Conducting On-Farm Animal Research: Procedures & Economic Analysis.

This book is intended to give animal scientists elementary tools to perform on-farm livestock analysis and to provide crop-oriented farming systems researchers with methods for conducting animal research. Chapter 1 describes farming systems research as a systems approach to on-farm animal research. Chapter 2 outlines some important animal-production concepts for nonscientists. Chapter 3 covers the economic concepts that are essential for technology evaluation and analysis. Chapter 4 briefly reviews the basic statistical concepts necessary for the design and analysis of on-farm animal research. Chapter 5 presents a model for screening animal technologies at the research station before on-farm testing is conducted. Chapter 6 provides guidelines for conducting on-farm research. Chapter 7 presents the tools needed to carry out simple economic analysis. Chapter 8 covers basic marketing concepts that are relevant to on-farm research, explaining the reasons that small farmers may be hesitant to test new practices and describing the marketing aspects that should be kept in mind when choosing a technology for on-farm testing. Chapter 9 deals with the risk and uncertainty inherent in new technologies. Chapter 10 covers such topics as obtaining support for on-farm research and the roles of different levels of management in supporting research. The book concludes with a glossary of some 700 terms, a 118-item bibliography, and exercises relevant to each chapter. (CML)