Crude oil and gasoline prices are near an all-time high. But don't despair. One scientist has found an alternative source of energy: pig manure.

Yuanhui Zhang, an agricultural engineering professor at the University of Illinois in Urbana-Champaign, has succeeded in turning small batches of hog waste into oil.
[img=8x19]file:///C:\Users\Henry\AppData\Local\Temp\msohtmlclip1\01\clip_image001.gif[/img][url=http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/pf/33001124.html][/url]
The process, called thermochemical conversion, uses heat and pressure to break down carbohydrate materials and turn waste into liquid. The project is still in its infancy.

For now, each half-gallon (two-liter) batch of manure converts to only about 9 ounces (0.26 liter) of oil.
But Zhang believes the conversion process could eventually solve the problem of pollution and odor at modern hog farms, where farmers pay big money to get rid of the waste. And, he says, pig oil could also offer an alternative to petroleum oil.
"If 50 percent of U.S. swine farms adopted this technology, we could see a [U.S.] 1.5-billion-dollar reduction in crude oil imports every year," Zhang said. "And swine producers could see a 10 percent increase in their income—about $10 to $15 per hog."

Oil Crisis
During the oil crisis in the 1970s, U.S. researchers attempted to turn wood sludge and coal into oil. But it proved too costly. When oil prices later fell, the whole idea of turning waste into fuel became less attractive.
"The science is not new, but it has failed because of economics," Zhang said. "If you can buy crude oil at [U.S.] $20 a barrel, why bother with pig oil? It's too expensive."

But with crude oil prices now hovering around U.S. $40 a barrel, pig oil once again seems like an attractive fuel alternative.
Zhang's research team developed a small-scale thermochemical conversion reactor that applies heat and pressure to swine manure. The process breaks the manure's long hydrocarbon chains down into shorter ones. Methane, carbon dioxide, water, and oil are produced as by-products.

"The process we have developed is quite different from most conventional thermochemical conversion processes," said Zhang. "There is no need for the addition of a catalyst, and our process does not require predrying of the manure."
Each conversion takes about 15 minutes, and the process has a strong energy return. "For every one portion of energy in, you get three portions of energy out," Zhang said.
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Negative Cost
The researchers converted as much as 70 percent of swine manure volatile solids into oil. About 20 percent of the manure is considered solid; the rest is largely water. Some 90 percent of that solid manure is volatile, or organic. Those volatile solids are the part of the manure that can be converted to oil.
The manure excreted by one pig during its life span on an average hog farm could produce up to 21 gallons (80 liters) of crude oil. A swine farm producing 10,000 market hogs per year could produce 5,000 barrels, or 210,000 gallons (795,000 liters), of crude oil per year.
Simply getting rid of manure is a big business. "It's a negative-cost material to us," Zhang said. "People are willing to pay for you to use it."
Manure has advantages over raw materials, like wood sludge, because the pig has already done most of the work. "It's a very nice material that is easy to process, because it's already been biologically processed by the pigs," Zhang said.
The process could also work with manure from chickens or cows, though it would have to modified. Human waste, which is similar to that of pigs, would, in theory, work well in Zhang's system with little or no modification.
After the conversion, the researchers took the crude oil and further processed it, obtaining refined oil that Zhang says has a heating value similar to that of diesel fuel.

Environmental Benefits
As a renewable energy, pig oil has great environmental benefits. Minerals are preserved in the treatment system, odor is reduced, and the biological oxygen demand of manure is reduced by 70 percent.
"Biological oxygen demand" refers to the fact that, as manure breaks down, the process sucks oxygen from its environment. When manure leeches into a water supply, say due to runoff, it harms aquatic life by decreasing the oxygen available to fish, water plants, and other organisms.
Also, unlike petroleum oil, pig oil uses no additives.
"For me, it's primarily an environmental thing," Zhang said. "We have to look to renewable or alternative energy. We know that eventually we can't keep digging up petroleum oil."
The next step for Zhang's research team is to develop the batch process into what he calls a continuous-mode process at a pilot plant.
"Then, the heat generated from the process can be recycled more efficiently, reducing the operating costs," Zhang said. "Reactor volume can be reduced for the same capacity, which reduces the investment costs. And automated controls can be adapted more readily, which reduces the labor costs."
So should oil companies be worried about Zhang?
"Maybe," he said. "I have no support from the oil companies, that's for sure."

https://news.nationalgeographic.com/news...igoil.html

If you’re having rat problem in your farm, there is a safe, non-poisonous method you can use to kill them. You’ll need 1 cup of flour, 1 cup of sugar and 1 cup of baking soda (sodium bicarbonate). Mix them up and place in small plates for the rats to find. When they eat it, the soda will react with stomach acid to produce CO2. There stomach will swell and squash their lungs, suffocating them.

Another method is to use flour and cement. When they eat this one, they’ll feel like drinking water and when they do, the cement will set in their stomach and kill them almost instantly.

Pls I'll like to know how long it takes carrots, cucumber and tomatoes from seed to harvest and how long they will keep fruiting. Thanks.

Good evening evryone. How do I determine the size of a house for a given number of birds?

I planted some tomato seeds and it is 7 days now but no sprouting. How long do I have to wait or have they rotten?

Quote:
  Fungicides-applied-at-bloom-may-reduce-fruit-set-in-grapes.jpg (Size: 20.49 KB / Downloads: 14)

Figure 1. Grape cluster weight at harvest in response to a single fungicide application at full bloom in Concord grapes in Michigan in 2013.
Control of fungal diseases in fruit crops relies on the regular application of fungicides during the growing season, especially during and right after bloom. While fungicides are aimed at fungal pathogens, there may be unintended side effects on the crop such as phytotoxicity to the foliage or a reduction in fruit set.

Negative effects of fungicide applications on fruit set and yield have been reported in studies in apple, cranberry, raspberry and strawberry. In raspberry, the fungicides captan and benomyl reduced pollen germination and drupelet set compared to the untreated control, resulting in significantly fewer drupelets per berry. In peaches and almonds, fungicides reduced pollen germination and pollen tube growth but results varied by fungicide and cultivar. Also, effects were stronger when fungicide residues on stigmas were wet than when dry. In almonds, damage to the stigma was observed as a result of certain fungicide applications.

A number of years ago, we were surprised to find significantly lower yields in Concord grapevines in a trial that had received fungicide applications at bloom compared to untreated vines. We decided therefore to conduct field experiments in which grape flower clusters at full bloom were marked and sprayed directly with fungicides. While the number of berries per cluster was initially higher at fruit set in fungicide-treated plots, up to 40 percent lower cluster weights were observed at harvest (Figure 1) which was correlated with a reduced number of berries per cluster but not weight per berry. We observed this effect two years in a row.

In Australia, poor fruit set in grapes was seen in different grape-growing regions over several seasons and was attributed to the spraying of fungicides at the time of flowering. In field trials, the effect of fungicides applied at bloom on fruit set varied among treatments, grape cultivars and seasons. For instance, iprodione and boscalid slightly reduced pollen viability whereas copper almost completely inhibited pollen germination. It is also possible that fungicides have an indirect effect on fruit set by affecting plant physiology. In a study in France, the fungicides fludioxonil and pyrimethanil, which are commonly used against Botrytis, reduced photosynthesis and affected carbohydrate partitioning in Chardonnay grapes when applied at bloom.

While further study is needed to determine the mechanism by which fungicides reduce fruit set in grapes and how different cultivars are affected, it seems advisable to exercise caution with fungicide sprays during bloom, unless you are not concerned about potential thinning of the crop. If the disease situation and weather allows it, it may be better to apply fungicides just before or after bloom to minimize any potential negative effects on yield.

This article was published by Michigan State University Extension. For more information, visit http://www.msue.msu.edu. To have a digest of information delivered straight to your email inbox, visit http://www.msue.msu.edu/newsletters. To contact an expert in your area, visit http://expert.msue.msu.edu, or call 888-MSUE4MI (888-678-3464)

Quote:Abstract
Smallholder farmers in southern African countries rely primarily on cultural control and hoe weeding to combat weeds, but often times, they are unable to keep up with the weeding requirements of the crop because of its laboriousness, causing them to incur major yield losses. Optimisation of crop planting pattern could help to increase yield and suppress weeds and to reduce the critical period of weed control and the weeding requirements to attain maximum yield. Experiments were carried out in Zimbabwe during two growing seasons to assess the effect of maize density and spatial arrangement on crop yield, growth and seed production of weeds and to determine the critical period for weeding. Planting maize at 60 cm row distance achieved higher yields and better weed suppression than planting at 75 or 90 cm row distance. Increasing crop densities beyond the customary three to four plants m−2 gave modest reductions in weed biomass but also diminished crop yields, probably because of increased competition for water and nutrient resources. Maize planted in narrow rows (60 cm) intercepted more radiation and suffered less yield reduction from delaying hoe weeding than those planted in wider rows (75 or 90 cm), and the duration of the weed-free period required to attain maximum grain yield was 3 weeks shorter in the narrow spacing than that in the 75- and 90-cm row spacings. Weeding was more effective in curtailing weed seed production in the narrow row spatial arrangements than in the wide row planting. The results of these studies show that narrow row spacings may reduce weeding requirements and increase yields.

What are Probiotics? They are microorganisms that are beneficial to animals, including human. So far as an animal is healthy, probiotics will have no harmful effect. But some may be harmful to unhealthy animals. So give probiotics when your animals are healthy and it will prevent a lot of intestinal diseases. There are many types of probiotics. Few of them include bacilus subtilis, bacilus licheniformis, lactic acid-producing strains like Enterococcus, Pediococcus, Lactobacillus and Bifidobacterium etc.

To treat and prevent diseases, farmers have relied heavily on antibiotics for decades. But it seems that this will eventually come to an end because many countries are banning the use of many antibiotics in animal production. This is because of the risk it poise to humans.

What will happen when countries no longer allow antibiotic use in farms? Scientific evidences shows that probiotics, herbs and essential oils will serve as alternatives to antibiotics.

Read: [/url]Antibiotic Resistance: How Herbs and Plant Extracts can Help
How to Make Your Own Probiotic - Lactobacillus Serum
Farm Animals: Antibiotic Withdrawal Period And How It Affects Your Health
[url=http://www.farmersjoint.com/blog/livestock-farming/farm-animals-antibiotic-withdrawal-period-affects-health/]Chicken Health: Avoiding Antibiotic Abuse through Laboratory Tests

Probiotics are very important to newly hatched chicks. Giving probiotics to your day old chick will help prevent dangerous microbes from colonizing their intestine. Antibiotics kill both good and bad bacteria. So whenever you give antibiotics to animals, follow up with a probiotics when the antibiotic therapy ends. This will prevent bad microbes from colonizing the intestine.

Below is an interesting articles from Thepoultrysite.com

Quote:Role of Probiotics in Poultry Health

A large body of evidence supports the use of probiotics to prevent or mitigate the effects of dysbacteriosis and, specifically, necrotic enteritis. Article by Alfred Blanch, Spain.

The main purpose of including food additives in compound feed for intensive poultry production is to help meet birds’ nutritional needs, with the ultimate goal of optimising production efficiency.

However, it should be noted that this objective is inextricably linked to achieving good health status and ensuring adequate welfare of the birds in question.

Thus, in addition to improving flock husbandry, the supplementation of feed or drinking water with additives plays a crucial role in ensuring flock health and welfare. This systemic action of food additives, which is particularly relevant given the growing trend towards restricting antibiotic use in poultry production, begins with their effects on intestinal health.

But what do we mean by “intestinal health”, and how is this linked to the health status and general welfare of birds? Over 2000 years ago Hippocrates stated that “all diseases begin in the gut”.

In poultry production, good intestinal health is the foundation upon which the general health and welfare of the bird is based. Intestinal health encompasses various elements or components of gastrointestinal function, including optimal digestion and absorption of nutrients, a diverse and stable microbiota, an effective intestinal immune system, a solid intestinal barrier against pathogens and toxins, and a competent neuroendocrine system.

As is well known, the work of each of these elements is not limited to the digestive tract, and their actions extend to the systemic level. Thus, any imbalance in the complex mechanisms that interlink these components of intestinal function increases the risk of systemic diseases, such as immune-mediated, metabolic, and infectious disorders, as well as intestinal diseases.

The use of probiotics
The use of probiotics in poultry diets to promote bird health is currently of particular relevance.
The WHO and FAO (2002) define probiotics as “live microorganisms which when administered in adequate amounts confer a health benefit on the host”. This definition explicitly recognises the positive effect of probiotics on the health of animals to which they are administered.
In poultry, the maintenance of a stable intestinal flora is essential to prevent dysbacteriosis, which may predispose birds to major infectious diseases such as necrotic enteritis caused by Clostridium perfringens.

The use of probiotics to prevent or mitigate the effects of dysbacteriosis and, in particular, necrotic enteritis, is broadly supported by numerous scientific publications and is widespread in intensive poultry production.


Knap and co-workers (2010) even concluded, based on their studies of chickens in commercial operations, that the probiotic use of spores of B. licheniformis may constitute an alternative to drug treatment for necrotic enteritis, and that this type of probiotic could be useful to prevent infections caused by antibiotic-resistant pathogens.

The positive effect of certain probiotics on the incidence and severity of necrotic enteritis may also be due, at least in part, to their ability to mitigate the aftermath associated with avian coccidiosis and vaccines containing attenuated coccidia.

Role of probiotics at the systemic level
Regarding the role of probiotics at the systemic level, it should be noted that these types of additives are highly effective in birds that come into contact with immunosuppressive pathogens, such as certain species of Salmonella.

Of particular interest are the findings recently published by Sadeghi and co-workers (2014), which indicate that the addition of certain strains of Bacillus subtilis to the diet of immunocompromised broiler chickens infected with Salmonella enteritidis significantly increases the efficacy of vaccines against Newcastle disease and infectious bursal disease virus.

Furthermore, it should be noted that in many cases lameness in chickens is due to bacterial chondronecrosis resulting from the translocation of intestinal pathogens, as reported by the Belgian scientists Falony and Van Immerseel (2015). These findings suggest that the use of probiotics may be an effective prophylactic strategy to prevent this type of lameness.

In the coming years the addition of probiotics to poultry feed will no doubt assume a greater role in the prevention and mitigation of numerous conditions at both the intestinal and systemic levels.

http://www.thepoultrysite.com/articles/3594/role-of-probiotics-in-poultry-health/

Quote:Poultry production: How probiotics can play a role

Since the importance of a well-balanced gut microflora for adequate health and high performance has been recognised, feeding strategies have been directed to control the microbial GI environment by nutritional means.

A large and diverse range of bacteria are living in the gastrointestinal (GI) tract of our animals and most of these bacteria form a symbiotic relationship with the host. The important role of GI microflora in health and disease of animals and humans is increasingly recognized. Nutrition is the most important factor influencing the composition and metabolic activity of the intestinal microflora.

Feeding errors, substantial dietary changes, low-quality feed components and inadequate feed hygiene all compromise the microflora. It should be a goal when formulating diets to favourably influence the microbial community in the gut and to keep up a state called Eubiosis. In this situation, the host and the microflora live together in symbiosis, meaning with mutual benefit.

Probiotics to achieve Eubiosis 
Since the importance of a well-balanced gut microflora for adequate health and high performance has been recognised, feeding strategies have been directed to control the microbial GI environment by nutritional means. Especially, the use of probiotics has been shown to be an effective means of manipulating or managing the composition of the microbial population in the GI tract of animals to achieve or
re-establish the state of Eubiosis.

Intake of probiotics should result in the creation of gut microecology conditions that suppress harmful microorganisms and favour beneficial microorganisms, and ultimately enhance gut health. This is also necessary for a well-functioning and effective digestion of nutrients, resulting in good growth performance. Besides nutrient absorption, the intestine plays an important role as the biggest immune organ of the body. It is hence part of the body’s defense system and represents an important barrier against invading pathogens.

New scientific insights about probiotics 
The scientific community is changing its way of looking at the mode of actions of probiotics. Since probiotics have been commercially available, they have been expected to exert their benefits derived from their ability to multiply, produce certain metabolites and colonize the surface of the intestinal epithelium.

Today (and for the last 10 years), researchers are challenging the “classic” mode of actions of probiotics with novel ones. So far, there is a good bulk of evidence suggesting that some of the effects of probiotics like the anti-inflammatory effect are mediated by fingerprints (structural molecules) rather than by the whole organisms or their ability to colonize the intestine.

In-case probiotics are also partly inactivated in the course of feed processing or antibiotic treatment at therapeutic doses; there are beneficial mechanism that do not depend on live bacteria and which will remain unaltered. As long as the effector molecules within the probiotics remain with the appropriate structure a biological effect should be expected.

Commonly used probiotic bacteria in animal feeding are lactic acid-producing strains like Enterococcus, Pediococcus, Lactobacillus and Bifidobacterium, which are also genera commonly found in the poultry gut. Several scientific studies have shown that they have a beneficial effect on performance, pathogen inhibition, modulation of intestinal microflora and immuno-modulation, especially during critical times in the production cycle when a protective gut microflora is not yet established or a disrupted probiotic application exerts its benefits.

Probiotics to protect newly hatched chicks 
Under normal conditions (i.e. in the wild), animals pick up their microflora from adult animals and from the environment very quickly, but under conditions of modern animal production, things are different. Commercial broiler chicks hatch in extremely clean conditions and don’t have contact with adult animals. Then they are transferred in houses previously cleaned and disinfected. For them, to build up and establish a well-balanced microflora is difficult. During that time, the chicks are not protected against the colonization with pathogenic microbes.

For the chicks, it is crucial to develop a protecting microflora as early and fast as possible, which can be supported by the application of probiotics. Probiotic products can be sprayed onto the chicks already in the hatchery or be applied via the drinking water during the first days of life. They provide conditions in the chicks’ intestines that favour the colonization by beneficial microbes.

Probiotics and antibiotic therapy 
Antibiotics are useful tools to eliminate undesired pathogens. However, they also eliminate a large proportion of the beneficial microflora which needs to be re-established after the antibiotic treatments ends to avoid fast growth of opportunistic pathogens. Antibiotics may eliminate the pathogens, but they often do not sufficiently control inflammation. In many cases of pathogenic invasion, an exaggerated response of the immune system may cause even more damage than the pathogen itself.

Probiotics can help modulate the immune system. It is very common in the field to see the severe inflammation of the intestinal mucosa regardless of the ongoing antibiotic therapy. Intestinal inflammation is related to increased velocity of the intestinal content. As a consequence, feces with increased amount of humidity, gas, excess of indigested feed particles or fragments of intestinal mucosa may be a common finding derived from intestinal inflammation. Confirmation of intestinal inflammation can be obtained from necropsied animals.
The use of probiotics is recommended to fight side effects of diseases that will not be improved by the use of antibiotics. In this scenario, antibiotics in therapeutic doses should be taking care of pathogens; however, the intestinal inflammation often remains unattended. Even inactivated probiotics exert a beneficial effect reducing inflammation by means of their cellular structure and particularly their intact DNA molecules and receptors, which are unique to every probiotic strain.

Probiotics and Necrotic enteritis 
Necrotic enteritis is one of the world’s most common and financially crippling poultry diseases, which when triggered can cause mortality rates of up to 50%. A team of USDA research scientist has investigated if the use of a multi-species probiotic may be beneficial in the control of poultry diseases, which are related to Clostridium perfringens. In conclusion, the data of these studies suggest that the probiotic was able to control poultry diseases like Necrotic enteritis and Gangrenous dermatitis.

The use of probiotic products can provide the poultry industry with an alternative management tool that has the potential to promote better intestinal health by managing the composition of the microbial population in the GI tract, to protect poultry flocks from infections with pathogenic bacteria and to decrease monetary losses due to pathogens.

Read more about nutritional solutions in poultry production to combat stress and disease.
Michaela Mohnl DI (MSc), product manager for probiotics at BIOMIN Holding GmbH Michaela.mohnl@biomin.net

http://www.wattagnet.com/articles/9342-poultry-production-how-probiotics-can-play-a-role

Do you wish to ask a quetion on Farmersjoint.com but don't know how to create a new topic? This short tutorials will show you how to with pictures.
 
Farmersjoint.com has a lot of sections such as Livestock farming, Aquaculture, Crop and Plantation Farming, Agroprocessing etc. If you want to create a new topic in any of the sections, just click on it. Let's say you want to post to the "Livestock farming" section. Click on it.

   

You will be taken to the "Livestock farming" page as shown below.

   

Scan the top-right section of the page to find "Post Thread" link (See the picture above). Click on that link ( i.e Post Thread) and you'll be taken to the page where you can type in your ‘Thread subject' and 'message' (question/information).
Note: Another name for ‘Post Topic’ is ‘Post Thread’

   

Your message can either be a question or an interesting information you wish to share with fellow farmers (or people interested in farming).                                                              
Click on 'Post Thread' to create your new topic/thread.

   

Congratulations. You have created a new topic/thread!
 
Possible Problem and there Solution:
Sometimes if you click on the 'Post Thread', instead of creating a new thread, you will be redirected to the same page with the 'subject' and 'message' texts deleted. This occur due to some glitches in the forum software and it’s not our fault. But we apologise for the inconvenience.
The solution is this. Click the back button of your browser to go back to the page containing your texts. Copy the texts and click the forward button of your browser. Paste your text and click on 'Post Thread'. If it happens again, repaste your texts.

Thanks for reading this. I believe you can now post threads on FarmersJoint.com. We have free gifts like ebooks for active members. Make up to 10 posts to access your first sets of ebooks. As a registered members you can download these ebooks here.

(NewsTarget) They're known for using horse-drawn buggies, avoiding modern conveniences, and wearing old-fashioned clothing. But do the Amish possess something that the rest of us don't, primarily a lifestyle that prevents disease and leads to a better quality of life? According to a recent study published in the journal Cancer Causes and Control, that seems to be the case; cancer rates among the Amish are far lower than in the rest of the American population and they are far healthier than most Americans.

   
Image source: http://yournewswire.com/why-dont-the-amish-get-cancer/

Researchers from Ohio State University's James Cancer Hospital and Solove Research Institute originally began studying the Ohio Amish population with the hypothesis that cancer rates would be higher among the Amish because they are closed off from society and they often intermarry. On the contrary, it was discovered that not only are their cancer rates lower but the Amish live a lifestyle that promotes health and well-being.

The study found that the cancer rate among the Amish is only 60 percent of the Ohio population at large. Most Amish people do not smoke or drink and they are typically not sexually promiscuous, leading researchers to believe that these lifestyle factors play an important role in the limited number of cancer cases.

Other factors examined include the high amount of physical labor undertaken by the Amish. Most Amish people work in farming, construction, and other production jobs that require intense physical activity that keeps them healthy and in shape. While the rest of America sits in fluorescent-lit cubicles all day, the Amish work hard to produce crops, build furniture and structures, and produce useful goods, which researchers recognize contributes to their excellent health.

Another important factor not specifically examined in the study is the fact that the Amish grow and raise all their own food. They employ time-tested, organic methods that provide them with healthy fruits, vegetables, milk, meat, and other untainted foods that most Americans never get. Rich in living enzymes, vitamins, and nutrients Amish food is grown and raised the way it should be, resulting in improved health.

While some may ridicule their secluded lifestyle, the Amish commitment to simple, productive lives and clean, local food is benefiting their health in ways that the rest of America can only dream about. When compared to a life of sitting in office buildings all day, eating processed and genetically-modified junk food, and popping prescription medications, it becomes clear which lifestyle is truly deserving of contempt.

Sources:

Amish prove clean living pays off - Life Extension Daily News

Amish Have Lower Rates of Cancer - HealthNewsDigest.com

Health of the Amish People - The Health Report

By Dr. Mercola

Genetically engineered (GE) crops and confined animal feeding operations (CAFOs) go hand-in-hand, and they are not only driving disease statistics into the stratosphere; they’re also destroying communities.

The promises to contain the waste, disease, and infections that these factory farms create are nothing but wishful thinking. In reality, the toxic waste cannot be contained.

In a very real sense, we’re committing suicide by way of our unsustainable, polluting, degenerative food and agriculture system—a system that is subsidized and paid for by US tax payers,1 through severely broken federal policies.

How CAFOs Destroy Communities
On November 25, the Associated Press2 reported that Missouri approved a new hog-breeding operation near Kingdom City in central Missouri. The farm will be permitted to raise as many as 10,000 hogs on 20 acres.

Neighbors and environmental activists have filed a petition to appeal the permit, on the grounds that inadequate waste management may affect property value3 and quality of life for residents in the surrounding area. According to the featured report:
“The opponents questioned the engineering and waste management plans... [Chief of the operating permits section of the state's Water Protection Program, Chris] Weiberg wrote the state's review could consider only whether a document was submitted that showed the project's design met state regulations.

Under existing regulations, ‘the Department does not examine the adequacy or efficiency of the structural, mechanical or electrical components of the manure system, only adherence to the regulation... [I]ssuance of a permit does not include approval of such features,’ Wieberg wrote.”

A Minnesota town, where residents have gone to great pains to clean up their lake—Lake Hendricks, which was severely polluted by phosphorus, a chemical in commercial fertilizer and animal waste—is also up in arms over the announcement of a new dairy CAFO.
Current plans situate the factory farm in such a way that waste run-off would likely destroy all their hard work. According to the Star Tribune:4
“[T]he operation will produce as much sewage as a city of 657,000 people and operate with less regulation than any similarly sized feedlot in Minnesota. The waste will be held in lagoons situated just 600 feet from Deer Creek, which flows directly into Lake Hendricks, just 4 miles away.
And while the owner plans to inject the effluent into surrounding cropland as fertilizer, similar livestock confinement operations in South Dakota have experienced spills and field runoff capable of polluting rivers and lakes.”

The disregard for human health, animal health, and the environment is part and parcel of what is so wrong with the present system, which focuses on efficiency and cost effectiveness at the expense of just about everything else.

A Picture Is Worth a Thousand Words
A recent Business Insider5 article shows aerial photos of factory farms across the US, which reveal, in disgusting detail, how the American countryside is being destroyed by their presence.

At present, 99 percent of food animals in the US are raised in these large-scale feedlots, yet many Americans still do not realize exactly how their food is raised, and all the “hidden” costs associated with cheap food. As noted in the featured article:
“For the last several years, British artist Mishka Henner has collected images of the feedlots via satellite, to document a largely hidden phenomenon. Initially, he was searching satellite imagery to look for oil fields.

When he came across the feedlots, Henner was shocked he didn't know about such a central part of our food production. ‘The feedlots are a brilliant representation of how abstract our food industry has come,’ Henner told Business Insider.
‘It’s an efficient system for extracting the maximum yield from animals. That’s the world we live in now. We want to extract the maximum yield from everything, no matter what business you are in.’
...Thousands of cattle on a small parcel of land produce an exorbitant amount of waste with nitrogen and phosphorus that would render it useless as a fertilizer. With nowhere for the manure to go, farms must create ‘manure lagoons’ — ponds or reservoirs filled with toxic waste...”

Factory Farms Are Major Polluters
All of this toxic waste, which includes antibiotics, pesticides, and antibiotic-resistant bacteria, migrates into surrounding lands and groundwater.
For example, in November, at the annual meeting of the Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry, researchers reported6 that the 2013 flooding in Colorado resulted in massive waterway contamination, as antibiotics and microbial drug-resistant genes were flushed far and wide from CAFO waste pools.

In the Netherlands, animal health authorities recently discovered bird flu in samples taken from wild ducks.7 Chicken farms are suspected as the source of the disease and, so far, 300,000 birds at four CAFO locations have been culled to ensure the infection doesn’t spread.  
CAFO waste also contributes to air pollution, and CAFO workers and neighboring residents alike report higher incidence of asthma, headaches, eye irritation, and nausea. According to the Environmental Protection Agency8 (EPA), US states with high concentrations of CAFOs report 20-30 serious water quality problems annually.

One of the reasons so few Americans are aware of these issues is because of “ag-gag” laws, which legally prevents people from filming or photographing conditions on factory farms. Ag-gag laws are being heavily promoted by lobbyists for the meat, egg, and dairy industries to essentially prevent anyone from exposing animal cruelty and food-safety issues at CAFOs.

Industrial food producers are also encouraging their “farmers” to change the terms they use for their horrific practices to less-offensive sounding words, such as swapping “gestation crates” with “individual maternity pens.”
Five states have ag-gag laws already in place, and another 10 introduced anti-whistleblower laws last year. According to USA Today,9 ag-gag laws in Utah and Idaho are currently being challenged in federal court.

Industrial Farming Is Destroying Food Quality
Philip Lymbery, an animal-welfare activist and author of the book Farmageddon: The True Cost of Cheap Meat, notes that one of the techniques used to perpetuate factory farming is in fact secrecy, and there’s little doubt that that is why ag-gag laws were lobbied for in the first place.

If you don’t know there’s a problem, you won’t demand change. This is also why the food industry is fighting tooth and nail to prevent labeling of genetically modified organisms (GMOs) in the US, as well as legislation that would prevent them from fraudulently labeling GMOs as “Natural.”
In the US, most all conventional meat and poultry (beef, pork, chicken, turkey, etc.) is raised in CAFOs. It’s a corporate-controlled system characterized by large-scale, centralized, low profit-margin production, processing, and distribution systems.

This is the cheapest way to raise meat, for the largest profits. But the ultimate price is high, as there's a complete disregard for human health, the environment, and ethical treatment of animals and plant workers alike.

This system depends on keeping consumers in the dark about how the food is produced, and what the hidden costs are, because the reality is unsavory enough that many, if not most, people would change their ways were they to find out the truth...

Increasing Number of Books Address the State of Our Food System
Information is power, and now more than ever before, there are plenty of resources for those who want to educate themselves. For example, a series of recent articles, listed on NewAmerica.org,10 delve into the various aspects of the monopoly that is America’s meat market. In one, titled The Meat Racket, Christopher Leonard reveals how the US meat industry has been seized by a mere handful of companies, and how this tightly controlled monopoly drives small livestock farmers out of business.

Other articles detail the drugs used in CAFO farming, and the risks this drug based farming poses to human health, such as creation of antibiotic-resistant superbugs, which I’ve addressed on numerous occasions. A recent book review in the Wall Street Journal11 also discusses a number of books on the state of our food system. Salon Magazine also recently ran an article12 on the subject of factory farming, penned by Lindsay Abrams, in which she discusses journalist Ted Genoways new book, The Chain—an expose of the American pork industry. She writes in part:

“What journalist Christopher Leonard recently did for Tyson and the chicken industry, Genoways... does for pork, recounting the history of Hormel Foods... as it evolved from humble beginnings to an industrial giant with a nearly myopic focus on expansion and acceleration, regardless of the costs.

And boy, are there costs... a mysterious neurological disorder linked to a machine that has workers breathing in a fine mist of pork brains... abuse suffered by the animals on whom workers’ frustrations are instead taken out; and a decline in food safety that, unbelievably, is set to become the new industry standard.”

Genoways book reveals how societal issues “fan out in all directions,” as he puts it, from the way our pork is produced. Not only are there many disturbing safety issues, but according to Genoways, these hazards also end up disproportionally affecting immigrant workers, who are already being exploited by the system.

Source: http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articl...ities.aspx

Heart attacks are responsible for a huge number of deaths every year. For many people, heart attacks can strike without warning and be fatal. It can be hard to tell if you are at risk for a heart attack, and nearly impossible to predict. However, it has recently been discovered that it may be possible to predict a heart attack months before one occurs, by simply testing a sample of your hair for the stress hormone cortisol.
 
A heart attack or myocardial infarction occurs when heart muscles are suddenly deprived of oxygen-rich blood. This can occur for a few reasons, however, it most often happens as a result of coronary heart disease. This disease causes plaque to build up in the arteries, which eventually could cause a rupture inside of an artery, creating blood clots which could completely block the blood flow to the heart. Another, less common cause of heart attacks is when there is a spasm of one of the coronary arteries.

This results in a heart attack, and if the blood flow is not restored as quickly as possible, then permanent damage occurs to the heart muscle, and it begins to die. This could lead to heart failure and permanent damage, which could result in life-long difficulties.

There are a few warning signs that occur with a heart attack, including chest pain, shortness of breath, and pain or discomfort in the arms, back, shoulders, or the jaw. There could also be light headedness or dizziness, cold sweat, nausea, and fatigue.

Unfortunately, these symptoms only occur once the heart attack is happening. At this point, it can be too late. However, there may be a way to find out if a heart attack is looming months in advance.
 
According to an Israeli-Canadian study, chronic stress is a huge factor in heart attacks, and a predictor for this can be found by studying the stress hormones levels in hair. The hormone cortisol which is secreted during times of high stress can be measured in the blood, urine, and also the hair.

Since hair grows slowly, on an average of one centimeter per month, a lot of information can be stored in the strands. A six-centimeter-long hair sample can show the cortisol levels over that six month time period, and may signal if someone is at risk due to high levels of stress.
These findings were based on the Israeli-Canadian study, which took hair samples from a group of people who had suffered heart attacks, and also from a control group who had no heart issues. It was found that the concentrations of cortisol in the hair of the first group were elevated in the three months before their episodes.

Although this is a new study, it does show promise as a method of testing for determining whether a patient is at risk of a heart attack. If anything, it can show when cortisol levels are increased, and can be taken as a sign to slow down and de-stress.

Source:
tophealthnews.net
cbc.ca
cuisineandhealth.com
http://tophealthnews.net/heres-how-your-...hs-before/

Ayam Cemani is a chicken with an abnormal trait. They are entirely black! Skin, bones, meat feathers are all black. This breed originated from the island of Java, Indonesia. They have been existing in this region for centuries and the locals used it for fetish purposes.
In the past individual birds in the United States of America have been priced at $2500.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ayam_Cemani


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Cemami Rooster


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Cemami  hen

Is it true that the nsukka yellow pepper grow only in nsukka?

What are Probiotics? They are microorganisms that are beneficial to animals, including human. So far as an animal is healthy, probiotics will have no harmful effect. But some may be harmful to unhealthy animals. So give probiotics when your animals are healthy and it will prevent a lot of intestinal diseases. There are many types of probiotics. Few of them include bacilus subtilis, bacilus licheniformis, lactic acid-producing strains like Enterococcus, Pediococcus, Lactobacillus and Bifidobacterium etc.

To treat and prevent diseases, farmers have relied heavily on antibiotics for decades. But it seems that this will eventually come to an end because many countries are banning the use of many antibiotics in animal production. This is because of the risk it poise to humans.

What will happen when countries no longer allow antibiotic use in farms? Scientific evidences shows that probiotics, herbs and essential oils may serve as alternatives to antibiotics.

Read:
[/url][url=http://www.farmersjoint.com/blog/livestock-farming/antibiotic-resistance-herbs-plant-extracts-can-help/]Antibiotic Resistance: How Herbs and Plant Extracts can Help

How to Make Your Own Probiotic - Lactobacillus Serum

Farm Animals: Antibiotic Withdrawal Period And How It Affects Your Health 

Chicken Health: Avoiding Antibiotic Abuse through Laboratory Tests

Probiotics are very important to newly hatched chicks. Giving probiotics to your day old chick will help prevent dangerous microbes from colonizing their intestine. Antibiotics kill both good and bad bacteria. So whenever you give antibiotics to animals, follow up with a probiotics when the antibiotic therapy ends. This will prevent bad microbes from colonizing the intestine.
Below is an interesting articles from Thepoultrysite.com.

Quote:Role of Probiotics in Poultry Health

A large body of evidence supports the use of probiotics to prevent or mitigate the effects of dysbacteriosis and, specifically, necrotic enteritis. Article by Alfred Blanch, Spain.

The main purpose of including food additives in compound feed for intensive poultry production is to help meet birds’ nutritional needs, with the ultimate goal of optimising production efficiency.

However, it should be noted that this objective is inextricably linked to achieving good health status and ensuring adequate welfare of the birds in question.

Thus, in addition to improving flock husbandry, the supplementation of feed or drinking water with additives plays a crucial role in ensuring flock health and welfare. This systemic action of food additives, which is particularly relevant given the growing trend towards restricting antibiotic use in poultry production, begins with their effects on intestinal health.

But what do we mean by “intestinal health”, and how is this linked to the health status and general welfare of birds? Over 2000 years ago Hippocrates stated that “all diseases begin in the gut”.

In poultry production, good intestinal health is the foundation upon which the general health and welfare of the bird is based. Intestinal health encompasses various elements or components of gastrointestinal function, including optimal digestion and absorption of nutrients, a diverse and stable microbiota, an effective intestinal immune system, a solid intestinal barrier against pathogens and toxins, and a
competent neuroendocrine system.

As is well known, the work of each of these elements is not limited to the digestive tract, and their actions extend to the systemic level. Thus, any imbalance in the complex mechanisms that interlink these components of intestinal function increases the risk of systemic diseases, such as immune-mediated, metabolic, and infectious disorders, as well as intestinal diseases.

The use of probiotics
The use of probiotics in poultry diets to promote bird health is currently of particular relevance.
The WHO and FAO (2002) define probiotics as “live microorganisms which when administered in adequate amounts confer a health benefit on the host”. This definition explicitly recognises the positive effect of probiotics on the health of animals to which they are administered.
In poultry, the maintenance of a stable intestinal flora is essential to prevent dysbacteriosis, which may predispose birds to major infectious diseases such as necrotic enteritis caused by Clostridium perfringens.

The use of probiotics to prevent or mitigate the effects of dysbacteriosis and, in particular, necrotic enteritis, is broadly supported by numerous scientific publications and is widespread in intensive poultry production.

Knap and co-workers (2010) even concluded, based on their studies of chickens in commercial operations, that the probiotic use of spores of B. licheniformis may constitute an alternative to drug treatment for necrotic enteritis, and that this type of probiotic could be useful to prevent infections caused by antibiotic-resistant pathogens.

The positive effect of certain probiotics on the incidence and severity of necrotic enteritis may also be due, at least in part, to their ability to mitigate the aftermath associated with avian coccidiosis and vaccines containing attenuated coccidia.

Role of probiotics at the systemic level
Regarding the role of probiotics at the systemic level, it should be noted that these types of additives are highly effective in birds that come into contact with immunosuppressive pathogens, such as certain species of Salmonella.

Of particular interest are the findings recently published by Sadeghi and co-workers (2014), which indicate that the addition of certain strains of Bacillus subtilis to the diet of immunocompromised broiler chickens infected with Salmonella enteritidis significantly increases the efficacy of vaccines against Newcastle disease and infectious bursal disease virus.

Furthermore, it should be noted that in many cases lameness in chickens is due to bacterial chondronecrosis resulting from the translocation of intestinal pathogens, as reported by the Belgian scientists Falony and Van Immerseel (2015). These findings suggest that the use of probiotics may be an effective prophylactic strategy to prevent this type of lameness.

In the coming years the addition of probiotics to poultry feed will no doubt assume a greater role in the prevention and mitigation of numerous conditions at both the intestinal and systemic levels.

Source: http://www.thepoultrysite.com/articles/3594/role-of-probiotics-in-poultry-health/

Quote:Poultry production: How probiotics can play a role

Since the importance of a well-balanced gut microflora for adequate health and high performance has been recognised, feeding strategies have been directed to control the microbial GI environment by nutritional means.

A large and diverse range of bacteria are living in the gastrointestinal (GI) tract of our animals and most of these bacteria form a symbiotic relationship with the host. The important role of GI microflora in health and disease of animals and humans is increasingly recognized. Nutrition is the most important factor influencing the composition and metabolic activity of the intestinal microflora.

Feeding errors, substantial dietary changes, low-quality feed components and inadequate feed hygiene all compromise the microflora. It should be a goal when formulating diets to favourably influence the microbial community in the gut and to keep up a state called Eubiosis. In this situation, the host and the microflora live together in symbiosis, meaning with mutual benefit.

Probiotics to achieve Eubiosis 
Since the importance of a well-balanced gut microflora for adequate health and high performance has been recognised, feeding strategies have been directed to control the microbial GI environment by nutritional means. Especially, the use of probiotics has been shown to be an effective means of manipulating or managing the composition of the microbial population in the GI tract of animals to achieve or re-establish the state of Eubiosis.

Intake of probiotics should result in the creation of gut microecology conditions that suppress harmful microorganisms and favour beneficial microorganisms, and ultimately enhance gut health. This is also necessary for a well-functioning and effective digestion of nutrients, resulting in good growth performance. Besides nutrient absorption, the intestine plays an important role as the biggest immune organ of the body. It is hence part of the body’s defense system and represents an important barrier against invading pathogens.

New scientific insights about probiotics 
The scientific community is changing its way of looking at the mode of actions of probiotics. Since probiotics have been commercially available, they have been expected to exert their benefits derived from their ability to multiply, produce certain metabolites and colonize the surface of the intestinal epithelium.

Today (and for the last 10 years), researchers are challenging the “classic” mode of actions of probiotics with novel ones. So far, there is a good bulk of evidence suggesting that some of the effects of probiotics like the anti-inflammatory effect are mediated by fingerprints (structural molecules) rather than by the whole organisms or their ability to colonize the intestine.

In-case probiotics are also partly inactivated in the course of feed processing or antibiotic treatment at therapeutic doses; there are beneficial mechanism that do not depend on live bacteria and which will remain unaltered. As long as the effector molecules within the probiotics remain with the appropriate structure a biological effect should be expected.

Commonly used probiotic bacteria in animal feeding are lactic acid-producing strains like Enterococcus, Pediococcus, Lactobacillus and Bifidobacterium, which are also genera commonly found in the poultry gut. Several scientific studies have shown that they have a beneficial effect on performance, pathogen inhibition, modulation of intestinal microflora and immuno-modulation, especially during critical times in the production cycle when a protective gut microflora is not yet established or a disrupted probiotic application exerts its benefits.

Probiotics to protect newly hatched chicks 
Under normal conditions (i.e. in the wild), animals pick up their microflora from adult animals and from the environment very quickly, but under conditions of modern animal production, things are different. Commercial broiler chicks hatch in extremely clean conditions and don’t have contact with adult animals. Then they are transferred in houses previously cleaned and disinfected. For them, to build up and establish a well-balanced microflora is difficult. During that time, the chicks are not protected against the colonization with pathogenic microbes.

For the chicks, it is crucial to develop a protecting microflora as early and fast as possible, which can be supported by the application of probiotics. Probiotic products can be sprayed onto the chicks already in the hatchery or be applied via the drinking water during the first days of life. They provide conditions in the chicks’ intestines that favour the colonization by beneficial microbes.

Probiotics and antibiotic therapy 
Antibiotics are useful tools to eliminate undesired pathogens. However, they also eliminate a large proportion of the beneficial microflora which needs to be re-established after the antibiotic treatments ends to avoid fast growth of opportunistic pathogens. Antibiotics may eliminate the pathogens, but they often do not sufficiently control inflammation. In many cases of pathogenic invasion, an exaggerated response of the immune system may cause even more damage than the pathogen itself.

Probiotics can help modulate the immune system. It is very common in the field to see the severe inflammation of the intestinal mucosa regardless of the ongoing antibiotic therapy. Intestinal inflammation is related to increased velocity of the intestinal content. As a consequence, feces with increased amount of humidity, gas, excess of indigested feed particles or fragments of intestinal mucosa may be a common finding derived from intestinal inflammation. Confirmation of intestinal inflammation can be obtained from necropsied animals.
The use of probiotics is recommended to fight side effects of diseases that will not be improved by the use of antibiotics. In this scenario, antibiotics in therapeutic doses should be taking care of pathogens; however, the intestinal inflammation often remains unattended. Even inactivated probiotics exert a beneficial effect reducing inflammation by means of their cellular structure and particularly their intact DNA molecules and receptors, which are unique to every probiotic strain.

Probiotics and Necrotic enteritis 
Necrotic enteritis is one of the world’s most common and financially crippling poultry diseases, which when triggered can cause mortality rates of up to 50%. A team of USDA research scientist has investigated if the use of a multi-species probiotic may be beneficial in the control of poultry diseases, which are related to Clostridium perfringens. In conclusion, the data of these studies suggest that the probiotic was able to control poultry diseases like Necrotic enteritis and Gangrenous dermatitis.

The use of probiotic products can provide the poultry industry with an alternative management tool that has the potential to promote better intestinal health by managing the composition of the microbial population in the GI tract, to protect poultry flocks from infections with pathogenic bacteria and to decrease monetary losses due to pathogens.

Read more about nutritional solutions in poultry production to combat stress and disease.
Michaela Mohnl DI (MSc), product manager for probiotics at BIOMIN Holding GmbH Michaela.mohnl@biomin.net

Source: http://www.wattagnet.com/articles/9342-p...lay-a-role

Hello house. pls how long will it take to start harvesting tomato after seed sowing?

Hello all. After these plants have grown to a reasonable height, which pre-emergence herbicide can i use that will not cause disaster? Weeding manually is tiring.

Hello fellow entreprenuers, my interest in crop farming is growing and I'll to plant some cucumbers. When is the best time to start?

Why spend so much on a greenhouse when one can still plant something outside and still succeed? I don't think we that live in the tropics need it. What do you guys think?

Since I read about the importance of covering the entire plant surfaces when using contact fungicides like mancozeb, I have been wondering how boom sprayers will achieve that. Doing it manually is a task unimaginable if you have 100s or 1000s of plants. Pls how can it be achieved?