Focusing on the different types of grassland farming and their impact on the environment, Environmental Impacts of Pasture-based Farming takes a broad and interdisciplinary view of the subject. The text is organized into two sections, the first addressing issues facing environmental quality, namely soil, water and air quality and socioeconomic impacts. The second section offers commentary on how the different pastoral sectors influence environmental issues. With highly tuned farm productive systems comes the risk of environmental impacts, and the purpose of this text is to highlight the areas with which these risks are associated and how best to mitigate them. While drawing attention to potential problems, chapter authors always remain conscious of the socio-economic needs of land users and the increasing world population and keep in mind that intense mitigation may be too restrictive on the farming system. This book takes an unbiased approach to improving management of grazed land and incorporates research from environmental science, agriculture, soil science and ecology.

Focusing on the different types of grassland farming and their impact on the environment, this book addresses issues facing environmental quality, namely soil, water and air quality and socioeconomic impacts. It also offers a commentary on how the different pastoral sectors influence environmental issues.

In order to meet increasing global demand for meat and animal by-products increasingly intensive animal production is necessary. Creating a sustainable system in animal agriculture that works in different production environments is a major challenge for animal scientists. This book draws together themes on sustainability that have emerged as the most pressing in recent years. Addressing practical topics such as air quality, manure management, animal feeds, production efficiency, environmental sustainability, biotechnology issues, animal welfare concerns, societal impacts and an analysis of the data used to assess the economic sustainability of farms.

The next stage in the food revolution: a radical way to select fruits and vegetables and reclaim the flavor and nutrients we've lost. Ever since farmers first planted seeds 10,000 years ago, humans have been destroying the nutritional value of their fruits and vegetables. Unwittingly, we've been selecting plants that are high in starch and sugar and low in vitamins, minerals, fiber, and antioxidants for more than 400 generations. Eating on the Wild Side reveals the solution -- choosing modern varieties that approach the nutritional content of wild plants but that also please the modern palate. Jo Robinson explains that many of these newly identified varieties can be found in supermarkets and farmer's market, and introduces simple, scientifically proven methods of preparation that enhance their flavor and nutrition. Based on years of scientific research and filled with food history and practical advice, Eating on the Wild Side will forever change the way we think about food.

"The assessment builds on the work of the Livestock, Environment and Development (LEAD) Initiative"--Pref.

This book covers the subject of grasslands used for grazing livestock. Grasslands can be split into improved and unimproved pastures (also a sub-set of rangelands). Land used for livestock industries occupy 70% agricultural land and about 40% of total land and produce 40% of agricultural gross domestic product (FAO, 2005; Steinfeld et al., 2006). Increasing populations and incomes, coupled with a change in diets and urbanisation in the developing world, is enhancing demand for pasture-based products (Devine, 2003; Schmidhuber and Shetty, 2005). For example, milk and meat production is predicted to double to just over 1 billion tonnes of milk and 465 million tonnes of meat by 2050 (Steinfeld et al., 2006). To meet these demands most effort will go into intensification of improved pastures, which translates into high stocking densities supported by large inputs of fertilisers, feed supplements and energy.

Livestock production systems are the result of an interaction between domestic animals and the environment, modulated by man, that dates back to Neolithic times. As a consequence of this interaction among the wide diversity of animal resources, natural habitats and population needs, very different farming systems have developed across the Mediterranean Basin. Understanding the mechanisms and effects of these relationships is key to design the farming systems best adapted to each condition, guaranteeing an adequate balance between target animal production and environmental outcomes provided by these systems. This is indeed a multidimensional topic, influenced by animal genetics, feeding resources, flock management, and economic and social aspects inside and outside the household. Therefore, this book focuses on the basis of the animal-environment interactions and the impact of human activities on the type and magnitude of these interactions. In this context, the issue of sustainability of livestock production is evaluated considering economic, social and environmental aspects. This book contributes to upgrade the state of the art in Mediterranean conditions, providing indicators and procedures of application across a wide range of systems, and hence of interest for researchers, students and professionals concerned with livestock production and the environment.

Review of the principles and management implications related to nitrogen in the soil-plant-water system.