Technology & Engineering

Learn to use ArcGIS Pro confidently, quickly, and effectively with the newest edition in this best-selling series.

Getting to Know ArcGIS Pro 3.2 introduces readers to ArcGIS Pro, the world’s most powerful desktop GIS. Geographic information system (GIS) software provides mapping and analytic capabilities that give people and organizations powerful location intelligence.

Getting to Know ArcGIS Pro 3.2 walks readers through exploring ArcGIS Online, using 3D GIS, building a geodatabase, creating maps for web and physical presentations, and more. With more than 300 full-color images, Getting to Know ArcGIS Pro 3.2 clarifies complicated processes, such as developing a geoprocessing model, using Python to write a script tool, and creating space-time cubes for analysis in easy-to-follow workflows.

Throughout the book, short sidebars about real-world GIS scenarios in specific industries help readers understand how ArcGIS Pro can be used widely to solve problems. At the end of each chapter, a summary and glossary help reinforce the skills learned.

This edition has been completely updated for use with ArcGIS Pro 3.2.

The Getting to Know series has been teaching readers about GIS for more than 20 years. Ideal for students, self-learners, and professionals who want to learn the premier GIS desktop application, Getting to Know ArcGIS Pro 3.2 is a textbook and desk reference designed to show users how to use ArcGIS Pro successfully.

This classic ArcGIS® exercise book has been revised and streamlined to help you learn the latest ArcGIS Pro tools and workflows.

GIS Tutorial for ArcGIS Pro 3.1 is the book of choice for classrooms and self-learners seeking to develop their expertise with Esri’s premier desktop geographic information system (GIS) technology—no prior experience is necessary.

This fifth edition, revised for ArcGIS Pro 3.1, features new datasets, exercises, and instructional text guiding you step by step through the latest tools and workflows. The book explains core skills through progressive learning, and its examples use current, real-world scenarios as you learn to make maps and find, create, and analyze spatial data while using ArcGIS Pro and ArcGIS Online.

You will also:

• share your work in ArcGIS StoryMaps℠ and visualize your data in ArcGIS Dashboards
• create simple expressions in SQL and Python
• learn how to use street networks for routing
• learn how to analyze satellite imagery to provide intelligence
• learn to turn maps into animations

Both authors, Carnegie Mellon educators Kristen Kurland and Wil Gorr, integrate methods from their own teaching experiences into this book and their other books from Esri Press, including the GIS Tutorial 1–3 series, GIS Tutorial for Crime Analysis, and GIS Tutorial for Health. Downloadable video lectures and teaching slides that complement this book are also available.

The must-have desk reference to terminology in geographic information systems (GIS).

As GIS technology has evolved and grown, so has the language of this powerful tool. Elevate your understanding of GIS with the newly updated and expanded third edition of A to Z GIS: An Illustrated Dictionary of Geographic Information Systems. With more than 1,400 new terms and nearly 400 high-quality illustrations, this popular comprehensive dictionary is essential for managers, programmers, users, writers, editors, and students discovering the interdisciplinary nature of GIS.

Written, developed, and reviewed by more than 200 subject matter experts, the fully cross-referenced dictionary is packed with nearly 3,000 terms. With clear definitions and helpful illustrations, A to Z GIS: An Illustrated Dictionary of Geographic Information Systems is a crucial resource for anyone in GIS.

Getting to Know Mobile GIS empowers readers to creatively use Mobile GIS and drive innovation in this fast-advancing field.

“Mobile first" and the "post-PC era" aren’t just buzzwords; they represent today's reality. Within the GIS industry, the mobile internet and Mobile GIS have transformed how we acquire, visualize, analyze, and disseminate geospatial information. With its ubiquitous use and location-aware capabilities, the mobile platform is an essential part of enterprise GIS across industries, making Mobile GIS crucial to the business operations and future success of wide-ranging organizations.

Getting to Know Mobile GIS helps GIS professionals and GIS students grasp the opportunities presented by Mobile GIS. It provides principles and detailed tutorials to teach today’s cutting-edge Mobile GIS technologies. Using a no-code, low-code approach, it makes Mobile GIS easy and fun to learn. Readers can immediately become productive in creating enterprise GIS solutions, including:

• Online and offline spatial data visualization
• Data collection
• Location sharing
• Workforce coordination
• Integration with enterprise workflows.

Getting to Know Mobile GIS is a comprehensive resource covering the Esri suite of ArcGIS mobile technologies, including native-based apps such as ArcGIS Survey123, ArcGIS Field Maps, ArcGIS QuickCapture, and browser-based apps such as ArcGIS Dashboards and Experience Builder. Readers can also acquire advanced skills to extend Mobile GIS using ArcGIS Arcade, Webhooks, HTML, CSS, JavaScript, and the ArcGIS Maps SDKs. The book explores popular application types and frontiers, encompassing location-based services (LBS), volunteered geographic information (VGI), 3D mapping, virtual reality (VR), and augmented reality (AR).

Based on the author’s extensive Mobile GIS project experiences at Esri and teaching Mobile GIS at Harvard Extension, Getting to Know Mobile GIS has the latest concepts, trends, technology, and how-tos for Mobile GIS.

Make your work in the field more efficient and productive with the how-to of location intelligence.

A biologist in a rain forest making observations on indigenous frogs, an engineer maintaining utility equipment, or a citizen scientist taking water samples from a creek are all doing fieldwork. Their work is anchored by location. No matter what electronic tools they take into the field, they all take a notebook or a guidebook. As you head into the field along with all your equipment, be sure to include this practical fieldwork guide.

Fieldwork Handbook gives you tips, best practices, and activities that make your work in the field more productive and successful. No matter how you use location intelligence in the field, you can up your game with this book and improve your experience. Covering preparation, equipment, workflows, and data, this book will teach you how to

• Organize and reconcile field data
• Effectively coordinate and dispatch field resources
• Refine fieldwork workflows
• Sync the office with the field

Author and Esri product engineer Marika Vertzonis learned about geospatial technology in the field, and she knows what you need to know. This handbook is your friend in the field.

Making interactive web maps has never been easier. 

Top 20 Essential Skills for ArcGIS Online guides readers, step by step, through the process of creating maps that simplify location data and unlock spatial insights. In just a few clicks, you’ll publish professional web maps that use smart, data-driven mapping styles and powerful analysis tools.

These bite-sized chapters demonstrate how to create layers, build web maps, and showcase your location data in professional visualizations. Each chapter takes about 45 minutes to complete.

Top 20 Essential Skills for ArcGIS Online includes:

• Easy-to-understand, step-by-step tutorials

• Simple instructions with plenty of screenshots showing what to do

• Resources that provide readers with self-paced learning opportunities

By the end of this book, you’ll know:

• Smart mapping, blend modes, effects, setting visibility ranges, and other basic cartography techniques

• ArcGIS Living Atlas of the World, ArcGIS Notebooks, charts, forms, and data pipelines

• How to share your maps to the world

Top 20 Essential Skills for ArcGIS Online is perfect for students looking for a comprehensive guide to follow from beginning to end, professionals looking to learn specific skills, or those who want a single, reliable, comprehensive resource for learning how to create web maps.

Make your own interactive web maps using the first book from Esri Press exclusively for ArcGIS Online.

Get the latest information about online GIS using ArcGIS® apps and functionality. 

Capabilities of Web GIS keep expanding, and Getting to Know Web GIS, fifth edition, describes some of the most cutting-edge and exciting innovations. From publishing data as services and configuring engaging web and mobile apps to automation, scripting, and real-world applications, this book shares how to use the most current software and apps for using ArcGIS in the cloud. 

In the newest edition of Getting to Know Web GIS, you can work with the latest releases of ArcGIS Online, ArcGIS Pro, ArcGIS StoryMaps℠, and ArcGIS mobile apps. You can experience ArcGIS Experience Builder, ArcGIS Field Maps, ArcGIS Instant Apps, ArcGIS Image for ArcGIS Online, ArcGIS Mission, and the latest advances in artificial intelligence, virtual reality, and tools for spatial data science. No programming is required, but you can learn more about Web GIS programming in this book using JavaScript, webhooks, and ArcGIS Arcade. 

Use the fifth edition to: 

• improve your online visual storytelling,
• work with 2D smart mapping and 3D web scenes, 
• create informative web experiences and dashboards,
• support field operations and data collection using mobile apps,
• use new data science tools for spatial analysis and geoprocessing,
• detect objects using deep learning packages,
• program a triggered notification using a visual interface, and more. 

GIS expert, instructor, and author Pinde Fu provides lecture slides and additional resources in an online story using ArcGIS StoryMaps.  

Today’s modern GIS is Web GIS—get onboard with one of the most interesting and creative areas of GIS. 

Learn the latest version of ArcGIS Pro with the newest edition of this bestselling series.

Getting to Know ArcGIS Pro 2.8 introduces the tools and functions of ArcGIS Pro, the powerful desktop GIS application. Geographic information systems (GIS) software is making a huge impact in businesses and organizations with mapping and analytic capabilities.

Getting to Know ArcGIS Pro 2.8 uses practical project workflows to teach best practices for readers of all skill levels. Readers will explore data visualizations, build a geodatabase, discover 3D GIS, create maps for web and physical presentations, and more. With over 300 full-color images, Getting to Know ArcGIS Pro 2.8 clarifies complicated processes such as developing a geoprocessing model, using Python to write a script tool, and creating space-time cubes for analysis.

Each chapter begins with a prompt describing a real-world scenario in a different industry to help readers understand how ArcGIS Pro can be applied widely to solve problems. At the end of each chapter, a summary and glossary help reinforce the skills learned.

This edition has been completely updated for use with ArcGIS Pro 2.8. Other updates include new chapters on ArcGIS Online and geocoding.

The Getting to Know series has been teaching readers about GIS for over twenty years. Ideal for students, self-learners, and professionals who want to learn the premier GIS desktop application, Getting to Know ArcGIS Pro 2.8 is a textbook and desk reference designed to show users how they can use ArcGIS Pro successfully on their own.

Note: This e-book requires ArcGIS software. You can download the ArcGIS Trial at http://www.esri.com/arcgis/trial, contact your school or business Esri Site License Administrator, or purchase a student or individual license through the Esri Store.

• Profiles of more than 80 countries and their botanical sources of honey
• The global history of honey production, from the earliest beekeepers to today’s harvest
• Text, illustrations and photos celebrating the exceptional range and diversity of honey
• The methods used by honey sommeliers to taste and evaluate honey

Add an extra dimension to your maps.

You live in a 3D world—your maps need to be 3D, too. Representing and reviewing data on maps in 3D lets you explore complex spatial relationships in new ways, allowing you to identify patterns and potential problems more effectively. But creating digital 3D maps that are accurate, intuitive, engaging, and easily navigable can seem daunting, even to experienced cartographers.

Mapping with Altitude: Designing 3D Maps helps you create clear, compelling cartographic representations in 3D that are both eye-catching and informative. Written by Esri senior product engineer and frequent Esri UC workshop presenter Nathan C Shephard, this book uses a fun and enthusiastic approach to explore the concepts, challenges, and opportunities in 3D cartography.

Using easy-to-understand workflows, this book:

• Shows why some spatial content is best communicated in 3D.
  

• Explains 3D mapping concepts, such as surfaces, base heights, texturing, and lighting models.

• Introduces new twists on well-defined 2D cartographic principles, such as size, color, and text.

• Demonstrates how the z-dimension can convey time.

• Discusses the best delivery mechanism for your 3D content.

Mapping with Altitude focuses on the practical decisions and specific techniques you’ll use as you boldly enter the world of 3D map authoring in ArcGIS.

Spatial statistics empowers you to go beyond visual analysis to answer questions confidently and make data-driven decisions.

Thanks to the data and computational power now at our fingertips, data science is in every aspect of our lives. But with so many algorithms and buzzwords floating around, where do you start to solve complex problems or figure out where to go next?

There has never been a more exciting time to learn about spatial statistics. Spatial statistics uses an aspect of geography that helps you quantify patterns and relationships so that you can feel confident in your analysis.

Spatial Statistics Illustrated is an introductory book for learning the concepts behind the powerful spatial statistics tools in ArcGIS.

With approachable explanations and uncomplicated drawings, Spatial Statistics Illustrated gives readers an accessible understanding of some of the most widely used spatial statistics methods, including how they work and when to use them. In a friendly, conversational tone, the authors share techniques that can help you explore your data in meaningful ways; quantify patterns and relationships; understand trends, and make informed, impactful decisions.

This book has something for everyone analyzing data, including:

• seasoned data scientists looking to explore the value that spatial analysis offers
• GIS analysts looking to expand their spatial statistics skill set
• new GIS users discovering the value of spatial statistics

Spatial Statistics Illustrated is a perfect complement to more traditional, technical statistics and spatial statistics texts and is also ideal as supplemental reading for academic courses.

Based on the popular series of Spatial Statistics workshops presented by the authors at the annual Esri User Conference, Spatial Statistics Illustrated welcomes readers into the unparalleled world of spatial statistics.

Top 20 Essential Skills for ArcGIS® Pro introduces the most important skills you need to get up and running with geographic information systems (GIS).

With its location data advantage, geographic information system (GIS) software is a tool to help with key projects, decisions, and problems. But how do you start using GIS in your projects? If you need a fast track to using this valuable tool, learn and get experience with Top 20 Essential Skills for ArcGIS Pro.

With this book, you can start using ArcGIS Pro quickly and successfully.

• Easy-to-understand, step-by-step exercises
• Conversational, upbeat language with lots of illustrations and tips
• Interesting user stories covering how GIS is applied in many situations
• Exercises for working with spatial data, creating maps, and doing basic analysis

This handy resource with easy to follow, how-to steps will help you build your skill set to become adept at understanding and using ArcGIS Pro.

Spatial Data Science will show GIS scientists and practitioners how to add and use new analytical methods from data science in their existing GIS platforms. By explaining how the spatial domain can provide many of the building blocks, it's critical for transforming data into information, knowledge, and solutions.

This book is for those using or studying GIS and the computer scientists, engineers, statisticians, and information and library scientists leading the development and deployment of data science.

GIS for Surface Water: Using the National Hydrography Dataset enables scientists, managers, and students to understand the complexities of the vital surface waters of the United States. It triggers exploration and analysis by combining the ready-to-use powers of a comprehensive database of the nation’s waters and the ArcGIS® platform for geographic data analysis and mapping. This book explains how the water that exists on the landscape has been translated into a computer database, and how data about the water, such as chemistry and fish habitat, is linked to this database. Elevation data is also incorporated to produce watersheds at the micro and macro levels. This information, along with climatic data, leads to the creation of water flow and velocity estimates for every segment in the 7.5-million-mile drainage network in the United States. With the development of this complete water information system, the reader is poised to generate new knowledge of the behavior of surface water systems. 

Application of the ArcGIS suite of geographic and network analysis tools makes the science of surface water come to life. GIS for Surface Water vividly demonstrates how the vast capabilities of ArcGIS can be easily applied to the National Hydrography Dataset and companion Watershed Boundary Dataset to reveal the intricate properties of complex water networks. A variety of GIS operations are made simpler through the use of ArcGIS. You will be able to input the National Hydrography Dataset in your GIS and trace the path of water within minutes. With just a little more effort, you will be able to create enlightening flow-volume maps showing how much water flows through any given river system. By following basic principles outlined in the book, you will discover that these methods also apply to the science of surface-water systems for any nation. User stories by experienced water analysts are also included to help buoy your knowledge of GIS for surface water.

Learn from the best with this popular book on creating successful maps with any GIS or illustration product, written by an expert cartographer.

For more than 18 years, Designing Better Maps: A Guide for GIS Users has been essential reading for all mapmakers who use geographic information system (GIS) technology across industries and sectors, including government, commercial, creative, and education. This third edition continues the reliable legacy of this book, distinctive in its clear and efficient emphasis on core cartographic concepts and updated with new and revamped design practices.

With more than 400 full-color illustrations, this book applies map design best practices to both reference and statistical mapping, guiding you through the following processes:

• Planning maps
• Using basemaps
• Using scale and time
• Explaining maps
• Publishing and sharing maps
• Applying type and labels
• Understanding and using color
• Customizing symbols

Award-winning author Cynthia A. Brewer uses her sophisticated mix of experiences—conducting academic research, teaching novice cartographers, mentoring advanced students on research and mapmaking, and collaborating with analysts and mapmakers at various federal agencies—to present this practical information. In 2023, she was awarded the International Cartographic Society's highest honor, the Carl Mannerfelt Gold Medal, for distinguished contributions to her field.

Whether you face the challenge of making well-designed maps or are already adept at GIS data management and analysis but need better ways to visually communicate spatial information and results, Designing Better Maps will help you learn how to use GIS tools to design provocative and accessible maps.

The Power of Where presents the visionary concepts of Jack Dangermond, cofounder of Esri®, the world’s leading mapping software company. With a foreword by bestselling author and writer for The Atlantic, James Fallows, it’s filled with the latest web maps, illustrations, and real-life stories from a vibrant global community of geographic information systems (GIS) users. If you’ve never heard of GIS, this is the book for you, and if you think you know what GIS is, you’ll discover much more.

From the Ring of Fire to the Fertile Crescent, The Power of Where takes us on a visual and narrative journey into the world of modern GIS and reveals its growing potential to address humanity’s big challenges. The technology is already ubiquitous, from running city governments and performing civic science to conserving open spaces and managing logistics—virtually every human endeavor.

Central to the book is the geographic approach—a way of solving problems that uses spatial location to perceive and understand patterns—from wildlife migration and rising seas to urban planning and food production. Drawing from 60 years of research and experience, the author writes from a fervent conviction that through this approach, we can confront climate change, hunger, water scarcity, inequity, and issues large and small in our everyday lives.

The book describes the methods of the geographic approach—visualization, communication, analysis, collaboration, accounting, and design—and shows how vast amounts of integrated data are propelling spatial applications into the mainstream. A companion website brings interactive maps and stories to life and serves as a starting point for students and educators—and anyone considering joining the GIS user community.

The Power of Where reveals how technologies such as web services, mobile devices, artificial intelligence, extended reality, and 3D visualization intersect with GIS and outlines the new opportunities they are creating. Its maps and stories arise from a passion for the power of place and from the mutually reinforcing revolutions in Earth observation, analysis, and collaboration that GIS and the human spirit make possible.

Explore live examples from the book and learn more about interactive mapping and the tools of modern GIS at powerofwhere.com.

Essays by international bestselling author Edward Tenner that explore both the negative and positive surprises of human ingenuity

How did the addition of lifeboats after the Titanic shipwreck contribute to another tragedy in Chicago harbor three years later? How efficient are wild animals as investors, and how do dog breeds become national symbols? Why have scientific breakthroughs so often originated in the study of shadows? How did the file card prepare scholarship and commerce for the rise of electronic data processing, and why did the visual metaphor of the tab survive into today’s graphic interfaces? Why have Amish artisans played an important role in manufacturing advanced technology? Why was United Shoe Machinery the Microsoft of the 1890s? Surprises like these, Edward Tenner believes, can help us deal with the technological issues that confront us now.

Since the 1980s, Edward Tenner has contributed essays on technology, design, and culture to leading magazines, newspapers, and professional journals, and has been interviewed on subjects ranging from medical ethics to typography. Why the Hindenburg Had a Smoking Lounge—named for one of the paradoxes that can result from the inherent contradictions between consumer safety and product marketing—brings many of Tenner’s essays together into one volume for the first time, accompanied by new introductions by the author on the theme of each work. As an independent historian and public speaker, Tenner has spent his career deploying concepts from economics, engineering, psychology, science, and sociology, to explore both the negative and positive surprises of human ingenuity.

What happens when screen time is all the time?

In the early 1990s, the phrase “screen time” emerged to scare parents about the dangers of too much TV for kids. Screen time was something to fret over, police, and judge in a low-grade moral panic. Now, “screen time” has become a metric not only for good parenting, but for our adult lives as well. There’s even an app for it! In the streaming era—and with streaming made nearly ubiquitous during COVID-19—almost every aspect of our day is mediated by these bright surfaces. Whether it was ever the real villain in the first place, or merely a convenient proxy for unaddressed familial, social, and institutional failures, screen time is now all the time.

Avidly Reads Screen Time is a funny, insightful work of cultural criticism and history about how we define screens, and how they now define us. From Mad Men to iCarly, Vine to FaceTime, binge-watching to doom-scrolling, Phillip Maciak leads us on a sometimes heartwarming, sometimes harrowing tour of the media that brings us together and tears us apart.

The debate surrounding the transformation of work at the hands of digital technology and the anxieties brought forth by automation, the sharing economy, and the exploitation of leisure

We have been told that digital technology is now threatening the workplace as we know it, that advances in computing and robotics will soon make human labor obsolete, that the sharing economy, exemplified by Uber and Airbnb, will degrade the few jobs that remain, and that the boundaries between work and play are collapsing as Facebook and Instagram infiltrate our free time.

In this timely critique, Greg Goldberg examines the fear that work is being eviscerated by digital technology. He argues that it is not actually the degradation or disappearance of work that is so troubling, but rather the underlying notion that society itself is under attack, and more specifically the bonds of responsibility on which social relations depend. Rather than rushing to the defense of the social, however, Goldberg instead imagines the appeal of refusing the hard work of being a responsible and productive member of society.

When the new medium of CD-ROMs emerged, industry figures and critics alike proclaimed their virtually unlimited potential. Adapting material from well-established media like television and film, CD-ROMs have quickly transformed genres such as science fiction and horror. At the same time, the realities of actual CD-ROMs often fall short of their utopian visions.
On a Silver Platter marks a "coming of age" for CD-ROMs as a commercially and aesthetically significant medium demanding critical attention. Greg Smith brings together media scholars such as Lisa Cartwright, Henry Jenkins, Janet Murray, and Scott Bukatman to analyze how CD-ROMs offer alternatives to familiar places—to museums, to cities, and especially to classrooms. Examining specific CD-ROM titles, including, Sim City, Civilization, and Phantasmagoria, the contributors argue that CD-ROMs are complex texts worthy of close consideration, both for how they have changed our understanding of space and genre, and for how they will impact the development of future media.
By examining particular CD-ROM texts and contexts, On a Silver Platter probes this new medium for insight and understanding into the current state of multimedia and into the future of technology.

The health of soils is at stake due to climate change and unsustainable management practices, thus maintaining soil health has become an existential task for humanity. In this chapter, the authors show that cropland agroforestry strongly promotes the biological components of soil health. This includes enhanced population densities and activities of soil microorganisms and fauna, as well as increased diversity of soil fauna under agroforestry systems as compared to open croplands. They argue that land-use change from open cropland to alley cropping and shelterbelt systems provides substantial environmental benefits that outperform those of many sustainable agricultural management practices. Still, sustainable management practices can be applied in the crop component of cropland agroforestry, offering additional benefits. Overall, agroforestry can make major contributions to restoring, improving, and maintaining soil health as well as to the agroecological transition of agriculture. Therefore, agroforestry should be promoted as a priority land-use system.

In chapter the authors explore the opportunity that natural capital accounting provides to address this challenge. Natural capital accounting recognises agroforestry systems as assets and provides a pathway to the quantification and valuation of the benefits associated with agroforestry. This chapter demonstrates the application of natural capital accounting to the quantification and valuation of the ecosystem services associated with agroforestry systems of temperate agricultural enterprises. The authors show how existing accounting practices can be extended to include the farms natural capital, enabling a better understanding the of the contributions of nature to the farms production system.

This book chapter provides a comprehensive overview of the evolution and advances in soil viromics, highlighting key methodologies, such as metagenomics, dsRNA extraction, and virus-like particle extraction, and their contributions to understanding soil viral diversity. It explores the intricate interactions between soil viruses and environmental factors, including soil pH, temperature, moisture content, and organic matter, and their influence on microbial dynamics and ecosystem functions. Readers will also gain insights into the functions of soil viruses, particularly bacteriophages, in regulating microbial populations, nutrient cycling processes, and soil carbon dynamics. The chapter underlines the importance of soil virology in informing sustainable practices, ecological stewardship efforts, and advances in various scientific fields, offering a deeper understanding of the hidden viral world beneath our feet and its implications for soil health and ecosystem sustainability.

The soil microbiome is essential for ecosystem health, supporting functions like nutrient cycling and decomposition. However, human-induced land-use changes, such as deforestation and intensive agriculture, disrupt this delicate balance, impacting microbial diversity and functionality. These alterations have cascading effects on ecosystem functions, agricultural productivity, and global carbon cycling. Understanding these relationships is crucial given the widespread land degradation occurring worldwide. Urgent action is needed to implement sustainable land management practices, including conservation, reforestation, and regenerative agriculture, to mitigate land degradation and restore ecosystems. In this chapter, we explore examples elucidating the impact of land-use alterations on the composition and functionality of soil microbiomes, with a specific emphasis on diverse biomes within Brazil.

Understanding the soil microbiomes function is critical for the sustainable provision of food and fibre and the prevention of undesirable environmental impacts. Nitrogen, an essential element for agricultural production, is cycled through the soil-plant continuum by the soil microbiome. Discrete compartments within the soil, including the rhizosphere and detritusphere, function as hotspots for N cycling. Nitrogen cycling in the rhizosphere is affected by fertiliser use, tillage and plant selection. The rhizosphere offers an opportunity for plant-based management of N cycling via the use of tools such as biological nitrification inhibitors. The detritusphere is recognised as an equally important zone of N cycling, partially due to its effect on denitrification and greenhouse gas emission. Understanding of N cycling within mineral-associated organic matter has increased but will continue to be an important research topic along with the effects of viruses on microbial turnover and associated impacts on nutrient cycling.

Soil is an essential part in every terrestrial ecosystem and soil microbes are contributing to several ecosystem functions. Different abiotic and biotic factors impact soil microbiomes and a disturbance of soil microbial communities can have severe consequences for soil health and its ecosystem functions. In this chapter the authors discuss different abiotic stressors related to climatic conditions and agricultural land use and their effects on soil microbial diversity. They highlight the role of soil microbiomes in ecosystem functioning represented by the interaction with plants resulting in plant growth promotion and higher stress tolerance. Soil microbiomes and their ecosystem functions play a pivotal role for a healthy environment and with that for healthy humans and animals within the framework of the One Health concept. To understand this role of soil microbiomes, they present experimental setups to investigate ecosystem services and functions in natural systems or in a lab environment.

This chapter explores the advances in understanding the role of soil microbiomes in carbon cycling in soil. The author begins by reviewing the contributions of bacterial and fungal necromass to soil carbon, and the roles of soil microbial biomass in carbon cycling. Here, he describes how soil microbiomes regulate carbon cycling through both catabolic and anabolic processes, modulated by metabolic properties and processes such as life history strategy, carbon use efficiency, and priming. The author then turns his attention to how the role of soil microbiomes in soil carbon cycling can be modelled, how these models represent our best conceptual understanding of the structure of the system, and the ways that quantitative predictions are improved by explicitly including the functional traits of the soil microbiome and its activities. Lastly, the author provides a case study of soil microbiomes as an indicator of biological soil health.

The physical environment of soil is characterized by a number of macro- and microscale physical properties that control the heterogenous distribution of microbes, as well as water, air and chemicals within the soil matrix. Heterogeneity occurs at any spatial scale; yet among the most important are soil particles, aggregates and pores. These microscale properties are within the immediate range of microbial influences and connect to macroscale metrics, such as bulk density and porosity to assess soil health and sustainability. This chapter provides a predictive understanding of the physical environment of soil in modulating the soil microbiome. It also delineates mechanic modes underlying how the soil physical environment regulates the microbiome and reviews some trends between the soil microbiota and physical properties. Scalable fine spatial-scale microbial interactions and functions, as well as future perspectives, are also discussed.

This chapter highlights the varied roles that root-associated soil fungi play in agricultural ecosystems. The authors begin by describing the relationship between fungi with plants before detailing the beneficial, antagonistic, and dynamic interactions between the two. Next they present an overview of methods for detection, identification, and analysis of communities of root-associated fungi. The authors then explore two crop root mycobiomes case studies: root and rhizosphere mycobiomes in corn and winter wheat, and the use of fungi isolated from high-yielding soil to improve crop performance in low-yielding soils. Finally, they examine the methodological considerations for the use of barcoding gene regions and sequencing platforms for fungal metabarcoding.

This chapter explores the dynamics of rhizosphere microbiomes, focusing on their composition and functional aspects. It evaluates host-specific selection, plant species, genotypes, domestication, and agricultural ecosystem management practices. The chapter also investigates the legacy of plant developmental stages and root architecture on microbiome assembly and functions. Moreover, it highlights the selective pressure on the rhizosphere microbiome for plant nutrition and health, focusing on factors driving soil-root-plant interactions. Finally, the chapter also discusses challenges in manipulating functional microbiomes and proposes methods to address these gaps.

The soil microbiome has the potential to protect crop plants from biotic stress caused by pests and pathogens. Studies have, for example, shown the role of root exudates in recruiting and enriching beneficial bacteria to protect against pathogens and pests, paving the way for developing strategies for microbiome engineering. However, due to the complex and dynamic nature of soil microbiomes, designing microbiome-focused crop protection strategies remains a challenge. This chapter reviews different interactions between the microbiome components, microbe-induced plant-defense-response mechanisms, and strategies for engineering the soil microbiome to protect crop plants against pests and pathogens.

This review aims to demonstrate the influence of farming systems on biological indicators that are relevant to soil health. Empirical data from published studies informs the hypothetical model that soil health outcomes are related to more diverse cropping systems, coupled with high inputs of organic amendments and less frequent and shallow tillage, due to the ability of such practices to promote soil organic carbon accumulation. This view is supported by the fact that conservation agriculture promotes soil health under diverse climatic conditions.

Agricultural productivity varies frequently as a result of environmental changes. Abiotic stresses, such as nutrient deficiencies, drought, salinity, flooding, high temperature, heavy metal toxicities, and oxidative stress, cause irretrievable damage, resulting in plant growth and yield loss. The relationship between plants and microbiomes is a highly dynamic system. The plant microbiome consists of symbiotic and free-living plant growth-promoting bacteria and fungi. In the last era, many microbes that give hosts the ability to withstand abiotic stresses have been well-studied. Their beneficial association with plants allows the plant to endure different abiotic stresses imposed on it, thereby enhancing its sustainable productivity. For sustenance, it is crucial to comprehend microbiome-assisted mechanisms for extenuating abiotic stresses. This chapter reviews the wealth of knowledge on the roles of various microorganisms in mitigating abiotic stresses, focussing largely on drought stress.

Soil metaproteomic, the protein profile of a sample, gives both taxonomical and functional information and has the potential to improve knowledge of mechanisms underlying the important ecosystem services by soil. This chapter aims to discuss the challenges facing protein extraction from soil, their purification, determination and assignment to available databases. The authors begin by outlining the top-down and bottom-up methods in soil metaproteomics, and their benefits and shortcomings. They then review soil protein extraction techniques, and demonstrate that protein profiles depend on the extraction method used but the number of extracted proteins is much lower than those expressed by the active soil microbiome. The authors then discuss the challenge that the large number of expressed proteins and varieties of proteins in the soil matric pose to soil metaproteomics. Finally, they explore the metaproteomics of specific microorganisms inoculated into a model soil.

The improved detection methods have led to a better understanding of the diversity and ecological functions of Actinobacteria. This chapter aims to provide a comprehensive review of recent findings on soil Actinobacteria, with a focus on their classification, genetics/characteristics, what we know and don’t know about the diversity and ecological functions, factors affecting distribution/abundance in soil, interactions within soil microbiomes, implications for optimizing their contribution to soil health, and where next for research.

2012 Honorable Mention from the Association of Internet Researchers for their Annual Best Book Prize

Outstanding Academic Title from 2011 by Choice Magazine
This book about America's romance with computer communication looks at the internet, not as harbinger of the future or the next big thing, but as an expression of the times. Streeter demonstrates that our ideas about what connected computers are for have been in constant flux since their invention. In the 1950s they were imagined as the means for fighting nuclear wars, in the 1960s as systems for bringing mathematical certainty to the messy complexity of social life, in the 1970s as countercultural playgrounds, in the 1980s as an icon for what's good about free markets, in the 1990s as a new frontier to be conquered and, by the late 1990s, as the transcendence of markets in an anarchist open source utopia.

The Net Effect teases out how culture has influenced the construction of the internet and how the structure of the internet has played a role in cultures of social and political thought. It argues that the internet's real and imagined anarchic qualities are not a product of the technology alone, but of the historical peculiarities of how it emerged and was embraced. Finding several different traditions at work in the development of the internet—most uniquely, romanticism—Streeter demonstrates how the creation of technology is shot through with profoundly cultural forces—with the deep weight of the remembered past, and the pressures of shared passions made articulate.

From the bestselling author of The Market Gardener – key principles for biointensive market gardening and powerful stories of successful growers who are farming profitably on a human-scale

Microfarms is a guide to setting up and running profitable small-scale vegetable farms using organic, low-tech, and highly intensive production methods grounded in ecological principles.

This full-color, richly illustrated resource brings to life the core principles of Jean-Martin Fortier's time-tested approach and includes eight detailed case studies showcasing a diverse range of market gardeners who have started successful farms using Jean-Martin's biointensive techniques. Key features of the book include:

• A distillation of Jean-Martin's methods, rooted in agroecology, permaculture, and humanscale business principles
• An exploration of the four essential pillars: proper crop planning, low-tech/low-investment farm tools, organic fertility management, and sound business practices
• Strategies for enhancing farm profitability through direct marketing channels including farm stands, Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) boxes, and farmers markets
• Proven techniques to boost crop yields while preserving biodiversity and improving the livelihoods of those working on the farm
• Engaging stories of successful new market gardeners, detailing their varied journeys, from initial setup and land procurement to crop planning, team coordination, and sales and revenue.

Microfarms champions local agriculture on a human-scale, advocating for a food system that honors the environment, nurtures communities, and supports farmers. This book is an essential read for new and aspiring small-scale farmers, market gardeners, homesteaders, proponents of local food systems, and food lovers everywhere.

Small but mighty — a comprehensive guide to the use of two-wheel tractors for highly productive gardens, landscapes, and farms

TWO-WHEEL TRACTORS are multifunctional, economical, practical, maneuverable, portable, and low impact. Yet choosing the equipment is only half of it; the other half is integrating the right machine and implements into your land-based enterprise and coupling it with innovative high-efficiency techniques. Coverage includes:

• Why you need a two-wheel tractor
• Two-wheel tractor essentials including tractor implement options and functions
• Equipment decision-making to suit your scale, context, enterprises, and budget
• Safety equipment, operation, and basic maintenance
• Innovative use strategies including micro-plowing, making "Permabeds," in situ mulching, the "Compost-a-path Method," crop guilds, scaling up, and diversified crop management
• How to start from scratch, clearing new land, scaling up your enterprises, and more
• Case studies and rich examples from suburban landscaping to commercial market gardens from Europe and North America
• "Pro tips," "design boxes," and other sidebars for rapidly elevating your skills.

The Two-Wheel Tractor Handbook shows small-scale growers how to leverage walk-behind tractors to maximize the productivity and profitability of their enterprises. This full-color, highly illustrated guide is a must-have tool for urban farmers, suburban gardeners, rural homesteaders, orchardists, landscapers, and market gardeners looking to boost production.

Cut and come again forestry – reviving the ancient practice of resprout silviculture to power local woodland-based economies.

Coppice Agroforestry is a richly illustrated, comprehensive guide to resprout silviculture – managing trees and shrubs by coppicing, pollarding, shredding, and pleaching – for a continuous supply of small diameter polewood for products from firewood to fine furniture.

Contextualizing resprout silviculture historically, ecologically, and economically, Coppice Agroforestry explores the potential of this ancient practice for modern times. Coverage includes:

• The cultural history of coppicing in Europe and North America
• Tree and shrub anatomy, biology, and woodland ecology
• A suite of woodland management systems
• Dozens of handcrafted wood products on a continuum of value, offering a wide range of business opportunities
• Case studies of diverse coppice-based enterprises
• Assessing existing forests for coppice potential
• Designing new resprout silviculture systems
• Tables highlighting diverse species for various uses
• A vision of a modern resprout silviculture renaissance.

A decade in the making, encyclopedic in scope, and written by the hand of a woodsman, Coppice Agroforestry is a deep dive into this ancient practice, blending it with modern science, systems thinking, and tools to land it firmly into the 21st century.

Whether you have a few trees or an entire forest, Coppice Agroforestry is the must-have practical guide for homesteaders, farmers, foresters, land managers, and educators who ally themselves with the remarkable resilience of woody plants.

The Complete Practical Guide to Growing Vegetables Year-Round in Northern Climates for Local Markets

MANY SMALL FARMS shut down during the dark winter months. Yet with the right techniques, equipment, and cultivars, year-round growing can produce the highest quality and tastiest fresh local vegetables, all while banking a profit.

Building on years of research, experimentation, and collaboration, The Winter Market Gardener is a beautifully illustrated practical guide to winter vegetable production for small farmers growing in northern climates. Coverage includes:

• Unique aspects of year-round vegetable production
• Dozens of detailed vegetable profiles
• Start-to-finish winter crop planning
• Selecting shelters, from row covers to high tunnels
• Tool selection and use for efficiency
• Winter storage crops and successful autumn growing.

Whether you are an experienced farmer or market grower, enthusiastic amateur, or committed consumer, The Winter Market Gardener will excite, inspire, and empower you to embrace the seasons and work with nature to produce and enjoy superior-quality local vegetables all year.

ACCESSIBLITY NOTES

This publication meets the EPUB Accessibility requirements and it also meets the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG-AA). It is screen-reader friendly and is accessible to persons with disabilities. This book contains various accessibility features such as alternative texts for images, table of contents, landmarks, reading order, page list, Structural Navigation, and semantic structure. Blank pages have been removed from this EPUB.

The updated bestselling guide to laid-back beekeeping for all, naturally!

Are you a beginner beekeeper curious about bees or a practicing beekeeper looking for natural alternatives that work? Then this book is for you!

In the second edition of the bestselling beekeeping guide Keeping Bees with a Smile , Fedor Lazutin, one of Europe's most successful natural beekeepers, shares the bee-friendly approach to apiculture that is fun, healthful, rewarding, and accessible to all. This new edition includes dozens of color photographs, new hive management techniques, and an updated version of "Lazutin hive" plans. Additional coverage includes:

• Keeping bees naturally without interfering in their lives
• Starting an apiary for free by attracting local bee swarms
• Building low-maintenance hives that mimic how bees live in nature
• Keeping colonies healthy and strong without any drugs, sugar, or gimmickry
• Helping bees to overwinter successfully even in harsh climates
• Enhancing local nectar plant resources
• Producing truly natural honey without robbing the bees
• Reversing the global bee decline... right in your backyard!

Keeping Bees with a Smile is an invaluable resource for apiculture beginners and professionals alike, complete with plans for making bee-friendly, well-insulated horizontal hives with extra-deep frames, plus other fascinating beekeeping advice you won't find anywhere else.

Real world stories from the frontlines of climate change, resilience, and the future of food

Practical insights and plenty of examples of how we can reshape our food system to one that is resilient and regenerative.
— Mathis Wackernagel, Ph.D., founder and president, Global Footprint Network, co-author Ecological Footprint

Inspiring and practical at a time when we desperately need both.
— Dr. Anne Waple, founder and CEO, Earth's Next Chapter

Brilliantly argues that it isn't some vague notion of "technology" that will show us the way forward but people working together and carefully stewarding the land.
— Mark Bittman, author, Animal, Vegetable, Junk and How to Cook Everything

CLIMATE CHANGE PRESENTS an unprecedented challenge to food and farming in the U.S. and beyond. Damaging weather variability and extremes capture the headlines, but more subtle changes caused by hotter summer nights, warmer winters, and a longer growing season have far-reaching effects on the land, people, and communities that feed us.

This expanded and updated edition of Resilient Agriculture takes you beyond the headlines and the hype to shine a light on agricultural climate solutions with the power to cultivate new American foodways that are just, sustainable, regenerative, and resilient.

Updated content includes:

• Current and expected changes in regional weather patterns that disrupt food and farming
• New adaptation stories from sustainable, climate-smart, organic, and regenerative farmers and updates on the producers featured in the first edition
• Real-world applications of resilience thinking that connect the dots between food justice, sustainable development, regenerative economy, and planetary health
• A companion website with stories, videos, issue briefs, reading guides, and more.

Whether you are working in food and farming or are simply an interested eater, Resilient Agriculture will take you on a journey into real-world resilience solutions with the power to regenerate the well-being of land, people, and community no matter the challenges ahead.

What would a more resilient food system look like? Lengnick answers that question with this path-breaking, delightfully informative book.
— Richard Heinberg, senior fellow, Post Carbon Institute, author, Power: Limits and Prospects for Human Survival

A guidepost for building a better and more resilient food system.
— Dr. Gabrielle Roesch-McNally, director, Women for the Land, American Farmland Trust

ACCESSIBILITY NOTES
This publication meets the EPUB Accessibility requirements and it also meets the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG-AA). It is screen-reader friendly and is accessible to persons with disabilities. This book contains various accessibility features such as alternative texts for images, table of contents, landmarks, reading order, page list, Structural Navigation, and semantic structure. Blank pages have been removed from this EPUB.

Master practical algae cultivation techniques and launch your small-scale algae business

The Algae Farmer is a practical, hands-on guide to this unique, emerging form of aquaculture, covering every aspect of home or micro-industrial scale cultivation for market.

Algae supply over 70% of the world's oxygen and are primary producers in marine and terrestrial ecosystems, forming the base of many food webs. These ubiquitous organisms have been used for centuries as dietary staples around the world, and now represent a multibillion-dollar global industry.

In this highly accessible, lavishly illustrated, full-color guide, phycology expert William Padilla-Brown shares:

• The natural history, ecological functions, and many regenerative benefits of fresh and saltwater algae
• Surprising contemporary uses – algae species range from microscopic (such as spirulina and chlorella) to large multicellular forms (seaweed), and are found in foods as diverse as ice cream, smoothies, soups, and sushi, as well as in superfoods, nutraceuticals, pigments, livestock feeds, fertilizers, and biofuels
• Small-scale growing and harvesting techniques for beginners including bioprospecting, species selection, nutrient media, and building photobioreactors and centrifugation and filtering equipment using commonly available materials
• Case studies of successful algae farmers and a vision for algaculture's thriving future.

The fastest-growing of all agricultural crops, algae is ideal for non-fertile land and urban locations. The Algae Farmer will appeal to sustainable food producers, permaculture enthusiasts, citizen scientists, and anyone committed to exploring creative and innovative solutions to food and resource insecurity.

The indispensable guide to solar electricity systems for homeowners, business owners, builders, and students

Climate change and limits to fossil fuels compel us to find safer, more economical, and more sustainable ways to meet our needs for electricity. And, as more and more electric cars hit the road, we'll need to find a way to provide fuel that is clean, environmentally sustainable, and affordable.

With Solar Electricity Basics, author Dan Chiras offers a concise and up-to-date guide covering all the essentials. It explores:

• How to size, cost, and choose the right system, including off-grid vs. grid-tied vs grid-tied with battery backup
• Where to mount a system for maximum performance
• What type of modules and inverters to buy
• How to install and maintain batteries
• Cost vs benefit for solar electric systems
• How to connect to the grid, and what type of net metering your area offers.

Solar Electricity Basics is an indispensable guide for homeowners, business owners, builders, and students for figuring out solar electricity quickly and easily.

Design and build a hoophouse or polytunnel, and grow abundant produce year-round in any climate

The Year-Round Hoophouse is the comprehensive guide to designing and building a hoophouse and making a success of growing abundant, delicious fresh produce all year, whatever your climate and land size. Chapters include:

• Hoophouse siting, size, style, frame construction, and tools
• Bed layout, soil, crop rotations, and extensive coverage of various crops for all seasons
• Organic solutions to pests and diseases
• Disaster preparation
• Tested resources for each chapter.

The Year-Round Hoophouse is ideal for farmers who wish to move into protected growing, as well as beginning farmers in rural and urban spaces. It is an essential reference resource for professors and students of courses in sustainable agriculture, as well as interns and apprentices learning on the job.

Growing in hoophouses – also known as high tunnels or polytunnels – reduces the impact of an increasingly unpredictable climate on crops, mitigates soil erosion, extends the growing season, keeps leafy greens alive through the winter, and enables growers to supply more regional food needs.

The comprehensive grower’s guide to seed production

The Seed Farmer is required reading for any grower who cares about being part of a truly sustainable local food system.

Whether you’re interested in growing your own seeds for on-farm use, or scaling up for retail or commercial sales, this comprehensive manual will help you ensure reliable access to quality seed stock adapted to your own climate and bioregion. Coverage includes:

• The journey to self-sufficiency—how to extricate yourself from the modern seed distribution industry and develop varieties adapted to your location and climate
• When to worry about cross-pollination, crop timing, and poor seed genetics and when to ignore these issues on your small farm or market garden
• Detailed profiles and practical, hands-on growing and harvesting techniques for dozens of vegetable and flower crops
• The economics of seed production, and the business case for scaling up and selling seeds into local, retail, or wholesale channels
• Farm planning, sowing schedules, projected crop yields, and other considerations.

With everything you need to help integrate seed production into your small-scale farm or market garden simply, profitably, and successfully, this unique and exciting guide proves that going to seed is easier than you think!

Do less, produce more, and grow soil that feeds crops using chemical-free, organic no-till methods

Andrew Mefferd, veteran farmer, author of The Organic No-Till Farming Revolution, and editor of Growing for Market magazine, brings you the ultimate guide to getting started with no-till farming.

Yet there are many ways to do no-till, including mulching with compost, cardboard, straw, silage tarps, and more. Plus plenty of conflicting advice on how to get started.

Practical No-Till Farming is here to help, sorting the wheat from the chaff and the horse manure from the plastic mulch. Coverage includes:

• How to assess your farm for no-till options considering climate, soil, and crop selection
• Assessment of common no-till methods, including pros and cons, materials, and the relative costs
• A decision-making matrix for choosing the most appropriate methods for your context
• How-to for each no-till method, including what to do and when
• Dealing with bindweed, symphylans, and other difficult weeds and pests
• Maximizing productivity of no-till beds
• Special coverage of both organic vegetable and flower no-till market farming

Ideal for small-scale growers everywhere, Andrew Mefferd, veteran farmer, author of The Organic No-Till Farming Revolution, and editor of Growing for Market magazine, brings you the ultimate guide to getting started with no-till farming.

ACCESSIBILITY NOTES
This publication meets the EPUB Accessibility requirements and it also meets the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG-AA). It is screen-reader friendly and is accessible to persons with disabilities. This book contains various accessibility features such as alternative texts for images, table of contents, landmarks, reading order, page list, Structural Navigation, and semantic structure. Blank pages have been removed from this EPUB.

Every farm needs a cow – open the gates!

With an approach built around investing for the long term, Homestead Cows prepares homesteaders and small farmers to open the farm gate to cattle, whether a single milk cow or a small beef herd.

Homestead Cows covers the A to Z of husbandry:

• Cow history, biology, diet, and nutrition
• Understanding what you want, what's involved, and creating a plan
• Selecting breeds and determining herd size
• Housing and facilities, transportation, and equipment
• Financial management and the dollars and cents of cows
• Breeding and reproduction
• Cow health and happiness, including safety, handling, and good husbandry
• Processing, products, and cooking.

Cattle are the most productive, versatile, and low-input sources of food and revenue on the farm and can help regenerate and build soil. The secret to success is excellent management, and Homestead Cows distills decades of hard-won, practical knowledge into an essential guide to successful small-scale cattle farming for every homesteader and farmer.

ACCESSIBLITY NOTES

This publication meets the EPUB Accessibility requirements and it also meets the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG-AA). It is screen-reader friendly and is accessible to persons with disabilities. This book contains various accessibility features such as alternative texts for images, table of contents, landmarks, reading order, page list, Structural Navigation, and semantic structure. Blank pages have been removed from this EPUB.

Lessons, stories, and reflections from the Goat Midwife

There is nothing about goat care that creates more anticipation, excitement, frustration, and fear than birthing goats. What can you expect with a goat pregnancy? What do you do if things go wrong when goats give birth? What happens when you have a challenging newborn kid?

Seasoned goat farmer Deborah Niemann, author of Raising Goats Naturally, answers these questions and more by distilling the stories and experiences from over 600 goat pregnancies and births. Coverage includes:

• The differences between normal goat pregnancies
• Necessary C-sections
• Incidents that may turn deadly serious.

For both new and experienced goat owners, Goats Giving Birth illuminates the joy, the sadness, and everything in between when birthing pregnant goats, giving you the confidence to handle a large spectrum of goat pregnancies and help birth happy thriving kids.

Dig into the fruits of your labor! Profitable, innovative organic fruit farming strategies and skills for modern growers of any scale

AN INNOVATIVE GUIDE for growing and marketing organic small fruits and berries, The Berry Grower offers intelligent strategies and solutions for successful small-scale, non-chemical fruit production in the 21st century. Coverage includes:

• History, innovations, and 21st century challenges in modern fruit farming
• Creating your own market farming reality
• Farm planning for efficiency and profitability
• Factoring in climate change, drought, and extreme weather
• Soil fertility, efficient weed management, and organic pest control
• Modern tools of the trade for efficiency
• Harvesting, fruit handling, and packing
• Fruit profiles including raspberries, blackberries, strawberries, currants, gooseberries, figs, tomatoes, and more, including new cultivars
• Innovative marketing methods and thinking beyond fresh fruit with multi-product strategies to maximize profit
• Learn from other experts through interviews with successful growers and marketers from diverse areas around the USA.

From the market garden and small farm to the homestead and backyard, The Berry Grower is the essential guide for both new and aspiring organic small fruit growers and seasoned farmers looking to produce high- quality organic fruits and products for local markets and self-sufficiency.

How to raise rabbits for a steady source of meat and income

Rabbits are one of the most sustainable, nutritious, and economic meat sources available. They can easily be raised in a variety of locations and climates, and require less space and infrastructure than many other species of livestock.

Raising Rabbits for Meat is the how-to guide to help you succeed in starting and running a home rabbitry for a steady source of meat or income. Coverage includes:

• The history of the domestic rabbit
• Information on breeding, housing, and harvesting
• Tools to help you succeed with your program
• An emphasis on heritage breeds.

Raising Rabbits for Meat provides a solid foundation for success in raising rabbits and is ideal for anyone interested in starting a small rabbitry for home use or to market rabbit meat as a business opportunity.

Produce your own milk, cheese, meat, fiber, fertilizer, and more

Incorporating dairy goats into a diversified homestead can be the key to greater self-sufficiency. Responding to questions and concerns from readers from all over North America and beyond, this fully revised and expanded edition of Raising Goats Naturally will help readers work with nature to raise dairy goats to produce milk, cheese, meat, fertilizer, leather, fiber, and soap – all without relying on drugs or following the factory farm model.

By observing your own animals closely and educating yourself about their specific needs, you can create an individualized plan for keeping them healthy and maximizing their productivity. This unique, fully-illustrated guide will teach you to help your herd thrive with:

• Breed-specific descriptions to help you choose the right goats for your goals and lifestyle
• Detailed information on housing, fencing, breeding, health, milking, and nutrition
• Complete recipes and instructions for making your own cheese, dairy products, and soap, as well as cooking with goat meat.

Packed with personal experiences and backed up by expert veterinary advice and scientific studies, Raising Goats Naturally brings together a wealth of practical information on raising goats for the love of it and using their milk and meat to become more self-reliant.

Maximize your water harvesting potential with efficient, cost-effective earthworks

In the face of drought and desertification, well-designed, water harvesting earthworks such as swales, ponds, and dams are the most effective way to channel water into productive use. The result can be increased food production, higher groundwater levels, reduced irrigation needs, and enhanced ecosystem resilience.

Yet, due to a lack of knowledge, designers, and landowners often build earthworks that are costly, inappropriately sized and sited, or even dangerous. The Permaculture Earthworks Handbook is the first dedicated, detailed guide to the proper design and construction of water harvesting earthworks. It covers the function, design, and construction methods for nine main types of water harvesting earthworks across a full range of climates.

Coverage includes:

• Swales, ponds, dams, hugelkultur, net-and-pan systems, spate irrigation, and more
• Cost versus benefit of different earthworks
• Assessing site needs and suitability
• Soil types and hydrology
• Designing for maximum efficiency and lowest cost
• Risk assessment and safe construction
• Stacking functions and integrating earthworks into a design

This practical handbook is the essential resource for permaculture designers, teachers and students, landowners, farmers, homesteaders, landscape architects, and others involved in maximizing the water harvesting potential of any landscape at the lowest cost and impact.

Douglas Barnes is a permaculture designer trained in Australia by Bill Mollison and Geoff Lawton. He has designed and built earthworks in North America, Japan, and Andra Pradesh, India. He lives in Tweed, Ontario in a passive solar house he designed and built, and he blogs at permaculturerelections.com.

Learn how to use natural no-till systems to increase profitability, efficiency, carbon sequestration, and soil health on your small farm.

The Organic No-Till Farming Revolution is the comprehensive farmer-developed roadmap showing how no-till lowers barriers to starting a small farm, reduces greenhouse gas emissions, increases efficiency and profitability, and promotes soil health.

Farming without tilling has long been a goal of agriculture, yet tilling remains one of the most dominant paradigms; almost everyone does it. But tilling kills beneficial soil life, burns up organic matter, and releases carbon dioxide. If the ground could instead be prepared for planting without tilling, time and energy could be saved, soil organic matter increased, carbon sequestered, and dependence on machinery reduced.

This hands-on manual offers:

• Why roller-crimper no-till methods don't work for most small farms
• A decision-making framework for the four no-till methods: occultation, solarization, organic mulches grown in place, and applied to beds
• Ideas for starting a no-till farm or transitioning a working farm
• A list of tools, supplies, and sources.

This is the only manual of its kind, specifically written for natural and small-scale farmers who wish to expand or explore chemical-free, regenerative farming methods.

Skyrocketing energy costs and constant reminders of the impacts of conventional energy sources are making homeowners and businesses look at different ways to use energy more efficiently and to generate their own electricity to reduce fuel bills and their carbon footprint.

Power From the Wind is the completely revised and updated edition of the go-to guide for individuals and businesses interested in installing small wind energy systems. Written for the layperson, this practical guide provides an accurate and unbiased view of all aspects of small wind energy systems, including:

• Wind and wind energy system options
• Ways to assess wind resources at your site
• Wind turbines and towers
• Inverters and batteries
• Installation and maintenance of systems
• Costs and benefits of installing a wind system.

Readers will gain the knowledge they need to make wise decisions during the design, purchase, and installation of small wind energy systems and to communicate effectively with wind system installers, and will be empowered to help make the smartest, most economical choices.

Local, diverse and resilient – the new culture of food

Long embraced by corporations who are driven only by the desire for profit, industrial agriculture wastes precious resources and spews millions of tons of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere each year, exacerbating climate change and threatening the very earth and water on which we depend. However, this dominant system, from which Americans obtain most of their food, is being slowly supplanted by a new paradigm.

The Emergent Agriculture is a collection of fourteen thematic essays on sustainability viewed through the lens of farming. Arguing that industrial food production is incompatible with the realities of nature, science, and ethics, this lyrical narrative makes the case for a locally based food system which is:

• Stable in the face of economic uncertainty
• Resilient in the face of environmental variability
• Grounded in stewardship of the land, on attaching value to food and the craft involved in producing it, and on respecting the dignity of farmers, consumer,s and livestock

A revolution in food production is underway. Written from the vantage point of an ecologist who is also a farmer, The Emergent Agriculture is essential reading for anyone interested in food security and the potential for growing local economies. Food for thought about the future of food.

Gary Kleppel is a professor of biology at the SUNY Albany, where he focuses on sustainable agriculture, conservation-based grazing, and the ecology of human-dominated landscapes. He and his wife Pam are owners of Longfield Farm, where they produce grass-fed lamb, wool, free range chickens and eggs, and artisanal breads

Raise a gaggle of geese, the unsung heroes of the small farm

While chickens preen in the spotlight, geese are the historic unsung heroes of small farms and homesteads. Providing weed control, large eggs, and entertainment, and acting as "security" over other animals, geese are the ultimate modern homesteading companion.

The Modern Homesteader's Guide to Keeping Geese covers everything you need to know to raise geese, including:

• Profiles of breeds and how to select the best one for your needs
• How to "imprint" goslings on a person
• Feeding, housing, animal health, and cold weather care
• Using geese for weed control, soil improvement, and as "watch-geese"
• Cooking with goose eggs and meat

Additional coverage includes a look at the rich history of geese on farms in North America and Europe that will enhance any goose keeper's enjoyment of these intelligent and unique birds.

This practical guide is a must-have essential for the kitchen table of homesteaders, small farmers, permaculturists, and professional farmers looking to add the power of geese to their land.

The illustrated guide to profitable, vibrant and sustainable permaculture-based market gardening

Permaculture tends to be very much in the domain of home gardeners and property owners. But what if we could take it all a step further, and merge the fields of permaculture and market gardening?

In The Permaculture Market Garden , author Zach Loeks brings together his passion for sustainable permaculture food production systems and beautiful, vibrant illustrations to provide a highly visual guide to the smooth integration of permaculture into the market garden, in ways that are scalable to specific situations. Profiling crops and ecosystem-based techniques, Loeks demonstrates a profitable, sustainable and approachable model for the future of market gardening.

Along the way, Loeks introduces his own system of PermaBeds, season extension techniques, intensive and rotational interplanting, in-depth discussions on soil health, and more, bringing activities, designs and prospects of farming to life through illustrations, so the reader can be immersed within the world of permaculture farming. Playful, informative and curious, inspiring and beautiful and packed with accessible practical information, The Permaculture Market Garden will inspire both the seasoned market gardener as well as anyone aspiring to start a business.

Zach Loeks is a market gardener, farm consultant and educator living in the Ottawa Valley. Winner of two regional awards for sustainability and innovation in agriculture, he shares his expertise in farming, design and business through a successful series of on-farm workshops, conferences and schools, as well as a successful year-round CSA.

Adventures on the road to real-world self-sufficiency

Many of us want to increase our self-sufficiency, but few have access to the ideal 5 sunny, gently-sloping acres of rich, loamy, well-drained soil. Jenni Blackmore presents a highly entertaining, personal account of how permaculture can be practiced in adverse conditions, allowing anyone to learn to live more sustainably in a less-than-perfect world. With a rallying cry of "If we can do it, you can too," she distills the wisdom of 20 years of trial and error into a valuable teaching tool.

The perfect antidote to dense, high-level technical manuals, Permaculture for the Rest of Us presents the fundamental principles of this sometimes confusing concept in a humorous, reader-friendly way. Each chapter focuses on a specific method or technique, interspersing straightforward explanations with the author's own experiences. Learn how to successfully retrofit even the smallest homestead using skills such as:

• No-till vs. till gardening, composting and soil-building
• Natural pest control and integrating small livestock
• Basic greenhouse construction
• Harvesting, preservation and more.

Ideal for urban dreamers, suburbanites and country-dwellers alike, this inspirational and instructional "encouragement manual" is packed with vibrant photographs documenting the author's journey from adversity to abundance.

Our automobile culture is devastating for the environment, but private passenger vehicles are unlikely to disappear from our roads anytime soon. Greener cars and fuels will be a necessity for many years to come.

Green Transportation Basics is a guide to greening your personal driving habits by dramatically improving the efficiency of an existing vehicle using simple measures such as trip planning and regular maintenance to improve fuel economy. This handy guide also explores the most promising new green carsand trucks, including electric vehicles, hybrids, plug-in hybrids, and natural-gas cars. And it critically examines sustainable fuels includingethanol, biodiesel, straight vegetable oil, hydrogen, and biomethane, evaluating each according to a set of established criteria. Each green fuel source must:

• be socially, economically, and environmentally sustainable
• have a high net energy yield
• be clean, abundant, renewable, affordable.

Don't let your dream of greening your transportation idle – Green Transportation Basics will guide you through the myths and misconceptions and provide clear options for the road to a more sustainable future.

Grow better not bigger with proven low-tech, human-scale, biointensive farming methods

Making a living wage farming without big capital outlay or acreages may be closer than you think. Growing on just 1.5 acres, Jean-Martin and Maude-Helene feed more than 200 families through their thriving CSA and seasonal market stands. The secret of their success is the low-tech, high-yield production methods they've developed by focusing on growing better rather than growing bigger, making their operation more lucrative and viable in the process.

The Market Gardener is a compendium of proven horticultural techniques and innovative growing methods. This complete guide is packed with practical information on:

• Setting-up a micro-farm by designing biologically intensive cropping systems, all with negligible capital outlay;
• Farming without a tractor and minimizing fossil fuel inputs through the use of the best hand tools, appropriate machinery and minimum tillage practices;
• Growing mixed vegetables systematically with attention to weed and pest management, crop yields, harvest periods and pricing approaches.

Inspired by the French intensive tradition of maraichage and by iconic American vegetable grower Eliot Coleman, author and farmer Jean-Martin shows by example how to start a market garden and make it both very productive and profitable.

Fertility of the swine breeding is high when considering measures for estrus, farrowing and litter sizes. The success in reproduction is a result of an array of factors that involve genetics, health, environment, and reproductive technologies. The population of females in the breeding herd is managed to optimize parity, sow retention, and gilt replacement. Key elements to fertility include selection and management of gilts for early puberty and managing body condition in gestating sows to optimize feed intake during lactation. Artificial insemination technologies are evolving to facilitate gene transfer from high indexing sires through use of lower number of sperm per litter produced. Changes in breeding herd size, housing systems, labor, and litter size, place emphasis on efficiency and throughput. In these intense systems, infertility can create issues in animal flow throughout the production chain and management will need to anticipate and adapt to prevent these problems in the future.

Hatching a sustainable life with heritage poultry

Houdan. Nankin. Indian Runner. Narragansett. These may sound like exotic place names or unusual varieties of produce, but each actually refers to one of the many hundreds of lesser-known poultry breeds which tempt the livestock owner who's prepared to venture into less familiar territory. Providing an alternative to commercial breeds and hybrids, heritage breeds each boast their own unique characteristics and personality traits, and are a valuable (and entertaining) addition to a sustainable food system.

Pure Poultry is the first book in nearly a hundred years to focus specifically on heritage breeds of chickens, turkeys and ducks and their role in a self-reliant lifestyle. This timely, beautifully illustrated resource includes:

• Detailed guidelines on everything from housing, breeding and day-to-day care, to processing, cooking and preserving
• Much-needed information on using heritage breeds for egg and meat production
• Tips, inspiration, recommended reading, and additional resources
• A unique planning worksheet that simplifies the process of starting out with poultry.

Brimming with quiet humor, Pure Poultry is an immensely readable "how-to and why-to" based entirely on personal experience-including plenty of lessons learned the hard way. Pure Poultry shows how heritage-breed poultry can enhance and deepen anyone's quality of life, whether you have a farm, a small backyard, or a neighbor with space to share.

To meet the food demand of the growing population, there's a need to increase the amount of protein produced from animals. Pork is the second largest contributor of global meat consumption. Identifying ways to increase the efficiency of pig production is pivotal to meeting the US and global demand for nutrients and maintaining resilient supply chains. Genome editing technology can accelerate genetic improvements by introgressing novel traits, decreasing the number of generations required to incorporate the desired allele(s), providing solutions to animal welfare concerns, maximizing nutrient yield, and reducing the use of resources. The technology provides scientists a tool to incorporate multiple genetic traits into a line of livestock species or introduce novel traits. This review highlights the methods for generating genetically engineered pigs beginning with the production of embryos and ending with techniques for performing the genetic modifications. Available swine models designed to benefit production agriculture are highlighted.

Off-the-wall solutions for real farmstead problems

Fueled by a failing economy and a passionate desire for a return to simpler times, a new wave of homesteaders is seeking the good life and the kind of true satisfaction that can only be built, not bought. Many of these modern pioneers are cash poor, but rich in energy and creativity. Plowing with Pigs and Other Creative, Low-Budget Homesteading Solutions offers them a set of fresh ideas for achieving independence through sweat equity and the use of unconventional resources.

This highly readable and entertaining guide brings together answers to common problems faced by homesteaders young and old, urban, suburban, and rural. Traditional knowledge is combined with MacGyver-style ingenuity to create projects that maximize available resources, including:

• Animal management strategies for the yard, garden, and field
• Pole building and construction techniques from woodlot materials
• Replacing farm machinery with homemade hand tools and implements
• Leveraging increased self-sufficiency into a home-based business

Whether you are a dreamer or a doer, Plowing with Pigs will inspire, challenge, and enable you to do more with less (and have fun doing it).

Oscar H. (Hank) Will III is a farmer, scientist, and author, known for seeking and implementing creative farmstead solutions. The editor of Grit magazine, Hank has published hundreds of articles and five books on a range of topics including antique farm machinery.

Karen K. Will is editor of The Heirloom Gardener magazine and author of Cooking with Heirlooms: Seasonal Recipes with Heritage-Variety Vegetables and Fruits . She operates Prairie Turnip Farm with her husband Oscar H. Will III.

This chapter summarizes the basic physiology of porcine female reproduction, including: ovarian structure and function, ovarian follicle development (folliculogenesis), the role of the corpus luteum in the establishment and maintenance of pregnancy, biosynthesis of steroid hormones (steroidogenesis) and the role of the hypothalamic-pituitary-gonadal (HPG) axis in regulating reproduction. It also describes stages of the porcine estrous cycle as well as puberty and gilt development. The chapter goes on to discuss a range of environmental factors which can impair reproductive performance, including the effects of pesticide residues and mycotoxins. Finally, the chapter reviews research on the way heat stress can affect porcine female reproductive function.

A beginner’s complete guide to keeping bees in top bar hives, and why.

What’s the buzz about the growing popularity of backyard beekeeping? Providing habitat for bees, pollinating your garden, and producing honey for your family are some of the compelling reasons for taking up this exciting hobby. But conventional beekeeping requires a significant investment and has a steep learning curve. The alternative? Consider beekeeping outside the box.

The Thinking Beekeeper is the definitive do-it-yourself guide to natural beekeeping in top bar hives. Based on the concept of understanding and working with bees’ natural systems as opposed to trying to subvert them, the advantages of this approach include:

• Simplicity, sustainability, and cost-effectiveness
• Increased safety due to less heavy lifting and hive manipulation
• Chemical-free colonies and healthy hives

Top bar hives can be located anywhere bees have access to forage, and they make ideal urban hives.

Emphasizing the intimate connection between our food systems, bees, and the well-being of the planet, The Thinking Beekeeper will appeal to the new breed of beekeeper who is less focused on maximizing honey yield, and more on ensuring the viability of the bee population now and in the coming years.

Mother Earth News Books for Wiser Living Recommendation

“You’ll find information you need here that’s not available anywhere else. Both you and your bees will benefit from Christy’s approach, advice, and philosophy.” —Kim Flottum, editor, Bee Culture Magazine

“A unique and exceptional resource for the beginning beekeeper.” —Marty Hardison, top bar beekeeper, educator and international developmental beekeeping consultant

This chapter reviews current knowledge on gilt development-related key management and nutritional strategies that improve longevity and their production, as well as enhance offspring performance and survivability.

Owing to its improved accuracy, genomic selection, which utilizes genetic markers across the whole genome to predict the genetic merits of each individual, has become a key technique in pig and other livestock breeding. This chapter reviews developments in optimizing different models used in genomic selection. It reviews improving classical algorithms using techniques such as Genomic Best Linear Unbiased Prediction (GBLUP). It also discusses improving BLUP model approaches e.g. via the single-step GBLUP (SSGBLUP) model and differing ways of weighting genetic markers, as well as appropriate software for particular modelling approaches. The chapter also assesses ways of improving the predictive accuracy of Bayesian, e.g. by using differing assumptions on distribution of marker effects and ways of accounting for unknown parameters, in order to optimise the potential of genomic selection.

The preservation of genetic diversity is particularly important because human selection processes have resulted in a small number of commercial breeds and a large number of small, residual populations. This chapter looks at ways of analyzing pig genetic diversity. It then reviews what these techniques show about the current state of genetic diversity in traditional, local breeds. As the chapter suggests, optimal contribution selection (OCS), genomic selection (GS), and next-generation sequencing (NGS) techniques represent valid strategies for maintaining genetic diversity. In the future, strategies in swine epigenomics and microbiomics will play an important role, especially in improving animal resilience.

The feeding of a prolific sow is a complex process that involves proper nutrient formulation, feed delivery, and an understanding of the biological challenges that she will undergo within her lifetime. In addition, the timeframe in which a sow within the herd is productive is spent predominantly as pregnant or nursing which diverts nutrients away from her to her offspring. Therefore, the changes in nutrition need to be addressed starting before the female becomes sexually mature once the gilt is weaned. This chapter will highlight important considerations concerning sow nutrition and nutrient recommendations by reproductive phase. In addition, information concerning common management practices will be discussed with scientific literature.

How the dirt below our feet can save us from extinction.

Conventional agriculture destroys our soils, pollutes our water and is a major contributor to climate change. What if our agricultural practices could stabilize, or even reverse these trends?

The Biochar Solution explores the dual function of biochar as a carbon-negative energy source and a potent soil-builder. Created by burning biomass in the absence of oxygen, this material has the unique ability to hold carbon back from the atmosphere while simultaneously enhancing soil fertility. Author Albert Bates traces the evolution of this extraordinary substance from the ancient black soils of the Amazon to its reappearance as a modern carbon sequestration strategy.

Combining practical techniques for the production and use of biochar with an overview of the development and future of carbon farming, The Biochar Solution describes how a new agricultural revolution can reduce net greenhouse gas emissions to below zero while increasing world food reserves and creating energy from biomass wastes. Biochar and carbon farming can:

• Reduce fossil fuels inputs into our food system
• Bring new life to desert landscapes
• Filter and purify drinking water
• Help build carbon-negative homes, communities and nations.

Biochar is not without dangers if unregulated, and it is not a panacea, but if it fulfills its promise of taking us back from the brink of irreversible climate change, it may well be the most important discovery in human history.

This chapter provides a critical review of key developments in understanding and improving boar reproductive efficiency, tracing its development from seminal discoveries to contemporary advances in artificial insemination (AI) and sperm analysis technologies. Key developments in identifying fertile boars are discussed, including sperm kinematics, proteomics, lipidomics, and flow cytometry, along with computer-assisted sperm analysis (CASA). Environmental influences, such as heat stress, sperm handling, and neonatal development, on semen quality and fertility are explored. Continued research in sperm cryopreservation, infertility diagnostics, and bacterial management to meet the growing global demand for pork will be necessary for continued improvement of boar fertility.

The world is about to run out of cheap oil and change dramatically. Within the next few years, global production will peak. Thereafter, even if industrial societies begin to switch to alternative energy sources, they will have less net energy each year to do all the work essential to the survival of complex societies. We are entering a new era, as different from the industrial era as the latter was from medieval times.

In The Party's Over , Richard Heinberg places this momentous transition in historical context, showing how industrialism arose from the harnessing of fossil fuels, how competition to control access to oil shaped the geopolitics of the 20th century, and how contention for dwindling energy resources in the 21st century will lead to resource wars in the Middle East, Central Asia, and South America. He describes the likely impacts of oil depletion, and all of the energy alternatives. Predicting chaos unless the U.S. -- the world's foremost oil consumer -- is willing to join with other countries to implement a global program of resource conservation and sharing, he also recommends a "managed collapse" that might make way for a slower-paced, low-energy, sustainable society in the future.

More readable than other accounts of this issue, with fuller discussion of the context, social implications, and recommendations for personal, community, national, and global action, Heinberg's updated book is a riveting wake-up call for humankind as the oil era winds down, and a critical tool for understanding and influencing current U.S. foreign policy.

Listen to an interview with Richard Heinberg from WRPI.

Survivability of piglets during the neonatal period has been decreasing as genetic selection for highly prolific animals continues across the swine industry. Piglets considered medium weight at birth (1.0-1.3kg) provide the greatest opportunity to improve survival. Colostrum consumption by the neonate after birth aids in thermoregulation and improves survival to weaning as well as provides passive immunity to the piglet from the dam to aid in health pre- and post-weaning. Researchers have studied supplementing piglets with porcine and bovine colostrum or with colostrum-like products rich in energy, protein and immunoglobulins. This chapter reviews current research on a range of types of supplementation to young piglets prior to weaning on growth, immune status and survival.

Genetic selection for higher ovulation rate has increased the number of piglets born per litter. The increase in litter size has been accompanied by an increased proportion of low birthweight piglets and piglets with signs of intra uterine growth restriction (IUGR), Conception rates have increased substantially over the years due to genetic selection for ovulation rate and the application of advanced reproductive biotechnologies and nutritional management. Using genome-wide association studies (GWAS) and other methodologies, a number of genes have been identified that influence litter size and teat number. To overcome problems associated with low birth weight and IUGR piglets, selection for uterine capacity appears to be necessary. Finally, selection for favourable maternal behaviour also is required to reduce piglet mortality in large litters. Genetic selection efforts should be directed towards increasing litter quality and reducing post-natal piglet mortality.

In recent years, pig genetics and breeding has been revolutionized by advances in genomics. This chapter outlines current developments in pig genetics and genomics including long-read sequencing, telomere-to-telomere assembly, low-pass sequencing for genomic prediction, functional genomics, fine-mapping quantitative trait loci (QTL), and identification of deleterious alleles. The increases in functional genomic data and information on gene expression are currently providing a much more detailed insight into the genotype-phenotype relationship for complex traits and the molecular pathways involved. Fine-mapping of causal variants will become feasible with the use and availability of these types of data in different tissues and timepoints, and will provide a gateway to assess the influence of regulatory variation in the pig genome.

Pigs are exposed to numerous infectious disease pathogens, with large economic and welfare implications. How pigs respond to disease is in part determined by genetics. Thus, genetic improvement is one of the tools that can be used to mitigate the impact of disease, complementing biosecurity and vaccination. Although gene editing is a promising tool to create pigs that are resistant to specific pathogens, this is complicated by the multitude of pathogens that pigs are exposed to, their ability to evolve to escape resistance, and the threat of foreign pathogens. The purpose of this chapter is to review mechanisms of host defense to infectious pathogens, including the concepts of resistance, tolerance, resilience, and robustness, and strategies and challenges to use natural genetic variation to select pigs that are more resilient and robust, including the use of genomics and other -omics technologies.

Microbiomes are communities of microorganisms living in soil and other habitats. In recent years, a new wave of research into understanding soil microbiomes has emerged, with stakeholders across the supply chain recognising the fundamental importance of these communities in optimising both crop and soil health. Despite these advancements, many soil microorganisms and their ecological functions remain only partially understood.

Understanding and utilising soil microbiomes for a more sustainable agriculture summarises the wealth of recent research in this important area. It reviews advances in techniques for analysing soil microorganisms, the composition and dynamics of soil microbial communities, the ecosystem services they support and how they can be enhanced.

Biopesticides are important tools for controlling insect pests, and demand for them is growing globally. While biopesticides are generally considered to be of low risk, robust risk assessments are still needed to support their registration. Addressing testing questions and challenges will help better refine environmental risk assessments by limiting the need for conservative assumptions and increasing our understanding and real world relevance of test results. This chapter identifies some of the common issues faced by regulators in assessing risks of microbial and biochemical pesticides as well as dsRNA pesticides. The chapter discusses problems related to identification, exposure analysis and hazard testing, especially in nontarget organism testing with microbial pesticides. Advancement in clarifying these issues will strengthen biopesticide risk assessments by increasing their resolution and decreasing the need for conservative assumptions.

This chapter covers the safety of feed for pigs. Reducing the risk of biological hazards in feed manufacturing facilities is an important part of the complete biosecurity plan for livestock producers. Research in the past several years has demonstrated the ability of pathogens to survive in feed and feed ingredients. Therefore, making it important for feed mills to consider having a feed biosecurity plan. This chapter begins with an overview of the pathogens of concern for feed-based transmission, including prions and parasites, bacteria, and viruses. Next, feed contamination and its prevention are considered, covering: ingredient sourcing, receiving and loadout practices, zones in the mill, and employee training. A section on mitigation of pathogens in feed is also included, covering point-in-time mitigation strategies and those with residual effects. Finally, feed mill decontamination is discussed.

• Highlights recent advances in the development of more sustainable crop protection products
• Considers the range of regulatory issues which may arise as a result of the development of novel biocontrol products
• Provides an overview of the development of botanical pesticides and features a case study on the use of a plant-based biocontrol agent in black truffle cultivation

Chemical insecticides are beset by the twin problems of regulatory pressure and insect resistance. New mode-of-action Plant Protection Products (PPPs) will play a vital role in securing food for the future due to existing and emerging pest and disease pressures and will be directed against a wide range of molecular targets. Insect neuropeptides, which regulate critical life processes, could prove useful for developing alternative strategies for pest management. Recent increases in ‘omics-based data capture has allowed for improved assessment of potential neuropeptide mimetics, while expanding the potential impact with identification of new, specific, pest species targets. Rational design of neuropeptide analogues with improved efficacy, biostability and bioavailability could provide a new generation of eco-friendly, pollinator-safe bioinsecticides. Continued optimization of appropriate adjuvants and formulations for peptides, as well as green improvements to their production on a large scale, would help their adoption as a viable alternative to problematic conventional insecticides.

This chapter explores advances in the genetic improvement of sow longevity. The authors cover the main opportunities and progress obtained in the genetic improvement of sow longevity with a focus on sow longevity in intensive production systems. They also highlight the key challenges faced by pig breeders to improve sow longevity and outline potential avenues to overcome them.

In recent years, there have been significant developments in the way that pigs are bred. This is primarily as a result of a shift in focus from production traits, such as meat quality, to other traits such as improved feed efficiency, reproductive performance and disease resistance. In light of this shift, a greater understanding of reproduction efficiency in pigs is required.

Advances in pig breeding and reproduction provides a comprehensive overview of the key research undertaken in these important areas and considers how reproduction efficiency can be optimised to achieve the desired breeding outcomes. The book also addresses recent advances in understanding how genetics can be engineered to breed pigs with an improved resistance to major diseases affecting pigs, such as porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus.

• Provides a detailed overview of the recent advances in the biocontrol sector, focussing on the development of products to control crop insect pests
• Considers the key issues and challenges that can arise as a result of the development of novel biocontrol agents, such as the challenge of commercialising a new product to a rapidly changing market
• Addresses how breeding techniques can be optimised to improve plant defences against insect pest attacks

Botanical pesticides and specifically essential oils have gained popularity as novel, safe pesticides to replace the traditional synthetic products. They are well known to act throughout different modes-of-action against insects causing different neurotoxic effects ranging from repellency to toxicity. Essential oils are proposed as a novel solution against Leiodes cinnamomeus, the most damaging pest in truffle (Tuber melanosporum) cultivation, for which there is no solution available, to this day, despite the efforts made to protect this strategic crop. While essential oils are botanical extracts of low yield, a steady industrial production of oils is feasible to develop green alternatives, as demonstrated by several other industries. Efforts are being made to develop newer formulations to enhance and extend the effectiveness and persistency of essential oils in field, but a proper legal framework is yet to be established.

This volume summarises current developments in integrated pest management (IPM), focussing on insect pests.

Chapters discuss advances in understanding species and landscape ecology on which IPM is founded. The book then reviews advances in cultural, physical and, in particular, biological methods of control. Topics include developments in classical, conservation and augmentative biological control as well as the use of entomopathogenic fungi, viruses, nematodes and semiochemicals. The final parts of the book summarise current research on monitoring pesticide use as well as emerging classes of biopesticides.

An international team of experts explores how streaming services are disrupting traditional storytelling.

The rise of streaming has dramatically transformed how audiences consume media. Over the last decade, subscription video-on-demand (SVOD) services, including Netflix, Prime Video, and Disney+, have begun commissioning and financing their own original movies and TV shows, changing the way and the rate at which content is produced across the globe, from Mexico City to Mumbai.

Streaming Video maps this international production boom and what it means for producers, audiences, and storytellers. Through eighteen richly textured case studies, ranging from original Korean dramas on Netflix to BluTV’s experimental Turkish series, the book investigates how streaming services both disrupt and maintain storytelling traditions in specific national contexts. To what extent, and how, are streamers expanding norms of television and film storytelling in different parts of the world? Are streamers enabling the creation of content that would not otherwise exist? What are the implications for different viewers, in different countries, with different tastes? Together, the chapters critically assess the impacts of streaming on twenty-first century audiovisual storytelling and rethink established understandings of transnational screen flows.