A diversified organic pork production – presentation of a concept based on seasonal outdoor rearing of very small entire males

The risk of boar taint in entire males is supposed to increase with increased age and weight. Thus, a method to reduce this risk may be to slaughter the pigs at a low age and weight. This strategy is investigated as part of a new concept for organic pig production. It is hypothesised that organic pork has to differ markedly from conventional in order to overcome the heavy price competition. A seasonal outdoor rearing system based on production of small entire males, large female pigs and sows slaughtered after their first litter is believed to be a feasible strategy for producing organic pork with high credibility and superior eating quality. The study included a traditional breed, the Danish Black-Spotted. 17 gilts farrowed in April. Within the first week after birth all male pigs, except 2 male pigs per litter, were castrated. The piglets were weaned at 10 weeks of age in June/July but stayed in the paddocks with access to the farrowing hut. The entire male pigs were slaughtered in July at approximately 40 kg live weight. The female pigs were slaughtered in the beginning of November. hvad med Preliminary results showed e.g. a higher daily gain for entire males compared to castrated (390 vs. 332 g per day) and indicated higher content of skatole in the traditional breed compared to a more modern breed

Forbedrede udearealer i økologisk ægproduktion

Med henblik på at styrke forsknings- og udviklingsindsatsen inden for økologisk fjerkræproduktion, blev det muligt med finansiering fra Direktoratet for FødevareErhverv, i 2001 at påbegynde udviklingsprojektet ”Fjerkræets udearealer ved økologisk produktion”. Projektet tog udgangspunkt i en række interessetilkendegivelser fra fjerkræproducenter og andre interesserede indenfor økologisk fjerkræproduktion, og projektet blev planlagt i et samarbejde mellem • Brancheforeningen for Økologiske Æg- og Fjerkræproducenter • Dansk Erhvervsfjerkræ • Landsforeningen for Økologisk Jordbrug • Landskontoret for Fjerkrærådgivning og • Danmarks JordbrugsForskning som koordinerende partner Det var en grundlæggende ide i projektet at tage udgangspunkt i de medvirkende producenters allerede opbyggede erfaringsgrundlag og idéer til videre udvikling. En del af projektet tog udgangspunkt i en interessetilkendegivelse fra en gruppe ægproducenter, ”Hønsegården” A.m.b.a., der havde et samarbejde om videndeling og afsætning. Producenterne havde i samarbejde med Landskontoret for Fjerkrærådgivning identificeret udearealerne (hønsegårdene) som et centralt område, hvor der var behov for yderligere viden om den mest hensigtsmæssige indretning og drift i forhold til såvel hønernes produktivitet og velfærd som miljøeffekter. Rapporten beskriver de opnåede resultater fra denne del af projektet og på grundlag heraf gives anbefalinger til, hvorledes udearealerne mest hensigtsmæssigt bør indrettes

Changes in aerosol properties during spring-summer period in the Arctic troposphere

The change in aerosol properties during the transition from the more polluted spring to the clean summer in the Arctic troposphere was studied. A six-year data set of observations from Ny-Ålesund on Svalbard, covering the months April through June, serve as the basis for the characterisation of this time period. In addition four-day-back trajectories were used to describe air mass histories. The observed transition in aerosol properties from an accumulation-mode dominated distribution to an Aitken-mode dominated distribution is discussed with respect to long-range transport and influences from natural and anthropogenic sources of aerosols and pertinent trace gases. Our study shows that the air-mass transport is an important factor modulating the physical and chemical properties observed. However, the air-mass transport cannot alone explain the annually repeated systematic and rather rapid change in aerosol properties, occurring within a limited time window of approximately 10 days. With a simplified phenomenological model, which delivers the nucleation potential for new-particle formation, we suggest that the rapid shift in aerosol microphysical properties between the Arctic spring and summer is mainly driven by the incoming solar radiation in concert with transport of precursor gases and changes in condensational sink

Evaluation of non-chemical seed treatment methods for the control of Alternaria dauci and A. radicina on carrot seeds

The current study was initiated to evaluate the efficacy of physical methods (hot water, aerated steam, electron treatment) and agents of natural origin (resistance inducers, plant derived products, micro-organisms) as seed treatments of carrots for control of Alternaria dauci and A. radicina. Control of both Alternaria species by seed treatment with the resistance inducers was generally poor. Results were also not satisfactory with most of the formulated commercial micro-organism preparations. Based on the average of five field trials, one of these, BA 2552 (Pseudomonas chlororaphis), provided a low but significant increase in plant stand. Among the experimental micro-organisms, the best results were obtained with Pseudomonas sp. strain MF 416 and Clonostachys rosea strain IK726. A similar level of efficacy was provided by seed treatment with an emulsion (1%) of thyme oil in water. Good and consistent control was generally achieved with the physical methods aerated steam, hot water and electron treatment. Aerated steam treatment was, apart from the thiram-containing chemical standard, the best single treatment, and its performance may at least partially be due to extensive pre-testing, resulting in dosages optimally adapted to the respective seed lot. In some of the experiments the effect of the hot water treatment, which was tested at a fixed, not specifically adapted dosage, was significantly improved when combined with a Pseudomonas sp. MF 416 or C. rosea IK726 treatment. The results are discussed in relation to the outcome of experiments in which the same seed treatment methods and agents were tested in other seed-borne vegetable pathosystems

Inductive microwave response of Yu-Shiba-Rusinov states

We calculate the frequency-dependent admittance of a phase-biased Josephson junction spanning a magnetic impurity or a spinful Coulomb-blockaded quantum dot. The local magnetic moment gives rise to Yu-Shiba-Rusinov bound states, which govern the subgap absorption as well as the inductive response. We model the system by a superconducting spin-polarized exchange-cotunnel junction and calculate the linear current response to an ac bias voltage, including its dependence on phase bias as well as particle-hole and source-drain coupling asymmetry. The corresponding inductive admittance is analyzed and compared to results of a zero bandwidth, as well as an infinite-gap approximation to the superconducting Anderson model. All three approaches capture the interaction-induced 0-π transition, which is reflected as a discontinuity in the adiabatic inductive respons

Very Strong Atmospheric Methane Growth in the 4 Years 2014–2017:Implications for the Paris Agreement

Atmospheric methane grew very rapidly in 2014 (12.7 ± 0.5 ppb/year), 2015 (10.1 ± 0.7 ppb/year), 2016 (7.0 ± 0.7 ppb/year), and 2017 (7.7 ± 0.7 ppb/year), at rates not observed since the 1980s. The increase in the methane burden began in 2007, with the mean global mole fraction in remote surface background air rising from about 1,775 ppb in 2006 to 1,850 ppb in 2017. Simultaneously the 13 C/ 12 C isotopic ratio (expressed as δ 13 C CH4 ) has shifted, has shifted, now trending negative for more than a decade. The causes of methane's recent mole fraction increase are therefore either a change in the relative proportions (and totals) of emissions from biogenic and thermogenic and pyrogenic sources, especially in the tropics and subtropics, or a decline in the atmospheric sink of methane, or both. Unfortunately, with limited measurement data sets, it is not currently possible to be more definitive. The climate warming impact of the observed methane increase over the past decade, if continued at >5 ppb/year in the coming decades, is sufficient to challenge the Paris Agreement, which requires sharp cuts in the atmospheric methane burden. However, anthropogenic methane emissions are relatively very large and thus offer attractive targets for rapid reduction, which are essential if the Paris Agreement aims are to be attained

Concepts of Animal Health and Welfare in Organic Livestock Systems

In 2005, The International Federation of Organic Agricultural Movements (IFOAM) developed four new ethical principles of organic agriculture to guide its future development: the principles of health, ecology, care, and fairness. The key distinctive concept of animal welfare in organic agriculture combines naturalness and human care, and can be linked meaningfully with these principles. In practice, a number of challenges are connected with making organic livestock systems work. These challenges are particularly dominant in immature agro-ecological systems, for example those that are characterized by industrialization and monoculture. Some of the current challenges are partly created by shortages of land and manure, which encourage zero-grazing and other confined systems. Other challenges are created in part by the conditions for farming and the way in which global food distribution systems are organized, e.g., how live animals are transported, how feed is traded and transported all over the globe, and the development of infrastructure and large herds. We find that the overall organic principles should be included when formulating guidelines for practical organic animal farming. This article explores how the special organic conceptions of animal welfare are related to the overall principles of organic agriculture. The aim is to identify potential routes for future development of organic livestock systems in different contexts and with reference to the specific understanding of animal welfare in organic agriculture. We include two contrasting cases represented by organic livestock systems in northwestern Europe and farming systems in tropical low-income countries; we use these cases to explore the widely different challenges of organic livestock systems in different parts of the world

History of chemically and radiatively important atmospheric gases from the Advanced Global Atmospheric Gases Experiment (AGAGE)

We present the organization, instrumentation, datasets, data interpretation, modeling, and accomplishments of the multinational global atmospheric measurement program AGAGE (Advanced Global Atmospheric Gases Experiment). AGAGE is distinguished by its capability to measure globally, at high frequency, and at multiple sites all the important species in the Montreal Protocol and all the important non-carbon-dioxide (non-CO₂) gases assessed by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (CO₂ is also measured at several sites). The scientific objectives of AGAGE are important in furthering our understanding of global chemical and climatic phenomena. They are the following: (1) to accurately measure the temporal and spatial distributions of anthropogenic gases that contribute the majority of reactive halogen to the stratosphere and/or are strong infrared absorbers (chlorocarbons, chlorofluorocarbons – CFCs, bromocarbons, hydrochlorofluorocarbons – HCFCs, hydrofluorocarbons – HFCs and polyfluorinated compounds (perfluorocarbons – PFCs), nitrogen trifluoride – NF₃, sulfuryl fluoride – SO₂F₂, and sulfur hexafluoride – SF₆) and use these measurements to determine the global rates of their emission and/or destruction (i.e., lifetimes); (2) to accurately measure the global distributions and temporal behaviors and determine the sources and sinks of non-CO₂ biogenic–anthropogenic gases important to climate change and/or ozone depletion (methane – CH₄, nitrous oxide – N₂O, carbon monoxide – CO, molecular hydrogen – H₂, methyl chloride – CH₃Cl, and methyl bromide – CH₃Br); (3) to identify new long-lived greenhouse and ozone-depleting gases (e.g., SO₂F₂, NF₃, heavy PFCs (C₄F₁₀, C₅F₁₂, C₆F₁₄, C₇F₁₆, and C₈F₁₈) and hydrofluoroolefins (HFOs; e.g., CH₂  =  CFCF₃) have been identified in AGAGE), initiate the real-time monitoring of these new gases, and reconstruct their past histories from AGAGE, air archive, and firn air measurements; (4) to determine the average concentrations and trends of tropospheric hydroxyl radicals (OH) from the rates of destruction of atmospheric trichloroethane (CH₃CCl₃), HFCs, and HCFCs and estimates of their emissions; (5) to determine from atmospheric observations and estimates of their destruction rates the magnitudes and distributions by region of surface sources and sinks of all measured gases; (6) to provide accurate data on the global accumulation of many of these trace gases that are used to test the synoptic-, regional-, and global-scale circulations predicted by three-dimensional models; and (7) to provide global and regional measurements of methane, carbon monoxide, and molecular hydrogen and estimates of hydroxyl levels to test primary atmospheric oxidation pathways at midlatitudes and the tropics. Network Information and Data Repository: <a href="http://agage.mit.edu/data" target="_blank">http://agage.mit.edu/data</a> or <a href="http://cdiac.ess-dive.lbl.gov/ndps/alegage.html" target="_blank">http://cdiac.ess-dive.lbl.gov/ndps/alegage.html</a> (<a href="https://doi.org/10.3334/CDIAC/atg.db1001" target="_blank">https://doi.org/10.3334/CDIAC/atg.db1001</a>)

Seasonal organic pig production with a local breed

It is important that organic pork differs markedly from conventional pork regarding taste, appearance and production methods in order to overcome the heavy price competition. That is the hypothesis behind the current project