AGRICULTURE REPORT - Making a Dairy Farm Work with Grass-fed Cows

AGRICULTURE REPORT - Building a Rooftop Vegetable GardenBy Bob BowenBroadcast: September 21, 2004This is Gwen Outen with the VOA Special English Agriculture Report.Who says people need land to grow vegetables? All you need is a roof that is strong enough, and flat enough, to support a garden.We are going to describe one way to build a rooftop garden that does not even require soil. The advice is based on a method developed by the Educational Concerns for Hunger Organization, or Echo, in the early nineteen eighties. Echo is a Christian non-profit group that has a demonstration farm in Florida. The idea was to help people living in cities to grow their own vegetables.Four things are needed to follow this design for a small rooftop garden. One thing, as we said, is a roof that can support the weight. Another is grass cuttings. The third thing is a sheet of plastic on which to spread the cut grass. And the last thing is a box about eight centimeters deep and made out of four pieces of wood.Once you are sure the roof is good, cut and collect some grass. Then lay down the plastic where the garden box will go. The four-sided box can be as long and as wide as needed. Place the box on top of the sheet of plastic. Then fill it with the cut grass. Next, add water and walk on the cuttings to press them down.After about three weeks, the rooftop garden is ready for planting. Put the seeds directly into the wet grass cuttings. This garden is a good place to grow peas, tomatoes, beans, onions and lettuce. If the box is deep enough, potatoes and carrots will also grow.It is important to keep the grass wet until the plants begin to grow. When the plants are growing, they will need watering every day, unless there is rain. And they will need some liquid fertilizer. If you can get chicken waste, you can make your own liquid fertilizer. Put the chicken manure in a cloth bag. Then, put the bag in a big container of water. After about one week, the water becomes a good liquid fertilizer.Rooftop gardens need a lot of water. Also, seeds and new plants must be protected from insects and birds.Rooftop gardens are increasingly popular, and not just to grow vegetables. They keep buildings cooler in the sun, so they save energy. They can also extend the useful life of a roof. Rooftop gardens also reduce the runoff of stormwater and help clean the air. Plus they add beauty, and give birds and insects in the city a nice place to live.This VOA Special English Agriculture Report was written by Bob Bowen. This is Gwen Outen.Email this article to a friendPrinter Friendly Version。

1Parsley: Not Just Another Pretty GreenAdvice for growing the plants. Transcript of radio broadcast:Tuesday, June 02, 2009This the VOA Special English Agriculture Report.Parsley is an ancient green and a respected addition to many foods. But other times, its job is just to make a mealtime plate look pretty. Poor parsley, valued for its looks, then thrown away.Yet parsley is a good source of vitamins andother nutrients. The taste is a little strong forsome people, yet others chew on parsley tofreshen their breath.Curly parsley is the kind that often ends upbeing used just for appearance. Manygardeners grow curly parsley as a border forflowerbeds.Flat-leaf parsley is easier to work with for cooking. This kind is often called Italian or French parsley.Do you know about a third kind of parsley? Hamburg parsley has flat leaves that can be used for the same purposes as other parsley. But Hamburg parsley has a large root which is used as a vegetable. It can be used, for example, to add flavor to soups.Hamburg parsley is popular , not surprisingly, in Germany, home to the city of Hamburg.Parsley is often served with lamb, fish and beef dishes. It is alsoused in foods such as tabouli, a traditional Lebanese salad.Parsley is an herb if you use just the greens. If the root is used, then parsley is considered a vegetable.Some gardeners suggest that to get the best tasting parsley, you should plant new seeds every year. You can get parsley to grow faster by pouring warm water over the seeds. Leave the seeds in the water overnight. Then you can grow them in containers indoors or plant them outside.Charlie Nardozzi is a writer for the National Gardening Association in the United States. He says parsley grows best when temperatures are under twenty-one degrees Celsius. In colder climates, parsley can go into the ground two to three weeks before the last winter freeze is likely to happen.Charlie Nardozzi says parsley likes to grow in sunny places or in partial sun. The seeds need rich, moist soil. Plant the seeds about fifteen to twenty-five centimeters apart. Water regularly during the first month. After that, parsley does not need very much water.Ron Waldrop is a county extension director for the University of Illinois. He says you can harvest parsley by cutting most of the plant, or leave more of the plant in the ground for a second crop.To dry parsley, tie the plant stems together and hang them upside down in a warm, dark, airy place. The leaves should be dry in a week or two. After that, store them in a tightly closed container. And that's the VOA Special English Agriculture Report, written by Jerilyn Watson. I'm Bob Doughty.VOA Special English2。

The Danger of DesertificationTrees are an important way to protect farmland. Transcript of radio broadcast:07 April 2008This is the VOA Special English Agriculture Report.Desertification is a process. It changes productive land into uselessland. One example of desertification is when a desert spreads intonearby cropland. In time, the cropland becomes an extension of thedesert.But that is not the only way farmers lose fertile soil.Long dry periods, warmer temperatures and the removal of trees can all lead to the loss of good cropland. Floods can remove fertile topsoil and begin a process resulting in the loss of planting areas. Another danger to good land is poor farming methods. Farmers should avoid continually planting crops in the same places, orletting animals feed year after year on the same lands.Countries from Guatemala to Greece to Vietnam are working against the loss of cropland. Africa especially faces the risk of desertification.Nigeria, for example, says it loses three hundred fifty thousand hectares of usable land each year. Hills of sand now cover places where people once lived.When cropland turns to desert, people move to other places for better land and better jobs. This migration can cause political and social tensions.A nonprofit organization in Nigeria is working to bring public attention to the problem. The group is called Fighting Against Desert Encroachment, or FADE.Newton Jibunoh is a retired soil engineer who started this group in the year two thousand. He says desert encroachment could cause widespread hunger.Newton Jibunoh is currently leading a delegation to thirteen African countries to discuss the dangers of losing farmlands. In northern Nigeria, the group organized a competition betweenschools in seven areas. The goal was to see who could plant the most trees. Villagers plant trees in China's Gansu province lastyear in an effort to control the spread of desertsTrees are often cut down for fuel wood. But lines of trees around cropland can catch blowing sand. In addition, tree roots can hold soil in place. Even within a desert, trees can be planted as borders around grassy areas.For many years, China has been building a wall of trees in the northern part of the country. The goal is to stop the Gobi Desert from extending toward Beijing. The Great Green Wall will extend about five thousand kilometers. Completion is expected in two thousand fifty.And that's the VOA Special English Agriculture Report, written by Jerilyn Watson. For more stories about agriculture, go to for transcripts, MP3s and podcasts of our reports. I’m Bob Doughty.Fighting a Food Crisis That Threatens to Spread Hunger and UnrestHigh grain prices are hitting the poor the hardest, and leading to protests and riots in the developing world. Transcript of radio broadcast:14 April 2008This is the VOA Special English Agriculture Report.Food inflation has led to growing protests in developingcountries. In Haiti, the government fell Saturday after riotsin which several people died.Some rice-producing countries have cut exports to protecttheir own supplies. World Bank President Robert Zoellicksaid last week that rice prices have risen around seventy-fivepercent in just two months, to near historical levels. Wheatprices have risen one hundred twenty percent in the past year. Farmers are planting more wheat and rice. But populationgrowth is raising demand. So is the use of food crops to producebiofuels. At the same time, record oil prices have meant highercosts for petroleum-based fertilizers and for energy andtransportation.Food also costs more because more people are eating meat anddairy products in growing economies like India and China.More grain is going to feed cattle. Weather has also pushed up prices. For example, Australia, a major wheat exporter, faces a drought.High food prices hit the poor the hardest. Agricultural economist Christopher Barrett at Cornell University says many poor farmers use more of their crops than they sell. He says more investment is needed in agricultural research.What is needed, says another expert, Gerald Nelson at the University of Illinois, is another Green Revolution to increase productivity.A burning barricade inPort-au-Prince, Haiti Senegal has had repeatedprotests over food pricesThis past weekend, the International Monetary Fund andthe World Bank held their spring meetings in Washington.The bank president said hunger, malnutrition and foodpolicy were a central issue.The United Nations World Food Program has appealed forfive hundred million dollars by May first. Bob Zoellick saiddonor countries had promised almost half of the money, butthat was not enough. He said a doubling of food prices over the last three years could push one hundred million people in low-income countries deeper into poverty. And that could hurt future generations.I.M.F. chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn said the real problem is a food deficit which will probably last for years. He says it can be argued that there are good reasons, connected to climate change, to try to push countries to substitute some kind of biofuel for oil.But he says nations have to balance the production of biofuel from food crops with biofuel from nonfood resources. Some of the finance ministers in Washington said using food for fuel is a crime against humanity.And that's the VOA Special English Agriculture Report, written by Jerilyn Watson. I’m JimTedder.World Bank President RobertZoellick holds up bread as he speaks to reportersWhen Tuberculosis Hits AnimalsExperts say the most effective form of control is to destroy cattle herds that have been exposed to bovine tuberculosis. Transcript of radio broadcast:21 April 2008This is the VOA Special English Agriculture Report.Bovine tuberculosis is a progressive wasting disease. It affects Array mainly cattle but also sheep, goats, pigs and other animals. Peoplewho get bovine TB have to take strong antibiotics for up to ninemonths to cure them.Humans can get sick from infected cows by drinking milk that hasnot been heated to kill germs. Another risk is eating meat that hasnot been cooked to seventy-four degrees Celsius.If an infected animal is processed, cutting through lung or lymphtissue can spread the M. bovis bacteria to other parts of the meat.Bovine TB is a major problem in parts of Africa. Farmers in Canada and Britain have also lost many cattle in recent years. In Britain, debate continues about whether badgers pass TB to other animals.Infected cows might lose weight and develop a cough, which spreads the bacteria through the air. Or they can appear healthy. Then, when they give birth, their calves can get infected by drinking their milk.In the early twentieth century, bovine TB probably killed more animals in the United States than all other diseases combined. To control it, the government launched a highly successful testing program. Historians say animal doctors ordered the destruction of about four million cattle between nineteen seventeen and nineteen forty.But currently, the state of Michigan in the Midwest is fighting an outbreak of tuberculosis in cattle. Experts identified wild deer as the source of infection. More recently the neighboring state of Minnesota has also had to deal with TB in cattle and deer.Cows and wild deer can infect each other -- for example, if they share cattle feed left in fields during winter. Possible solutions might include building fences or leaving smaller amounts of hay.Michigan's agriculture director announced this month that the state will receive more than three million dollars in emergency federal aid. Michigan will use the money to increase prevention andtesting activities, and to pay farmers who have to destroy infected cattle.Since nineteen ninety-four, the state has spent close to one hundred million dollars on control efforts. Michigan officials say no TB has been found in cattle outside the containment area.Experts say the most effective form of control is to destroy cattle herds that have been exposed to bovine tuberculosis. This prevents any chance that infected cows might be moved to another farm.And that’s the VOA Special English Agriculture Report, written by Jerilyn Watson. I’m Bob Doughty.Damage Control on the FarmWildlife experts suggest ways to deal with unwelcome visitors. Transcript of radio broadcast:28 April 2008This is the VOA Special English Agriculture Report.The United States Department of Agriculture has a program called Array Wildlife Services. Its job is to help protect agricultural and otherresources from threats and damage by wildlife. Often that meanshelping farmers deal with unwelcome visitors.One example from Wildlife Services of its work involved a farmer inWashington state, in the Pacific Northwest. Several years ago,thousands of Canada geese landed on his fields. The geese began toeat his carrot crop.Biologists from the program suggested that the farmer use noise-making devices and othermeasures to scare the large birds away. These efforts apparently succeeded.Wildlife Services also has a livestock protection program. The agency kills foxes, badgers andother predators. Critics, however, say too many animals are killed that do not threaten livestock. The Wildlife Services program is part of the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, or APHIS. APHIS offers some suggestions of ways to keep away predators.For example, try to keep food and water safe from wildlife. Fences may help keep out coyotes,especially if the fences are at least two meters high. For best results, the bottom of the fenceshould extend about fifteen centimeters into the ground.Provide secure shelter for poultry, rabbits and other animals that could be attacked.The experts also suggest using lights above places where animals are kept. And they advise peoplewho see coyotes around their property to chase them away by shouting, making loud noises orthrowing rocks.For home gardeners, a two-meter fence might help keep out deer. To keep out rabbits, a wire fencehas to be only about a half-meter high. It should extend fifteen centimeters underground to keeprabbits from digging under it.If snakes are a problem, remove dead trees and cut high grass to deny them places to hide.And to protect livestock, consider using guard animals such as dogs, donkeys, llamas and evenostriches. The huge, flightless birds can get very protective of their territory.And that’s the VOA Special English Agriculture Report, written by Jerilyn Watson. For transcripts, MP3s and podcasts of our reports, go to . To send us e-mail, write to special@.。

写关于农业报告的英语作文English:In the agricultural report, it is evident that the harvest season this year has been more successful compared to the previous year. The increase in crop yield can be attributed to favorable weather conditions, improved farming techniques, and the use of advanced agricultural technology. Additionally, the farmers' hard work and dedication have also played a significant role in achieving such impressive results. The report also highlights the importance of sustainable farming practices to ensure long-term productivity and environmental conservation. It is crucial for farmers to continue adopting innovative approaches and staying updated on the latest agricultural trends to further enhance their productivity and contribute to the overall growth of the agricultural sector.Translated content:在农业报告中，明显可见今年的丰收季节比去年更加成功。

AGRICULTURE REPORT — GraftingBy Mario RitterBroadcast: August 12, 2003This is the VOA Special English Agriculture Report.We often think of agriculture as planting seeds and harvesting crops. But manycrops do not come from seeds. Many kinds of trees and plants are grown frompieces cut from existing trees and plants. This is called grafting.Farmers cut branches or young growths called buds from one plant and place themon a related kind of plant. The branch or bud that is grafted is called a scion [SY-uhn]. The plant that accepts the graft is called root stock.Over time, the parts from the two plants grow together. The grafted plant begins toproduce the leaves and fruit of the scion, not the root stock. A graft can be cut in several ways. For example, a cleft graft requires a scion with several buds on it. The bottom of the scion is cut in the shape of the letter V. A place is cut in the root stock to accept the scion. The scion is then securely placed into the cut on the root stock. A growth medium is put on the joint to keep it wet and help the growth.Grafting can join scions with desirable qualities to root stock that is strong and resists disease and insects.Smaller trees can be grafted with older scions. The American Environmental Protection Agency says grafting can reduce the need for poisons on crops. The E-P-A found that grafting stronger plants cost less than usingchemicals. Also, many poisons are dangerous to the environment and people.Agriculture could not exist as we know it without grafting. Many fruits and nuts have been improved this way. Some common fruit trees such as sweet cherries and McIntosh apples have to be grafted.Bing cherries, for example, are one of the most popular kinds of cherries. But a Bing cherry tree is not grownfrom seed. Branches that produce Bing cherries must be grafted onto root stock. All sweet cherries on the market are grown this way.And then there are seedless fruits like navel oranges and seedless watermelons. Have you ever wondered how farmers grow them? The answer is, through grafting.The grapefruit tree is another plant that depends on grafting to reproduce. Grapes, apples, pears and also flowers can be improved through grafting. In an age of high-technology agriculture, grafting is a low-technology method that remains extremely important.This VOA Special English Agriculture Report was written by Mario Ritter.Email this article to a friendPrinter Friendly Version (Photo - U.S. Dept. of Agriculture)。

AGRICULTURE REPORT - Making Cheese the Traditional Way, Part Two By Mario RitterBroadcast: Tuesday, October 04, 2005I'm Jim Tedder with the VOA Special English Agriculture Report.Last week, we heard how cheese maker Jonathan White in New Jersey uses traditional methods to make his products. An important part of the process is natural fermentation of milk. The fermentation is caused by bacteria and other organisms. But the chemical changes of fermentation are not enough to make most cheeses.About two thousand five hundred years ago, sheep farmers made a discovery. They found that a part of the stomach of a young sheep or cow could turn milk into a solid, called curd. Later, cheese makers found that they could place the stomach in salt water to separate the substance responsible for curdling milk. It is called rennet. Rennet can also be made from plants.The discovery of rennet has been called the first effort in biotechnology.Jonathan White explains that rennet solidifies milk quickly. This keeps fermentation from producing too much acid and saves milk sugars. He usually puts the rennet into the milk around the time of his mid-day meal. By the time his meal is done, the rennet has separated the solid curd from the remaining milk liquid, called whey.Some whey is always saved to put in the next day's cheese-making.The curd is cut in pieces to speed the curdling process. When the curd has hardened enough, Mister White removes it from the vat and puts it in containers that form the cheese. After this, the cheese must air-dry and settle.Mister White carefully controls fermentation. He does so by controlling the amount of salt, the amount of acid produced by fermentation and the amount of water in the cheese. These three things, with the addition of time, all influence the taste of the cheese.Mister White does not pasteurize his milk. He says this permits him to control fermentation better.Pasteurization is a heat treatment. Milk is usually heated to about seventy-two degrees Celsius for at least fifteen seconds, then cooled. Pasteurization does not kill all organisms, but reduces their number.Jonathan White says cheese made with unpasteurized milk must be aged at least sixty days.He and his wife, Nina, say they enjoy sharing their knowledge with people interested in cheese-making and farming. Their Bobolink Dairy is on the Web at .This VOA Special English Agriculture Report was written by Mario Ritter. Our reports are online at . I'm Jim Tedder.。

AGRICULTURE REPORT - Raising Rabbits Offers a Big Return From a SmallInvestmentBy Mario RitterBroadcast: Tuesday, June 13, 2006This is Shep O'Neal with the VOA Special English Agriculture Report.Rabbits are easy to raise. The long-eared animals are clean and quiet. They do not need a lot of room. And you do not have to spend a lot of money to feed them. With rabbits, you get a big return from a small investment.One male and two females will produce in a year as many as fiftymore rabbits. That is enough to provide a good supply of meat fora family. Rabbit meat is high in protein and low in fat.You do not have to be a farmer to raise rabbits. You can raisethem in the city.There are about sixty different kinds of rabbits. The ones thatproduce the most meat from the least amount of feed weigh fourand one-half kilograms. Rabbit houses are easy to make with wood and wire fencing material. They do not have to be very big. But each rabbit must have its own little room in the house. This is veryimportant. Each room should be about seventy-five centimeters wide, sixty centimeters high and one meter deep.Fencing is used for the sides and floor of the rabbit house. The holes in the wire fencing should be about one centimeter square. Wastes from the animals will drop through the holes. This keeps the rabbit house clean and dry.Rabbits need a lot of fresh air and sunlight. Cover the sides of the rabbit house only to protect it from rain.Rabbits eat mostly grass and leaves. Feeding containers hung on the outside of the house let the rabbits eat whenever they want. They simply pull the grass and leaves through theholes in the wire.Rabbits in a cageEach room should have fresh water. The water containers should be heavy so the rabbits cannot turn them over. Or you can tie the containers to the wire.One month after mating, female rabbits give birth to about eight babies. In two months, a baby rabbit should weigh about two kilograms. This is big enough to make a meal for a small family.Rabbits are also valuable for their fur. It takes time, skill and money to prepare the fur and skin for use. If you have only a few rabbits, it probably would be best to let a professional tanner prepare the fur for you. Skill is also needed to remove the fur from the rabbit.But rabbits do not have to be dead to be valuable. Many people enjoy keeping rabbits as friendly pets. And rabbit manure makes an excellent fertilizer. It can be mixed directly into the soil to improve the growth of vegetables, trees and flowering plants.And that's the VOA Special English Agriculture Report. Read and listen to our reports at . This is Shep O'Neal.。

the adjective form of alga, a single plant. But they also just say HAB for short.The toxins can very quickly kill fish, such as herring and anchovies, that feed on algae. But even if they survive they can be dangerous to eat. Not only that, bigger fish that eat the algae-eaters may also be dangerous.Some toxins harm only sea life. But others can cause severe stomach and intestinal problems as well as neurological disorders and even death in people. The only way to know if these toxins are present, unless people get sick, is through laboratory testing of fish and shellfish.Experts say the meaty or hard muscle parts of shrimp, crab, scallops and lobster are safe to eat because they do not absorb the poison. But people should not to eat the liver or other organs or soft tissues. Also, people should not eat other kinds of shellfish during a HAB. These include oysters, clams, mussels and whelks.In the United States, the government says harmful algal blooms cause more than eighty million dollars in economic losses each year. A government report in July noted that HABs are widely believed to be increasing worldwide.The report was the first step in a process to create a plan for predicting and dealing with them in American waters. In Florida, for example, satellites and computer models are now being used to provide algae forecasts that are just like weather reports.And that's the VOA Special English Agriculture Report, written by Jerilyn Watson. For links to more information about harmful algae, go to . I'm Steve Ember.。