Mixed Farming
Intensive commercial
Content
- General Information
- What is mixed Farming?
- Intensive commercial Farming
- Intensive Agriculture
- Intensive Animal Farming
- Advantages and disadvantages
General Information
What is mixed farming
- agrarian system that comprises farming along with the raising of livestock simultaneously
Intensive commercial Farming
- various types of agriculture
- involve higher levels of input and output per unit of agricultural land area
Intensive Agriculture
Intensive Animal Farming
Characteristics of agricultural part of mixed farming:
- industrial crops(sugar beet, hops, tobacco or flax)
- 90% land used for agriculture (crop rotation in order to keep soil fertile)
- cereal + vegetable production (own consumption) + hay, alfalfa, clover, etc.(livestock consumption) + cereal production, wheat, maize, etc. (commercial sale)
- mechanised (tractors, harrowers,thrashers, etc.)
- large-scale use organic/inorganic fertilisers
- higher stocking density than usually
- highest output at the lowest possible cost
- Main Product -> meat, milk, eggs for human consumption
The example chicken:
- main focus on egg production ->meat was just a sideproduct
- eggs where produced in large egg ranches
->increasing egg size and production
->1900 83 eggs per year
->2000 300 eggs per year
Advantages and Disadvantages
- Use of animal waste as Fertilizers
- Use of agrarian waste as animal
food
- highest outcome at low input
- Large profit range
Solutions
- need for Fertilizers
- highly dependent on the market
- soil erosion
- inadequate/ uneven distribution
of rainfall
- lack of Vitamin D due to huge indoor cages and production during the off season ( winter)
- Bad conditions for animals:
- tiny space->maximum output with smallest space
- higher risk of disease and infections
- Methods against Erosion by water
-> mulch, Terracing, etc.
-> higher costs-> higher Quality -> less/no animal abuse