The Farm System Any farm is a “system”. This means that it has inputs, processes and outputs, and the aim of this website is to give you an insight into all of these by looking at my farm. The basic output of our farm is a range of crops, so we have an “arable” farm. The alternative farm system to an arable system is a pastoral system – where animals are looked after for animal outputs. On the land that we own and farm, we grow Barley, Wheat and Oilseed rape. On the farms where we work as contractors we also farm these crops on top of spring beans and oats. Here is a photo of wheat – a crop  grow on temperate farms Definition; “Arable” – A farm system that produces a plant derived output. Definition; “Pastoral” – A farm system that produces an animal derived output. Some farms are “mixed” farms, in that they have both plant and animal outputs, but they are less commercial (see later posts) as they do not benefit from the economies of scale (see later posts). Many...

Farming System (FS) Principles and Practices   The Agricultural systems have encountered various kinds of ecological and environmental problems due to the growing pressure of human population on the carrying capacity of land and the productivity. There is no scope for horizontal expansion of land for food, feed and fibre production. Only vertical expansion is possible by integrating appropriate farming component, requiring less space and time while ensuring periodic income to the farmers. The ultimate goal of sustainable agriculture is to conserve the natural resource base, protect the environment, and enhance the health and safety of human population over a longer period, which can be achieved by proper understanding the science behind farming system – principles and practices . This blog on Farming system brings the comprehensive information about the definition and classification of cropping system, plant interactions in cropping system, agronomic requireme...