Farms in Biological News

When fish farms are built along the coast, where does the waste go?

If you are a fish eater, it's likely that the salmon you had for dinner was not caught in the wild, but was instead grown in a mesh cage submerged in the open water of oceans or bays. Fish farming, a relatively inexpensive way to provide cheap protein to a growing world population, now supplies, b...

A win-win: U-pick pumpkin farms recycle urban leaves

NEW BRUNSWICK, NJAmericans love pumpkins. The growing popularity of rural fall festivals, grade school farm tours, and "u-pick" pumpkin farms has resulted in an increase in consumer demand for pumpkins throughout the country. A critical challenge for pumpkin farmers promoting entertainment agricul...

Fish farms drive wild salmon populations toward extinction

A study appearing in the December 14 issue of the journal Science shows, for the first time, that parasitic sea lice infestations caused by salmon farms are driving nearby populations of wild salmon toward extinction. The results show that the affected pink salmon populations have been rapidly dec...

The power of multiples: Connecting wind farms can make a more reliable - and cheaper - power source

Wind power, long considered to be as fickle as wind itself, can be groomed to become a steady, dependable source of electricity and delivered at a lower cost than at present, according to scientists at Stanford University. The key is connecting wind farms throughout a given geographic area wit...

Tilting at wind farms

A way to make wind power smoother and more efficient that exploits the inertia of a wind turbine rotor could help solve the problem of wind speed variation, according to research published in the International Journal of Power Electronics . Wind power is being touted as a clean and inexhaustib...

Turning freshwater farm ponds into crab farms

Work by researchers at North Carolina State University is leading to a new kind of crab harvest blue crabs grown and harvested from freshwater ponds, instead of from the sea. Crab lovers shouldn't worry, researchers say, because the pond-raised crabs look and taste just like their ocean-raised...

Salmon farms kill wild fish, study shows

New research confirms that sea lice from fish farms kill wild salmon. Up to 95 per cent of the wild juvenile salmon that migrate past fish farms die as a result of sea lice infestation from the farms. The results of the research have been published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Scie...

Organic farms produce same yields as conventional farms

Organic farming produces the same yields of corn and soybeans as does conventional farming, but uses 30 percent less energy, less water and no pesticides, a review of a 22-year farming trial study concludes. David Pimentel, a Cornell University professor of ecology and agriculture, concludes, "Or...

New project aims to make large-scale lobster farms feasible

Harbor Branch scientists have received new funding for a research program they hope will make large-scale culturing of spiny lobster economically feasible. The project is based on the serendipitous discovery that lobster larvae are settling on open water fish cages in Puerto Rico by the thousands. ...

Researchers reveal the infectious impact of salmon farms on wild salmon

A new study published in the March 30th edition of the prestigious scientific journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B (a publication of the UK's national academy of science) shows that the transfer of parasitic sea lice from salmon farms to wild salmon populations is much larger and more extensi...

Sustainable agriculture at the ESA Annual Meeting

...at the ESA meeting, shows that increasing the natural habitat in and around farms can boost populations of pests' natural enemies. Rebecca Chaplin-Kramer o... the relationship between conventional tilling and low-tilling practices on farms in semi-arid areas of west Texas. In areas where soil tilling was kept at a...

New study ranks 'hotspots' of human impact on coastal areas

...ll almost certainly fail if they don't directly address what people are doing on land upstream from these locations." Nutrient runoff from upstream farms has caused a persistent "dead zone" in the Gulf of Mexico, where the Mississippi runs into this body of water. The dead zone is caused by an overgrowt...

'Uphold the ban'

...ntries, including China - historically the largest market for tiger products. However, a handful of wealthy businessmen who own large-scale tiger farms are asking the Chinese government to lift China's 16-year ban on tiger trade so that wine and other products made from tiger parts can be sold domesti...

Study highlights massive imbalances in global fertilizer use

...atically increased food production worldwide. But the unintended costs to the environment and human health have been substantial. Nitrogen runoff from farms has contaminated surface and groundwater and helped create massive "dead zones" in coastal areas, such as the Gulf of Mexico. And ammonia from fertili...

Improving livestock productivity in Honduras

...hrough a sizeable database of up to 200 cattle farms. For this year alone, data on the production, reproductive and health status of livestock at 6-12 farms out of the 200 will be constantly monitored in an effort to suggest and implement better management practices. The network of diagnostic laboratories ...

Wiping out the world's mass migrations

...s is an awareness issue. People don't realize what we have and are losing," says Harris. "We lose migrations and become biologically depauperate with farms and fences, even though there is no reason why humanity cannot technically and socially advance while maintaining natural phenomena. A balance can be ...

Hunt for 'climate-ready' crops accelerates as organizations search seed collections worldwide

...c rains, while increasing its nutritional quality for small-scale, marginal farms in Sub-Saharan Africa. Working together with the Trust in the effort wil...c rains, while increasing its nutritional quality for small-scale, marginal farms in Sub-Saharan Africa. The African Centre for Crop Improvement will build ...

Grasslands: The future of sustainable agriculture

...e can expect to get them. We will get them only to the extent that young people come along who are willing to fit their farming to the nature of their farms and their home landscapes, and who recognize the paramount importance of grass and grazing animals to good farming everywhere." Taking its inspirat...

Wind, salt and water are leading indicators of land degradation in Abu Dhabi

...al balance, enhancement of environmental quality, habitat restoration, and improved aesthetic value. Soil salinity is also a threat to agricultural farms and coastal areas. Due to the prevailing hyper-arid conditions in Abu Dhabi Emirate, the soil receives inadequate precipitation to effectively leach s...

Study reveals potential to amass more carbon in eastern North American forests

... across eastern North America where forests were leveled historically to make room for agriculture, and then grew up again as settlers abandoned their farms and headed west. In Wisconsin, for example, forest biomass and carbon have been steadily recovering since the peak of agricultural clearing in the 193...

Down to Earth carbon science: Briefing April 15 in DC

... year, offsetting up to 11% of U.S. greenhouse gas emissions. The briefing, "Down to Earth Carbon Science: Mitigating Climate Change with America's farms and Forests", will be held in Washington, DC, on Wednesday, April 15, 2009 at 10:30 am in 1334 Longworth House Office Building and again at 3:00 pm in...

Public trust doctrine could aid management of US oceans

...aine, as an example, a wide range of different activities -- including shipping lanes, ferry routes, U.S. Navy operations, fisheries and proposed wind farms -- overlap critical habitat of the endangered right whale," she says. "Most of these are regulated by separate agencies, with only piecemeal coordina...

Tiny super-plant can clean up animal waste and be used for ethanol production

...a tiny aquatic plant can be used to clean up animal waste at industrial hog farms and potentially be part of the answer for the global energy crisis. Their r...ater, from livestock production to municipal wastewater. Large-scale hog farms manage their animal waste by storing it in large "lagoons" for biological t...

Study reveals potential to amass more carbon in eastern North American forests

... across eastern North America where forests were leveled historically to make room for agriculture, and then grew up again as settlers abandoned their farms and headed west. In Wisconsin, for example, forest biomass and carbon have been steadily recovering since the peak of agricultural clearing in the 193...

Intruder alert: Tel Aviv University's 'Smart Dew' will find you!

...nimal, car and truck. "We've created a generic system that has no scale limitations," says Prof. Shapira. This makes it especially useful for large farms or even the borders of nations where it's difficult, and sometimes impractical, to install fences or constantly patrol them. "Most people could nev...

Troutlodge, University of Miami sign aquaculture agreement

..." The UM Aquaculture Program has worked with Snapperfarm/Open Blue Sea farms for the last ten years in demonstrating the technological, environmental an...d economical feasibility of developing open ocean aquafarms. Open Blue Sea farms will continue to be a lead partner and customer of this new initiative. ...

Cropland diversity reduces nitrogen pollution

...in the United States has doubled and the number of farms has fallen by almost two-thirds. Broussard also sa...t: the nitrogen leakage rate is higher." Modern farms tend to produce fewer crop varieties; this lower c...ussard says, is difficult to discern. "Diverse farms tend to have smaller fields with more edges, which...

Study finds MRSA in Midwestern swine, workers

... animals when examining the epidemiology of MRSA. "Iowa ranks first in the nation in swine production," Smith said. "Transmission of MRSA on swine farms or in veterinary facilities could complicate efforts to reduce MRSA transmission statewide and beyond." The investigators recommended that future s...

Vidalia onions: Alternative to hand-transplanting proven effective

...ecipes and relishes. Onion producers in the Vidalia region have traditionally used transplants to produce dry bulb onions. Transplants are grown on farms in high-density plantings, then pulled and transplanted to their final spacing. The delicate nature of Vidalia onions requires that they be transplant...

Another reason to drink a nice cup of shade-grown joe

...ver beans that were grown in the sun: Shade coffee farms not only harbor a diverse array of birds and bats,...diversity of native tree species. "Shade coffee farms allow birds and bats to move and disperse seeds th...g important seed dispersal processes, shade coffee farms maintain plant population gene flow across fragmen...

Shade coffee benefits more than birds

... initially wanted to find out whether shade coffee farms nurture native pollinators such as stingless bees....he story of how Miconia trees spread into coffee farms and how their dispersal affects the tree populatio...rom Miconia trees growing in a network of coffee farms and forest fragments. Typical of many coffee...

Modified plants may yield more biofuel

..." Carlson added that the technology could potentially be transferred to other biomass crops and even help turn agricultural waste products found on farms into animal feed. But the modified plants will require federal approval before they can be commercialized. ...

Ocean fish farming harms wild fish, study says

...infected and die as a result. Larger numbers of lice are especially dire for salmon because juvenile salmon must transit coastal areas where salmon farms are located. Juvenile pink and chum salmon (Pacific species) suffer most because they spend much of their early life in coastal waters, and they are s...

From genes to farmers' fields

...ectively identical to their susceptible counterparts, but recover after severe flooding to yield well. A 1-9 November tour of research stations and farms in Bangladesh and India led by David Mackill, senior rice breeder at the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI), marked the successful completio...

Montana State researchers receive grant to study algae as a source of biofuel

...r biofuel crops," Peyton said. "And 200 may be a low number." Algae also have benefits that make farming them easier on growers, Peyton said. Algae farms can be located on non-prime agricultural land and can use water not suitable for food crops. "Algae, unlike some other biofuel crops, don't double...

New hybrid plants could prompt more prodigious pepper production in Southwest

...umer," he said. The team has established the first-known poblano pepper production in Texas through a partnership with San Antonio-based Constanzo farms and is collaborating with other large producers in New Mexico and Arizona. They have licensed two hot pepper cultivars in the past three years and...

Cost-effective farm waste-to-energy technology focus of research

... Michigan State University researchers in developing technology for smaller farms to turn animal waste into usable heat, electricity and other valuable produ...not a new concept, and has been applied in recent years by some large dairy farms to generate power. Development of scalable, modular systems could allow sma...

Green coffee-growing practices buffer climate-change impacts

...es thinning or removing the canopy. Shade-grown farms boost biodiversity by providing a haven for birds ...o coffee production. In Latin America, most coffee farms lack irrigation---relying solely on rainwater---wh... Lin's work in southern Mexico showed that shady farms have greater water availability than sunny farms, ...

Severe climate change costs forecast for Pennsylvania, N.C., Tennessee, N.D.

...markets may experience are likely to affect all states and many sectors." "While some of the benefits from climate change may accrue to individual farms or businesses, the cost of dealing with adverse climate impacts are typically borne by society as a whole. These costs to society will not be uniforml...

ESA to feature wide range of UW-Madison presentations

...are least successful in places with many roads and farms because these landscape features represent contact...ing interest in using the uncultivated portions of farms for biodiversity conservation purposes. The Wisco...potato fields in central Wisconsin. Participating farms currently around a dozen conduct one or more man...