In Sweden, grass is the single largest crop grown. Nearly 1 000 000 Ha grows on the fields, this is primarily used as feed for livestock. To get a good seed, you need to handle the crop carefully from planting to delivery. The part that I have been interested in, is how to dry the harvested seed with out destroying the growth in the small seed. This is very easily done if you aren?t careful during the drying period.

Ravelsmarks gård have now reached the stage when there are few options for the future. The options are either a construction of completely new farm buildings or a winding up of the milk production. Present on the farm today there is 65 dairy cows plus recruitment. 44 cows stand in long-stalls and 20 cows stand in short-stalls. The objective of this study was to examine the profitability of a completely new cowshed. In order to get costs for investments different milking systems and equipment for feedstuff have been compared. The systems in the investment budget have been chosen on recommendations from advisers, salesmen and on the basis on what is suitable for the farm. One system where a so-called mix feeder wagon is used for the roughage seemed to be best suited for Ravelsmark. The different prices obtained for the manure well show that there are possibilities to decrease the investment costs.

Lyckeby Starch AB is a farmer-owned company that produces products based on potato starch. In order to increase their production efficiency and their international competitiveness the company is investigating the possibilities of keeping their factories open longer. To achieve this, potato has to be stored for a longer period of time than what is practiced today. Starch potato is usually stored in large piles covered by straw and plastic, either in the field or on the farmyard. The objective was to examine in what way starch yield (starch content*tuber weight) in three different potato varieties was affected by storage in two different types of storage piles. The potato was stored for three months in total and starch content and tuber weight were controlled throughout the period. Stored tubers were also visually examined and prescense of mechanical damage as well as wet rots and dry rots was recorded. Bacteria and fungi were isolated and identified. In general, varietal differences were greater than differences between the storage piles.

A third party access to district heating networks has been proposed in Sweden, to increase the competition on the district heating market. Such third party access could create opportunities for the agricultural sector as an energy producer. This study describes the technical, economical and environmental prerequisites for a farmer cluster to build and run a heating plant, fueled with local wood fuel. The heating plant in the described scenario is 8 MW and will supply a village of 1000 houses, and is fueled with wood chips exclusively. Supplying a heating plant with fuel puts high demands on the logistics, since there need to be a continuous flow of fuel. In the scenario, wood residues from felling and thinning is stored in stacks in the forest, and a few times a year chipped and transported to a storage area at the heating plant. In the study, an estimation of the profitability has been made by estimating the cost of the investment, personnel, operating and maintenance costs and costs for the fuel and ash handling.

The short term effect of phosphorus in sewage sludge was investigated to establish howmuch of this a farmer can grant him- or herself, if using sewage sludge as a phosphorusfertilizer. Possible differences in plant availability between sludge phosphorus precipitatedby iron, aluminum or calcium integrations were studied in a sandy soil at two pH levels.The sludges were analyzed using pot and incubation trials. As the intention was to investigategrowth limitation due to phosphorus deficiency, a soil with low phosphorus supplywas chosen as well as a low phosphorus application rate. Sludge corresponding to 12kg phosphorus per hectare was applied. Treatments fertilized by sludge were compared totreatments where 0, 6 and 12 kg phosphorus per hectare from mineral fertilizer was applied.Every treatment was replicated six times.

This study had two different aims. The main aim was to investigate the dynamics and impact of African swine fever (ASF) on a farm in Uganda during a recent outbreak through a case study. The second aim was to estimate the presence of two important differential diagnoses of ASF: Classical swine fever (CSF) and Porcine Reproduction and Respiratory syndrome (PRRS).The field and laboratory based case study of the farm level dynamics of ASF virus during a recent outbreak (October-December 2010) on a farm in the district of Mityana, Uganda, was conducted, using interviews, ELISA and RT-PCR. The financial impact on the farm was also estimated. The impact of the outbreak was profound.

The aims of the study were to investigate the prevalence and antibiotic resistance of Campylobacter jejuni and Campylobacter coli in chicken and chicken products, and to investigate farmer awareness of antibiotic resistance development. The study was conducted in the Can Tho province in Vietnam during six weeks in October to November 2008. Ninety-six samples from raw chickens were collected from twelve market places and analysed for the presence of Campylobacter. A total of 96 cloacal swabs from 20 farms were obtained and analysed for the presence of Campylobacter. Farmers were asked to answer eight questions concerning the housing of the chickens, modes of handling sick animals as well as use and knowledge of antibiotics and resistance development to antibiotics.

Every year, the horse industry in Sweden is growing. Because of this growth, it wouldbe most beneficial for the people involved in the agricultural business in Sweden toimprove their horse skills.I have assembled a form that includes basic guidelines for professional horse care.History tells us that Swedish horses have had a huge impact on the agricultural business.Before the arrival of the tractor, the horse played a very important role for the farmer.Today, horses are kept primarily for pleasure, mostly as a hobby for non-professionalpeople. In Sweden, we are seeing the small horse farms become more and morepopular, which is keeping the countryside open and alive.I feel it is very important to improve the knowledge among farmers and others who willwork in close proximity to horses. This will enable us to raise the standard of care ofhorses today and reduce the number of people who market themselves as professionalhorse specialists, even though they have no education or experience in the fieldIn this essay you will find information about the most common horse breeds in Sweden,including basic anatomy of the horse, feeding directions, hoof and dental care, commondiseases and their treatment. There is information relative to the safe transportation of ahorse as well as the rules pertaining to horses in traffic.

Automatic milking systems (AMS) provide the opportunity for less manual labour and an increased milking frequency. But in order to reach an optimal milking frequency a well-functioning cow traffic is crucial. There are many factors affecting cow traffic but one factor that has not been studied thoroughly yet is the effect of different light intensities during the night, 22.00 h to 05.00 h. Therefore the aim of this study was to determine the effect of different light intensities during the night on number of selection gate passages (GP), milking frequency and milk yield. The study was conducted as a Latin square were three light intensities were applied: LOW (11 ± 3 lux), INT (33 ± 1 lux) and HIGH (74 ± 6 lux), in three different herds.

Hemp is an old agricultural plant and has been used for hundreds of years for making textiles, ropes and other fibre products. In the middle of the last century the Swedish government prohibited all growing of hemp. Natural fibres were replaced by syntetic fibres instead. Today there is a newly awakened interest for using natural fibres from renewable materials. Growing of industrial hemp for fiber is allowed in Sweden again. I want in my Paper give Swedish growers an insight of which harvesting methods that have been tried in Sweden and how they worked.

The aims of the study were to investigate the prevalence and antibiotic resistance of Campylobacter jejuni and Campylobacter coli in chicken and chicken products, and to investigate farmer awareness of antibiotic resistance development. The study was conducted in the Can Tho province in Vietnam during six weeks in October to November 2008. Ninety-six samples from raw chickens were collected from twelve market places and analysed for the presence of Campylobacter. A total of 96 cloacal swabs from 20 farms were obtained and analysed for the presence of Campylobacter. Farmers were asked to answer eight questions concerning the housing of the chickens, modes of handling sick animals as well as use and knowledge of antibiotics and resistance development to antibiotics.

In Northen Bungoma, Western province ? Kenya, the Vi-Agroforestry Project (VI-AFP) has introduced a new project that covers 7000 households. To succeed with the project, a water resources protection project, agroforestry methods will be implemented to secure the water quality of the area. In this thesis a foundation is laid for future follow-up studies of land cover and land use of this area. To carry out this study an existing method from a cooperation between VIAFP and Dalarnas University (HDa) has been implemented.

The short term effect of phosphorus in sewage sludge was investigated to establish howmuch of this a farmer can grant him- or herself, if using sewage sludge as a phosphorusfertilizer. Possible differences in plant availability between sludge phosphorus precipitatedby iron, aluminum or calcium integrations were studied in a sandy soil at two pH levels.The sludges were analyzed using pot and incubation trials. As the intention was to investigategrowth limitation due to phosphorus deficiency, a soil with low phosphorus supplywas chosen as well as a low phosphorus application rate. Sludge corresponding to 12kg phosphorus per hectare was applied. Treatments fertilized by sludge were compared totreatments where 0, 6 and 12 kg phosphorus per hectare from mineral fertilizer was applied.Every treatment was replicated six times.

Med dagens växande besättningar är det svårare att upptäcka brunst hos mjölkkor genom visuell observation. Detta leder till ekonomiska förluster, minskat genetiskt framsteg, högre inkalvningsålder och längre kalvningsintervall. För att underlätta brunstregistrering i besättningarna finns olika automatiska registreringar som kan upptäcka fysiologiska eller beteendemässiga förändringar som framträder hos kon vid brunst. Denna litteraturstudie sammanställer tre olika principer för brunstdetektering; visuell brunstdetektering, stegräknare och bestigningsdetektor, som kan vara antingen elektronisk eller manuell. Resultatet visar att stegräknare är den metod som upptäcker flest brunstperioder medan visuell observation ger minst felaktigt detekterade brunstperioder.

Sveaverken is a company who manufactures products and equipment for the modern farm enterprise within grain, pork and horse businesses. A large share of Sveaverken's turnover depends on the role as a subcontractor for Delaval within the areas ventilation, manure handling and feeding systems. Sveaverken wants to investigate the possibility to increase sales by establishing new sales channels, for example e-commerce This thesis is an analysis of the Swedish farmers use of internet, attitudes towards e-commerce and Sveaverken's interest within this area. There is also a minor economic analysis of the cost of establishing the e-commerce site. The study focuses on farmers who are potential customers to Sveaverken within Sweden. To examine the farmers opinions about internet and e-commerce a questionnaire was developed and sent out in November 2006, to 500 farmers of which 45% answered. The results show that the average age of the farmers was 42,5 years.