Search

S alonen J, H yvönen T, K aseva J & J alli H (2012). Impact of changed cropping practices on weed occurrence in spring cereals in Finland - a comparison of surveys in 1997-1999 and 2007-2009. Weed Research. Summary During recent decades, arable cropping has been intensified to increase production, but has also been constrained by agri-environment schemes. Weed populations respond to such changes, thus indicating trends in cropping practices. In Finland, repeated monitoring of the weed flora aims to record and understand the response of weed populations to changing cultural conditions. Two recent surveys of the weed flora in Finnish spring cereal fields, conducted in 1997-1999 and 2007-2009, were evaluated to assess the effect of known changes in tillage practices and herbicide use on weed occurrence. The same 382 fields were assessed during both decades. In conventional cropping, the total abundance of weeds has remained at about the same level as recorded in the late 1990s. Overwintering weed species like Galium spurium, Lamium spp., Lapsana communis and Poa annua have become more frequent, indicating a trend towards reduced primary tillage. Increased use of glyphosate has in turn led to a decline in Elymus repens, particularly in non-ploughed fields. Substantially increased total biomass of weeds was associated with organic cropping, due to lack of direct weed control methods and inadequate crop competition. The opposite trend was apparent in the fields, which had returned from organic farming back to conventional cropping. The results suggest that more decisive IPM strategies are required, both in organic cropping to stop the increasing weed biomass and in conventional cropping to reduce current reliance on herbicides. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Enrichment of soluble P on the surface layer of long-term no-till (NT) soils, and consequent increase in dissolved P losses, is a concern for which occasional plowing has been suggested as a remedy. We measured the effect of such strategic tillage (ST) on surface and subsurface P losses from 0.5-ha field plots on clay soil for 4 years. Two NT plots had discharged threefold dissolved molybdate-reactive P (DRP) losses compared to annually plowed soil conventional tillage (CT). ST by plowing to 20-cm depth was applied on one of the NT plots, whereas the other remained under NT. ST done in July was sown with canola (Brassica napus ssp. oleifera) to establish plant cover before winter. Summed 4-year DRP loss from ST treatment was 60% lower compared to NT (0.78 vs. 1.96 kg ha -1 ), accompanied with 11% higher particulate P (PP) loss (4.39 vs. 3.97 kg ha -1 ). CT plots produced slightly lower DRP losses (0.53-0.76 kg ha -1 ) than ST, but higher PP losses (6.02-7.96 kg ha -1 ). Bioavailable P (BAP) losses from ST were lower than from the other treatments if >7% of PP turns bioavailable. After ST, soil P stratification first vanished, but started to develop again when NT was resumed. Occasional tillage of NT soils mitigates DRP losses over several years, and it was at the study site the preferred mitigation option in reducing BAP losses., (© 2024 The Author(s). Journal of Environmental Quality published by Wiley Periodicals LLC on behalf of American Society of Agronomy, Crop Science Society of America, and Soil Science Society of America.)

Lack of nitrogen limits food production in poor countries while excessive nitrogen use in industrial countries has led to transgression of the planetary boundary. However, the potential of spatial redistribution of nitrogen input for food security when returning to the safe boundary has not been quantified in a robust manner. Using an emulator of a global gridded crop model ensemble, we found that redistribution of current nitrogen input to major cereals among countries can double production in the most food-insecure countries, while increasing global production of these crops by 12% with no notable regional loss or reducing the nitrogen input to the current production by one-third. Redistribution of the input within the boundary increased production by 6-8% compared to the current relative distribution, increasing production in the food-insecure countries by two-thirds. Our findings provide georeferenced guidelines for redistributing nitrogen use to enhance food security while safeguarding the planet., (© The Author(s) 2024. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of National Academy of Sciences.)

Pyrolysis has been gaining global interest as a viable option for reducing organic contaminant levels in waste materials such as sewage sludge (SS) for their subsequent use as a soil amendment. However, publicly available knowledge on the capacity of pyrolysis to reduce the levels in SSs is mostly based on laboratory or bench scale studies. The aim of this study was to examine the effects of industrial pilot scale slow pyrolysis at two temperatures and retention times (450 °C, 1 h and 500 °C, 1.5 h) on a wide range of organic and inorganic contaminants in SSs. Pyrolysis at 500 °C decreased the concentrations of the detected per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs, by 30-93 %), brominated diphenyl ethers (BDEs; by 97-98 %) and most endocrine disrupting compounds (EDCs, by 82-96 %) more efficiently than pyrolysis at 450 °C. Estrone and pharmaceuticals, with the exception of paracetamol, were removed to below quantification limits. Non-volatile inorganic contaminants concentrated to the chars (22-46 % increase). These results confirm that slow pyrolysis has the capacity to significantly reduce organic contaminant levels in SSs at an industrial scale, while content of inorganic contaminants depends mainly on the feedstock properties. Pyrolysis temperature of over 500 °C is advised to secure efficient removal of organic contaminants. However, it is anticipated that reactor design with good heat transfer and volatile removal could further improve the removal of organic contaminants from SSs. The results are especially valuable for sludge management operators planning to procure a pyrolysis plant., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2023 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.)

This study demonstrated the antibacterial and antiviral potential of condensed tannins and tannic acid when incorporated into fiber networks tested for functional material purposes. Condensed tannins were extracted from industrial bark of Norway spruce by using pressurized hot water extraction (PHWE), followed by purification of extracts by using XADHP7 treatment to obtain sugar-free extract. The chemical composition of the extracts was analyzed by using HPLC, GC‒MS and UHPLC after thiolytic degradation. The test matrices, i.e., lignocellulosic handsheets, were produced and impregnated with tannin-rich extracts, and tannic acid was used as a commercial reference. The antibacterial and antiviral efficacy of the handsheets were analyzed by using bioluminescent bacterial strains ( Staphylococcus aureus RN4220+pAT19 and Escherichia coli K12+pCGLS11) and Enterovirus coxsackievirus B3. Potential bonding of the tannin-rich extract and tannic acid within the fiber matrices was studied by using FTIR-ATR spectroscopy. The deposition characteristics (distribution and accumulation patterns) of tannin compounds and extracts within fiber networks were measured and visualized by direct chemical mapping using time-of-flight secondary ion mass spectrometry (ToF-SIMS) and digital microscopy. Our results demonstrated for the first time, how tannin-rich extracts obtained from spruce bark side streams with green chemistry possess antiviral and antibacterial properties when immobilized into fiber matrices to create substitutes for plastic hygienic products, personal protection materials such as surgical face masks, or food packaging materials to prolong the shelf life of foodstuffs and prevent the spread of infections. However, more research is needed to further develop this proof-of-concept to ensure stable chemical bonding in product prototypes with specific chemistry., Competing Interests: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2023 Jyske, Liimatainen, Tienaho, Brännström, Aoki, Kuroda, Reshamwala, Kunnas, Halmemies, Nakayama, Kilpeläinen, Ora, Kaseva, Hellström, Marjomäki, Karonen and Fukushima.)

Agroforestry has the potential to sequester carbon (C) and nitrogen (N), thereby counteracting climate change and soil degradation. However, the lack of empirical quantitative evidence on determinants of C and N stocks hampers the management of these stocks. The aim of this study was to identify the key determinants of the C and N stocks in multistrata agroforestry. We sampled 81 plots with broad variation in 12 hypothetical determinants of C and N stocks aboveground and in two soil layers, located in three Ethiopian regions with varied multistrata agroforestry traditions and characteristics. Above-ground stocks were assessed using an allometric equation, and soil stocks were assessed with the fixed-depth method. The hypothetical determinants, i.e., the duration of agroforestry practice, the tree density, the proportion of plants with a high basal diameter, legumes and native species, the species diversity, the main crops, soil texture and pH, and altitude, were tested using linear mixed models. The duration of agroforestry, tree density, and proportion of plants with a high basal diameter (>25 cm) explained half of the variation in the soil C stock, which represented nearly three quarters or more of the total C stock. Duration and tree density explained most of the soil N stock, although legumes also influenced soil N. A high proportion of large legume trees reduced C/N, whereas a high proportion of large non-legume trees increased C/N. The aboveground C stock was explained by species diversity or the proportion of stems with a basal diameter >10 cm, depending on the main crop. There is a high potential to manage C and N stocks and their persistence, as well as soil productivity, by managing the duration of agroforestry, the density of large trees, the proportion of legumes, and the main crops in multistrata agroforestry., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare no conflicts of interest., (Copyright © 2022 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Objectives: Novel information about the relationships between farmers' job demands, lack of resource, burnout, and ill health is reported based on testing the so-called "health impairment process" of the Job Demands─Resources Model (JD-R) on a representative sample of Finnish dairy farmers. The aim was to find out whether two different job demand factors; workload, societal demands and lack of resource; loneliness, were related to the indicators of ill health via burnout., Methods: The data is based on a postal survey of 400 Finnish dairy farms. Altogether 265 questionnaires were received from 188 farms and included in the analysis. The response rate was 47 per cent among sample farms. Structural equation modelling (SEM) was used to analyze the relationships between the variables. Explanatory factor analysis was used to group the job demand and lack of resource variables., Results: We identified two job demand factors, which we labelled workload and societal demands and one lacking job resource, loneliness. Our theoretical model was supported in that two of the factors, namely workload and loneliness, were related to ill health indirectly via burnout. In addition, workload was directly connected with ill health. Societal job demands were not significantly related to burnout, or to ill health., Conclusion: Our results suggest that farmers could benefit from means to reduce workload, especially the physical load. This topic needs further research as the restructuring process has increased farm enterprise sizes. There is a need to develop tools and projects to alleviate loneliness among farmers. Lack of social support, high workload, ill health, and burnout among farmers may have serious direct and indirect negative consequences for the sustainability of farming., Competing Interests: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2022 Kallioniemi, Kaseva, Kymäläinen and Hakanen.)

Global agriculture faces severe challenges due to climate change. For boreal agriculture, climate change might also bring opportunities as the growing season lengthens, if the risks of climate change are managed properly. Agricultural production is a source of greenhouse gases, while agricultural land has also a great possibility to mitigate climate change as a carbon sink. Farmers are the central group for implementing these actions. Their views and beliefs contribute to their corresponding pro-environmental agricultural behavior. This research is based on the theory of value-belief-norm (VBN) as a predictive model of pro-environmental agricultural behavior. We extend the theory by studying how opportunities caused by climate change affect pro-environmental behavior in agriculture and present differences between farmer groups and experiment with the longitudinal possibilities of the theoretical model. Based on the structured survey responses from 4,401 farmers in Finland in 2018 and 2000 responses in 2020, we found that all the elements of VBN theory did help to predict intention for climate change mitigation, among which felt possibility to perform mitigation practices was the strongest predictor while risk perception was rather an unimportant one. Furthermore, opportunities caused directly or indirectly by climate change have an effect on Finnish farmer's implementation of mitigation practices. Therefore, future efforts in agricultural research and policy in Finland should concentrate to bring forth concrete farm-level mitigation practices with proven environmental benefits and the direct and indirect opportunities should be given more attention., Competing Interests: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2022 Sorvali, Liu and Kaseva.)

The pyroligneous acids (PAs) of woody biomass produced by torrefaction have pesticidal properties. Thus, PAs are potential alternatives to synthetic plant protection chemicals. Although woody biomass is a renewable feedstock, its use must be efficient. The efficiency of biomass utilization can be improved by applying a cascading use principle. This study is novel because we evaluate for the first time the pesticidal potential of PAs derived from the bark of hybrid aspen ( Populus tremula L. × Populus tremuloides Michx.) and examine simultaneously how the production of the PAs can be interlinked with the cascade processing of hybrid aspen biomass. Hybrid aspen bark contains valuable extractives that can be separated before the hemicellulose is thermochemically converted into plant protection chemicals. We developed a cascade processing scheme, where these extractives were first extracted from the bark with hot water (HWE) or with hot water and alkaline alcohol (HWE+AAE) prior to their conversion into PAs by torrefaction. The herbicidal performance of PAs was tested using Brassica rapa as the test species, and the fungicidal performance was proven using Fusarium culmorum . The pesticidal activities were compared to those of the PAs of debarked wood and of commercial pesticides. According to the results, extractives can be separated from the bark without overtly diminishing the weed and fungal growth inhibitor performance of the produced PAs. The HWE of the bark before its conversion into PAs appeared to have an enhancing effect on the herbicidal activity. In contrast, HWE+AAE lowered the growth inhibition performance of PAs against both the weeds and fungi. This study shows that hybrid aspen is a viable feedstock for the production of herbicidal and fungicidal active chemicals, and it is possible to utilize biomass according to the cascading use principle., Competing Interests: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2022 Korkalo, Hagner, Jänis, Mäkinen, Kaseva, Lassi, Rasa and Jyske.)

The cryopreservation of dormant buds can be a feasible method for preserving germplasm of cold-tolerant woody plants. In the present study, we evaluated the effects of pre-desiccation, thawing method, and the rehydration of bud sections on the post-cryopreservation recovery of dormant blackcurrant buds in vitro. The estimated recovery of small- and medium-sized buds was 80.1 and 62.7% respectively for desiccated buds and 67.8 and 72.3% respectively for non-desiccated buds. The pre-desiccation of bud sections enhanced the number of the shoots regenerated from vegetative buds (2.3 vs. 4.7). The estimated recovery of fast-thawed buds was better after 14-day than after 7-day rehydration (85 vs. 59%). In slowly thawed buds the difference between 14-day and 7-day rehydration was not significant (73 vs. 62%). The estimated recovery of vegetative and flower buds was 77.7 and 41.1% respectively after 7-day rehydration, and 95.2 and 43.6% respectively after a 14-day rehydration period. The rehydration of bud sections was not necessary for the in vitro recovery of non-desiccated, fast-thawed buds. Of the 23 blackcurrant cultivars cryopreserved using non-desiccated dormant buds collected from a greenhouse, the estimated recovery of 22 cultivars ranged between 42 and 90%.

Declining carbon (C) content in agricultural soils threatens soil fertility and makes soil prone to erosion, which could be rectified with organic soil amendments. In a 4-yr field trial, we made a single application of three different organic sludges from the pulp and paper industry and studied their effects on cereal yield, soil C content, and fungal and bacterial composition. In laboratory rainfall simulations, we also studied the effects of the soil amendments on susceptibility to erosion and nutrient mobilization of a clay-textured soil by measuring the quality of percolation water passing through 40-cm intact soil monoliths during 2-d rainfall simulations over four consecutive years after application. A nutrient-poor fiber sludge reduced wheat yield in the first growing season, but there were no other significant effects on cereal yield or grain quality. An input of ∼8 Mg ha -1 C with the soil amendments had only minor effects on soil C content after 4 yr, likely because of fast microbe-mediated turnover. The amendments clearly changed the fungal and bacterial community composition. All amendments significantly reduced suspended solids (SS) and total phosphorus (TP) concentrations in percolation water. The effect declined with time, but the reduction in SS and TP was still >25% 4 yr after application. We attributed the lower tendency for particle detachment in rain simulations to direct interactions of soil minerals with the added particulate organic matter and microbe-derived compounds that stabilize soil aggregates. In soils with low organic matter content, pulp and paper industry by-products can be a viable measure for erosion mitigation., (© 2020 The Authors. Journal of Environmental Quality © 2020 American Society of Agronomy, Crop Science Society of America, and Soil Science Society of America.)

The rapid conversion of native forests to farmland in Ethiopia, the cradle of biodiversity, threatens the diversity of the arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) pivotal to plant nutrition and carbon sequestration. This study aimed to investigate the impact of this land-use change on the AMF species composition and diversity in southern Ethiopia. Soil samples were collected from nine plots in each of three land-use types: native forest, agroforestry, and khat monocropping. The plots of the three land-use types were located adjacent to each other for each of the nine replicates. Three 10 × 10m subplots per plot were sampled. AMF spores were extracted from the soil samples, spore densities were determined, and species composition and diversity were evaluated through morphological analysis. Both spore density and species richness were statistically significantly higher in the native forest than in the agroforestry plots with no clear difference to khat, whereas the true diversity (exponential of Shannon-Wiener diversity index) did not differ among the three land-use types due to high evenness among the species in agroforestry. In total, 37 AMF morphotypes belonging to 12 genera in Glomeromycota were found, dominated by members of the genera Acaulospora and Glomus. The highest isolation frequency index (78%) was recorded for Acaulospora koskei from native forest. Consequently, the agroforestry system did not appear to aid in preserving the AMF species richness of native forests relative to perennial monocropping, such as khat cultivation. In contrast, the native forest areas can serve as in situ genetic reserves of mycorrhizal symbionts adapted to the local vegetative, edaphic, and microbial conditions.

This study aims to promote comprehensive utilization of woody biomass by providing a knowledgebase on the utility of aspen bark as a new alternative source for fossil-based chemicals. The research focused on the analysis of clonal variation in: (1) major chemical components, i.e., hemicelluloses, cellulose, and lignin; (2) extraneous materials, i.e., bark extractives, and suberic acid; (3) condensed tannins content and composition; and (4) screening differences in antioxidative properties and total phenolic content of hot water extracts and ethanol-water extracts of hybrid aspen bark. Results of this study, the discovery of clonal variation in utilizable chemicals, pave the way for further research on added-value potential of under-utilized hybrid aspen and its bark. Clonal variation was found in notable part of chemicals with potential for utilization. Based on the results, an appropriate bark raw material can be selected for tailored processing, thus improving the resource efficiency. The results also indicate that by applying cascade processing concepts, bark chemical substances could be more efficiently utilized with more environmentally friendly methods.

Softwood bark is an important by-product of forest industry. Currently, bark is under-utilized and mainly directed for energy production, although it can be extracted with hot water to obtain compounds for value-added use. In Norway spruce ( Picea abies [L.] Karst.) bark, condensed tannins and stilbene glycosides are among the compounds that comprise majority of the antioxidative extractives. For developing feasible production chain for softwood bark extractives, knowledge on raw material quality is critical. This study examined the fate of spruce bark tannins and stilbenes during storage treatment with two seasonal replications (i.e., during winter and summer). In the experiment, mature logs were harvested and stored outside. During six-month-storage periods, samples were periodically collected for chemical analysis from both inner and outer bark layers. Additionally, bark extractives were analyzed for antioxidative activities by FRAP, ORAC, and H 2 O 2 scavenging assays. According to the results, stilbenes rapidly degraded during storage, whereas tannins were more stable: only 5-7% of the original stilbene amount and ca. 30-50% of the original amount of condensed tannins were found after 24-week-storage. Summer conditions led to the faster modification of bark chemistry than winter conditions. Changes in antioxidative activity were less pronounced than those of analyzed chemical compounds, indicating that the derivatives of the compounds contribute to the antioxidative activity. The results of the assays showed that, on average, ca. 27% of the original antioxidative capacity remained 24 weeks after the onset of the storage treatment, while a large variation (2-95% of the original capacity remaining) was found between assays, seasons, and bark layers. Inner bark preserved its activities longer than outer bark, and intact bark attached to timber is expected to maintain its activities longer than a debarked one. Thus, to ensure prolonged quality, no debarking before storage is suggested: outer bark protects the inner bark, and debarking enhances the degradation.

Developing shoots, i.e., sprouts, and older needles of Norway spruce ( Picea abies (L.) Karst.) have traditionally been used for medicinal purposes due to the high content of vitamins and antioxidants. Currently, sprouts are available as, for example, superfood and supplements. However, end-product quality and nutritive value may decline in the value-chain from raw material sourcing to processing and storage. We studied (1) impacts of different drying and extraction methods on nutritional composition and antioxidative properties of sprouts and needles, (2) differences between sprouts and needles in nutritional composition and microbiological quality, and (3) production scale quality of the sprouts. Additionally, (4) sprout powder was applied in products (ice-cream and sorbet) and consumer acceptance was evaluated. According to our results, older needles have higher content of dry matter, energy, and calcium, but lower microbial quality than sprouts. Sprouts showed a higher concentration of vitamin C, magnesium, potassium, and phosphorus than older needles. Freeze-drying was the best drying method preserving the quality of both sprouts and needles, e.g., vitamin C content. The antioxidative activity of the sprout extracts were lower than that of needles. Ethanol-water extraction resulted in a higher content of active compounds in the extract than water extraction. Sensory evaluation of food products revealed that on average, 76% of consumers considered sprout-containing products very good or good, and a creamy product was preferred over a water-based sorbet.

Despite the continuing interest in various plant and natural products, only a small portion of the biologically active compounds from nature has been discovered and exploited. In this study, antioxidant and antibacterial properties of aqueous fractions of three endophytic fungi isolated from the roots of 8-year-old Scots pines ( Pinus sylvestris ) growing on a drained peatland were investigated. The endophytic fungi species were Acephala applanata, Phialocephala fortinii , and Humicolopsis cephalosporioides / Coniochaeta mutabilis . The bioactivities were examined using hydrogen peroxide scavenging and oxygen radical absorbance capacity tests as well as sensitive Escherichia coli -based biosensors, which produce a luminescent signal in the presence of substances with oxidative or genotoxic properties. In addition, cell models for Parkinson's disease, age-related macular degeneration, and osteoarthritis were used to evaluate the potential for pharmaceutical applications. The aqueous extracts of fungi and 19 out of 42 fractions were found to be active in one or more of the tests used. However, no activity was found in the age-related macular degeneration and osteoarthritis cell model tests. Additionally, bioactivity data was connected with metabolites putatively annotated, and out of 330 metabolites, 177 were interesting in view of the bioactivities investigated. A majority of these were peptides and all three fungal species shared a highly similar metabolome. We propose that Scots pine endophytic fungi are a rich source of interesting metabolites, and synergistic effects may cause the bioactivities, as they were found to vary after the fractionation process., Competing Interests: The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest., (Thieme. All rights reserved.)

Short-term agronomic and environmental benefits are fundamental factors in encouraging farmers to use biochar on a broad scale. The short-term impacts of forest residue biochar (BC) on the productivity and carbon (C) storage of arable boreal clay soil were studied in a field experiment. In addition, rain simulations and aggregate stability tests were carried out to investigate the potential of BC to reduce nutrient export to surface waters. A BC addition of 30 t ha -1 increased soil test phosphorus and decreased bulk density in the surface soil but did not significantly change pH or water retention properties, and most importantly, did not increase the yield. There were no changes in the bacterial or fungal communities, or biomasses. Soil basal respiration was higher in BC-amended plots in the spring, but no differences in respiration rates were detected in the fall two years after the application. Rain simulation experiments did not support the use of BC in reducing erosion or the export of nutrients from the field. Of the C added, on average 80% was discovered in the 0-45 cm soil layer one year after the application. Amendment of boreal clay soil with a high rate of BC characterized by a moderately alkaline pH, low surface functionalities, and a recalcitrant nature, did not induce such positive impacts that would unambiguously motivate farmers to invest in BC. BC use seems unviable from the farmer's perspective but could play a role in climate change mitigation, as it will likely serve as long-term C storage., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2018 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Food security relies on the resilience of staple food crops to climatic variability and extremes, but the climate resilience of European wheat is unknown. A diversity of responses to disturbance is considered a key determinant of resilience. The capacity of a sole crop genotype to perform well under climatic variability is limited; therefore, a set of cultivars with diverse responses to weather conditions critical to crop yield is required. Here, we show a decline in the response diversity of wheat in farmers' fields in most European countries after 2002-2009 based on 101,000 cultivar yield observations. Similar responses to weather were identified in cultivar trials among central European countries and southern European countries. A response diversity hotspot appeared in the trials in Slovakia, while response diversity "deserts" were identified in Czechia and Germany and for durum wheat in southern Europe. Positive responses to abundant precipitation were lacking. This assessment suggests that current breeding programs and cultivar selection practices do not sufficiently prepare for climatic uncertainty and variability. Consequently, the demand for climate resilience of staple food crops such as wheat must be better articulated. Assessments and communication of response diversity enable collective learning across supply chains. Increased awareness could foster governance of resilience through research and breeding programs, incentives, and regulation., Competing Interests: The authors declare no conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2019 the Author(s). Published by PNAS.)

Soil carbon (C) represents the largest terrestrial carbon stock and is key for soil productivity. Major fractions of soil C consist of organic C, carbonates and black C. The turnover rate of black C is lower than that of organic C, and black C abundance decreases the vulnerablility of soil C stock to decomposition under climate change. The aim of this study was to determine the distribution of soil C in different pools and impact of agricultural management on the abundance of different species. Soil C fractions were quantified in the topsoils (0-15cm) of 23 sites in the tropical highlands of Ethiopia. The sites in central Ethiopia represented paired plots of agroforestry and adjacent control plots where cereal crops were traditionally grown in clayey soils. In the sandy loam and loam soils of northern Ethiopia, the pairs represented restrained grazing with adjacent control plots with free grazing, and terracing with cereal-based cropping with adjacent control plots without terracing. Soil C contained in carbonates, organic matter and black C along with total C was determined. The total C median was 1.5% (range 0.3-3.6%). The median proportion of organic C was 85% (range 53-94%), 6% (0-41%) for carbonate C and 6% (4-21%) for black C. An increase was observed in the organic C and black C fractions attributable to agroforestry and restrained grazing. The very low concentration of the relatively stable black C fraction and the dominance of organic C in these Ethiopian soils suggest vulnerability to degradation and the necessity for cultivation practices maintaining the C stock., (Copyright © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Objectives: The aims of this study were to examine job resources, work engagement and Finnish dairy farmers' preferences concerning methods to enhance overall well-being while working on farms., Methods: A postal survey yielded 265 completed questionnaires from 188 dairy farms. The sample was assessed as representative of Finnish dairy farmers. Exploratory factor analysis and a linear mixed model were utilized during the data analyzing process., Results: The variables lowering work engagement were stressors related to the workload and problems with health. Elevated work engagement was associated with the factors work with farm animals and family. The most important resource variables were "child or children," "own family," and "animal health." Female dairy farmers considered resource variables related to the family, love, and work with cattle as significantly more important than male dairy farmers. Male dairy farmers experienced higher work engagement and, concerning the dimensions, especially higher dedication and absorption than male respondents in a reference sample of workers in difference occupations. A sustainable farm economy and the possibility to have a holiday period were the most important methods to improve overall well-being on dairy farms., Conclusion: The results indicate that the family, working with cattle, healthy farm animals, a reasonable workload, and a sustainable farm economy have the capacity to create positive impacts on well-being among dairy farmers. Well-being on farms is a part of sustainable food production.

Efficiency in the use of resources stream-lined for expected conditions could lead to reduced system diversity and consequently endanger resilience. We tested the hypothesis of a trade-off between farm resource-use efficiency and land-use diversity. We applied stochastic frontier production models to assess the dependence of resource-use-efficiency on land-use diversity as illustrated by the Shannon-Weaver index. Total revenue in relation to use of capital, land and labour on the farms in Southern Finland with a size exceeding 30 ha was studied. The data were extracted from the Finnish Profitability Bookkeeping data. Our results indicate that there is either no trade-off or a negligible trade-off of no economic importance. The small dependence of resource-use efficiency on land-use diversity can be positive as well as negative. We conclude that diversification as a strategy to enhance farm resilience does not necessarily constrain resource-use efficiency., Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

Psychosocial risks among farmers have increasingly been examined because of the ongoing changes in agriculture, such as restructuring of the industry, transition from family farming towards entrepreneurship, and climate change. The aims of the study were to determine the stressors, prevalence of stress and burnout, and variables associated with these symptoms among Finnish dairy farmers. In total 265 respondents completed a postal survey; their average age was 48 years, 44% were females and 56% males. The farms of the survey sample were larger (54 field hectares, 29 cows) than an average farm in Finland (37 hectares, 24 cows) in 2010. The most common stressors were external, such as "agricultural policy of the EU" (European Union) and "the treatment of farmers in society and the media." In addition, common stressors were related to farm and work, e.g., "amount of work," unpredictability, and "animal diseases." The prevalence of stress (42%) was found to have increased compared with earlier studies and was greater than among the general working population. All respondents as a group were classified as having slight symptoms of burnout, and one tenth (9%) of dairy farmers had experienced severe burnout. Stressors related to the workload and health were associated with stress and burnout symptoms. Also, a poor economic situation and loneliness were related to stress. Burnout correlated with a tie stall barn type and with a farm not being involved in the milk production record system. Factors protecting against burnout included positive features of the work and living environment. The study revealed changes during the past decade and new features of the well-being at work on dairy farms in Finland.

The proportion of beef cattle in relation to the total number of cattle has increased in Europe, which has led to a higher contribution of beef cattle in the management of semi-natural grasslands. Changes in vegetation caused by this change in grazers are virtually unexplored so far. In the present study, the impacts of beef and dairy cattle on vegetation structure and composition were compared on Bothnian Bay coastal meadows. Vegetation parameters were measured in seven beef cattle, six dairy heifer pastures, and in six unmanaged meadows. Compared to unmanaged meadows, vegetation in grazed meadows was significantly lower in height and more frequently colonized by low-growth species. As expected, vegetation grazed by beef cattle was more open than that on dairy heifer pastures where litter cover and proportion of bare ground were in the same level as in the unmanaged meadows. However, the observed differences may have in part arisen from the higher cattle densities in coastal meadows grazed by beef cattle than by dairy heifers. The frequencies of different species groups and the species richness values of vegetation did not differ between the coastal meadows grazed by the two cattle types. One reason for this may be the relatively short management history of the studied pastures. The potential differences in grazing impacts of the two cattle types on vegetation structure can be utilized in the management of coastal meadows for species with divergent habitat requirements.