area of 68,300 square kilometres is committed to agriculture. Agriculture is an important contributor to the Tasmanian economy both in its own right and because of other industries that depend on it. In particular, the manufacturing and service sectors that utilize farm outputs are very significant contributors to cultivate state products and increase employment. Thus, it is no wonder why efficient irrigation systems and irrigation equipment are highly in demand in areas like Tasmania and the whole of the Australian market.

In an average year, irrigation for Australian agriculture uses 14,000 gigalitres (GL) which is about 65 per cent of all water use in the country. However, this water is not used as efficiently as it could be. This is why it is important to use high quality irrigation equipment all the time. One of the companies located in Tasmania specializing in the distribution of quality irrigation and pump set equipment is Van Diemens Land Irrigation. Their products include pivots, hard hoses, travelling irrigators and other essential irrigation equipment to meet the demands of their Tasmanian market.

Irrigation methods in Australia have improved over many years allowing for more efficient production per megalitre of water used. Current methods include systems such as centre pivot irrigation, impact sprinklers, butterfly sprinklers, drip and surface irrigation. Common crops produced using irrigation include rice, cotton, canola, sugar, various fruits and other tree crops and pasture, hay and grain for use in beef and dairy production.

For large agricultural areas like those found in Tamania, centre pivot irrigation is best recommended. This is a method of crop irrigation in which irrigation equipment rotates around a pivot. It involves creating a circular pattern in crops if viewed from above when a circular area centered on the pivot is irrigated. Originally, most centre pivot irrigation systems were water-powered. These have then since been replaced by hydraulic systems and electric motor-driven systems. Most systems today are driven by an electric motor mounted at each tower. With all of these technologically advanced irrigation systems and equipment now available to help out the Agricultural industry of Australia, the country has now emerged as a major agricultural producer and exporter despite the limitations of its natural terrain and climate.

Van Diemen's Land Irrigation Pty. Ltd.
Address: 228 Charles Street Launceston TAS 7250 Australia
Phone: 0363345600
Mobile nos.: 0408131692 (Sales Manager) 0419105900 (Josh Fletcher)
Fax no.: 0363345880
Email: info@vdlirrigation.com.au
Website: http://www.vdlirrigation.com.au/

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