• Food Science of Animal Resources
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• v.42 no.5
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• pp.762-774
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• 2022

The COVID 19 pandemic resulted in a considerable influence on the world economy. Being a big sector of the economy, the food supply chain struggled. The meat supply chain was most notably affected as every part of the supply chain from farm to shelf was closely inter-related. With the closure of businesses and restaurants the demand for at home food from grocery stores increased. Meat production facilities were impacted when the virus spread to the workers causing facilities to close or line speeds to slow. The combination of these two issues, in turn, led to there being less meat on the shelves. With less meat animals being harvested, there was less demand for livestock leading to farmers having an excess in slaughter ready animals. The decreased demand for livestock led to economic issues as money was lost in multiple sections of the supply chain. Aside from the economy and supply chain issues, other issues include concerns over the safety of meat products due to decreased safety protocols to increase line speed. Additionally, concerns of animal welfare with the excess of animals being culled were raised due to decreased capacity in processing facilities. While this review paper mainly focuses on characterizing the impact of COVID 19 on the meat supply chain in the USA, the compiled information should be able to provide practical insights to the meat/food industry across the globe to develop potential mitigating strategies against the COVID 19 and/or any similar pandemic incidences in the future.

• Journal of Korean Society of Rural Planning
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• v.28 no.4
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• pp.41-53
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• 2022

This study aims to identify perceptions on ESG management evaluation priorities based on public value in the agricultural and rural sector with the focus on the Korea Rural Community Corporation. We conduct Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) to analyze how ESG management evaluation priorities are perceived by distinctive groups across industrial fields. To this end, experts working in the agricultural and rural sector and the general public in non-agricultural sector were questioned to derive and compare the weights for each class of ESG management. Results show the followings: First, the weight for the environment (E) was derived as 0.51774 in the first layer, which was found to be the most important evaluation item among the environment (E), society (S), and governance (G). Second, "ecosystem restoration," "urban-rural exchange expansion and regional development," and "increasing transparency" were the most important items in the second layer. Third, priorities between the agricultural and non-agricultural respondents groups were different in environmental (E) and social (S) categories, which explained that perceptions on ESG management by workers and policy makers in the agricultural and rural sector are different from those by general public in the non-agricultural sector.

• Journal of Korean Society of Rural Planning
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• v.29 no.4
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• pp.137-152
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• 2023

Data is indispensable for digital transformation of agriculture with the development of innovative information and communication technology (ICT). In order to devise and prioritize strategies for enhancing data competitiveness in the agricultural sector, we employed an Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) analysis. Drawing from existing research on data competitiveness indicators, we developed a three-tier decision-making structure reflecting unique characteristics of the agricultural sector such as farmers'awareness of the data industry or awareness of agriculture among data workers. AHP survey was administered to experts from both agricultural and non-agricultural sectors with a high understanding of data. The overall composite importance, derived from the respondents, was rated in the following order: 'Employment Support', 'Data Standardization', 'R&D Support', 'Start-up Ecosystem Support', 'Relaxation of Regulations', 'Legislation', and 'Data Analytics and Utilization Technology'. In the case of experts in the agricultural sector, 'Employment Support' was ranked as the top priorities, and 'Legislation', 'Undergrad and Grad Education', and 'In-house Training' were also regarded as highly important. On the other hand, experts in the non-agricultural sector perceived 'Data Standardization' and 'Relaxation of Regulations' as the top two priorities, and 'Data Center' and 'Open Public Data' were also highly rated.

• Animal Bioscience
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• v.37 no.4_spc
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• pp.755-774
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• 2024

The main objective of this study was to present data on the current situation and future trends of pig meat production in the European Union-27 (EU). Pig production has played an important social and economic role for centuries in many states of the EU. In 2022, pig meat production in the EU reached 23 M tons, which represented 21% of total production worldwide. The two key reasons that justify such amount of pork produced, are the acceptance and high consumption of the meat by the local population and the high quality of the meat produced which facilitated pork export. However, current data show a reduction in pork production for the last three years, as a consequence of a series of events that include i) problems with the chain of ingredients supply, ii) uncontrolled increase in African Swine Fever (ASF) outbreaks, iii) fast recovery of pig production in China, iv) increasing concerns by the rural population on the high cost to meet future requirements of the EU legislation on farm management, environmental sustainability and animal welfare, v) increased cost of all inputs involved in pig production and vi) limited interest of the new farmer generation to work on the pig sector. Consequently, pork production is expected to decrease in the EU for the next years, although sales will be maintained at a relative high level because pork is the meat preferred by local consumers in most EU countries. In order to maintain the favourable position of the pork industry in the near future, strategies to implement include: i) maintain the quality of the meat destinated to export markets, ii) improve the control of outbreaks of ASF and other swine diseases, iii) implementation of technological innovations to improve working conditions making more attractive to work in the pork sector of the food chain to the new generation of farmers and workers.

• Korean Journal of Agricultural Science
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• v.1 no.1
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• pp.91-116
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• 1974

Taiwan agricultural development in the last decade has not been changed much since the accomplishment of land reform program. This is mainly due to the rapid development taken place within industry that agricultural development can not keep pace with. The increasing gap of rural-urban income discrepancy has caused socio-psychological unstability among rural people and inspire wants of out-migration. From 1961 to 1970, population of the ten largest cities showed an annual growth rate of 4.05%, while the population of the remainder of Taiwan showed 2.06%. Assuming the natural increase rate of these two population sections are similar, the difference of rural and urban annual growth rate can be at tributed to the flow of people from rural to urban sectors. The main objective of this paper is to identify the amount of agricultural out-migration and its impact on agricultural development and agricultural extension programs. Specifically, the objectives are to examine (1) rural-urban population composition (2) rural out-migration estimation (3) changes of agricultural population, and (4) implications for agricultural development and extension programs Some of the important findings are listed below; (1) The average agricultural out migration of the period 1960-1969 is estimated at around 60,000 per year. Take Tainan prefecture for example, the Male-Female Migration Ratio is 0.39 for age 20-24, 0.55 for age 25-29, 0.90 for 30-34. It is understood between age 20 and 34, the rural female migration rate is higher than the rural male. (2) Based on the population growth rate of 1950-1969, agricultural population is projected for the period of 1953 to 1989. By 1978, the agricultural population will reach its peak and begin to dedaine from 1980. The projected agricultural population in 1989 is 5,847,566 which occupies 29% of the Taiwan total population. (3) Assuming area of cultivated land keep unchanged as 905,263 ha. in 1970, and tif we can eliminate all 72% of part-time farms, then the average farm acreage for hose full-time farms will be increased to 3.6 hactares. This is unlikely to happen before 1989 without the government interference. (4) Less than 10% of adult farmer s of age 25-64 in 1969 enrolled in Farm Discussion Club, only 5% of adult farm women enrolled in Home Economics Club, and 5% of rural youth enrolled in 4-H Club. These statistics show a fact that only few farmers are reached by extension workers. Based on findings in this paper, some important suggestions are listed for future agricultural development. (1) Improve agricultural structure by decreasing agricultural population (a) Encourage farmers with less than 0.5 ha. of land to seek jobs outside of agriculture (b) Encourage joint cultivation and farm mechanization (c) Discourage rural migrants to Keep farm land (d) Provide occupational guidance program through extension education programs (2) Establish future farmers settlement project to assure rural youth have enough resources for farming. (3) An optimum Population policy should be integrated into rural socio-economic development and national development programs.

• Journal of Distribution Science
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• v.13 no.10
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• pp.115-122
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• 2015

Purpose - This study was conducted to develop a beekeeping farm management standard checklist. This is essential to increase the competitive power of beekeeping farmers. Checklists in relation to crops and livestock were established by the Rural Development Administration in the 2000s. To date, 60 checklists have been created by crop and livestock experts. However, other farmers outside the 60 checklists are increasing. Therefore, extra development is required for these farmers. This study was conducted to meet farmers' requirements. The special farming dealt with in this study is beekeeping. Such checklists were not developed due to the small number of beekeeping farmers. However, these days, a number of such farmers are emerging. Research design, data, and methodology - Many related experts participated in this study. This study was conducted in four stages. First, a basic outline of beekeeping was created by surveying many kinds of beekeeping experts. The draft of the beekeeping checklist was created by a secondary advisory council. This draft was then sent to 14 beekeeping experts to confirm whether or not it was suitable as a management checklist. For collecting the experts' opinions, a direct visit survey was done through an arranged questionnaire. Additionally, a basic management checklist blueprint was reviewed by many experts. In the third stage, a Delphi survey method was utilized with a special Delphi questionnaire. In this stage, experts who participated in the first and second stages were excluded. As there were uncertain answers among them, a second Delphi survey was done. As a result of this survey, all answers were agreed among them. Results - From the results of this survey, four subjects in the management accomplishment index were determined. These are farming scale, average product per beehive, the sale price of honey (1kg), and the number of bee plates in the beehive. In the case of the management checklist content, five items were determined. These are beekeeping farming facilities, the environment around the farm land and general management, the product management of the beekeeping harvest, the management of the disease and pest, and farming management. This checklist will be utilized for beekeeping farmers to implement in a management situation. Conclusions - These days, the number of beekeeping farmers is increasing. The management checklist for beekeeping farmers will be used to improve their farming situation and marketing. Beekeeping farmers can understand their management by reviewing their checklist. After checking, the situation of management can be analyzed. Farmers can supplement weaknesses with expert advice. This checklist will be used by agricultural technique extension workers for farming management consulting. This checklist has to be complemented by a change in the management of the environment. This checklist will be delivered to beekeeping farmers after a verification survey is done. The result of the checklist score will be utilized for a benchmarking service to be implemented for beekeeping farmers to utilize.

• The Korean Journal of Pesticide Science
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• v.16 no.4
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• pp.369-375
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• 2012

Loess-sulfur complex has been widely used as an environmental friendly organic materials for insecticides and fungicides in crop cultivation. However, there are high concerns about skin and eye irritation for farm workers due to the high alkaline properties of loess-sulfur complex. The acute toxicity evaluation was conducted with three samples of loess-sulfur complex in different pH (pH 9, 10, 11) in order to supply the evidentiary data for selecting the optimal product among the test materials. The results of acute oral toxicity using rats showed $LD_{50}$ of over 2,000 mg/kg b.w. for all three samples of loess-sulfur complex. The calculated acute dermal $LD_{50}$ of all tested materials was over 4,000 mg/kg b.w.. The Skin and eye irritation indicated that all tested materials have no irritation. Consequently, it was suggested that loess-sulfur complex be low in acute toxicity at all different pH values (pH 9~11).

• Korean Journal of Weed Science
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• v.1 no.1
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• pp.5-14
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• 1981

Weed is one of the problems in the crop land as well as in uncultivated land, raising the farm management costs. Therefore, the weed control is essential for effective agricultural management. The cost for weed control in Korea occupies on the average 27.6% of the total labor cost required. Agricultural policies since 1960 were transferring from yield increase due to land productivities to increase of income due to labor productivities. Therefore, the weed control by hand is also changed to weed control by chemicals. The weed control by chemicals has also brought about some side-effects and needs better, improved weed control methods. The present weed control situation and related problems were studied to present new approaches for agricultural development in the future. There were 458 species of weeds in 82 families which were growing in the crop land. The weeds to control, however, are 12 in paddy field and 9 in upland. So far weeds in paddy field are well under control, while weeds in upland are poorly controlled due to change in chemical efficiency and chemical damage in the upland. The administration, research and extension work for the efficient use of agricultural chemicals have been done by various institutions, such as Office of Rural Development, Office of Forestry, and chemical companies. The courses for agricultural chemicals were offered in the agricultural colleges. However, the efficiency of chemicals could not be maximized due to the poor relationships among related institutes. The newly established Agricultural Chemical Research Center at the Office of Rural Development and the Korean Weed Science Association are expected to contribute toward improving weed control in Korea. The Korean agriculture in the future will eventually be mechanized and the varieties resistant to high nitrogen application and to high plant density will be required for high yields. The rice will be transplanted earlier and the whole growing period will be extended. The application of organic matter will be increased for increasing soil fertility, and the use of agricultural chemicals will be continued. Under such a condition, the studies on the weed occurrence and its integrated control measures will be needed. Also weed controls in the newly exclaimed land, crop varieties, horticultural varieties, forage crops, and forests are also needed to study. Basic and practical researches for the weed control to improve the labor productivity will be also needed. In order to meet the all requirements for efficient weed control, weed control systems including all the academics, research and extension workers, administratives, farmers and companies should be established. Also securing researchers and education of personnels are pre-required and research funds for the chemical studies should be provided efficiently and timely.

• Magazine of the Korean Society of Agricultural Engineers
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• v.24 no.1
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• pp.31-43
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• 1982

Engineering phase of dairy housing systems has close connection with the milk produc- tivity of dairy cattle, the quality of milk, extension of dairy production systems, labor- saving in management of dairy cattle and the like. Moreover, the rate of investment of dairy housing facilities is of relatively high level, However, there has been almost no research effort for the improvement of engineering aspects of dairy housing systems in Korea. The purpose of this study is to find out general engineering problems and to recomm- end the improvement in dairy housing systems in Korea. Field survey by means of questionaire, direct measurements, taking pictures and sketching was conducted to get necessary information for the study. Kyung-ki Do region was firstly chosen for sampling area since it has included more than half of the number of dairy farms of the whole country. The results obtained are summarized as follows: 1. In overall dairy farm layout, the dwellings of workers were ignored in the light of sanitary environment 2. The layout of stalls in a dairy barn belongs mostly to the type of double-row face-out, which is compatible with the emphasis of manure disposal activities. 3. While the width and length of stalls were sufficiently close to the standard dimension, the width of mangers was much less than the standard dimension. 4. The width and depth of manure gutters and the width of working alleys were much. less than the standard dimension. 5. The mooring equipment was mostly in the classes of chain or rope. The watering equipment was not facilitated independantly except the one cese of using watercup. 6. The bucket milkers with one or two bucket milkers with the capacity of two cattles. each were used as milking equipment in most dairy farms. 7. There were only few milk rooms independently spaced from other space, in which the arrangement of milking equipment was much less than the standard condition. 8. The lounging ground area was averaged to be sufficient for the activity of dairy herd. 9. Silos for silage used during winter consisted of mostly bunker silos, trench silos and underground vertical silos. Ordinary vertical silos were considered for the farmers to be inconvenient for the labor saving. 10. From the view point of heat conservation and moisture removal within the dairy barns, windows were not flexible for the easy ventilation and ceiling part was not adequate for temperatur maintenance. 11. Waste treatment and disposal systems were not provided with most dairy farms, therefore the livestock waste pollution problems would be serious in the near future.

• Journal of Food Hygiene and Safety
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• v.28 no.4
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• pp.312-318
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• 2013

This study validated microbiological hazards of ginseng farms at the cultivation stage and suggested recommendations to develop a good agricultural practices (GAP) model. A total of 96 samples were collected from cultivation environments (soil, irrigation water, and atmosphere), plants (ginseng and its leaf), personnel hygiene (glove, cloth, and hand) of 3 ginseng farms (A, B, and C) and were tested to analyze sanitary indicator bacteria (aerobic plate count, coliforms and Escherichia coli), major foodborne pathogens (E. coli O157:H7, Listeria monocytogenes, Salmonella spp., Staphylococcus aureus, and Bacillus cereus), and fungi. Total bacteria, coliform, and fungi in the 3 ginseng farms were detected at the level of 1.3~6.0, 0.1~5.0, and 0.4~4.9 v/g (or mL, hand, and $100cm^2$), respectively. Only irrigation water collected from one ginseng farm was confirmed to be E. coli positive. In case of pathogenic bacteria, B. cereus was detected at levels of 0.1~5.0 log CFU/g (or mL, hand, and $100cm^2$) in all samples, but other pathogen bacterias were not detected in any samples from all farms. Although E. coli were detected in irrigation water, the level of microbial for the three farms was lower than the regulation limit. According to the results, the ginsengs produced from the 3 farms were comparatively safe with respect to microbiological hazard. However, cross-contamination of bacteria from environments and workers to ginseng has been considered as potential risks. Therefore, to minimize microbial contamination in ginseng, GAP model should be applied for ensuring the safety of ginsengs.