Page 29 of articles about environment

Taiwan’s hog output has surpassed rice since 1986 to become the No. 1 item of agricultural and livestock products. The average annual hog output was NT$57 billion in the recent three years, accounting for 16% of the total agricultural output, according to the annual agriculture report. The pig head survey in May 2010 showed that there were 6.126 million heads of pig in Taiwan and port consumption still accounted for some 50% of the total domestic meat consumption, demonstrating the importance of the pig industry in both production and consumption.

The Minister for Innovation, Industry, Science and Research, Senator the Hon Kim Carr, has announced funding of $100 million for world-class collaborative research and innovation under the Australian Government’s Cooperative Research Centres.

Vietnam’s Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development will invest USD 100 million to expand the Biogas Program until 2018 by installing an additional 100,000 on-farm biogas generators in 30 to 35 provinces.

What is animal welfare to a pig, and what does science know about methods to measure animal welfare? Now, Danish research in animal welfare is gathered at a Danish Centre for Animal Welfare

The European Commission today adopted a negative final decision on the aid granted by the Belgian authorities to cover all the costs of removing, transporting, storing, processing and destroying fallen stock from agricultural holdings in the Walloon region.

Member States have the obligation to establish a system for advising farmers on land and farm management, the so-called Farm Advisory System (FAS). It is a major component of the 2003 Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) reform and had to be introduced by 2007. The objective of the FAS is to help farmers to become more aware of on-farm processes relating to the environment, food safety and animal health and welfare.

Since the introduction of EU Animal By-product Regulation (ABPR) 1774/2002, the open burning and burial of fallen livestock on-farm has been prohibited. A new research project has examined the current methods of livestock disposal available to farmers within the UK, EU and globally. Upon consultation of farmers around the UK, a novel method of on-farm storage and bioreduction was desired to try to reduce the cost of disposal and increase compliance to EU legislation.

The changes included in the National Action Programme (NAP) under the Nitrates Directive, agreed between the Government and the EU Commission are positive for both Irish farming and the environment.

Jim Paice, Minister of State for Agriculture, today announced funding of £12.6 million, from Defra and the Devolved Administrations, to improve our understanding of how UK agriculture contributes to climate change.

Copper and zinc are routinely used as additives in feed for livestock and aquaculture farming. During their use as feed additives, it is inevitable that Cu and Zn will be released to the environment. Under Regulation (EC) 1831/3003 (EC, 2003), in order to protect human health, animal health and the environment, feed additives should undergo a safety assessment through a Community procedure before being placed on the market, used or processed within the Community. This project therefore assessed the environmental impact of Cu and Zn arising from use as additives in feed for livestock and aquaculture animals.

In a study of energy use on Iowa hog farms, Iowa State University (ISU) researchers found a huge drop in the use of nonrenewable energy for pig production over the last 35 years.