Grasslands News
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Bringing nitrogen out to pasture
Cows in Brazil might start bellowing "leguuume" rather than "moo." That's because Jose Dubeux Jr. wants to plant more legume trees in cow pastures. Dubeux is an assistant professor of Agronomy at North Florida Research & Education Center. Growing up, Dubeux spent a lot of time on his grandparents' farm in Brazil. There he developed a passion for livestock operations and the grasslands on ...
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Livestock goes free entry for all
FREE ENTRY FOR ALL VISITORS Farmers, their families and staff, farm contractors and students, consultants, vets and all in the supply trade will gain free entry to Livestock 2016. MACHINERY MOVES INSIDE This year, following negotiations with The NEC, we have organised additional indoor space to accommodate all Livestock Event trade stands in the main halls to provide optimum visitor flow ...
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Sustainable silage maize farming requires earlier varieties
Dutch silage maize farmers can increase their yield in the long term by using earlier varieties. This was the conclusion reached by maize scientists at Wageningen UR based on many years of practical cultivation tests. The use of earlier varieties increases the chance that the maize will ripen properly and ensures better (soil) conditions for harvesting. Moreover, it would provide more space for ...
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Wild Bee Decline Threatens U.S. Crop Production
The first national study to map U.S. wild bees suggests they’re disappearing in many of the country’s most important farmlands — including California’s Central Valley, the Midwest’s corn belt and the Mississippi River valley. If losses of these crucial pollinators continue, the new nationwide assessment indicates that farmers will face increasing costs — and ...
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Pesticides may harm wild bees but natural areas can mitigate effects
The use of pesticides in orchards may be threatening populations of wild bees, which are important pollinators that increase crop productivity, a new study concludes. However, the damage was mitigated in areas where the orchards were surrounded by natural landscapes, such as deciduous forests. Pollinators, such as bees, provide an important and often underappreciated ecosystem service to ...
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Combating pest insects in the soil with root-colonizing insecticidal fungi
The biological control of pest insects in the soil has come one step closer. Wageningen UR has isolated five promising fungi that kill 90 to 100 per cent of the grubs and crane fly larvae, and which also survive well in the soil when there are no pest insects present. It is expected that these insecticidal fungi will also be effective against other pest insects in the soil. Surviving without ...
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High-nature-value grasslands can be maintained by alternating between mowing and grazing
Scientists recommend policies that alternate between mowing and grazing to manage Europe’s high-nature-value grasslands. This comes after a new seven-year study found that a high plant-species diversity helps grasslands to maintain productivity and to resist depletion of phosphorus caused by livestock grazing and depletion of potassium caused by mowing. Grasslands with high levels of ...
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US seed plan aims to protect land after natural disasters
Federal authorities announced a plan Monday to produce massive quantities of seeds from native plants that can be quickly planted to help land recover from natural disasters such as wildfires and hurricanes. The program will make landscapes more resilient and healthier, especially Western rangelands where massive wildfires have been an increasing problem, the U.S. Department of the Interior ...
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Silage harvesting partly responsible for decline in skylarks
Farmland birds like skylarks are attracted to nest in agricultural grassland, but repeated harvesting for silage causes most nests to fail. This study showed that skylark breeding success in silage was too low to sustain local populations. The researchers say that grass silage is a hostile environment for breeding skylarks and conservation efforts should focus on making other parts of the ...
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Grazing land has scope for biofuel surge
Converting grazing land into fields to grow crops for biofuels could provide up to 30 per cent of the world’s energy needs, according to a report. The report says at least 500 million hectares are available for sustainable biofuel production even when rising food demand, growing urbanisation and the desire to preserve forest and protected lands are taken into account. Most of this land is ...
By SciDev.Net
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Rise in CO2 could restrict growing days for crops
The positive consequences of climate change may not be so positive. Although plants in the colder regions are expected to thrive as average global temperatures rise, even this benefit could be limited. Some tropical regions could lose up to 200 growing days a year, and more than two billion rural people could see their hopes wither on the vine or in the field. Even in temperate zones, there will ...
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First 4th Generation T Series Reach Customers
Coinciding with the launch of the new T-series in November 2014, the factory in Suolahti, Finland, began mass production of the newly developed and extensively tested tractor range. Across Europe, including in Germany, the first machines are already working on farmland and with contractors. We were present at one of the handovers, and talked to the new owners. A white T174e Direct with front ...
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Satellite mapping reveals agricultural slowdown in Latin America: UBC study
For the first time, satellite mapping of Latin America shows that the continent’s agricultural expansion has waned in the wake of the global economic downturn, according to UBC research. “Nearly every agricultural region across Latin America slowed down in expansion from 2007 to 2013, compared to the previous six years,” says Jordan Graesser, the study’s lead author. ...
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The effects of agricultural land use change on farmland birds in Sweden
The effects of changing agricultural practices on farmland birds are explored in a recently published study from Sweden. Overall abundance of 16 common species declined by 23% between 1994 and 2004, which may be partly caused by changes in land use, such as an increase in the amount of wheat cropland. However, effects vary between species, and some species increased or stayed stable in number. ...
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Fertiliser Calibration and Product Choice – Liquid Fertiliser Tanks
Farming UK recently examined how the correct set-up and calibration of spreaders can have a significant impact on the effectiveness of fertiliser applications. Correctly calibrated spreaders ensure the uniform application to grassland and maximum benefit from application. However, according to Rob Foxall, manager of spreader testing company, SCS, calibration is not just about getting your ...
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UK Farmers Urged to Prepare For Spring – Fertiliser Storage Tanks At Hand
We’d echo the advice of one of the UK’s leading fertiliser suppliers, as reported by Farming UK, and that is to be prepared for spring fertiliser applications. Because we had a very early harvest this year, good conditions in autumn and favourable weather ever since, most arable crops are well ahead and looking good going into winter, according to Allison Grundy, Arable Agronomist ...
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Sino-Dutch Dairy Expertise Centre is launched ushering in new era of high-level dairy cooperation
On December 2nd, the First Anniversary Celebration of the Sino-Dutch Dairy Development Centre (SDDDC) & the Launch Ceremony for the Dutch Dairy Expertise Centre was held in Beijing. At the event, a review of the work and achievements made over the past year was conducted. The Dutch Dairy Expertise Centre was also officially launched. This centre marks the further deepening of the Sino-Dutch ...
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Chevrolet supports grassland preservation program
Chevrolet has become the first corporate participant in a public-private initiative that pays farmers not to convert natural prairie to large-scale agriculture, which would release gases that are warming the planet, officials said Monday. The automaker, a division of General Motors, said it has bought more than 39,000 metric tons of carbon credits from North Dakota ranchers in the prairie ...
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Target Fertiliser Use on Grassland – Consider Large Liquid Fertiliser Tanks
Gemma Claxon recently wrote in Farmers Weekly how target-treating grass like an arable crop with compound fertiliser could lead to significant feed and fertiliser savings and also boost grass production in the process. The piece goes on to detail how many farmers are not yet unlocking the genetic potential of modern grass varieties, and yet doing so could well lead to high-quality yields, ...
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Soil nitrogen increased through greater plant biodiversity
Increased plant biodiversity improves grassland soil quality by boosting its nitrogen levels, even in the absence of nitrogen-fixing plants, recent research has found. Previous research has shown that grasslands with higher biodiversity had higher levels of carbon and nitrogen. However, in the case of nitrogen it has been suggested that this was purely a result of increased numbers of ...
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