Safety and animal handling practices among women dairy operators.

This article presents suggestions toward safer animal handling utilizing the results of a qualitative study of women dairy farmers in Finland. A major proportion of injuries (43%) occur in livestock-related work in Finnish agriculture. An even greater proportion of women's farm injuries (77%) is related to animals. We investigated the working conditions often women dairy farmers. Data were collected by observing farm work and performing semi-structured interviews. The study farms represented different milk production technologies with an average farm size of 106 ha (262 acres) of cultivated land, 51 ha (126 acres) of forest, and 45 dairy cows. Farm-related injuries were frequent; eight respondents out often had suffered one or several injuries during the previous two years. The women considered farm animals as the greatest hazard, and unexpected animal behavior was viewed as the most significant work-related injury risk. Dangerous situations often resulted from stress in cows caused by unpleasant circumstances or making animals fearful of people. Experiences from some farms suggested that dairy farm work can be relatively safe and that improving the trust between the cows and their handlers plays a key role in safety. We synthesized our findings into four animal handling strategies that can potentially reduce the risk of injury among stockpersons. We developed practical guidelines on how to gradually build a good cow-handler relationship based on our findings and the literature on cattle handling strategies and animal welfare science.

Evaluation of on-farm biological treatment processes for wastewaters from vegetable peeling.

This study highlights the need for the development of simple, efficient, and cost-effective farm-scale applications to treat wastewater arising from vegetable-peeling operations. The aim was to evaluate two full-scale biological wastewater treatment systems, a sequencing batch reactor (SBR) and a biofilter, and a chemical wastewater treatment system on farms carrying out peeling of vegetables. The types, design criteria and parameters of the processes, as well as properties of the untreated and treated wastewaters were presented and evaluated. Seven-day biochemical oxygen demand (BOD7) entering the SBR was 3100 +/- 529 mg l(-1) (mean +/- standard deviation). The results showed that the SBR was very stable and effective in the treatment of carrot-processing wastewaters, the BOD7 for effluent being about 10 mg l(-1). The biofilter examined did not operate well because the pH too low: the reduction for BOD7 was 63% and, for COD, 58%. When wastewater from potato processing was treated with aluminium sulphate and conveyed to an artificial pond, removal of BOD7 was 67% and that of COD 69%. This method is only suitable for pre- or post-treatment of these wastewaters. Control of the treatment processes appeared to be essential for their proper functioning.

Technologically indicative properties of straw fractions of flax, linseed (Linum usitatissimum L.) and fibre hemp (Cannabis sativa L.).

In this study of the behaviour of the fractions of unretted and frost-retted fibre straws in damp air, a production scale method to separate fibre and shive from fibre plants was introduced and tested on bast fibre plants (Linum usitatissimum L. and Cannabis sativa L.). The method consists of optional drying of stalks, unloading bales, milling the straws with a hammer mill, separating the fractions from air stream with a cyclone and finally separating fibres from shives with a screening drum. Fractions were characterized focusing on technologically indicative properties such as equilibrium moisture content, ash and microbiological quality. Unretted fractions of the bast fibre plant stem reached higher equilibrium moisture contents than the retted fractions, and hemp fibres absorbed more moisture from air than did the Linum fibres. In very humid air, all fractions began to lose weight due to moulding. The weight decrease during the first week was lower in frost-retted than in unretted fractions. The frost-retted fractions appeared to be more resistant to humidity in the short term. The total number of microbes and especially the numbers of yeasts and moulds can be used as a criterion of hygienic level. For green fractions, the mould level was similar in fibres and in shives, but frost-retted shives contained more moulds than the unretted shives. The mould content of a fraction had no direct correlation with the moulding tendency of the fraction. The ash contents of fibres were somewhat higher than those of shives, due to a probable soil contamination. Ash content did not have significant correlation with microbiological quality, although ash is a possible risk factor for hygienic quality. According to the results of this study it is highly important to study the quality of the production chain of bast fibre plants to ensure the quality of industrial products. From the producer's point of view, raw material with defined quality can be directed to the most suitable application. The behaviour of fractions in various ambient atmospheres, and other quality aspects such as hygienic level can be used as criteria for defining the most appropriate product applications.