Category Archives: Agriculture

Finding Livestock for Sale Online

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When you are looking for livestock for sale you could be looking for any of the following:
- Dairy Beef / Heifers / Weaners / Herds
- Export Dairy Heifers
- Service Bulls
- Calves

You will be looking for quality livestock that meets your requirements, so finding a livestock agent that can assist you in every way possible to help you find what you are looking for is an all important task.

With the advent of the internet, such a task has become easier. Typing in ‘livestock for sale’ into a Search Engine can present you with a number of livestock trading sites where you can take a look at the stock available, along with information on their breeding background, calving date and any other information relating to the animal that you are looking at.

An agent’s site that offers an online quoting system can make life a lot easier too. With this option it’s just a matter of browsing through the site hitting the ‘quote’ or ‘enquire’ button and filling in a few details about yourself, then hit submit and the agency will get back to you with the information you require.

You will also want to be able to find out about the agent that is selling the livestock. By looking online you can save time by reading through their ‘about us’ section for example to see if the person you are going to be dealing with is experienced in their field and what areas they service. When buying livestock you want to be sure that you are buying healthy, quality animals from a trusted agent who you feel that you can call on when buying or selling livestock in the future.

Be sure to check that the livestock that is for sale on their website is in the area or the country that you are in. Searching from New Zealand for example, you may come across an American site which may well have great livestock, but it’s miles away and likely to be of little use to you.

Remember that the last thing you want to be doing is investing money in a ‘dud’ animal that is not going to provide you with the return on investment you desire. So find yourself an agent in your area that focuses on livestock for sale online and give yourself a head start on finding the animal/s that you are after.

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The Development of the Ostrich Farming Industry

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Ostrich farming first became into being as a result of an expedition to find ostriches to exploit their feathers. These wild ostriches were captured in the East of Africa and transported to South Africa to be domesticated and farmed. This happened in the early 18th Century.

Farmers discovered by grouping ostriches, they could harvest feathers on a regular basis. The first exports of ostrich feathers occurred in 1838 but it was not until 1863 that ostrich farming became a reality.

Around the same time, the farming development of producing lucerne through irrigation permitted the necessary feed for the farmers. This enabled a rather arid area such as Oudtshoorn the possibility of becoming self sufficient for ostrich feed, and certainly helped the development of the farming industry in that area.

Such was the high income from feathers, by 1913 feathers had become the fourth largest income earner for South Africa, behind gold, diamonds and wool. It was from such income that the owners built their impressive homes knows as feather palaces, importing building materials and decor from abroad at exuberant costs. Extravagance was the order of the day as each feather palace tried to outdo its neighbor in style and splendor.

It was the fashion industry that was the key factor for the growth of the feather industry, but as fashions come and go, so did the demand for the ostrich feather. Hats that adorned ostrich feathers no longer became practical. It was impossible to keep such a hat on a motor car, the new transportation method to emerge during the 20th Century. As the men folk went to war, women also had to take on the role of manual labor, and practical clothing became a necessity. Items considered superfluous such as feather hats went out of fashion. Hence the sudden collapse in demand for ostrich feathers led to the demise of the farming industry.

It was only after the world wars, that the ostrich farming group started to explore the ostrich leather market. First exporting their skins to London to get tanned, and then later on, importing the knowledge to tan themselves, ostrich leather was marketed as a luxury product. Accessories such as handbags were made from ostrich leather with its distinctive follicle pattern making it a unique leather, easily identifiable and both strong and pliable. Fashion houses picked up on the trend and introduced ostrich leather items in their collections as exclusive items.

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No-Till Farming – Popular Alternative Of Farming

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Tilling is used since centuries to remove mix of soil amendments, to remove weeds, to shape the soil into rows and to make rows for irrigation and to soft the soil for easy seeding. But, recent researches have raised finger upon their real effectiveness and agricultural worth. Re-posts state that tiling may lead to many unfavorable effects. Soil compaction; soil aggregates degradation; organic matter loss and soil microbes disruption are major losses. Regular tilling may disrupt mycorrhiza, earthworms, soil erosion and arthropods also. No-till farming offer freedom from these unfavorable effects, which were commonly unknown. No-till farming also called ‘Zero Tilling’ is an unconventional way of growing crops year after year without disturbing the field soil through tillage. No-till farming is the emerging trend among the farmers worldwide.

The benefits of no-till farming can be divided into different categories:

  • Profit/economics/yield
  • Environmental
  • Cost
  • Management

The commonly accepted benefits of zero-till farming are:

  • Reduced labor requirements
  • Fuel savings
  • Time savings
  • Reduced machinery use
  • Long- term productivity
  • Better surface water level
  • Less soil erosion
  • Better moisture retention
  • Increased water infiltration
  • More wildlife
  • Decreased compaction of soil
  • Reduced carbon gases release
  • Less air pollution

Nature laws rule the productivity of farming lands. It is must to respect these rules if we want long term sustainable agricultural gains. Any farming system that contributes to reduce organic substances of soil is not good for long term farming interests. Under subtropical or tropical conditions, intensive tillage generally mineralizes organic matters more quickly than reposition. It results in decrease of organic content and diminishing in crop yields. Under tropical conditions, repeated tillage generally damages soil structure leading to rise in soil temperature that delivers negative effects upon root growth and soil flora. Any agricultural system that causes nutrients losses is not sustainable.

No-till farming also requires experience and skills to do it in right way to secure the gains. If it is not done correctly, production may drop considerably. Perfect combination of techniques, equipments, pesticides, cover crops, crop rotation, fertilizers and irrigation process make this a unique experience in farming because it is cheaper, convenient and less time involving. The worldwide growing trend for no-tilling farming proves its projected benefits. If you want to bet sure about the results before switching over to this popular alternative farming procedure, start it under the guidance of experts; for this, you don’t need to pay because many agriculture research centers offer free consultancy.

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Soil Moisture Meter – A Farmer’s Friend

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A device used to measure the percent of water content in any kind of soil is a soil moisture meter. It is an essential device to be possessed in the field of agriculture and its related fields. Such a device can detect the moisture content of the soil and we can decide the amount of water to be supplied to the plants that are to be grown at that time. Thus pretty much healthy growth of plants is ensured.

Any farmer who runs a field or a householder who possesses a garden can own one such gadget to measure the humidity of the field or garden soil as it is not that costly and it is a user-friendly device for anyone to make use of it efficiently. When put to use, it will show the various ranges of water content in the soil by the color indicators and each color denoting a particular range.

Different models are available and each of them works on a different principle. We have meters that use electrical resistance blocks and thermal dissipation blocks. The farmer uses a sensor called the electrical resistance block and the latter temperature sensors.

The commercial farmers grow various kinds of crops in a very large scale and they cannot afford to bear huge losses. Thus for the plants to give a better yield and thereby generate more profit a healthy soil and environment are the main criteria that should be made available. One of the factors that determines the soil health is its dampness and it should be monitored throughout the life of a plant and ensure enough water is supplied when it is dry and follow a dry period if the soil dampness has increased sue to some reasons.

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