Green manuring is a way of creating an organic fertilizer by growing a crop that is mowed down. Besides the fertilizing effect this method has been shown to have a positive influ-ence on soil organic matter as well as weed flora, and green manure is an important me-thod of weed control in organic farming in parts of Sweden. However, the release of nu-trients from the green manure varies and can therefore be difficult to control. Risks for losses of nutrients are also present. Although the area of organic farmland is increasing in Sweden, the use of green manure is decreasing.This report contains a literature study which compiles research on the functions of green manure in a cropping system and also how the crop can be used if harvested, for example to produce biogas.

There are a great possibility to shorten the time between mowing and preservation by spreading of ley crops in connection to the conditioning. In this case the cellular respiration (the plants breeding that consume sugar until the crop is ensiled) should not continue as long and the forage will perhaps get a higher nutritional value. The capacity of the next machine could also be higher because the rake gives swaths with a lot of material. There is also a possibility that spreading of ley crops gives the material a more homogeneous content of dry matter and that gives a reduced growth of clostridium. This is particularly important when the method of harvest doesn?t include any mixing of the material like it does with a round baler or silagewagon.

The majority of the Swedish population were self-provided within agriculture a hundred years ago. Times do change and today the situation is the other way around - most of us live within city boundaries and only few work with farming and related agricultural businesses. One thing that has not changed though, is the need of supplies from Swedish agriculture.What do we think of those products? Are we even aware of the connection between us and agriculture? The Federation of Swedish Farmers, LRF (Lantbrukarnas riksförbund), started their project to strengthen the link between consumers and producers in 2008.This paper is part of the project and its aim is to investigate consumers' views and values upon the effects and products from Swedish agriculture.Opinions and values have been studied through interviews influenced by phenomenology. The results show that the informants in general had a positive approach and thinking concerning the products and effects from Swedish agriculture.

In Automatic Milking Systems (AMS), cows are kept in a free stall barn equipped with one or several milking units (MU). The cows? activities in the system are called cow traffic. There are three types of cow traffic systems: guided, partly-guided and free. Free systems have no gates, allowing the cows access to the feeding and resting areas at any time.

Green manuring is a way of creating an organic fertilizer by growing a crop that is mowed down. Besides the fertilizing effect this method has been shown to have a positive influ-ence on soil organic matter as well as weed flora, and green manure is an important me-thod of weed control in organic farming in parts of Sweden. However, the release of nu-trients from the green manure varies and can therefore be difficult to control. Risks for losses of nutrients are also present. Although the area of organic farmland is increasing in Sweden, the use of green manure is decreasing.This report contains a literature study which compiles research on the functions of green manure in a cropping system and also how the crop can be used if harvested, for example to produce biogas.

The purpose of this thesis is to show how a good approach can be designed, focusing on the southern approach to the Swedish town Vilhelmina. Prior to the car being part of everyday life, the approach was a road where the town showed itself from the very best side. When the amount of traffic increased, so did noise and other disturbances, and as a consequence industrial areas replaced the residential buildnings at the approaches. Today, the pendulum is turning back and in recent years the approach is regarded as a place to introduce the town. The approach is also the place where cars should slow down from the speed of the main road to the speed of the city.

Distillers? grain is a by-product of ethanol production. Corn, wheat and barley are the grains that are generally used in the distillery process. Distillers? grain is rich in protein and phosphorus.

A tight economy and a keen competition force the Swedish agricultur to do a structural rationalization. The quantity of Farmers is less but the units are growing. How to make money I think some kind of niche is necessary. In my examwork I have locked how to farm herbaceous plant and the marking of herb to feedstuff for horses. Today health food and alternative medicine are accepted to use and there is an increase in demand. The Swedish market for herbaceous plants to horses is small and the products are mostly imported. But there is a group of consumers who is willing to pay a higer price for Swedish cultivated herbs. The only way to find out which herbaceous plants I could cultivate is to make a test cultivate. I think that the market for herbaceous plants is growing.

Reduced tillage has increased in Sweden during several years, primarily to decrease costs andincrease efficiency in crop production. Despite this, mouldboard ploughing is still the mostcommon primary tillage method on most farms. The aim with this thesis was to compare theuse of pesticides and the occurrence of weeds on ten farms in Skåne and ten farms inMälardalen that use different soil tillage systems. The object of the study was also to clarifywhy the farms had chosen their specific soil tillage system and the consequences it has had onweed occurrence and use of pesticides. The result showed a slightly higher use of pesticideson the farms that use reduced tillage.

A large number of farms within the agricultural sector will shortly be facing a point of time where the farm will be transferred to the next generation. The grantor can choose between totally 8 different strategies to transfer the farm, of which purchase, gift and a mixed form of these are the most common. During 2007 almost 10 000 transfers of agricultural estates occurred in Sweden and the expectation for the coming years is that about 15 000 estates will be transferred each year. By the time a transfer is about to materialize there are usually several stakeholders that in one way or another is trying to influence the outcome of the transfer. The choice of transfer method affects the conditions and possibilities for compensating the siblings.

This study investigates how nutrients from source-separated human urine from Gothenburg properties can be used as fertiliser in agriculture or for parks or sports fields. The initiator is the Department of Sustainable Water and Waste Management at the City of Gothenburg. Today urine-diverting systems are installed in two apartment buildings and two public-use buildings. Urine recycling is expected to lead to less exploitation of natural resources and less eutrophicating discharges into water recipients. In the study the urine?s market potential is investigated, for which practical handling issues, business aspects and acceptance of customers, employees and visitors have proved to be important.

Rural development in Southeast Sweden- three different views and their consequences for the agrarian landscapeThis paper deals with the future for the rural areas of the southeast province of Östergötland, Sweden. The aim is to unveil, analyse and compare different views on rural development and their consequences for the agrarian landscape. Three views are considered, namely that of the different levels of Governments and their departments, that of the Farmers and landowners and, finaly, that of the inhabitants of the rural areas.Differences in the views upon rural development is reflected in differences in the ways of thinking of landscapes. Is the open, and actively cultivated, landscape the ideal for all? Who is to decide what needs or ought to be done to achieve certain desired values and/or goals ? and who pays for it? The one thing that is, and should be, clear from the beginning is that all development, whether positive or negative in an area, bears consequences for the landscape.

Since long, Sweden has had exceptionally low calf mortality compared to most other countries. The tradition has been to keep calves in individual pens. With increasing number of cows per herd there is now a larger interest in more efficient and economical group systems for housing calves. However it has been noticed that bigger herds have more health problems and higher calf mortality than smaller herds. The early signs of disease are harder to detect when the animals are not fed manually.

To understand the motives, and perhaps more importantly the barriers, for Farmers to convert from conventional to organic farming is of great interest for policy makers as well as for academics. In Sweden and in other EU countries, proposed targets of the area in organic farmland have failed to be reached in spite of different kinds of policy measures. Most studies agree that the average profitability seems to be comparable to or better in organic than in conventional farming. This would indicate that there must be other factors of importance which can explain the low particiapation rate. A higher perceived risk in organic farming with respect to yield and price is frequently brought up as a potential explanation within a qualitative framework.

The use of fossil fuels such as coal and gas are a contributor to the global warming. The climate change is a worldwide problem with far reaching consequences that is believed to be very expensive. The United Nations has been introducing a framework convention on climate change. One component of the convention is the Kyoto protocol. The protocol is obligating the developed countries to decrease their emissions of greenhouse gases by 5.2 percent during the time period 2008-2012.