Agricultural history of the United States of America.

 

Agriculture is a major industry in the United States and the country is net exporter of food. As for the last census¹ of agriculture in 2009, there were 2.2 million farms, covering area of 922 million acres, an average of 418 acres per farm.

European agriculture practices greatly affected the New England² landscape. Colonists brought livestock over from Europe which caused many changes to the land. Along with livestock changing the plant species in New England from the original native species to European species they also contributed to the deterioration of the forests and fields.

Soil exhaustion was a huge problem in New England agriculture. Plowing with oxen did allow the colonist to farm more land but it increased erosion and decreased soil fertility. In the U.S., farms spread from the colonies westward along with the settlers. In cooler regions, wheat was often the crop of choice when lands were newly settled. Also very common in the Midwest³ was farming. After the "wheat frontier", more diversified farms including dairy cattle ⁴ generally took its place. Warmer regions saw plantings of cotton and herds of beef cattle⁵. In the south, raising tobacco and cotton was common. In the northeast, slaves were used in agriculture until the early 19th century. In the Midwest, slavery was prohibited by 1787.

The introduction and broad adoption of scientific agriculture since the mid nineteenth century has made a large improvement in the USA's economic growth. Soybeans were not widely cultivated in the United States until the 1950s, when soybeans began to replace oats and wheat.

Significant areas of farmland were abandoned during the Great Depression and incorporated into nascent⁶ national forests.

Notes:

¹ census -перепись

² New England- Новая Англия (название исторически сложившегося р-на в северо-восточной части США)

³ Midwest- Центрально-западная часть США

⁴ dairy cattle- молочное животноводство

⁵beef cattle- мясное животноводство

⁶nascent- возникающий, появляющийся

Questions:

1. Is agriculture main industry in the United States of America?

2. How many farms were there in 2009 according to the last census of agriculture?

3. Did European agriculture practices greatly affect the New England landscape?

4 What was a huge problem in New England agriculture?

5. What was the crop of choice in cooler regions?

6. What kind of plantings did warmer regions see?

7. What has made a large improvement in the USA’s economic growth?

 

Тексты для дополнительного чтения по направлениям.

Зооинженерный факультет.

ВАРИАНТ №1

BEEKEEPING.

 

Beekeeping, also called apiculture, means management of colonies of bees for the production of honey and other hive products for the pollination of crops. Bees are sure to be among the most studied and best known insects. The honeybee is considered to be a common name for any of several species of highly social bees known for their honey-hoarding behaviour and their use as a domesticated species. One should refer the honeybee to the order Hymenoptera and one of the Apis species. Honeybees are native to Asia and the Middle East and were introduced to North America by early European colonists. By the mid-1800s, honeybees had become widespread in the world. At present, one may find honeybees on every continent except Antarctica, since they can be easily reared and adapted to many climates.

It has been found that honeybees are social insects noted for providing their nests with large amounts of honey. One can describe colony of honeybees as a highly complex cluster of individuals functioning actually as a single organism. The colony usually consists of the queen, the worker bees and male bees, or drones. The former is normally the only one in each colony. Unlike the worker bee, the queen bee is fertilized female capable of laying a thousand or more eggs per day. Like any worker bee the queen bee has a sting but it is a venomous sting. The number of the worker bees known as sexually undeveloped females may from a few to 60,000 bees. It is quite likely that there may be few drones the colony, but sometimes there may live as many as 1,000 drones.

Colonies are kept in hives where honeybees build the nest. Groups of hives are called apiaries, and a beekeeper may also be called an apiarist or apiculturist.

There exist a few recognized species of honeybees, including the European honeybee, the Indian honeybee, the dwarf honeybee, the mountain giant honeybee etc. However, only the European, the Indian, and to some extent, the dwarf honey bees are the species that have been domesticated. The former is said to be the most widespread domesticated bee and the one species kept in North America. There have been found any races of the European honeybee, but the ones most popular in modern beekeeping are the Italian, Carniola, and Caucasian. Most honeybees used in hives today seem to be mixtures of these and sometimes other races. Thus, modern beekeeping mainly refers to the husbandry of the European honeybee, though one can also refer beekeeping to the management of other domesticated species.

A beekeeper is an ancient and widespread profession and beekeeping originally appeared in the Middle East. The early Egyptians kept bees and traded for honey and beeswax along the East African coast several thousand years ago. Until 1851, beekeepers harvested honey and beeswax by killing the colonies inhabiting the hives. In that year the American apiarist Lorenzo Lorraine Lang troth discovered the principle of “bee space" according to which bees leave spaces of about 0.6 cm between wax combs. In artificial hives, if this space is left between adjacent comb frames and between the end frames and the walls of the hive, each comb will remain unattached to neighbouring combs. Langstroth's discovery made it possible to remove individual frames from a beehive and to harvest honey and wax without destroying the colony. Due to this discovery, one can control bee diseases and maintain a larger number of colonies.

Honeybees are the primary source of honey and beeswax. The latter is described as fine wax with unusual qualities. Honeybees also produce propolis, a substance possessing antibacterial properties, and royal jelly and pollen for human consumption. Honeybee venom is extracted for the production of antivenom therapy and is being investigated as a treatment for several serious diseases of the muscles, connective tissue, and immune system, including multiple sclerosis and arthritis.
In addition, bees have proved to be of great practical value for crop farming as in the act of collecting nectar they pollinate the flowers of many valuable crops and wild plants they visit.

The pollination of plants is sure to be the most important contribution of bees to the economy and the environment. Many species of wild pollinators have disappeared from the land as their habitats were destroyed by humans. It is the honeybee that has taken over as pollinator of many of the wild plants that remain. In this regard, the ecological value of honeybees is tremendous.

Beekeepers worldwide are known to earn their living from selling the honey and beeswax their hives produce, but in some countries, beekeepers are paid for their pollination services. However, honeybee colonies used in commercial pollination and those kept in cities may suffer from pesticides, fungicides, fertilizers, and other agricultural chemicals widely used in modern crop farming. As a result, bees are frequently poisoned by accident and this is a major concern of modern beekeepers.

Apiaries require an abundant supply of nectar and pollen. One should keep apiaries in an area where nectar-producing plants such as clover or eucalyptus are in abundance. As a rule, the apiaries of major honey producers are established in areas where intensive agriculture occurs, because it is not practical to grow plants for honey production alone. For a commercially successful operation, the area should support 30 to 50 colonies in an apiary.

Some beekeepers have migratory apiaries and transport their bees to Stable forage. Apiaries may consist of from 1 to 200 hives, depending on the means of the beekeeper and the flower resources available. Commercial beekeepers who make their entire living from bees often keep hundreds or thousands of hives.

Most beekeepers use standard equipment, that is, boxes (called supers) holding ten separate comb frames. It is interesting that the modern hive and the one described by Langstroth in 1851 are alike in dimensions.

Beekeeping is a successfully developing branch of agriculture in many countries, for example China, the United States, Argentina, Turkey, Ukraine, Mexico, and Russia are believed to be the world leading honey-producing countries. The leading honey exporters are China, Argentina, Mexico, while the leading importers are Germany, the United States, Japan, and the United Kingdom.

Notes:

honey-hoarding behavior – способность к накоплению меда

nest – зд. рой (пчел)

dwarf honeybee – пчела карликовая

adjacent comb frames – зд. рамки смежных сот

neighbouring – соседний

royal jelly – маточное молочко пчел

venom – яд (противоядие)

connective tissue – соединительная ткань

multiple sclerosis – рассеянный склероз

arthritis – артрит

to take over – зд. взять на себя обязанности

tremendous – огромный, громадный

by accident – случайно

concern – забота, беспокойство

super – магазин для меда, медовая надставка

dimension – размер

mite – клещ

fungal, viral diseases – грибковые, вирусные заболевания

troublesome – причиняющий беспокойство

ВАРИАНТ №2.

AQUACULTURE.

Aquaculture, also called Fish Farming, Fish Culture, or Mariculture, means the propagation and husbandry of aquatic organisms for commercial, recreational, and scientific purposes. The main aim of aquaculture is to ensure the production of aquacultural crops for human consumption and for use by the pharmaceutical and chemical industries. However, aquaculture is known to produce aquatic bait animals, ornamental or aquarium fishes, aquatic animals used to increase natural populations for capture and sport fisheries.

Aquaculture is an agricultural activity, despite the many differences between aquaculture and terrestrial agriculture. Aquaculture mainly produces protein crops, while starchy staple crops are the primary products of terrestrial agriculture. In addition, terrestrial animal waste is usually collected by farmers and used as fertilizer, whereas in aquaculture such waste accumulates in the culture environment. Consequently, aquaculturists are expected to manage their production units carefully in order to avoid any water deterioration or pollution, especially in areas where fish usually spawn. Moreover, aquaculturists should not make the culture organisms suffer from any stresses as a result of the intensive production.

Scientists know fish to be cold-blooded aquatic vertebrates, some species of which are especially valued as food due to high content of protein, phosphorus, iodine and vitamins A and D. In addition, a wide variety of other aquatic organisms are produced through aquaculture, including crustaceans (mainly shrimps, crayfish, and prawns), mollusks, algae (a seaweed), and some aquatic plants. In contrast to capture fisheries, aquaculture requires deliberate human intervention in the organisms' productivity to result in yields that exceed those from the natural environment alone. Stocking water with juvenile organisms (also called seed), fertilizing the water, feeding the organisms, and maintaining water quality are considered to be common examples of such intervention. The concept of pond fertilization was developed in Europe about 1500. In this process, manure is added to the water to encourage the growth of small organisms such as aquatic invertebrates and plankton, which in turn are eaten by the fish.

Aquaculture was developed more than 2,000 years ago in such countries as China, Rome, and Egypt. Formerly, aquacultural practices involved capturing wild immature specimens and then raising them under optimal conditions in which they were well fed and protected from predators and competitors for light and space. For instance, carp fingerlings (or juvenile fish) were captured from rivers, and kept in ponds or other bodies of water for further growth. It was not until 1733, however, that a German farmer successfully raised fish from eggs that he had artificially obtained and fertilized. Male and female trout were collected when ready for spawning. Eggs and sperm were pressed from their bodies and mixed together under favourable conditions. After the eggs hatched, the fish fry were taken to tanks or ponds for further cultivation. Methods have also been developed for artificial breeding of saltwater fish, and now it is possible not only to rear sea animals but also to have the complete life cycle under hatchery control.

Nowadays various methods enable aquaculturists to rear aquatic organisms artificially in fresh, brackish or salt water. In addition, aquacultural production can occur not only in natural waters but in artificial aquatic impoundments, for instance fish may be confined in earthen ponds, concrete pools, barricaded coastal waters, or cages placed into open water. In these enclosures, the fish can be supplied with adequate food and protected from many natural predators. Earthen ponds have been found to be suitable for fish and crustacean aquaculture. These ponds are usually equipped with water inlets and outlets that provide independent control of water addition and discharge. Ponds are stocked with a specific quantity of juvenile aquatic animals. Management practices range from pond fertilization, which increases the number of natural food organisms, to the supply of a complete, formulated feed that provides all nutrients necessary for growth. Animals that have reached market size are harvested from the ponds. Channel catfish grown in the United States, and marine shrimp grown in China, Central America, and South America, are often cultured in earthen ponds of about 5 to 10 hectares.

Fish can also be raised in cages or raceways. The latter are long, narrow earthen or concrete ponds that receive a continuous flow of water from a nearby artesian well, spring, or stream. Fish breeders believe raising fish in cages to be a good method in case of using the water of lakes, bays, or the open ocean. Besides, aquaculturists have shown raceways and cages to be more efficient than earthen ponds, for many more fingerlings can be stocked in them, however, nutritionally complete formulated feed must be provided to fish grown in these systems. Rainbow trout are grown in raceways in many places, including Chile, Europe, and the United States. Salmon are grown in cages, and Norway ranks the first in the world production of farmed salmon.

Recently in aquaculture there have appeared a method known as ocean ranching which means the rearing of fish and shellfish under artificially controlled conditions in order to restock lakes, seas and oceans and it is usually carried out by government agencies in the US and some other countries. According to this method young fish are bred in the controlled environment until they become mature enough to be released into the open sea. Using this approach, oysters (as a source of both food and pearls), scallops, and mussels are raised throughout the world. Moreover, ocean ranching is of great value forcing carp, trout, catfish, and tilapia. Experiments with ocean ranching the late 20th century led to the economically successful aquaculture of lobsters.

One of the main aims of aquaculture is to breed edible fish in special ponds for sale to meet the increasing demand of population for fish. However, the growth of world aquaculture has been stimulated by a number of other factors, including overfishing, destruction of habitats for some unique fish species, water pollution, and dietary changes.

Notes:

1. bait ‒ приманка, наживка

2. terrestrial ‒ происходящий на земле, на суше

3. starchy staple crops ‒ зд. основные культуры, содержащие крахмал

4. deterioration ‒ зд. ухудшение состояния или качества

5. alga (pl algae) ‒ водоросль

6. pond fertilization ‒ зд. внесение органических веществ в пруд в качестве питательной среды

7. specimen ‒ экземпляр

8. predator ‒ хищник

9. concrete pools ‒ забетонированные небольшие пруды

10. barricaded coastal waters ‒ зд. огороженные участки прибрежных вод

11. artesian well, spring, stream ‒ артезианский колодец, источник или родник/ручей

12. bay ‒ залив

13. scallop ‒ зоол. гребешок, двустворчатый моллюск

14. mussel ‒ мидия

15. tilapia ‒ тилапия (африканская пресноводная рыба семейства цихлид, используемая в пищу и широко выращиваемая сейчас во всем мире)

ВАРИАНТ №3.

BASIC TYPES OF FEEDS.

Animal feeds are classified into two main groups: concentrates and roughages. The former are high in energy value and are subdivided into following four groups: (a) cereal grains and their by-products (barley, corn (or maize), oats, rye, wheat), (b) high-protein oil meals or cakes (soybean, cottonseed), (c) by-products from processing of sugar beets, and (d) by-products from other industries. Roughages include such feeds (a) pasture grasses, (b) hays, (c) silage, (d) root crops, and (e) straw.

Concentrate feeds. a) Cereal grains and their by-products. In the cultural practices of North America and northern Europe, barley, corn, oats, rye, and sorghum are grown mainly as animal feed, however small quantities are processed for human consumption as well. These grains are fed, whole or ground, either singly or mixed with high-protein meals or other by-products, minerals, and vitamins, to form a complete feed for pigs and poultry or an adequate dietary supplement for ruminants and horses. By-products from commercial processing of cereal grains, for instance wheat bran, corn gluten meal1, rice bran or hulls, are used as animal feeds in large quantities.

b) High-protein meals. Vegetable seeds such as soybeans, flax-seeds, cottonseeds, sunflower seeds are produced mainly as a source of oil for human food and industrial uses. After these seeds are processed to remove the oil, the residues, which may contain from 5 per cent to less than 1 per cent of fat and 20 to 50 per cent of protein, are used as animal feeds. The latter are valuable supplements to roughages or cereal grains and other low-protein feeds because they provide the protein needed for efficient growth of production.

c) By-products of sugar beets. From the sugar-beet industry come beet tops, which are used on the farm either fresh or ensiled, and dried beet pulp and beet molasses, which are produced in the sugar factory. These are all palatable, high-quality sources of carbohydrates. In some European countries, fodder beets and some other roots are grown as animal feed.

d) Other by-product feeds. By-products of brewing industry (yeast), dairy industry (dried skim milk or whey or buttermilk) and fish industry (fish meal) contain 50 per cent or more of high-quality protein and such mineral elements as calcium and phosphorus so they are well-known as useful animal feeds.

Roughages. a) Pasture. Various pasture grasses (timothy, Sudan grass) and legumes (clovers, soybeans, sorghum), both native and cultivated, are the most important single source of feed for cattle, horses, sheep, and goats. During the growing season they supply most of the feed for these animals at a cost lower than other feeds that must be harvested, processed, and transported. Hundreds of different grasses, legumes, bushes, and trees are acceptable as feeds for grazing animals. The nutritive value of the cultivated varieties has been studied, but information is incomplete for many naturally growing plants.

b) Hay. It is produced by drying different mature grasses (such as timothy and Sudan grass) or legumes (alfalfa, clover) when they contain the maximum quantity of digestible protein and carbohydrates but before the seeds develop. The moisture content must be reduced to 22 per cent or less to prevent moulding, heating, and spoilage during storage. Legume hays are high in protein, while the grasses are lower in protein but vary greatly with the stage of maturity and level of nitrogen fertiliza­tion which have been applied to the crop. Hay is usually fed to animals when sufficient fresh pasture grass is unavailable.

c) Silage. Silage is usually made from immature plants of corn, sorghums, grasses, legumes in a storage container to exclude the air and allow fermentation to develop acetic and other acids, which preserve the moist feed. Storage may be in upright tower silos or in trenches in the ground. Best quality silage results when the forage is ensiled with a moisture content of 50 to 65 per cent. Ensiled forage can be stored for a longer period of time with lower loss of nutrients than dry hay. The nutritive value of silage depends upon the type of forage ensiled and how properly it has been made.

d) Root crops. Nowadays such root crops as mangels, rutabagas, cassava and sometimes potatoes are used less extensively as animal feed than in the past, for economic reasons. Roots are lower in dry-matter content than are most of the other feeds listed. They are relatively low in protein also and provide mostly energy.

e) Straw and hulls. Quantities of straws that remain after wheat, oats, barley, and rice crops are harvested and used as feed for cattle and other ruminants. The straws are low in protein and very high in fibre. Moreover, digestibility of straws is low. Straw is useful in maintaining mature animals during periods of shortage of other feeds, but it is too low in quality in order to be satisfactory for long periods without adding supplements. Corn stalks, cottonseed hulls, and rice hulls can also be used as sources of fibre in ruminant rations. Rice hulls are lower in value, while the others are similar to straw.

Notes:

1. corn gluten meal – кукурузная глютеновая мука

2. hull – пленка (зерна), лузга

3. flaxseed – льняное семя

4. sunflower seed – семя подсолнечника

5. residue – остаток

6. ensiled – засилованный

7. beet molasses – свеклосахарная меласса

8.brewing industry (yeast) – пивоваренная промышленность (дрожжи)

9. dried skim milk/whey/buttermilk – обезжиренное сухое молоко/сухая

сыворотка/сухая пахта

10. mature – зрелый, созревший

11. to mould – плесневеть

12. mangels/rutabagas/cassava – кормовая свёкла/ брюква/ маниока

13. digestibility – усвояемость

ВАРИАНТ №4.

ANIMAL ETHOLOGY.

 

Ethology is the scientific study of the behaviour of animals in their natural habitat. It is mainly a 20th-century phenomenon and is a branch of zoology as only animals have nervous systems and they have abilities for perception, coordination, orientation, learning, and memory.

Many naturalists have studied aspects of animal behaviour through the centuries, among the early ethologists were Herbert Spencer and Charles Darwin. However, the modern ethology as a discrete discipline was established by biologists Konrad Lorenz (Austria) and Nikolaas Tinbergen (the Netherlands) in the 1920s. In 1973 they and zoologist Karl von Frisch (Austria) were jointly awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for their work in developing ethology. Their emphasis was on field observations of animals under natural conditions.

Tinbergen concentrated on the importance of both instinctive and learned behaviour to animal survival. He is especially well known for his long-term observations of sea gulls, which led to important generalisations on courtship and mating behaviour. Among his more important works are Social Behaviour in Animals (1953), and Animal Behaviour (1965), The Study of Instinct (1951).

About 1910 Frisch proved that fish could distinguish colour and brightness differences and he later discovered that auditory acuity and sound-distinguishing ability in fish is superior to that in humans. However, Frisch is best known for his studies of bees. His research was devoted to communication among bees, so-called "dance language", and added greatly to the knowledge of the chemical and visual sensors of insects. In 1919 he demonstrated that they can be trained to distinguish between various tastes and odours. Also, he found that bees communicate the distance and direction of a food supply to other members of the colony by rhythmic movements or dances. In 1949 Frisch established that bees, through their perception of polarized light, use the sun as a compass. Study of the honey bee's navigational system has revealed much about the mechanisms used by higher animals.

The most important discovery of Lorenz concerned the early learning of young nidifugous birds, a process which he described in 1935 and called imprinting. Lorenz observed that at a certain critical stage soon after hatching, the young chickens, ducklings and goslings learn to follow real or foster mothers. Lorenz discovered that this following response could be transferred to an arbitrary stimulus if the eggs were incubated artificially and the stimulus was presented for the few days after hatching. The concept of imprinting has been widely adopted in developmental psychology.

The study of animal behaviour now includes many different topics, ranging from animal behaviour during the reproductive period to communication between animals. Many different hypotheses have been proposed in order to explain the variety of behavioural patterns which are found in animals. Modern ethology concentrates on the systematic observation, recording, and analysis of how animals function, with special attention to physiological, ecological, and evolutionary aspects. Nowadays, the ethologist is more interested in the behavioural process than in a particular animal group and often studies one type of behaviour, for instance, aggression, in a number of animal species.

It has been found that an organism's actions may be classified as either instinctive or learned behaviour. The former include the actions that are not influenced by the animal's previous experience, such as common reflexes. The latter comprise the actions that are depended on earlier experiences, for example, problem solving. Ethologists put emphasis on the complex interaction of environment and genetically determined responses, especially during early development.

Thus, evolution based on the general mechanisms, which are described by ethology, has generated a nearly endless list of behavioural wonders by which animals have almost perfectly adapted to their world.

Notes:

1. sea gull – чайка

2. courtship – ухаживание

3. auditory acuity – острота слуха

4. nidifugous bird – выводковая птица

5. imprinting – запечатление, импринтинг (термин в этологии)

6. to hatch (out) – вылупляться (из яйца)

7. arbitrary stimulus – зд. произвольный раздражитель

ВАРИАНТ №5.

ANIMAL FEEDS.

Animal feeds include any feedstuff which is grown or developed for livestock and poultry. The main aim of a farmer is to provide animals with as highly nutritional diets as possible in order to maintain them healthy and ensure the quality of such final animal products as meat, milk, or eggs. Even today the problem of feeds is still a subject of study for agricultural scientists.

Proteins, carbohydrates, fats, minerals and vitamins are known as the basic nutrients that animals require for growth, reproduction, and good health, but the amount of these substances varies greatly with the type of feed. The first effort to evaluate feeds for animals on a comparative basis was made by Albrecht Thaer (1752-1828), in Germany, who developed "hay values" as measures of nutritive value of feeds. Tables of the value of feeds and of the requirements of animals were first drawn up in Germany; later they were used in other countries as well.

Present-day knowledge represents an expansion and further improve­ment of these early efforts. The usual chemical analyses of feeds provide information on the total amount of dry matter, protein, fat, fibre, and ash4 contained in the feed. Energy value, mineral elements, and vitamins are also determined; these values are included in complete tables of feed composition. The better methods for chemical analyses of feeds are developed, the more reliable data are obtained for calculating feeding rations for animals.

Animal feeds are classified according to: 1) the origin, that is, plant or animal origin of feeds; 2) the chemical composition, such as high-protein, high-fibre, high-moisture etc; 3) the nutritional value, as concentrates and bulky feeds.

Generally, animal feeds may be classified into two large groups: concentrates and roughages. The former are higher in energy value than the latter and are subdivided into the following types: 1) cereal grains such as wheat, corn (maize), oats, rye, barley and their by-products which remain after grain has been processed for human use, 2) high-protein oil meals or cakes from soybeans, sorghum, 3) by-products from processing of sugar beets, 4) animal and fish by-products. Roughages include such feeds as: 1) green roughages (clover, timothy, other pasture grasses and legumes), 2) dry roughages or fodder (hays, straws); 3) silage, 4) root crops. Green forage grasses, silage and roots comprise a group of succulent feeds which are high in moisture.

Concentrates are valuable in feeding all classes of animals as they have a high food value relative to volume, that is, they are rich in both protein and carbohydrates as well, they contain a number of microelements, minerals and vitamins. Roughages are bulky feeds with high-fibre content which is poorly digestible. Thus, they are fed in large quantities to cattle and sheep but they are not suitable for feeding pigs. Succulents are known as palatable feeds but contain a lot of water and have a laxative effect. The younger the grass is, the higher it is in vitamins and minerals, so farmers start grazing cattle and sheep as early in spring as possible. The quality of silage and its nutritive value is greatly affected by a number of factors such as the type of a forage crop, the plant age and storage conditions. Roots are low in protein but high in carbohydrates and moisture, so they are often used as supplements to hay and straw in order to provide complete rations for cattle and sheep.

Feeds vary not only in the amount of nutrients but in costs from season to season. Thus, it is important for a farmer to select feed ingredients for complete rations as economically as possible. Nowadays large-scale commercial livestock companies as well as small-scale producers widely use special computer programmes for selecting feed mixtures that will satisfy the nutrient requirements of a specific type of animal at a particular stage of development. The more palatable and nutritious rations are provided for animals on the basis of the lower-cost feeds, the higher profits a farmer can get.

Notes:

1. feedstuff –корм; кормовой продукт (syn: feed, fodder)

2. hay value – кормовая ценность сена

3. to draw up (a table) – составлять (таблицу)

4. ash – зола

5. laxative effect – слабительное действие

6. costs (мн.) – издержки, затраты (на производство)

7. small-scale (large-scale) – небольшой (крупный)

8. profit – прибыль

Факультет агротехнологий и декоративного растениеводства.

Вариант №1.