Agriculture by
"Agriculture has existed for approximately 12,000 years and has played an important role in shaping human history. It enabled the development of the United States, and the family farm has become an indelible image of American resilience and self-sufficiency. However, with changes in technology, the global economy, and our understanding of nutritional needs, the field of agriculture has been forced to adjust to meet twenty-first-century demands. Is it necessary that factory farms displace family farms? Should the government play a larger role in regulating technological innovations like GMOs? This volume examines these key issues and many others
Aquaponic Design Plans and Everything You Need to Know from backyard to profitable business by
This book provides detailed directions to create and maintain different types of aquaponic systems of all sizes so you can consistently feed your family environmentally friendly sustainable healthy organic food and earn extra income.
Basic Welding for Farm and Ranch : essential tools and techniques for repairing and fabricating farm equipment by
Master the fundamentals of welding, brazing, and soldering so you can repair equipment both big and small, from a garden rake to a mower. Learn to add a bale spear to your tractor bucket, build a wall-mount hay feeder, or make metal hooks. Real repair scenarios help you strategize for those moments when you need to fix equipment in bad weather, at awkward angles, or out in the field.
Buzz, Sting, Bite : why we need insects by
Insects comprise roughly half of the animal kingdom, and they live everywhere. Most of us think life would be better without bugs. In fact, life would be impossible without them. Without the pinhead-sized chocolate midge, cocoa flowers would not pollinate. The fruit fly is essential to medical and biological research experiments. Insects turn dead plants and animals into soil. They control organisms that are harmful to humans. Sverdrup-Thygeson shows us that there is more variety among insects than we can even imagine, and the more you learn about insects, the more fascinating they become
The Ecology of Agroecosystems by 
Ecology of Weeds and Invasive Plants: relationship to agriculture and natural resource management by
The Third Edition of the authoritative reference gives readers an in-depth understanding of how weeds and invasive plants develop and interact in the environment so they can manage and control them more effectively. The guide includes an introduction to weeds and invasive plants in various environments and an overview of their ecology and evolution." "This is the definitive, hands-on reference for land managers and professionals in plant sciences, agronomy, weed science, and horticulture. It is also a textbook for senior undergraduate or graduate students studying agriculture, ecology, natural resources management, environmental management, or related fields.
Factory Farming by 
Fearless Farm Finances: farm financial management demystified by 
Fruitful Labor: the ecology, economy, and practice of a family farm by 
The History of Aquaculture by 
Mini Farming: self sufficiency on a 1/4 acre by
Mini Farming describes a holistic approach to small-area farming that will show you how to produce 85 percent of an average family's food on just a quarter acre -- and earn $10,000 in cash annually while spending less than half the time that an ordinary job would require. Even if you have never been a farmer or a gardener, this book covers everything you need to know to get started: buying and saving seeds, starting seedlings, establishing raised beds, soil fertility practices, composting, pest and disease problems, crop rotation, farm planning, and much more. Because self-sufficiency is the objective, subjects such as raising backyard chickens and home canning are also covered. Materials, tools, and techniques are detailed with photographs, tables, diagrams, and illustrations.
"A Rich Spot of Earth": Thomas Jefferson's revolutionary garden at Monticello by
Traces the history of Jefferson's vegetable garden, which has been painstakingly restored by the author, from the artichokes and asparagus first planted in 1770 through the horticultural experiments of Jefferson's retirement years.
Sharing the Harvest : a citizen's guide to Community Supported Agriculture by 
Sociology, organic farming, climate change and soil Science by 
Tomatoland: how modern industrial agriculture destroyed our most alluring fruit by
Investigative food journalist Barry Estabrook reveals the huge human and environmental cost of the $5 billion fresh tomato industry and the price we pay as a society when we take taste and thought out of our food purchases.
Understanding Food Systems : agriculture, food science, and nutrition in the United States by 
Weed Research : expanding horizons by
This book presents the most up-to-date and comprehensive guide to the current and potential future state of weed science and research. Weeds have a huge effect on the world by reducing crop yield and quality, delaying or interfering with harvesting, interfering with animal feeding (including poisoning), reducing animal health and preventing water flow. They are common across the world and cost billions of dollars' worth of crop losses year on year, as well as billions of dollars in the annual expense of controlling them. An understanding of weeds is vital to their proper management and control, without which the reduction in crop yields that they would cause could lead to mass starvation across the globe. Topics covered include weed biology and ecology, control of weeds and particular issues faced in their control. Authored and edited by internationally renowned scientists in the field all of whom are actively involved in European Weed Research Society working groups, this succinct overview covers all the relevant aspects of the science of weeds. Weed Research: Expanding Horizons is the perfect resource for botanists, horticultural scientists, agronomists, weed scientists, plant protection specialists and agrochemical company personnel.
Fair Trade by 
The Industrial Food Complex by 
Corporate Farming by 
Corporate Crops: Biotechnology, Agriculture, and the Struggle for Control by 
Seed to Seed: seed saving and growing techniques for vegetable gardeners by
This is a complete seed saving guide that describes specific techniques for saving the seeds of 160 different vegetables. 80 photos.
The Seed Underground: a growing revolution to save food by
Discusses the loss of fruit and vegetable varieties and the genetically modified industrial monocultures being used today, shares the author's personal experiences growing, saving, and swapping seeds, and deconstructs the politics and genetics of seeds.
Seeds of Change: Agricultural Biotechnolgy and Intellectual Property Protection by 
Seeds on Ice: Svalbard and the Global Seed Vault by
Closer to the North Pole than to the Arctic Circle, on an island in a remote Norwegian archipelago, lies a vast global seed bank buried within a frozen mountain. At the end of a 130-meter long tunnel chiseled out of solid stone is a room filled with humanity's precious treasure, the largest and most diverse seed collection ever assembled: more than a half billion seeds containing the world's most prized crops, a safeguard against catastrophic starvation. The Global Seed Vault, a visionary model of international collaboration, is the brainchild of Cary Fowler, renowned scientist, conservationist, and biodiversity advocate. In SEEDS ON ICE, Fowler tells for the first time the comprehensive inside story of how the "doomsday seed vault" came to be, while the breathtaking photographs offer a stunning guided tour not only of the private vault, but of the windswept beauty and majesty of Svalbard and the enchanting community of people in Longyearbyen. With growing evidence that unchecked climate change will seriously undermine food production and threaten the diversity of crops around the world, SEEDS ON ICE offers a personal and passionate reminder that we shouldn't take our reliance on the world of plants for granted--and that, in a very real sense, the future of the human race rides on this frozen and indispensable biodiversity.
Temple Grandin's Guide to Working with Farm Animals: safe, humane livestock handling practices for the small farm. by
Temple Grandin is famous for her approach to decoding animal behavior. Now she extends her guidance to small-scale farming operations. Grandin's explanations of how herd animals think -- describing their senses, fears, instincts, and memories -- and how to analyze their behavior, will help you handle your livestock more safely and effectively. You'll learn to become an observer of animal movement and behavior, and illustrations will help you set up simple and efficient facilities for managing a small herd of 3 to 25 cattle or pigs, or 5 to 100 goats or sheep.
Designing Urban Agriculture: A Complete Guide to the Planning, Design, Construction, Maintenance and Management of Edible Landscapes by
A comprehensive overview of edible landscapes--complete with more than 300 full-color photos and illustrations Designing Urban Agriculture is about the intersection of ecology, design, and community. Showcasing projects and designers from around the world who are forging new paths to the sustainable city through urban agriculture landscapes, it creates a dialogue on the ways to invite food back into the city and pave a path to healthier communities and environments. This full-color guide begins with a foundation of ecological principles and the idea that the food shed is part of a city's urban systems network. It outlines a design process based on systems thinking and developed for a lifecycle or regenerative-based approach. It also presents strategies, tools, and guidelines that enable informed decisions on planning, designing, budgeting, constructing, maintaining, marketing, and increasing the sustainability of this re-invented cityscape. Case studies demonstrate the environmental, economic, and social value of these landscapes and reveal paths to a greener and healthier urban environment. This unique and indispensable guide: Details how to plan, design, fund, construct, and leverage the sustainability aspects of the edible landscape typology Covers over a dozen typologies including community gardens, urban farms, edible estates, green roofs and vertical walls, edible school yards, seed to table, food landscapes within parks, plazas, streetscapes and green infrastructure systems and more Explains how to design regenerative edible landscapes that benefit both community and ecology and explores the connections between food, policy, and planning that promote viable food shed systems for more resilient communities Examines the integration of management, maintenance, and operations issues Reveals how to create a business model enterprise that addresses a lifecycle approach
Urban Agriculture by 
Urban Gardening and the Struggle for Social and Spatial Justice by
The book presents an in-depth and theoretically-grounded analysis of urban gardening practices (re)emerging worldwide as new forms of bottom-up socio-political participation. By complementing the scholarly perspectives through posing real cases, it focuses on how these practices are able to address - together with environmental and planning questions - the most fundamental issues of spatial justice, social cohesion, inclusiveness, social innovations and equity in cities. Through a critical exploration of international case studies, this collection investigates whether, and how, gardeners are willing and able to contrast urban spatial arrangements that produce peculiar forms of social organisation and structures for inclusion and exclusion, by considering pervasive inequalities in the access to space, natural resources and services, as well as considerable disparities in living conditions.
Chemical Lands: pesticides, aerial spraying, and health in North America's grasslands since 1945 by
An exploration of the elaborate relationship between farmers, aerial sprayers, agriculturalists, crop pests, chemicals, and the environment.
DDT and the American Century by
Praised for its ability to kill insects effectively and cheaply and reviled as an ecological hazard, DDT continues to engender passion across the political spectrum as one of the world's most controversial chemical pesticides. In DDT and the American Century, David Kinkela chronicles the use of DDT around the world from 1941 to the present with a particular focus on the United States, which has played a critical role in encouraging the global use of the pesticide. Kinkela's study offers a unique approach to understanding both this contentious chemical and modern environmentalism in an international context.
Natural Enemies: An Introduction to Biological Control by 
Pesticides by
Explores a variety of issues related to pesticides, including whether they are negatively affecting human health, how they are interacting with the environment, whether they are needed to feed the world, and what the future of pesticides might be.
Pesticides and GMOs by 
Drought and the Human Story: Braving the Bull of Heaven by 
Dry Beans and Pulses: Production, Processing and Nutrition by 
Ecological Hoofprint: The Global Burden of Industrial Livestock by 
Gracey's Meat Hygiene by
Gracey's Meat Hygiene, Eleventh Edition is the definitive reference for veterinarians working in meat hygiene control. This new edition of a classic text reflects the recent significant changes in science, legislation and practical implementation of meat hygiene controls in the UK, Europe and worldwide since the 10th edition was published in 1999. An excellent practical guide for teaching food hygiene to veterinary students worldwide, in addition to laying the foundations of food animal anatomy, pathology and disease. New chapters address the increased concern of both the public and inspectors to issues of animal welfare and recognise the role of the profession, and interest from the consumer, in environmental protection. Key features include: Fully updated new edition, in a refreshed design with colour photographs and illustrations throughout. Includes new content on meat hygiene inspection covering the components of an integrated food safety management system as well as animal health and welfare controls in the 'farm to fork' system. A practical approach to health and safety in meat processing is outlined by identifying the hazards and then describing how these can best be controlled. With contributions from veterinary and industry experts, this edition is both a valuable teaching aid and a practical reference for veterinarians and all food business operators and their staff.
Handbook of Farm, Dairy and Food Machinery Engineering by
Handbook of Farm, Dairy and Food Machinery Engineering is the essential reference for engineers who need to understand those aspects of the food industry from farm machinery to food storage facilities to the machinery that processes and packages our foods. The process of getting food from "farm to fork," as the saying goes, involves more than planting, harvesting, shipping, processing, packaging and distributing--though those are all key components. Effective and efficient food delivery systems are built around processes that maximize the effort while minimizing cost, time, and resource depletion. This comprehensive reference is for engineers who design and build machinery and processing equipment, shipping containers, and packaging and storage equipment. It includes cutting-edge coverage of microwave vacuum application in grain processing, cacao processing, fruit and vegetable processing, ohmic heating of meat, facility design, closures for glass containers, double seaming, and much more. Provides cross-topic information for translational research and potential application Focuses on design and controls - written for engineers by engineers - always with practical applications in mind Includes design of machinery and facilities as well as theoretical basis for determining and predicting behavior of foods as they are handled and processed
Leadership in Agriculture: Case Studies for a New Generation by
In a world facing chronic and increasing shortages in food crops and natural resources, visionary leadership in agriculture becomes more and more critical for building and maintaining a sustainable future. It is of paramount importance that the dynamic and challenging evolution in agriculture over the last century and a half be met today with imaginative leadership in virtually all aspects of activities and organizations involved. Leadership in Agriculture: Case Studies for a New Generation focuses on key characteristics and elements of leadership. Using case studies from research, industry, education, administration, and extension services, the authors present real-world circumstances ranging from natural disasters to major restructuring that demanded problem solving, new initiatives, consensus, and organizational commitment. Drawing on their own experiences and covering topics as diverse as closing facilities, mounting a national research initiative, reinventing a major corporation, and dealing with invasive termites, the studies contain examples of both good and bad outcomes and tie back to the stated leadership principles and qualities.
Traditional Arid Lands Agriculture: Understanding the Past for the Future by
Traditional Arid Lands Agriculture is the first of its kind. Each chapter considers four questions: what we don't know about specific aspects of traditional agriculture, why we need to know more, how we can know more, and what research questions can be pursued to know more. What is known is presented to provide context for what is unknown. Traditional agriculture, nonindustrial plant cultivation for human use, is practiced worldwide by millions of smallholder farmers in arid lands. Advancing an understanding of traditional agriculture can improve its practice and contribute to understanding the past. Traditional agriculture has been practiced in the U.S. Southwest and northwest Mexico for at least four thousand years and intensely studied for at least one hundred years. What is not known or well-understood about traditional arid lands agriculture in this region has broad application for research, policy, and agricultural practices in arid lands worldwide. The authors represent the disciplines of archaeology, anthropology, agronomy, art, botany, geomorphology, paleoclimatology, and pedology. This multidisciplinary book will engage students, practitioners, scholars, and any interested in understanding and advancing traditional agriculture.
Women in Agriculture Worldwide: Key issues and practical approaches. by 
Building Soil: a down-To-Earth Approach: natural solutions for better gardens and yards by
...a simple book full of practical, up-to-date information about building healthy soils. Simple methods perfect for the home gardener's use put healthy, organic soil within everyone's reach. You don't need a degree in soil management to understand this book; you only need a yard or garden and the desire to improve it at the most basic level.
Cows Save the Planet and other improbable ways of restoring soil to heal the earth by
In Cows Save the Planet, journalist Judith D. Schwartz looks at soil as a crucible for our many overlapping environmental, economic, and social crises. Drawing on the work of thinkers and doers, renegade scientists and institutional whistleblowers, Schwartz challenges much of the conventional thinking about global warming and other problems. For example, land can suffer from undergrazing as well as overgrazing, since certain landscapes, such as grasslands, require the disturbance from livestock to thrive. Regarding climate, when we focus on carbon dioxide, we neglect the central role of water in soil - "green water" - in temperature regulation. And much of the carbon dioxide that burdens the atmosphere is not the result of fuel emissions, but from agriculture; returning carbon to the soil not only reduces carbon dioxide levels but also enhances soil fertility. Cows Save the Planet is at once a primer on soil's pivotal role in our ecology and economy, a call to action, and an antidote to the despair that environmental news so often leaves us with.
Growing a Revolution: bringing our soil back to life by
An inspiring vision for restoring the soil that feeds us all and turns agriculture into a solution for environmental crises.
Since the dawn of agriculture, great civilizations have sunk into poverty after destroying their once fertile land. Today, few people realize how close we are to experiencing the same fate if we don't take action. In Growing a Revolution, geologist David R. Montgomery leads us on a journey through history and around the world to see how innovative farmers are ditching the plow, mulching cover crops, and adopting complex rotations to restore the soil. In their stories he finds the foundation for the next agricultural revolution: a soil health revolution.
Cutting through standard debates about conventional versus organic agriculture, Montgomery shows how new regenerative methods heal damaged environments and improve farmers bottom lines. Merging ancient wisdom with modern science, these farmers have developed simple, cost-effective ways to pull carbon from the atmosphere and feed the world. Growing a Revolution flips the script, showing how agriculture can help solve our modern environmental woes.
Interpreting Soil Test Results: what do all the numbers mean? by
...a practical reference enabling soil scientists, environmental scientists, environmental engineers, land holders and others involved in land management to better understand a range of soil test methods and interpret the results of these tests. It also contains a comprehensive description of the soil properties relevant to many environmental and natural land resource issues and investigations.
The Vegetable Gardener's Guide to Permaculture: creating an edible ecosystem by 
The Bio-Integrated Farm: a revolutionary permaculture-based system using greenhouses, ponds, compost piles, aquaponics, chickens, and more by
The Bio-Integrated Farm is a twenty-first-century manual for managing nature's resources. This groundbreaking book brings "system farming" and permaculture to a whole new level. Author Shawn Jadrnicek presents new insights into permaculture, moving beyond the philosophical foundation to practical advanced designs based on a functional analysis. Holding his designs to a higher standard, Jadrnicek's components serve at least seven functions (classical permaculture theory only seeks at least two functions). With every additional function a component performs, the design becomes more advanced and saves more energy. A bio-integrated greenhouse, for example, doesn't just extend the season for growing vegetables; it also serves as a rainwater collector, a pond site, an aquaponics system, and a heat generator. Jadrnicek's prevalent theme is using water to do the work. Although applicable in many climates, his designs are particularly important for areas coping with water scarcity. Jadrnicek focuses on his experience as farm manager at the Clemson University Student Organic Farm and at his residence in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains. These locations lie at the cooler northern edge of a humid subtropical climate that extends west to the middle of Texas and north along the coast to New Jersey. He has created permaculture patterns ranging from raising transplants and field design to freshwater prawn production and composting. These patterns have simplified the operation of the 125-share CSA farm while reducing reliance on outside resources. In less time than it takes to mow his two-acre homestead, Jadrnicek is building a you-pick fruit farm using permaculture patterns. His landscape requires only the labor of harvesting, and the only outside input he buys is a small amount of chicken feed. By carefully engaging the free forces of nature--water, wind, sunlight, convection, gravity, and decomposition--Jadrnicek creates sustenance without maintenance and transforms waste into valuable farm resources. The Bio-Integrated Farm offers in-depth information about designing and building a wide range of bio-integrated projects including reflecting ponds, water-storage ponds, multipurpose basins, greenhouses, compost heat extraction, pastured chicken systems, aquaculture, hydroponics, hydronic heating, water filtration and aeration, cover cropping, and innovative rainwater-harvesting systems that supply water for drip irrigation and flushing toilets.
The Emergent Agriculture: Farming, Sustainability and the Return of the Local Economy by
Long embraced by corporations who are driven only by the desire for profit, industrial agriculture wastes precious resources and spews millions of tons of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere each year, exacerbating climate change and threatening the very earth and water on which we depend. However, this dominant system, from which Americans obtain most of their food, is being slowly supplanted by a new paradigm. The Emergent Agriculture is a collection of fourteen thematic essays on sustainability viewed through the lens of farming. Arguing that industrial food production is incompatible with the realities of nature, science, and ethics, this lyrical narrative makes the case for a locally based food system which is: Stable in the face of economic uncertainty Resilient in the face of environmental variability Grounded in stewardship of the land, on attaching value to food and the craft involved in producing it, and on respecting the dignity of farmers, consumer,s and livestock A revolution in food production is underway. Written from the vantage point of an ecologist who is also a farmer, The Emergent Agriculture is essential reading for anyone interested in food security and the potential for growing local economies. Food for thought about the future of food. Gary Kleppel is a professor of biology at the SUNY Albany, where he focuses on sustainable agriculture, conservation-based grazing, and the ecology of human-dominated landscapes. He and his wife Pam are owners of Longfield Farm, where they produce grass-fed lamb, wool, free range chickens and eggs, and artisanal breads.
Feeding the Planet: Environmental Protection through Sustainable Agriculture by
Almost a billion people all over the earth suffer from hunger and malnutrition. Many of them are starving while the world's population continues to grow dramatically. The population in the industrialized nations, whose hunger is still abundantly satisfied, must struggle with the costs of heavily subsidized overproduction of food. Still, the worldwide lack of food will also pose a threatening problem to them.
Impact of Genetically Engineered Crops on Farm Sustainability in the United States by
Since genetically engineered (GE) crops were introduced in 1996, their use in the United States has grown rapidly, accounting for 80-90 percent of soybean, corn, and cotton acreage in 2009. To date, crops with traits that provide resistance to some herbicides and to specific insect pests have benefited adopting farmers by reducing crop losses to insect damage, by increasing flexibility in time management, and by facilitating the use of more environmentally friendly pesticides and tillage practices. However, excessive reliance on a single technology combined with a lack of diverse farming practices could undermine the economic and environmental gains from these GE crops. Other challenges could hinder the application of the technology to a broader spectrum of crops and uses. Several reports from the National Research Council have addressed the effects of GE crops on the environment and on human health. However, The Impact of Genetically Engineered Crops on Farm Sustainability in the United States is the first comprehensive assessment of the environmental, economic, and social impacts of the GE-crop revolution on U.S. farms. It addresses how GE crops have affected U.S. farmers, both adopters and nonadopters of the technology, their incomes, agronomic practices, production decisions, environmental resources, and personal well-being. The book offers several new findings and four recommendations that could be useful to farmers, industry, science organizations, policy makers, and others in government agencies.
Recent Advances in Biofertilizers and Biofungicides (PGPR) for Sustainable Agriculture by
Global concern over the demerits of chemicals in agriculture has diverted the attention of researchers towards using the potential of PGPR in agriculture. This book contains many useful and important research papers pertaining to the use of bio-fertilizers and bio-fungicides for sustainable agriculture. This volume is presented in an easy-to-understand manner,with well-illustrated protocols on the production to commercialization of PGPR. The chapters on commercial potential, trade and regulatory issues among Asian countries are worthwhile additions. As such, this book will prove useful for students, researchers, teachers, and entrepreneurs in the area of PGPR and its allied fields.
Sustainability Challenges in the Agrofood Sector by
Sustainability Challenges in the Agrofood Sector covers a wide range of agrofood-related concerns, including urban and rural agriculture and livelihoods, water-energy management, food and environmental policies, diet and human health. Significant and relevant research topics highlighting the most recent updates will be covered, with contributions from leading experts currently based in academia, government bodies and NGOs (see list of contributors below). Chapters will address the realities of sustainable agrofood, the issues and challenges at stake, and will propose and discuss novel approaches to these issues. This book will be the most up-to-date and complete work yet published on the topic, with new and hot topics covered as well as the core aspects and challenges of agrofood sustainability.
Toward Sustainable Agricultural Systems in the 21st Century by 
Animal, Vegetable, Junk by 
Development, Land Use, and Environmental Impact by 
The Food Chain by 
Organic Farming: an international history by 
Organic Farming: How to Raise, Certify, and Market Organic Crops and Livestock by 
The Bee: A Natural History by 
Keeping Honey Bees by Index of diverse open access journals from around the world, driven by a growing community, committed to ensuring quality content is freely available online for everyone.
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