This collection addresses recent research on challenges facing organic animal farming such as more targeted breeding, improved grazing and feed rations, better methods of health and disease management as well as ways of enhancing animal welfare.

Safety and Practice for Organic Food covers current food safety issues and trends. It provides detailed information on all organic and pasture practices including produce-only, farm-animal-only or integrated crop-livestock farming, as well as the impact of these practices on food safety and foodborne infections. The book explores food products that organic, integrated and traditional farming systems are contributing to consumers. As the demand for organic food products grows faster than ever, this book discusses current and improved practices for safer products. Moreover, the book explores progressive directions, such as the application of next-generation sequencing and genomics to aid in the understanding of the microbial ecology of the agro-environment and how farmer education can contribute to sustainable and safe food. Safety and Practice for Organic Food is a unique source of organic agricultural practices and food production for researchers, academics and professionals at agriculture-based universities and colleges who are involved in food science, animal sciences including poultry science, food safety, food microbiology, plant science and agricultural extension. This book is also an excellent source of information for regulators and federal government officials (USDA, FDA, EPA) and the food processing industry. - Discusses limitations in pre-harvest and post-harvest level practices with specific information on risk and bio-security of existing organic production systems - Explores policies and guidelines for organic food production and future directions for safer and more sustainable management - Presents microbial and other biological hazards at pre-harvest and post-harvest levels

Learn how to use natural no-till systems to increase profitability, efficiency, carbon sequestration, and soil health on your small farm. The Organic No-Till Farming Revolution is the comprehensive farmer-developed roadmap showing how no-till lowers barriers to starting a small farm, reduces greenhouse gas emissions, increases efficiency and profitability, and promotes soil health. Farming without tilling has long been a goal of agriculture, yet tilling remains one of the most dominant paradigms; almost everyone does it. But tilling kills beneficial soil life, burns up organic matter, and releases carbon dioxide. If the ground could instead be prepared for planting without tilling, time and energy could be saved, soil organic matter increased, carbon sequestered, and dependence on machinery reduced. This hands-on manual offers: Why roller-crimper no-till methods don't work for most small farms A decision-making framework for the four no-till methods: occultation, solarization, organic mulches grown in place, and applied to beds Ideas for starting a no-till farm or transitioning a working farm A list of tools, supplies, and sources. This is the only manual of its kind, specifically written for natural and small-scale farmers who wish to expand or explore chemical-free, regenerative farming methods.

Completely revised, updated and with four new chapters on sustainability, new technologies, precision agriculture and the future of animal welfare. This book is edited by an outstanding world expert on animal welfare, it emphasizes throughout the importance of measuring conditions that compromise welfare, such as lameness, heat stress, body condition, and bruises during transport.The book combines scientific information with practical recommendations for use on commercial operations and reviews practical information on livestock handling, euthanasia, slaughter, pain relief, and assessments of abnormal behavior.

Detailed practical guide to the successful production and marketing of organic milk, meat and eggs. Essential technical information for farmers, advisers, teachers and students.

Advances in Organic Farming: Agronomic Soil Management Practices focuses on the integrated interactions between soil-plant-microbe-environment elements in a functioning ecosystem. It explains sustainable nutrient management under organic farming and agriculture, with chapters focusing on the role of nutrient management in sustaining global ecosystems, the remediation of polluted soils, conservation practices, degradation of pollutants, biofertilizers and biopesticides, critical biogeochemical cycles, potential responses for current and impending environmental change, and other critical factors. Organic farming is both challenging and exciting, as its practice of "feeding the soil, not the plant provides opportunity to better understand why some growing methods are preferred over others. In the simplest terms, organic growing is based on maintaining a living soil with a diverse population of micro and macro soil organisms. Organic matter (OM) is maintained in the soil through the addition of compost, animal manure, green manures and the avoidance of excess mechanization. - Presents a comprehensive overview of recent advances and new developments in the field OF research within a relevant theoretical framework - Highlights the scope of the inexpensive and improved management practices - Focuses on the role of nutrient management in sustaining the ecosystems

Authored by a renowned animal scientist with a peerless reputation in organic livestock nutrition, A Practical Guide to the Feeding of Organic Farm Animals aims to translate the science of feeding organic livestock and distil it into practical guidance for farmers and producers. The latest research is broken down into a practical approach to on-the-farm feeding, providing applied methodology backed up by scientific research. There is also advice on making the transition from conventional to organic farming systems regarding feeding. There are sections covering poultry, pigs, cattle, sheep and goats, reviewing the nutritional requirements of the species, identifying suitable ingredients and feeds, overviewing husbandry techniques and system approaches, providing advice on selecting suitable breeds, and advising on nutrition and its relationship to health with a preventative approach. The final section provides advice on organic nutritional regimes under integrated farming operations making this book an ideal resource for the smallholder farmer as well as traditional and aspiring organic livestock farmers.