This study develops and uses a survey to gather information on demographics, production and management practices, and perceptions on using cover crops as a conservation practice from citrus growers and utilizes the double-bounded dichotomous choice contingent valuation method to measure their willingness to pay (WTP) for adopting cover crops in citrus production. The survey is conducted for citrus producers in Florida and Texas. The study finds that, on average, growers from Florida are willing to pay $509.48/acre per year for adopting cover crops. This is substantially less than the WTP for growers in Texas, who are willing to pay more than $1,000/acre per year for cover crops. The study analyzes the factors that have significant impacts on growers’ WTP for cover crops and discusses the heterogeneity in the grower perceptions on the benefits and drawbacks of using this conservation practice by state. Although using cover crops has not been a popular conservation practice in perennial fruit production systems, its potential to improve soil quality is particularly important for citrus production in Florida where soils are sandy and have low organic matter.

This study asks if Black mayors’ individual and collective responses to George Floyd’s killing were qualitatively different than mayoral reactions to the deaths of Michael Brown and Freddie Gray. Specifically, I examine whether Black mayors rejected the “timeworn” tradition of respectability politics in favor of a new paradigm in 2020. I also consider the characteristics of mayors, cities, and media that may explain this change. My original dataset includes 232 public statements issued by 31 Black mayors during either the Obama administration (2014–2015) or Trump administration (2020). I find that the cohort of Black mayors leading large cities during Era 2 were demonstrably less likely to activate respectability politics when talking about Floyd’s murder than their predecessors. I discuss the implications of these observations considering the political climate mayors are confronting at the time of writing, around the 2-year anniversary of Floyd’s death.

This study aimed to estimate the value of the typical Australian herding dog in terms of predicted return on investment. This required an assessment of the costs associated with owning herding dogs and estimation of the work they typically perform. Data on a total of 4,027 dogs were acquired through The Farm Dog Survey which gathered information from 812 herding dog owners around Australia. The median cost involved in owning a herding dog was estimated to be a total of AU$7,763 over the period of its working life. The work performed by the dog throughout this time was estimated to have a median value of AU$40,000. So, herding dogs typically provided their owners with a 5.2-fold return on investment. When respondents were asked to nominate the maximal, one-off, veterinary expenditure they would consider to remedy an illness or injury for an especially valued dog, the median response was AU$1,001-2,000 which is not concordant with the dogs’ calculated median lifetime value. The current findings equip working dog owners with useful information to make financially appropriate expenditure decisions related to their working dogs. This is expected to increase farm profitability and improve welfare for farm dogs.

Avian influenza (AI) is an important disease that has significant implications for animal and human health. High pathogenicity AI (HPAI) has emerged in consecutive seasons within the UK to cause the largest outbreaks recorded. Statutory measures to control outbreaks of AI virus (AIV) at poultry farms involve disposal of all birds on infected premises. Understanding of the timing of incursions into the UK could facilitate decisions on improved responses. During the autumnal migration and wintering period (autumn 2019– spring 2020), three active sampling approaches were trialled for wild bird species considered likely to be involved in captive AI outbreaks with retrospective laboratory testing undertaken to define the presence of AIV.

Faecal sampling of birds (n = 594) caught during routine and responsive mist net sampling failed to detect AIV. Cloacal sampling of hunter-harvested waterfowl (n = 146) detected seven positive samples from three species with the earliest detection on the 17 October 2020. Statutory sampling first detected AIV in wild and captive birds on 3 November 2020. We conclude that hunter sourced sampling of waterfowl presents an opportunity to detect AI within the UK in advance of outbreaks on poultry farms and allow for early intervention measures to protect the national poultry flock.

A parasitological survey of terrestrial slugs and snails was conducted at popular dog walking locations across the city of Nottingham, with the intensions of finding gastropods infected with parasites of medical (or veterinary) importance such as lungworm (metastrongyloid nematodes) and trematodes. A total of 800 gastropods were collected from 16 sites over a 225 km2 area. The extracted nematodes and trematodes were identified by molecular barcoding. Of the 800 gastropods collected, 227 were infected (172 had nematode infections, 37 had trematode infections and 18 had both nematode and trematode infections). Of the nematode infected gastropods genotyped, seven species were identified, Agfa flexilis, Angiostoma gandavense, Angiostoma margaretae, Cosmocerca longicauda, Phasmarhabditis hermaphrodita, Phasmarhabditis neopapillosa and an unknown Cosmocercidae species. Of the trematode infected gastropods genotyped, four species were identified, Brachylaima arcuate, Brachylaima fuscata, Brachylaima mesostoma and an unknown Plagiorchioidea species. No lungworm species were found within the city of Nottingham. To our knowledge, this study represents the first survey of gastropod-associated nematodes and trematodes in the East midlands of the United Kingdom.

Climate change and soil degradation are the issues depleting the soil's ability to promote good yield. One of the ways to combat this is the practice of conservation agriculture (CA). This study was carried out to explore and investigate the impact of CA. Multinomial endogenous switching regression model and cross-sectional data were used to investigate the determinants and the impact of the adoption of CA on the income of smallholder maize farmers in Mpumalanga Province, South Africa. Three categories of CA (minimum tillage, crop diversification and a combination of both minimum tillage and crop diversification) were considered. The empirical results revealed that regardless of the choices of CA practices adopted by the maize farmers, the income realized was higher for adopters than for non-adopters of CA practices. The average treatment effect for the adopters of both minimum tillage and crop diversification was the highest, showing an increase in income by 60.31% (R15575.99/$996.57USD) compared to the non-adopters. The policy implication for these results is that there is a need to promote the adoption of CA practices, particularly a combination of both minimum tillage and crop diversification, given their significant impact on farmer income, an important welfare outcome that has significant implications on food security and poverty alleviation.

We investigate differences in profitability of three Aberdeen-influenced breeds, Angus, Red Angus, and American Aberdeen. Using data from North Dakota, we measure differences in birth weights, calving intervals, weaning weights, cow weights, and profitability. Weaning weights differ between breeds, setting up a trade-off between lower feed costs for smaller cows and higher revenue for larger cows. American Aberdeen-influenced cows bred to Red Angus bulls have $1–$6 per acre higher returns than Angus or Red Angus-influenced cows. Aberdeen sires have the lowest returning calves.

Over the past two decades, society has seen incredible advances in digital technology, resulting in the wide availability of cheap and easy-to-use software for creating highly sophisticated fake visual content. This democratisation of creating such content, paired with the ease of sharing it via social media, means that ill-intended fake images and videos pose a significant threat to society. To minimise this threat, it is necessary to be able to distinguish between real and fake content; to date, however, human perceptual research indicates that people have an extremely limited ability to do so. Generally, computational techniques fair better in these tasks, yet remain imperfect. What's more, this challenge is best considered as an arms race – as scientists improve detection techniques, fraudsters find novel ways to deceive. We believe that it is crucial to continue to raise awareness of the visual forgeries afforded by new technology and to examine both human and computational ability to sort the real from the fake. In this article, we outline three considerations for how society deals with future technological developments that aim to help secure the benefits of that technology while minimising its possible threats. We hope these considerations will encourage interdisciplinary discussion and collaboration that ultimately goes some way to limit the proliferation of harmful content and help to restore trust online.

This article offers the first extensive analysis of female agency in the marine insurance industry of early modern Europe. Drawing from a data set of more than four thousand insurance policies signed in the Royal Insurance Chamber in Paris between 1668 and 1672, the article studies the activities of Parisian women within the institution. These policies illustrate that women played a crucial role in the Chamber as underwriters, creditors, commission agents, and policyholders. Moreover, institutional papers and the records of the Parisian admiralty court reveal that women acted ably in defense of their interests when conflicts emerged, although there were limitations to their agency in the Chamber itself. In this way, the article challenges the long-standing perception that underwriting was an exclusively masculine activity in pre-modern Europe. Moreover, it sheds light on the role of women in supporting the maritime and colonial policies of Jean-Baptiste Colbert, Louis XIV’s eminent minister, thereby becoming underwriters of France’s early Atlantic Empire.