Is it possible to increase the sustainability of arable and ruminant agriculture by reducing inputs?

Until recently, agricultural production was optimised almost exclusively for profit but now farming is under pressure to meet environmental targets. A method is presented and applied for optimising the sustainability of agricultural production systems in terms of both economics and the environment. Components of the agricultural production chain are analysed using environmental life-cycle assessment (LCA) and a financial value attributed to the resources consumed and burden imposed on the environment by agriculture, as well as to the products. The sum of the outputs is weighed against the inputs and the system considered sustainable if the value of the outputs exceeds those of the inputs. If this ratio is plotted against the sum of inputs for all levels of input, a diminishing returns curve should result and the optimum level of sustainability is located at the maximum of the curve. Data were taken from standard economic almanacs and from published LCA reports on the extent of consumption and environmental burdens resulting from farming in the UK. Land-use is valued using the concept of ecosystem services. Our analysis suggests that agricultural systems are sustainable at rates of production close to current levels practiced in the UK. Extensification of farming, which is thought to favour non-food ecosystem services, requires more land to produce the same amount of food. The loss of ecosystem services hitherto provided by natural land brought into production is greater than that which can be provided by land now under extensive farming. This loss of ecosystem service is large in comparison to the benefit of a reduction in emission of nutrients and pesticides. However, food production is essential, so the coupling of subsidies that represent a relatively large component of the economic output in EU farming, with measures to reduce pollution are well-aimed. Measures to ensure that as little extra land is brought into production as possible or that marginal land is allowed to revert to nature would seem to be equally well-aimed, even if this required more intensive use of productive areas. We conclude that current arable farming in the EU is sustainable with either realistic prices for products or some degree of subsidy and that productivity per unit area of land and greenhouse gas emission (subsuming primary energy consumption) are the most important pressures on the sustainability of farming

AstroGrid-D: Grid Technology for Astronomical Science

We present status and results of AstroGrid-D, a joint effort of astrophysicists and computer scientists to employ grid technology for scientific applications. AstroGrid-D provides access to a network of distributed machines with a set of commands as well as software interfaces. It allows simple use of computer and storage facilities and to schedule or monitor compute tasks and data management. It is based on the Globus Toolkit middleware (GT4). Chapter 1 describes the context which led to the demand for advanced software solutions in Astrophysics, and we state the goals of the project. We then present characteristic astrophysical applications that have been implemented on AstroGrid-D in chapter 2. We describe simulations of different complexity, compute-intensive calculations running on multiple sites, and advanced applications for specific scientific purposes, such as a connection to robotic telescopes. We can show from these examples how grid execution improves e.g. the scientific workflow. Chapter 3 explains the software tools and services that we adapted or newly developed. Section 3.1 is focused on the administrative aspects of the infrastructure, to manage users and monitor activity. Section 3.2 characterises the central components of our architecture: The AstroGrid-D information service to collect and store metadata, a file management system, the data management system, and a job manager for automatic submission of compute tasks. We summarise the successfully established infrastructure in chapter 4, concluding with our future plans to establish AstroGrid-D as a platform of modern e-Astronomy.Comment: 14 pages, 12 figures Subjects: data analysis, image processing, robotic telescopes, simulations, grid. Accepted for publication in New Astronom

OCIS Public Goods Tool Development

There has recently been an increase in interest amongst policy-makers in the question of whether farming provides a “public good” beyond the simple production of food, which justifies support from, for instance, EU agricultural policy. Benefits such as an improved environment or better water quality can be perceived to be public goods. It is the provision of these sorts of benefits which may be used in the future to justify continued support of the agricultural sector through subsidies. Given the current level of interest in this topic Natural England, with the approval of Defra, through OCIS (Organic Conversion Information Service), wished to create a tool which could be used by an advisor or an informed land owner to assess the public good provided by a/their farm. Thus, the OCIS Public Good Tool was developed

Smart Internet of Things Modular Micro Grow Room Architecture

This article proposes the Internet of Things-based self-sustaining modular grow room architecture for optimising the seed germination and seedling development process. The architecture is scalable and flexible as it can be adapted to particular environments, scopes, requirements and plant types; it is modular as the host room can contain one or more smaller-scale grow rooms, each of them controlling their own micro-environment independently. One of the main goals of the research was to develop such a system that could be deployed efficiently, with minimal costs and energy footprint, which would enable its practical usage primarily in private self-sustainable households. The usage of widely available and inexpensive components, open source code, and free cloud services all enabled us to reach such a goal. Besides simple automation mostly described by existing solutions, the architecture proposed within this article offers remote control and data processing and visualisation, data trend tracking, smart optimisation, and actuator control, and event notifications

Understanding soil fertility in organically farmed systems (OF0164)

This is the final report of the Defra project OF0164. Organic farming aims to create an economically and environmentally sustainable agriculture, with the emphasis placed on self-sustaining biological systems rather than external inputs. Building soil fertility is central to this ethos. ‘Soil fertility’ can be considered as a measure of the soil’s ability to sustain satisfactory crop growth, both in the short- and longer-term. It is determined by a set of interactions between the soil’s physical environment, chemical environment and biological activity. The aim of this project was, therefore, to provide a better scientific understanding of soil fertility under organic farming. The approach was to undertake a comprehensive literature review at the start of the project to assess and synthesise available information. Studies were then designed to address specific questions identified from the literature review. The literature review was written during the first year of the project. In addition to submitting written copies to DEFRA, the chapters were posted on a project website: www.adas.co.uk/soilfertility. The Review was based around key questions: • What are the soil organic matter characteristics and the roles of different fractions of the soil organic matter? • Do organically managed soils have higher levels of organic matter (SOM), with a resultant improvement in soil properties? • Is the soil biology different in organically managed soils, in terms of size, biodiversity and activity? • Do organically managed soils have a greater inherent capacity to supply plant nutrients? • What are the nutrient pools and their sizes? • What are the processes and rates of nutrient transfer in relation to nutrient demand? • What are the environmental consequences of organic management? The project also included a large amount of practical work. This necessarily covered a wide range of topics, which were examined in a series of separate studies: • Soil microbiology: a series of measurements focusing on two sites, undertaken by University of Wales Bangor (UWB) • Field campaigns in autumn 1999 and spring/summer 2000: separate field sampling campaigns focusing especially on nutrient pools, undertaken by HDRA, ADAS and IGER • Incubation studies: a series of three separate experiments to look in more detail at N dynamics, managed by ADAS, with support from IGER and HDRA From the literature review and the practical work, the following was concluded: Organic matter is linked intrinsically to soil fertility, because it is important in maintaining good soil physical conditions (e.g. soil structure, aeration and water holding capacity), which contribute to soil fertility. Organic matter also contains most of the soil reserve of N and large proportions of other nutrients such as P and sulphur. Field management data gathered from farmers showed, however, that organic matter returns are not necessarily larger in organic systems. Many non-organically farmed soils receive regular manure applications and the generally higher yielding crops on conventional farms may return larger crop residues. Conversely, many organic fields receive little or no manure, relying on the fertility building ley phase for organic matter input. This observation is important. Management practices within organic and non-organic systems are diverse, and all have consequences for soil fertility. The Executive Summary at the start of the main attached report has additional sections on Soil Structure, Soil Biology, and Nutrient Cycling with some greater detail on comparisons of organic and conventional management and the consequences for soil fertility

EFRC Bulletin 77

EFRC's regular newletter covering policy, agricutlural research, policy and advisory wor

Freshwater Culture Of Salmonids In Recirculating Aquaculture Systems (RAS) With Emphasis On The Monitoring And Control Of Key Environmental Parameters

This report is intended as a briefing paper on Recirculating Aquaculture Systems with emphasis on the monitoring of water quality parameters relating to the freshwater culture of the Arctic charr Salvelinus alpinus

How Europe can deliver: Optimising the division of competences among the EU and its member states

This study aims to give guidance for a better-performing EU through an improved allocation of competences between the European Union and its member states. The study analyses eight specific policies from a wide range of fields with respect to their preferable assignment. The analysis applies a unified quantified approach and is precise in its definition of ‘counterfactuals’. These counterfactuals are understood as conceptual alternatives to the allocation of competences under the status quo. As such, they either relate to a new European competence (if the policy is currently a national responsibility) or a new national competence (if the policy is currently assigned to the EU). The comprehensive, quantification-based assessments indicate that it would be preferable to have responsibility for higher education and providing farmers with income support at the national level. Conversely, a shift of competences to the EU level would be advantageous when it comes to asylum policies, defence, corporate taxation, development aid and a (complementary) unemployment insurance scheme in the euro area. For one policy – railway freight transport – the findings are indeterminate. Overall, the study recommends a differentiated integration strategy comprising both new European policies and a roll-back of EU competences in other fields