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Starting from a theoretical discussion on the relations between women and nature, the overall aim of the paper is to discuss how the ongoing structural changes in organic agriculture affect the everyday life, roles and positions of professional women in the sector and relate to the construction of gender and identity in organic farming. When organic farming was implemented in Denmark, both women and men were active participants in defining its principles and practises. Hence organic farming has the potential for creating alternative relations and for reviving female values and interests in agriculture. To day however, organic farming has become more commercialised leading to the gradual penetration and dominance of the values and practises of conventional farming. So how sustainable will future organic farming be with respect to gender relations? The paper focuses on the recent development of organic farming and explores some of the dilemmas and prospects related to different discourses of organic farming. The dominating institutionalised discourse primarily aims at reducing or eliminating environmental problems or dilemmas characteristic of conventional farming. This is notably distinct from a more holistic discourse emphasising broader and more emancipatory organic principles and practises. Our view is that most professional women in the organic sector relate to the latter category and hence are in danger of becoming a‘threatened species’ within the sector. Empirically we have challenged this view by interviewing women on their values, interests and practises within organic farming. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Livestock farming systems are major sources of trace gases contributing to emissions of the greenhouse gases (GHG) nitrous oxide (N2O) and methane (CH4), i.e. N2O accounts for 10% and CH4 for 30% of the anthropogenic contributions to net global warming. This paper presents scenario assessments of whole-system effects of technologies for reducing GHG emissions from livestock model farms using slurry-based manure management. Changes in housing and storage practice, mechanical separation, and incineration of the solid fraction derived from separation were evaluated in scenarios for Sweden, Denmark, France, and Italy. The results demonstrated that changes in manure management can induce significant changes in CH4 and N2O emissions and carbon sequestration, and that the effect of introducing environmental technologies may vary significantly with livestock farming practice and interact with climatic conditions. Shortening the in-house manure storage time reduced GHG emissions by 0–40%. The largest GHG reductions of 49 to, in one case, 82% were obtained with a combination of slurry separation and incineration, the latter process contributing to a positive GHG balance of the system by substituting fossil fuels. The amount and composition of volatile solids (VS) and nitrogen pools were main drivers in the calculations performed, and requirements to improve the assessment of VS composition and turnover during storage and in the field were identified. Nevertheless, the results clearly showed that GHG emission estimates will be unrealistic, if the assumed manure management or climatic conditions do not properly represent a given country or region. The results also showed that the mitigation potential of specific manure management strategies and technologies varied depending on current management and climatic conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Canadian Journal of Agricultural Economics is the property of Wiley-Blackwell and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

This paper explores the localisation of organic farms in Denmark for the three years 1994, 1997 and 2001, on a county and parish level. Spatial concentration is found in counties with a high share of milk producers, but also in the counties, which contain the two largest urban centres. General regional specialisation of the agricultural sector in Denmark contributes to the explanation of concentration patterns of organic conversion, but other factors such as a regional favourable policy climate and support also appear to play a role. Major variations in concentration within regions are found, suggesting that local factors play an important role for the explanation of spatial patterns of organic conversion and diffusion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Six subterranean clover cultivars (representing early and late flowering genotypes from three subspecies) were used to describe and quantify their phenological development. The vegetative (V) and reproductive (R) development phases, in response to different environments created by eight sowing dates were quantified. The period from sowing to emergence was constant in thermal time at 110°Cd and the first trifoliate appeared at ~300°Cd. Crops sown in autumn had the longest period from runner initiation until floral bud initiation (R1), which would allow an extended period of grazing, particularly for later flowering cultivars like 'Denmark'. To maximise seed set (particularly in year 1) a maximum period between R3 and R11 is required (seed set window). This ranged from 319 ± 42.3°Cd for 'Leura' to 661 ± 73.1°Cd for 'Narrikup'. The complete crop life cycle from sowing (V0) to maturity (R11) ranged from 1269 ± 31°Cd (equivalent of 123 ± 6.3 days) for 'Antas' sown in July to 2799 ± 47°Cd (300 ± 3.9 days) for 'Woogenellup'. When sowing occurred in an increasing photoperiod (June–November) the life cycle of all cultivars was 59% shorter than when sown in a decreasing photoperiod. The numeric scale was able to describe all the variation in the phenological phases and could be used to quantify thermal time requirements for specific phenophases. This would allow subterranean clover management to be optimised (husbandry, grazing and seed harvest) at a local level, and provides the basic parameters for inclusion in annual pasture simulation models. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Farmers in most western countries have increased use of fertilizer and pesticides with impact on wild animals and plants, including the abundance of insects and their predators.I used 1,375 surveys of insects killed on car windscreens as a measure of insect abundance during 1997–2017 at two transects in Denmark. I cross‐validated this method against three other methods for sampling insect abundance, and I investigated the effects of this measure of insect abundance on the abundance of breeding insectivorous birds.The abundance of flying insects was quantified using a windscreen resulting in reductions of 80% and 97% at two transects of 1.2 km and 25 km, respectively, according to general additive mixed model. Insect abundance increased with time of day, temperature, and June date, but decreased with wind resulting in a reduction by 54%. The abundance of insects killed on a car windscreen was strongly positively correlated with the abundance of insects caught in sweep nets and on sticky plates in the same study areas and at the same time as when insects were sampled using windscreens. The decline in abundance of insects on windscreens predicted the rate at which barn swallows Hirundo rustica fed their nestlings, even when controlling statistically for time of day, weather, and age and number of nestlings. The abundance of breeding pairs of three species of aerially insectivorous birds was positively correlated with the abundance of insects killed on windscreens at the same time in the same study area. This suggests a link between two trophic levels as affected by the temporal reduction in the abundance of flying insects.These findings are consistent with recent dramatic declines in insect abundance in Europe and North America with consequences for the rate of food provisioning of barn swallow offspring, the abundance of aerially insectivorous birds and bottom‐up trophic cascades. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines the case of Denmark-a country which historically had next to no domestic energy resources-for which new historical energy accounts are presented for the years 1800-1913. It demonstrates that Denmark's take-off at the end of the nineteenth century was relatively energy dependent. This is related to Denmark's well-known agricultural transformation and development through the dairy industry, and thus the article complements the literature which argues that expensive energy hindered industrialization, by arguing that similar obstacles would have precluded other countries from a more agriculture-based growth. The Danish cooperative creameries, which spread throughout the country over the last two decades of the nineteenth century, were dependent on coal. Although Denmark had next to no domestic coal deposits, this article demonstrates that Danish geography allowed cheap availability throughout the country through imports. On top of this it emphasizes that another important source of energy was imported feed for cows. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The late nineteenth-century Danish agricultural revolution saw the modernization and growth of the dairy industry. Denmark rapidly caught up with the leading economies, and Danish dairying led the world in terms of productivity. Uniquely in a world perspective, high quality micro-level data exist documenting this episode. These allow the use of the tool of modern agricultural economists, stochastic frontier analysis, to estimate production functions for milk and thus find the determinants of these productivity and efficiency advances. This article identifies the contribution of modernization through specific new technologies and practices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Studies of the aggregated hourly electricity load in geographical areas typically show a systematic variation over the day, the week, and seasons. With hourly metering of individual customers, data for individual consumption profiles have become available. Looking into these data we show that consumption profiles for specific categories of customers are equally systematic but quite distinct for different categories of customers. That is, different categories of customers contribute quite differently to the aggregated load profile. Coupling consumption profiles with hourly market prices which also include a systematic component in the hourly variation, we show that customers with different consumption profiles experience different average cost of their electricity consumption when billed according to hourly time-of-use prices. Thus, some categories of customers stand to gain from time-of-use pricing, while others stand to lose. In Denmark, typically industry, private services and households stand to lose, whereas agriculture and public services stand to gain from time-of-use pricing. However, differences within categories of customers are considerable and, for example, industrial companies running 24 h a day tend to gain from a time-of-use pricing. WIREs Energy Environ 2014, 3:582-593. doi: 10.1002/wene.120 For further resources related to this article, please visit the . Conflict of interest: The authors have declared no conflicts of interest for this article. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article reports that Denmark and Kenya will devote KShs2.45bn for a five-year agricultural sector program support project. The project is designed to revitalize agriculture and to increase food security. The program is already being implemented on a pilot basis in seven arid and semi-arid districts.

The article presents a study which examines the susceptibility of Musca domestica from livestock farms to thiamethoxam in Denmark. The result shows that there was no correlation between the toxicities of thiamethoxam and spinosad, dimethoate, methomyl, bioresmethrin or azamethiphos. A strong correlation between the toxicities of thiamethoxam and imidacloprid in field population is observed. The study concludes that the cross resistance between thiamethoxam and imidacloprid indicates a coincidence of mechanism of the toxicity and resistance in the field population.

The development of lake fisheries in Denmark is described and the various management measures applied to lake fish populations reviewed. Over the last 100 years catch records revealed a peak in annual yield in the 1950s and 1960s, with a subsequent decrease in catches thereafter coinciding with increasing eutrophication of Danish lakes. In particular, catches of the most valuable fish, the eel, Anguilla anguilla (L.), have diminished. Lake fisheries are regulated by legislation to protect populations of lake fish of commercial and recreational interest and prevent overfishing. Management of lake fisheries includes stocking of, for example eel, trout, Salmo trutta L., and pike, Esox lucius L., and, previously, introduction of new species. Lately, management of the aquatic environment has favoured the desirable fish species, which are hampered in eutrophic lakes, with the exception of pikeperch, Sander lucioperca (L.), introduced in a number of Danish lakes. Biomanipulation has been carried out during the last decade to help rehabilitate lakes by either stocking of piscivorous fish or removing planktivorous fish. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Plant macrofossil remains have been analysed from two raised peat bogs in northern Germany and Denmark. The quantified vegetation reconstructions of each profile were subjected to multivariate analyses to extract records of changing bog surface wetness (BSW), which are interpreted in these rain-fed bogs as being proxy climate signals. Age/depth models were constructed using radiocarbon dates and a number of drier and wetter phases were defined. The records both register cooler/wetter conditions around 2700, 1800 and 1400 cal. yr BP, and at the beginning of the Little Ice Age around AD 1250-1350. These rising bog water tables must have been reflected in poorer conditions for agriculture, and in particular near Dosenmoor where the profile records a catastrophic change to such conditions culminating at 2750-2600 cal. yr BP. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

During the last decades of the eighteenth century, feudalism in Denmark was gradually wiped out by land reforms that created a whole new class of family farmers who owned their own land. The struggle for a better life in the Danish countryside seemed to stagnate during the economic crisis of the 1970's. International corn prices slumped, the small, corn producing farmers in particular found themselves in a hopeless economic situation. Generally, the shift to exporting secondary agricultural produce instead of grain due to the new demands of the world market led to an increase in the production of animal produce. However, Germany imposed a duty on all living cattle coming from Denmark in 1879, which was to halve the export of cattle was halved the following year. The loss of the German market gave rise to the so-called home dairies, where neighbors collaborated in the production of butter. Inspired by the English co-operative movement back in the early 1840's, farmers in Hjedding near Varde in the western part of Denmark developed the concept of home dairy into that of a co-operative dairy. Their dairy, which was founded in 1882, was to become the ideal model to be imitated all over the country during subsequent decades.

Copyright of Sociologia Ruralis is the property of Wiley-Blackwell and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

This article is about variation in the expansion of organic farming sectors in different countries. It is suggested that variations in the absolute expansion of organic farming may be understood through a theoretical framework emphasizing the importance of the quality of the interrelationships among national institutions within organic farming as well as between organic and conventional agriculture. The theoretical proposition is illustrated by comparing the development in the institutional environment of organic farming in Denmark and Belgium from 1985 to 1999. In the Belgian case, the organic farming sector has expanded slowly due to an institutional environment of organic farming that has developed along regional lines and detached from the institutions of conventional farming. This development is seen as a result of an interrelationship characterized by pure competition where very little dialogue appears between organic and conventional farming. In the Danish case the organic farming sector has expanded throughout the period as a result of a series of creative conflicts, both within the organic farming sector and between the organic and conventional farming sectors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Organic farming aims at developing self-regulating sustainable farming systems and seems to be an important example of environmental self-regulation with a strong basis in values. Political acknowledgement of organic farming included the introduction of public certification, but this may disturb self-regulation. This issue is discussed on the basis of Danish experiences, which include major increases in organic farming and domestic organic food markets. Originally public certification of organic products was introduced on the basis of close co-operation with the organic farming movement, but the introduction of eu certification gradually undermined co-operation, and the organic social movement has now lost control over production standards. Danish organic farmers seem on the other hand prepared to develop and use new methods of self-regulation. The farmers accord well with the fundamental values of organic farming, they do not violate the standards, and they are interested in active use of organic farming values in farm management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]