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25-584: The Irish Moiled Cow is one of the oldest breeds of cow in Ireland. Throughout the 19th century, they were relatively popular throughout Ireland, due to being a hardy breed that could effectively be used for both their milk and meat. With the introduction of more specialised breeds (such as friesians for milk, herefords/anguses for beef, etc.), their popularity began to decline. By the late 1970s, only 30 cows and 2 bulls remained, being maintained by only two breeders. In 1979 they were marked as "critically endangered" by

50-401: A cattle crush ), or they may become damaged during handling. In other circumstances, horned animals may be preferred, for example, to help the animal defend itself against predators , to allow the attachment of head yokes to draught oxen , to provide a hand-hold on smaller animals such as sheep, or for aesthetic reasons – in some breeds the retention of horns is required for showing . In

75-467: A gardener and be considered a hobbyist . Alternatively, one might be driven into such practices by poverty or, ironically—against the background of large-scale agribusiness—might become an organic farmer growing for discerning/faddish consumers in the local food market. Farmers are often members of local, regional, or national farmers' unions or agricultural producers' organizations and can exert significant political influence. The Grange movement in

100-549: A gestation period of about nine months if kept at a decent health. Polled livestock Polled livestock are livestock without horns in species which are normally horned. The term refers to both breeds and strains that are naturally polled through selective breeding and also to naturally horned animals that have been disbudded . Natural polling occurs in cattle , yaks , water buffalo , and goats , and in these animals it affects both sexes equally; in sheep , by contrast, both sexes may be horned, both polled, or only

125-460: A meager subsistence agriculture —a simple organic-farming system employing crop rotation , seed saving , slash and burn , or other techniques to maximize efficiency while meeting the needs of the household or community. One subsisting in this way may become labelled as a peasant , often associated disparagingly with a " peasant mentality ". In developed nations , however, a person using such techniques on small patches of land might be called

150-423: Is a person engaged in agriculture , raising living organisms for food or raw materials. The term usually applies to people who do some combination of raising field crops , orchards , vineyards , poultry , or other livestock . A farmer might own the farmland or might work as a laborer on land owned by others. In most developed economies , a "farmer" is usually a farm owner ( landowner ), while employees of

175-416: Is an American colloquial term for a practical farmer, or one who farms his own land. In developed nations, a farmer (as a profession) is usually defined as someone with an ownership interest in crops or livestock, and who provides land or management in their production. Those who provide only labor are most often called farmhands . Alternatively, growers who manage farmland for an absentee landowner, sharing

200-417: Is applied to those engaged primarily in milk production, whether from cattle, goats, sheep, or other milk producing animals. A poultry farmer is one who concentrates on raising chickens , turkeys , ducks or geese , for either meat , egg or feather production, or commonly, all three. A person who raises a variety of vegetables for market may be called a truck farmer or market gardener . Dirt farmer

225-409: Is discouraged as the polled locus is strongly associated with Polled Intersex Syndrome (PIS). Naturally polled water buffalo also have genital defects. Naturally polled animals may have scurs – small, loose, horny growths in the skin where their horns would be. In cattle, this trait has been traced to a separate gene (on a different chromosome ) from that responsible for polling. However,

250-475: Is now found throughout Ireland. The name "Irish Moiled Cow" takes its origins from the Irish word Maol meaning bald and references the fact that these cows do not have horns. Until recently the breed was in decline, falling to just two dairy herds in the 1970s with a population that included just 20 breeding females. However, with the introduction of bloodlines from Jersey, Ayrshire, Shorthorn and Friesian breeds,

275-619: The Neolithic , being one of the defining characteristics of that era. By the Bronze Age , the Sumerians had an agriculture specialized labor force by 5000–4000 BCE, and heavily depended on irrigation to grow crops. They relied on three-person teams when harvesting in the spring. The Ancient Egypt farmers farmed and relied and irrigated their water from the Nile . Animal husbandry ,

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300-865: The 1930s, one farmer could produce only enough food to feed three other consumers. A modern farmer produces enough food to feed well over a hundred people. However, some authors consider this estimate to be flawed, as it does not take into account that farming requires energy and many other resources which have to be provided by additional workers, so that the ratio of people fed to farmers is actually smaller than 100 to 1. More distinct terms are commonly used to denote farmers who raise specific domesticated animals. For example, those who raise grazing livestock, such as cattle , sheep , goats and horses , are known as ranchers (U.S.), graziers (Australia & UK) or simply stockmen . Sheep, goat and cattle farmers might also be referred to, respectively, as shepherds , goatherds and cowherds . The term dairy farmer

325-651: The Rare Breed Survival Trust. The Irish Moiled Cow is one of the most distinctive breeds in Ireland. They are polled cows (they do not grow horns) and are generally red with a white line on the back and stomach. They typically have a flecked face and are dual producers being used for both beef and dairy products, which is uncommon with most breeds. These cows are slightly smaller than average, weighing around 550 kg. The breed originated in County Leitrim, County Sligo, and County Donegal, but

350-764: The US no show requires horns to be left on. Most shows require at a minimum blunting of the horns to a minimum diameter of 1 ⁄ 2  inch. Boer Goat Shows allow disbudded goats. Dairy breeds of goats are required to be naturally hornless or disbudded. 4H and FFA show goats must be hornless or blunted so as not to be sharp and dangerous. Polled strains have been developed of many cattle breeds which were originally horned. This has usually been done by crossing with naturally polled breeds, most commonly Angus and Galloway cattle. For example, polled Jersey cattle originated in Ohio sometime prior to 1895. Two strains were developed,

375-772: The United States was effective in advancing farmers' agendas, especially against railroad and agribusiness interests early in the 20th century. The FNSEA is very politically active in France, especially pertaining to genetically modified food . Agricultural producers, both small and large, are represented globally by the International Federation of Agricultural Producers (IFAP), representing over 600 million farmers through 120 national farmers' unions in 79 countries. There are many organizations that are targeted at teaching young people how to farm and advancing

400-424: The development of the single-standard strain was soon followed by the appearance of a double-standard strain, founded by a few naturally hornless sports that were discovered in registered herds of horned Jersey cattle. These standards were bred among themselves or crossed with registered horned Jerseys, followed by selection for the polled head, and the strain was developed in this way. Farmer A farmer

425-490: The farm are known as farm workers (or farmhands). However, in other older definitions a farmer was a person who promotes or improves the growth of plants, land, or crops or raises animals (as livestock or fish) by labor and attention. Over half a billion farmers are smallholders , most of whom are in developing countries and who economically support almost two billion people. Globally, women constitute more than 40% of agricultural employees. Farming dates back as far as

450-400: The females polled. The history of breeding polled livestock starts about 6000 years BC. The archaic term muley or mulley is sometimes used to refer to hornless livestock (especially cattle) in folk songs , folk tales , and poetry , and in the name of the polled Irish Moiled cattle breed. "Muley" derives from Irish and Scottish Gaelic maol , and Welsh moel . In cattle ,

475-486: The first to appear being founded by crosses of registered Jersey bulls (the standard) on common muley (hornless) cows. These were graded up by the continued use of purebred Jersey sires, selection being made of the polled offspring of each generation, the horned progeny being discarded. Thus originated what was later known as the single-standard strain. As in the case of the Polled Shorthorns and Polled Herefords,

500-428: The harvest (or its profits) are known as sharecroppers or sharefarmers . In the context of agribusiness , a farmer is defined broadly, and thus many individuals not necessarily engaged in full-time farming can nonetheless legally qualify under agricultural policy for various subsidies , incentives, and tax deductions . In the context of developing nations or other pre-industrial cultures, most farmers practice

525-742: The knowledge and benefits of sustainable agriculture . Farmed products might be sold either to a market , in a farmers' market , or directly from a farm. In a subsistence economy, farm products might to some extent be either consumed by the farmer's family or pooled by the community. There are several occupational hazards for those in agriculture; farming is a particularly dangerous industry. Farmers can encounter and be stung or bitten by dangerous insects and other arthropods, including scorpions , fire ants , bees , wasps and hornets . Farmers also work around heavy machinery which can kill or injure them. Farmers can also establish muscle and joints pains from repeated work. The word 'farmer' originally meant

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550-409: The numbers have improved and are now being produced throughout Ireland, as well as in parts of Britain. Irish Moiled meat is remarked to be of great quality and has a distinct flavour. This cow is known to produce good beef in poor conditions but needs care to protect it from becoming overweight. It was the quality of Irish Moiled beef that had saved the breed from extinction. The Irish Moiled cow has

575-460: The polled allele is genetically dominant to that for horns. The polled trait is far more common in beef breeds than in dairy breeds. CRISPR technology is being developed to create polled versions of dairy breeds. In sheep , the allele for horns in both sexes is partially dominant to the allele for being polled in both sexes, and both of these are dominant to that for polling in the female only. The development of true breeding polled goats

600-613: The practice of rearing animals specifically for farming purposes, has existed for thousands of years. Dogs were domesticated in East Asia about 15,000 years ago. Goats and sheep were domesticated around 8000 BCE in Asia . Swine or pigs were domesticated by 7000 BCE in the Middle East and China . The earliest evidence of horse domestication dates to around 4000 BCE. In the US of

625-477: The presence of the allele for scurs in cattle can only be seen in a polled animal, because horns replace the scurs in horned animals. Similar scurs may also occur where disbudding of a naturally horned animal has been incomplete. Polled livestock are preferred by many farmers for a variety of reasons, the foremost being that horns can pose a physical danger to humans, other livestock and equipment. Horns may also interfere with equipment used with livestock (such as

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