Arable farming

MAFF/SOAFD Pesticide Usage Survey Group, Arable Farm Crops in Great Britain 1994, 1995. Water Research Council, Atmospheric Sources of PoUntion. Inputs of Trace Organics to Surface Waters, R D Report No. 20, Water Research Council, 1995. 

The advantages for autumn calving, particularly on the dairy/arable farm, are ... 

Some dairy and arable farms buy in store lambs in the late summer or autumn to utilise excess grass and arable by-products, during the... 

Although stockless systems can be practised on arable farms, by the use of green manures to maintain soil nutrient status, the need for the addition of animals as a source of recycled excreta, and as graziers, has long been recognised. At the time of the golden hoof, field owners paid shepherds for the use of their sheep, if only to have them penned up on a particular field overnight. 

Wijnands FG (1997) Integrated crop protection and environment exposure to pesticides methods to reduce use and impact of pesticides in arable farming. Eur J Agron 7 251-260 Williams CM (2002) Nutritional quality of organic food shades of grey or shades of green Am J Pathol 61(l) 19-24... 

Pulleman M, Jongmans A, Marinissen J, Bouma J (2006) Effects of organic versus conventional arable farming on soil structure and organic matter dynamics in a marine loam in the Netherlands. Soil Use Manage 19 157-165... 

Control of NH3 loss during grassland production presents many problems. The most readily manipulated loss is that arising from land application of slurry. Injection effectively eliminates NH3 loss, as discussed above, and is sometimes reflected in increased efficiency of utilisation of the N applied (29). On grass/arable farms, application of slurry prior to ploughing or cultivation also increases N recovery by the following crop. However, the speed with which NH3 loss can occur requires that cultivation takes place almost immediately after application (29). 

Furthermore, the analysis of 317 Swiss organic arable farms showed that 75.7% of the farms cultivated more than six crops, while 87.5% cultivated more than 4 crops in their rotation (Freyer 1997). A 14% higher diversity of organie arable land use after conversion is calculated for Brandenburg, Germany, using the Shannon index (Piorr, H.P. et al. 1997). 

Fuller, R. J. (1997). Responses of Birds to Organic Arable Farming Mechanisms and Evidence. Paper presented at the 1997 British Crop Protection Council Conference Brighton. 

Van Leeuwen, W. and F. G. Wijnands (1997b). Organic Arable Farming on Clay Soils. Results DFS Organic Systems 1992-1996. 

Seaweed was once widely used as a fertilizer in coastal regions of the Atlantic seaboard of Europe and elsewhere access to this resource was available and arable farming was conducted. Seaweed is rich in a wide range of nutrients, improves soil texture and quality, and is a renewable and sustainable resource as it is deposited routinely in large quantities on many beaches. For coastal farms, this resource is on their doorstep and requires only limited transportation. 

Gosling, P. and Shepherd, M. 2005. Long-term changes in soil fertility in organic arable farming systems in England, with particular reference to phosphorus and potassium. Agriculture, Ecosystem and Environment 105 425-432. 

Mixed farm (milk cows) Mixed farm (various animals) Mixed farm (pigs) Arable farm 30-50 25 40 20-35 25-30° 30-50 40-60 50-60 40-60 5-15 10-20 15-25 20-30 20-50 20-50 40-60 40-60... 

Restrictions in organic standards include a ban of mineral N fertilisers and a limitation of livestock density. More characteristic of organic farms, therefore, is that N tends to be a minimal factor, particularly on arable farms. Since the opportunity costs to produce N on-farm in organic systems can amount to from seven to 16 times the cost of mineral N fertilisers (e.g. Stolze 1998), it is of particular economic interest to avoid N losses. As far as nutrient deficiencies are concerned, Unwin et al. (1995) argue that the medium-term effects of an unbalanced nutrient supply are likely to take the form of a reduction in economic performance rather than environmental detriment. 

Data on P leaching and runoff from organic agriculture are scarce. As nutrient balances for organic farms rarely show a significant surplus of P, losses are assumed to be small (Edwards and Withers 1998). A more reliable indicator to determine losses could be the differences in the dominant loss pathways in livestock and arable farming. 

Edwards, C.A., Lal, R., Madden, P., Miller, R.H. and House, G. 1990. Research on integrated arable farming and organic mixed farming in the Netherlands. In Edwards, C.A., Lal, R., Madden, P., Miller, R.H. and House, G. (eds) Sustainable Agricultural Systems. Soil and Water Conservation Society, Ankeny, pp 287-296. 

Fuller, R.J. 1997. Responses of birds to organic arable farming mechanisms and evidence. 

Helander, C.A. and Delin, K. 2004. Evaluation of farming systems according to valuation indices developed within a European network on integrated and ecological arable farming systems. European Journal of Agronomy 21 2 )-. 53-67. 

R. P. Davis, M. R. Thomas, D. G. Garthwaite and H. M. Bowen, Pesticide Usage Survey Report 108 Arable Farm Crops in Great Britain, MAFF, London, 1992. 

One test of the method was conducted over a medium-sized iron-copper deposit near the southeastern coast of China. The ore body occurs in a skam near to the contact of granodiorite with interlayered marbles and homfels. The attitude of the ore body is controlled by the contact, which generally is steep. The strike of the ore zones is approximately east-west, plunging west, and their western contact is westerly convex. The top of the ore body, which may have been eroded, is now covered by 140 to 160 m of transported sediments. There is a thick soil cover the ground surface is quite flat and suitable for arable farming. 

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