http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn20630-zoologger-the-first-nonhuman-meat-farmers.html
If biologists' best guess proves correct, these ants raise their insect herds for meat, not milk – the first example of meat farmers other than humans. And that's not all. The insects they cultivate may be the best example of true domestication outside of our crop plants.
You have to know what you're looking for to even see Melissotarsus. The ants – barely 3 millimetres long – live most of their lives within the intricate gallery systems they excavate in and under the bark of trees. They're such committed burrowers that their second pair of legs points up, not down, so they can get a foothold in the tunnel roof as well as the floor. They share their galleries with several species of armoured scale insects, so-called because most species secrete a tough, waxy scale that covers and protects them.
Read on...
Showing posts with label farming. Show all posts
Showing posts with label farming. Show all posts
Sunday, July 3, 2011
Monday, June 20, 2011
Plague of ravenous mice eat farmer John Gregory's pigs
WHEN South Australian farmer John Gregory entered his piggery he could not believe what he saw - mice attacking his pigs.
Since he first saw them dining out on his prized stock he has been at his wit's end about how to get rid of them.
Now, as a desperate last resort, he is covering his pigs at a farm property in Wynarka, 130km east of Adelaide, in engine oil to protect them from the mice, with the rodents apparently turned off by the taste.
"The mouse problem got really bad in April," Mr Gregory said.
"We went away in the school holidays and when we came back we drove up the driveway and it looked like the ground was moving - there were hundreds of thousands of them."
Mr Gregory, 50, said he put engine oil on his 15 pigs to protect them from the sun about once a month.
Friday, May 20, 2011
Farming minister says badger cull 'may not happen'
 |
| Most farmers in the South West believe TB in cattle is spread by badgers |
A badger cull to prevent the spread of bovine tuberculosis (TB) in cattle may not happen, the farming minister has told the BBC.
Badgers are blamed by many farmers for spreading the disease, resulting in thousands of cows being destroyed.
However, in an interview for the Politics Show South West, minister Jim Paice said there was a "question-mark at this moment" over a cull.
The government confirmed that a decision was still due to be made.
The South West, west of England and Wales are among the areas worst-affected by TB in Britain.
The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) said 6,863 cattle with TB were slaughtered in Devon in 2009, while in Cornwall the figure was 3,545.
'Judicial review'
The government was expected to announce in May whether a cull of badgers would go ahead, but it has been delayed.
Conservative Mr Paice said: "We will be making our announcements about it in the not-too-distant future once we're certain that, if we were to go ahead, we could resist the inevitable judicial review that would come."
When asked if he meant "if" as opposed to "when", Mr Paice replied: "There has to be a question-mark at this moment in time until we make a final decision and an announcement."
The National Farmers' Union approves of a cull, saying it was needed to help farming.
However, animal rights activists have criticised the proposals.
See the full interview with Jim Paice on the Politics Show South West, BBC One South West, Sunday 22 May, 1100 BST.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-13462393
(Submitted by Dawn Holloway)
Friday, June 18, 2010
Farmers amazed by sheep 'slippers'
RIGHT: Mr Hughes with one of the speak grass seed 'shoes' he found on the feet of a sheep. (ABC Local: Julia Harris)By Chrissy Arthur
Updated Fri Jun 18, 2010 7:48am AEST
A south-west Queensland grazier says there is so much grass around, it is sticking to the wool around the sheep's legs, making the animals look like they are wearing "big slippers".
Andrew Hughes from Autumnvale near Thargomindah says the best season in 30 years has resulted in the unusual problem among his sheep flock.
Mr Hughes says it is creating the appearance the sheep are wearing boots.
"No one has ever seen them on the feet like this," he said.
"People have seen the grass seed get in the sheep's face when they stick their head down and into the feed but nothing this extreme.
"We've never seen this on our place in the 27 years we've been here, so it's quite amazing.
"It's sort of like a really big slipper, or work boot - they look like a human could put them on."
http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2010/06/18/2930258.htm
Monday, May 24, 2010
Wednesday, May 19, 2010
Sheep scans
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/nottinghamshire/8690897.stm
Putting a live sheep into a CT scanner looks ungainly, even slightly comical, but the science behind it has serious implications for Britain's national flock.
http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/images/47874000/jpg/_47874095_-15.jpg
One by one they are mildly sedated by a vet and then strapped to a gurney, complete with head cushion for comfort. Once loaded on to the machine itself, a slow conveyor takes them through the large white, donut-shaped scanner. This is not happening because the animal is hurt or injured, in fact the Charollais ram is in tip top condition and his owner wants more like him.
Dr Kevin Sinclair, a professor in developmental biology at The University of Nottingham, is helping farmers pick the best of the best to breed better quality meat into their flocks.
He says: "One argument for lamb becoming less popular as a meat is because people complain about it being too fatty. "Breeders are increasingly testing their animals for leanness and this does it with pinpoint accuracy." When asked about the issues surrounding genetics in farming he added: "Genetic modification conjures up all the wrong images in people's minds. What we're doing here is a process of selection, akin to natural selection, except we're speeding up the process and selecting for characteristics that we favour.
"This isn't new. Domestication in farm animals occurred 10,000 years ago and we've been doing it ever since. By using the technology we can do it with greater precision and accuracy that ever before."
The mobile scanner was brought down to Nottingham from the Scottish Agricultural College in Edinburgh which developed the technique. The university is the only place it has been used south of the border and it has been such a hit with farmers it is hoped a permanent unit will be set up at its Sutton Bonnington campus by the end of the year. Virtual cross-section slices appear on a radiologist's screen as each lamb passes through the former NHS scanner.
The images show the animal's fat, muscle and bone content. To improve their stock, farmers are looking for less fat and more muscle. The information is being put to good use by Charles Sercombe, who has a sheep farm in Leicestershire. At £85 per animal, he can only afford to scan a hand-picked trailer full, but believes it is a good investment for the future of his flock. By pinpointing the best of the best, Mr Sercombe says he can achieve better margins and sustainability: "As farmers I think we have a real duty at this moment in time to produce food more efficiently.
"There are obviously finite resources on this planet and I think we have a duty to the general population to produce faster growing, more muscled animals that use less resources and have less impact on the climate."
The superior genes of his fitter, leaner lambs fetch a premium when sold for breeding. The programme is being welcomed by an industry worth £822m a year in Britain. Mr Sercombe says the breeding programme has already increased his yield per lamb by two kilos. It will take two to three years for that to filter down through his whole flock and longer still to reach the general sheep population.
But as more farmers cotton on to this technology the future of British lamb is looking good.
Putting a live sheep into a CT scanner looks ungainly, even slightly comical, but the science behind it has serious implications for Britain's national flock.
http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/images/47874000/jpg/_47874095_-15.jpg
One by one they are mildly sedated by a vet and then strapped to a gurney, complete with head cushion for comfort. Once loaded on to the machine itself, a slow conveyor takes them through the large white, donut-shaped scanner. This is not happening because the animal is hurt or injured, in fact the Charollais ram is in tip top condition and his owner wants more like him.
Dr Kevin Sinclair, a professor in developmental biology at The University of Nottingham, is helping farmers pick the best of the best to breed better quality meat into their flocks.
He says: "One argument for lamb becoming less popular as a meat is because people complain about it being too fatty. "Breeders are increasingly testing their animals for leanness and this does it with pinpoint accuracy." When asked about the issues surrounding genetics in farming he added: "Genetic modification conjures up all the wrong images in people's minds. What we're doing here is a process of selection, akin to natural selection, except we're speeding up the process and selecting for characteristics that we favour.
"This isn't new. Domestication in farm animals occurred 10,000 years ago and we've been doing it ever since. By using the technology we can do it with greater precision and accuracy that ever before."
The mobile scanner was brought down to Nottingham from the Scottish Agricultural College in Edinburgh which developed the technique. The university is the only place it has been used south of the border and it has been such a hit with farmers it is hoped a permanent unit will be set up at its Sutton Bonnington campus by the end of the year. Virtual cross-section slices appear on a radiologist's screen as each lamb passes through the former NHS scanner.
The images show the animal's fat, muscle and bone content. To improve their stock, farmers are looking for less fat and more muscle. The information is being put to good use by Charles Sercombe, who has a sheep farm in Leicestershire. At £85 per animal, he can only afford to scan a hand-picked trailer full, but believes it is a good investment for the future of his flock. By pinpointing the best of the best, Mr Sercombe says he can achieve better margins and sustainability: "As farmers I think we have a real duty at this moment in time to produce food more efficiently.
"There are obviously finite resources on this planet and I think we have a duty to the general population to produce faster growing, more muscled animals that use less resources and have less impact on the climate."
The superior genes of his fitter, leaner lambs fetch a premium when sold for breeding. The programme is being welcomed by an industry worth £822m a year in Britain. Mr Sercombe says the breeding programme has already increased his yield per lamb by two kilos. It will take two to three years for that to filter down through his whole flock and longer still to reach the general sheep population.
But as more farmers cotton on to this technology the future of British lamb is looking good.
Thursday, February 4, 2010
Eat 'Sexy' Swine, Says Argentina's President
Saturday, January 30 02:56 pm
The president of Argentina has announced that pork is a more effective sexual stimulant than Viagra, as she tries to boost the country's pig industry.
Cristina Fernandez claimed she and her husband had just spent a fulfilling weekend of marital bliss after tucking into some barbecued chops.
"Eating pork improves your sex life. I'd say it's a lot nicer to eat a bit of grilled pork than take Viagra," she said in a speech to the leaders of Argentina's pig farming industry.
"And let me tell you, I am a big fan of pork meat, and I am not just saying that to look good here."
Ms Fernandez's half-joking comments were met with applause from the country's pork industry leaders.
The light-hearted comments introduced Fernandez's proposed subsidies for Argentina's pig business.
The president did, however, voice concern as to how her husband, former Argentinian president Nestor Kirchner, would react to her public revelation.
"I just realised what I said - Kirchner will kill me," she said.
The comment has been played repeatedly on television and radio stations, and has sparked fierce debate on whether Argentines, some of the world's most avid beef consumers, should add more pork to their diet.
Argentinians consume a little more than their body weight in beef every year and have little interest in replacing their beefy meals with chicken, pork or other meats.
The head of the association of pork producers, Juan Luis Uccelli, has supported Ms Fernandez's speech, saying that Denmark and Japan have a much more "harmonious" sexual life than Argentinians because they eat a lot of pig meat.
"In Osaka, Japan, there is a village in which the people who reached 105 years old and ate a lot of pork had a lot of sexual activity," he told a radio station.
Others were sceptical.
A specialist in sexual dysfunction, has told the Argentinian newspaper La Nacion that there was no study showing that pork meat significantly improves sexual activity.
http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=4348728589329576621
(Submitted by Richard Freeman)
The president of Argentina has announced that pork is a more effective sexual stimulant than Viagra, as she tries to boost the country's pig industry.
Cristina Fernandez claimed she and her husband had just spent a fulfilling weekend of marital bliss after tucking into some barbecued chops.
"Eating pork improves your sex life. I'd say it's a lot nicer to eat a bit of grilled pork than take Viagra," she said in a speech to the leaders of Argentina's pig farming industry.
"And let me tell you, I am a big fan of pork meat, and I am not just saying that to look good here."
Ms Fernandez's half-joking comments were met with applause from the country's pork industry leaders.
The light-hearted comments introduced Fernandez's proposed subsidies for Argentina's pig business.
The president did, however, voice concern as to how her husband, former Argentinian president Nestor Kirchner, would react to her public revelation.
"I just realised what I said - Kirchner will kill me," she said.
The comment has been played repeatedly on television and radio stations, and has sparked fierce debate on whether Argentines, some of the world's most avid beef consumers, should add more pork to their diet.
Argentinians consume a little more than their body weight in beef every year and have little interest in replacing their beefy meals with chicken, pork or other meats.
The head of the association of pork producers, Juan Luis Uccelli, has supported Ms Fernandez's speech, saying that Denmark and Japan have a much more "harmonious" sexual life than Argentinians because they eat a lot of pig meat.
"In Osaka, Japan, there is a village in which the people who reached 105 years old and ate a lot of pork had a lot of sexual activity," he told a radio station.
Others were sceptical.
A specialist in sexual dysfunction, has told the Argentinian newspaper La Nacion that there was no study showing that pork meat significantly improves sexual activity.
http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=4348728589329576621
(Submitted by Richard Freeman)
Tuesday, February 2, 2010
Chinese lanterns pose danger to livestock, NFU says
Monday, 1 February 2010
Chinese lanterns released into the air at outdoor events such as weddings are killing livestock, farmers say.
The paper lanterns with candles inside can float for several miles before crashing to the ground. They can cause injury or death if eaten by animals.
The National Farmers' Union has written to the government. Coastguards say they are often mistaken for distress flares.
UK-based maker Sky Lanterns says it is introducing safer lanterns and wants models using metal wire banned.
Farmers from across the country have contacted the BBC, complaining the lanterns are causing a serious problem.
The lanterns have long been used in ceremonies in Asia, where releasing them is thought to bring good luck and prosperity.
Pat Stanley, who breeds pedigree cattle near Coalville, Leicestershire, told BBC Radio 4's Farming Today she had found lanterns in her fields.
She said: "They may be very pretty, but they're incredibly dangerous and I would like to see them banned.
"They're made of a hoop of bamboo, which in itself is a very sharp piece of wood when it's broken, and then there's a crosspiece of wire.
"If we silage-make in any of these fields, this is all going to be chopped to pieces if we don't see it and find it. That's going to go into my silage clamp and next year I'm going to have dead cows."
She added: "If you went fly-tipping rubbish in the countryside and somebody caught you doing it, you could be prosecuted. People can launch this rubbish into the air, it can cause tremendous damage and nobody knows where it's come from."
Hugh Rowlands, who farms near Chester, told Farming Today: "I found a pedigree Red Poll cow on her side in the field. She was struggling for breath and her neck had swollen up considerably and she actually died almost exactly 48 hours after we found her.
"I found the remains of a Chinese lantern within a few yards of where the cow had been lying... and it had been well-chewed.
"Consulting the vet, his opinion was she had actually eaten part of the lantern and the fine wire inside it had punctured her oesophagus. So she'd in effect spent a long, painful 48 hours suffocating on her own feed."
Ruth Pidsley, a farmer from the Wirral, said she had woken up one morning to find 57 Chinese lanterns dotted around her farm.
She said: "We have had a couple of cattle that have had some sort of eating problem, but we do just wonder whether it is due to the fact there have been little bits of wire in the silage."
'Fire hazard'
The NFU is encouraging farmers who experience problems with lanterns to write to venues near their farms pointing out the dangers and urging them not to use them.
Spokesman Mike Thomas said: "If swallowed, the wire could puncture the stomach lining and cause extreme discomfort and in some cases could prove fatal.
"There's also a good chance that the wire part of the frame could get wrapped around an animal's foot and become embedded in the skin which would be terribly painful."
The NFU is also concerned lit lanterns could set fire to fields of standing crops or straw, or to barns or thatched properties.
Coastguards have reported several cases of false alarms after lanterns were mistaken for red flares sent up by boats in distress.
Jeff Matthews, a search and rescue operations manager from the Maritime and Coastguard Agency, urged people living near the coast to notify coastguards if they were planning to let off the Chinese lanterns.
He told BBC News: "They're often mistaken for marine distress flares and every marine distress flare that we are notified about, we have to investigate thoroughly to make sure that there's nobody in distress or injured or needing assistance."
A spokesman for Essex-based Sky Lanterns said: "We're working on a new Sky Lantern, which will be coming in in the next month or so, with no wire.
"It has been a big issue - but if a problem comes up we like to look at it and work with people to see how we can resolve it."
He said other products on the market would continue to use wire, adding: "We would like a ban on the metal ones."
The company's website urges anyone planning to use the lanterns near the coast to notify coastguards and warns against releasing them near dry crops.
Sky Lanterns says its products are 100% biodegradable.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/8490524.stm
(Submitted by Tim Chapman)
Chinese lanterns released into the air at outdoor events such as weddings are killing livestock, farmers say.
The paper lanterns with candles inside can float for several miles before crashing to the ground. They can cause injury or death if eaten by animals.
The National Farmers' Union has written to the government. Coastguards say they are often mistaken for distress flares.
UK-based maker Sky Lanterns says it is introducing safer lanterns and wants models using metal wire banned.
Farmers from across the country have contacted the BBC, complaining the lanterns are causing a serious problem.
The lanterns have long been used in ceremonies in Asia, where releasing them is thought to bring good luck and prosperity.
Pat Stanley, who breeds pedigree cattle near Coalville, Leicestershire, told BBC Radio 4's Farming Today she had found lanterns in her fields.
She said: "They may be very pretty, but they're incredibly dangerous and I would like to see them banned.
"They're made of a hoop of bamboo, which in itself is a very sharp piece of wood when it's broken, and then there's a crosspiece of wire.
"If we silage-make in any of these fields, this is all going to be chopped to pieces if we don't see it and find it. That's going to go into my silage clamp and next year I'm going to have dead cows."
She added: "If you went fly-tipping rubbish in the countryside and somebody caught you doing it, you could be prosecuted. People can launch this rubbish into the air, it can cause tremendous damage and nobody knows where it's come from."
Hugh Rowlands, who farms near Chester, told Farming Today: "I found a pedigree Red Poll cow on her side in the field. She was struggling for breath and her neck had swollen up considerably and she actually died almost exactly 48 hours after we found her.
"I found the remains of a Chinese lantern within a few yards of where the cow had been lying... and it had been well-chewed.
"Consulting the vet, his opinion was she had actually eaten part of the lantern and the fine wire inside it had punctured her oesophagus. So she'd in effect spent a long, painful 48 hours suffocating on her own feed."
Ruth Pidsley, a farmer from the Wirral, said she had woken up one morning to find 57 Chinese lanterns dotted around her farm.
She said: "We have had a couple of cattle that have had some sort of eating problem, but we do just wonder whether it is due to the fact there have been little bits of wire in the silage."
'Fire hazard'
The NFU is encouraging farmers who experience problems with lanterns to write to venues near their farms pointing out the dangers and urging them not to use them.
Spokesman Mike Thomas said: "If swallowed, the wire could puncture the stomach lining and cause extreme discomfort and in some cases could prove fatal.
"There's also a good chance that the wire part of the frame could get wrapped around an animal's foot and become embedded in the skin which would be terribly painful."
The NFU is also concerned lit lanterns could set fire to fields of standing crops or straw, or to barns or thatched properties.
Coastguards have reported several cases of false alarms after lanterns were mistaken for red flares sent up by boats in distress.
Jeff Matthews, a search and rescue operations manager from the Maritime and Coastguard Agency, urged people living near the coast to notify coastguards if they were planning to let off the Chinese lanterns.
He told BBC News: "They're often mistaken for marine distress flares and every marine distress flare that we are notified about, we have to investigate thoroughly to make sure that there's nobody in distress or injured or needing assistance."
A spokesman for Essex-based Sky Lanterns said: "We're working on a new Sky Lantern, which will be coming in in the next month or so, with no wire.
"It has been a big issue - but if a problem comes up we like to look at it and work with people to see how we can resolve it."
He said other products on the market would continue to use wire, adding: "We would like a ban on the metal ones."
The company's website urges anyone planning to use the lanterns near the coast to notify coastguards and warns against releasing them near dry crops.
Sky Lanterns says its products are 100% biodegradable.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/8490524.stm
(Submitted by Tim Chapman)
Friday, December 4, 2009
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