Horse industry in Tennessee

The horse industry in Tennessee is the 6th largest in the United States, and over three million acres of Tennessee farmland are used for horse raising or horse-related activities. The most popular breed in the state is the eponymous Tennessee Walking Horse, and it became an official state symbol in 2000.
History and importance.
Because Tennessee was largely rural in its early statehood, horses were important as a form of transportation. During the antebellum period, horse racing became a popular sport among the gentry.
After the Civil War, most of the native southern stock was gone, and horse breeding in Tennessee had to be continued with horses from Northern states.
Following the outlawing of betting in 1905, horse racing in Tennessee took a sharp drop and gaited horses began to rise in popularity. Commonly referred to as "Plantation" horses, they had been bred for a smooth gait that made riding over large distances easier.
As farms became motorized and horses were replaced by tractors, interest in horse shows rose. This led to the specialized breeding of gaited horses for saddle seat show competition,
specifically the Tennessee Walking Horse. American Saddlebreds were also popular in the state during the 1930s and 1940s, but dropped in popularity as the Tennessee Walking Horse came to the forefront of the state's horse shows.
Today, Tennessee is ranked 6th on the list of US states by number of horses, and 3.2 million of its 10 million acres of farmland are used for horses or horse-related activity in some form. The Tennessee Walking Horse is the most popular breed in the state.
Tennessee Walking Horse.
The Tennessee Walking Horse, the first horse breed to be named for an American state, was developed in the Middle Basin of Tennessee. Horse breeder James Brantley began his breeding program in the early 1900s using the foundation stallion Black Allan, who had a smooth running walk and a calm disposition which he passed on to his offspring. Though Black Allan died in 1910, shortly after being sold to another breeder named Albert Dement, he sired 40 known foals whose bloodline became well known in the region. One of his sons, Roan Allen, carried on his bloodline and is estimated by horse breeding experts to be the ancestor of 100% of living Tennessee Walking Horses.
Brantley's and Dement's farms were both located just outside Wartrace, and the town is known as "The cradle of the Tennessee Walking Horse". The breed's main registry, the Tennessee Walking Horse Breeders' and Exhibitors' Association (TWHBEA), was founded in 1935 in Lewisburg and is still located downtown. In 1939 Henry Davis and a group of fellow horsemen held the inaugural Tennessee Walking Horse National Celebration; it lasted three days and ended with Strolling Jim, trained by Floyd Carothers, being crowned as the first World Grand Champion. After the founding of the TWHBEA and then Celebration, the Walking Horse jumped in popularity and many notable breeding farms were established, including Harlinsdale Farm, and horse trainers began to focus on training Tennessee Walkers specifically for show competition. Trainers who became notable during this period include Winston Wiser, Fred Walker and Steve Hill.
Today the Tennessee Walking Horse continues to be highly important to the Middle Basin. The town of Shelbyville is called the Tennessee Walking Horse Capital of the World, and has hosted the Celebration for most of its history; the first few Celebrations were held in Wartrace, but the move was made due to space issues. The Tennessee Walking Horse National Museum was founded in the 1980s and was hosted in several locations before moving to its permanent location in Wartrace. The Middle Basin is home to many farms and training stables which specialize in the breed, with Bedford, Rutherford, Coffee and Cannon counties having the largest populations. The breed also brings in large amounts of revenue to the state; the Celebration annually generates $41 million in income to Shelbyville alone, and individual horses can sell in excess of $100,000.
There are multiple institutions and landmarks in the area named after the Walking Horse, including the Walking Horse and Eastern Railroad, which runs between Shelbyville and Wartrace, and the Walking Horse Hotel in Wartrace, which was the home of Strolling Jim.
The Tennessee Walking Horse was officially named the state horse by the General Assembly of Tennessee in 2000.
Horse shows and rodeos.
Many horse shows in Tennessee are oriented around the state's namesake breed, the Tennessee Walking Horse. The largest of these is the Tennessee Walking Horse National Celebration, an 11-day competition that takes place on the 105-acre Celebration Grounds in Shelbyville just before Labor Day every year. The Celebration attracts over 1,500 horses and 200,000 spectators.
The Spring Celebration, also known as the Spring Fun Show, is another Tennessee Walking Horse show that traditionally is important for horses and trainers hoping to compete in the main Celebration later in the year. It is held on the Celebration Grounds and dates back to 1970.
The National Trainers Show is held annually by the Walking Horse Trainers' Association. It is almost always held in Shelbyville, although it has been held in Alabama twice, in 1988 and 2015.
Besides the larger shows that last multiple days, Tennessee also hosts a number of significant one-day Tennessee Walking Horse shows.
The Wartrace Horse Show is the oldest one-night horse show in Tennessee, and has been held annually since 1906.
Tennessee is also known for breeding mules, and a mule show called Mule Day has been held in Maury County for 170 years. The Calsonic Arena in Shelbyville hosts the Great Celebration Mule Show each July.
Tennessee also hosts a number of horse shows for breeds that predated or derived from the Tennessee Walking Horse.
The Spotted Saddle Horse is a pinto-patterned breed that was developed using large amounts of Tennessee Walking Horse blood. Two major shows for it are held at the Celebration Grounds every year; the Spring Show in May and World Championship in September. The Spotted Saddle Horse's biggest registry, the Spotted Saddle Horse Breeders' and Exhibitors' Association, is located in Shelbyville.
For several decades, the World Championship for the American Saddlebred was held at the Music City Horse Show in Nashville. Although it has been moved to Lexington, Kentucky, Tennessee still hosts some Saddlebred shows and sales.
Tennessee also hosts rodeos and non-traditional events beside traditional horse shows.
The Lone Star Rodeo has been held at Calsonic Arena for more than 25 years. It features all traditional rodeo events. In 2016, the group that owns Lone Star Rodeo held their first youth rodeo in Tennessee. It awarded more than $70,000 in prize money and featured specialized events such as pony bronc riding.
Road to the Horse, a colt-starting competition for professional trainers, was held at Murfreesboro's Tennessee Miller Coliseum from 2002 to 2011.
Horse racing.
Horse racing was a popular form of recreation in colonial and antebellum Tennessee. Most early races were held on public roads, including a notable match in 1806 between Andrew Jackson's horse Truxton and Erwin's Plowboy. Truxton, who won the race, was a son of Diomed, a Thoroughbred imported from England.
In 1836 a horse breeder said, "The prevailing opinion in the South is that Tennessee possesses more and better racehorses than Kentucky."
The Standardbred Little Brown Jug, who had a premier pacing race named after him, was foaled in Middle Tennessee. Standardbred racing was very popular in late nineteenth-century Tennessee.
Tennessee continued to host many notable racing stables throughout the post-Civil War years, until Tennessee passed an anti-gambling law in 1905, which essentially outlawed betting at racetracks. This led to a steep drop in the number of horse races and racehorses, and a loss of interest in the sport. The passage of the law also ended the Tennessee Derby, which had been held since 1884 and at one time rivalled the Kentucky Derby for prestige.
However, horse racing itself is not illegal, and small races are still held in Tennessee, including harness races at the Lincoln County Fair every year.
There have been multiple attempts to legalize betting in Tennessee again, but most have eventually failed. In 2016 Republican state senator Frank Niceley sponsored a bill that would have legalized betting at racetracks, but it failed in the State House of Representatives. However, the Horse Racing Advisory Committee was formed in order to promote horse racing in the state.
One of the largest horse races in Tennessee is the Iroquois Steeplechase, a steeplechase held in Nashville's Percy Warner Park. It was founded in 1941 and is held annually on the second Saturday in May, along with 6 other races. Attendance routinely averages 30,000.
Trail riding.
There are three horseback riding concessions located near Gatlinburg, Tennessee, which allow visitors to rent horses and ride them through Great Smoky Mountains National Park, including Cades Cove.
Visitors may also bring their own horses to ride in the park, but a negative Coggins test is required.
The smaller Lebanon State Park also allows visitors to bring their own horses and ride through the park, but there is no rental stable.


Thomas Daly (Alberta politician)

Thomas Daly (February 21, 1861 – November 17, 1908) was a politician in Alberta, Canada and a municipal councillor in Edmonton
Biography.
Daly was born in Letterbreen, Ireland and immigrated to Canada in 1881. He spent two years in Manitoba and moved to Alberta in 1883 to homestead at Clover Bar. He exhibited his oats at the 1893 Chicago World's Fair and won first prize; he is sometimes credited with establishing Alberta's reputation as an oats producer. He later turned to apple farming. In 1894 he married Jessie Gray.
In the 1906 Edmonton election, Daly ran for Edmonton City Council as an alderman. He finished second of twelve candidates and was elected to a two-year term, but resigned less than a year into his term.
Thomas Daly died November 17, 1908. Daly Grove, an Edmonton neighbourhood, is named in his honour.


Ralf T. Voegele

Ralf Thomas Voegele (* 19. Oktober 1963 in Gottmadingen, Germany) is a German Biologist, specialising in Microbiology. He is Professor of Phytopathology and Dean of the Agricultural Science Faculty at the University of Hohenheim.
Life and work.
After primary school in Gottmadingen Ralph Voegele attended the Friedrich-Wöhler-Gymnasium in Singen, taking his school-leaving examinations in 1983. He studied biology at the University of Constance, obtained a further qualification in microbiology, and started work as a scientist in 1987.
He obtained a doctorate (Dr. rer. nat., magna cum laude) in the field of biology in 1993, and then obtained a DFG grant for post-doctoral studies at the College of Biological Science of the University of Guelph and McMaster University in Hamilton, Canada.
On his return to the University of Constance he made a habilitation at the Department of Mathematics and Natural Sciences, with a thesis entitled: "The Role of Haustoria in the Biotrophic Interaction of the Rust Fungus Uromyces fabae and its Host Plant Vicia faba". There followed the award of the venia legend for Phytopathology and Microbiology, and appointment to the academic board.
In 2010 Voegele was awarded a professorship in phytopathology at the University of Hohenheim, where initially he was also managing director of the Institute of Phytomedicine (2010-2014) and later dean of the Faculty of Agricultural Science.
Ralf Voegele is married and has a daughter.


New Zealand Game Industry Board

The New Zealand Game Industry Board is a statutory marketing authority established by regulations made under the Primary Products Marketing Act 1953. The Board collects information about the game industry and uses this information to help its members. Specific information which is collected includes data about industry production and export volumes and prices, support for research into the processing area, development of industry grading standards and product specifications and, in particular, market research, and strategy development and targeted promotions.
Structure.
The Board representation comprises four appointees nominated by the New Zealand Deer Farmers' Association, three nominated by the New Zealand Deer Industry Association, one of whom represents velvet processors, and one government nominee. The Game Industry Board has a Research Trust.


Hans Barlien

Hans Andersen Barlien (29 February 1772 – 31 October 1842) was a Norwegian farmer and politician. He has been credited with the establishment of a Norwegian-American immigrant settlement in Sugar Creek, Iowa.
Personal life.
Barlien was born in Overhalla, Nord-Trøndelag 29 February 1772 to Anders Sørensen and Ane Hansdatter. On 24 November 1793 he married Kjerstine Einarsdatter Skistad (b. 1768) in Overhalla, daughter of Einar Skistad and Marie Sophie Christensdatter (1808–1897) in Sugar Creek, Iowa. Barlien was grandfather to Norwegian engineer Albert Fenger-Krog (1835–1904) and Norwegian politician Hans Konrad Foosnæs (1846–1917).
Early career.
At the same time as his 1793 marriage, Barlien took over one of the Barli farms of Trondheim Cathedral. The parish priest Hans Blytt (1758–1805), together with Barlien, was the very first to provide vaccinations against smallpox in Norway. Blytt had imported lymph from Copenhagen and vaccinated first his own children, then members of the Barlien family.
In May 1804 Hans Barlien moved with his wife and four children to Trondheim, where he bought a pottery located on Prinsens gate. He was later licensed as a watchmaker. Barlien was eager to improve the city's water supply, and initiated a new pump station and glass works on the farm Surviken, working together with Haugeans Otto Carlsen and Paul Anziøn. Barlien received the Dannebrogmændenes Hæderstegn on 28 June 1809 for his technological competence and skill. In 1812 Barlien bought the farm Ågård in Namdalseid for 7000 Norwegian rigsdaler.
Political career.
Barlien entered politics in 1814. He did not become a member of the Constituent Assembly, but was elected as a representative from Nord-Trøndelag during the session 1815–1816 which became his only term in office. He was the only politician with farmer background who was represented in Lagtinget. The regulation of Norway's monetary system was the most important political issue that the Parliament dealt with in the 1815–16 period, and Barlien gave his point of view in a publication named "Anmærkninger betræffende Pengevæsenet. En Nationalsag". Barlien wanted to maintain the Eidsvoll Warranty, claiming that "each citizen of the state, should, in relation to fortune, participate in the compliance of the Warranty".
He was not reelected in the 1818 election. His liberal political and religious views had often put him at odds with both the clergy and the establishment. He could not run in 1820 or 1824 because of an ongoing trial against him. In an article in the periodical "Det norske Nationalblad", Barlien presented his views on Norwegian constitutional law and his experiences as an MP. In that article, Barlien stated that the Norwegian people were the "producing and fabricating part of the state members".
Immigration and legacy.
In the year 1837 Hans Barlien emigrated from Norway to the United States. In June 1837 Barlien traveled to the United States aboard the ship "Enigheden" from Stavanger arriving about the middle of September, 1837. He subsequently visited the Fox River settlement of Norwegian immigrants in La Salle County, Illinois. In 1838 he lived in St. Louis, Missouri and in late 1839 or early 1840, Hans Barlien is attributed with being the founder of the first Norwegian immigrant settlement in the state of Iowa, at Sugar Creek in Lee County. On 31 October 1842 he died in Sugar Creek, Iowa.
In 1891, a memorial obelisk in honor of Hans Barlien was erected in Overhalla near Namsos. Hans Barliens gate in Oslo is named for Hans Barlien.


Menorquina cattle

The is an endangered breed of cattle from the Mediterranean island of Menorca, in the Spanish autonomous community of the Balearic Islands. It belongs to the group of convex-profiled red cattle, whose distribution across the northern Mediterranean region is thought to have followed the path of the Bell-Beaker Culture. It is one of only two autochthonous Spanish breeds of dairy cattle, the other being the Pasiega. The milk is particularly suitable for cheese production, and is used to make Mahón cheese, which has DOP status.
History.
Cattle have been present in the Balearic Islands since the time of the Bell-Beaker Culture. Perforated beakers of this period found on the island of Mallorca are believed to be cheese-strainers. In Menorca, where there is no Bell-Beaker pottery, the presence of cattle is documented from the Talaiotic Culture of the first millennium BC, both by cattle bones excavated from talaiots such as those of Torre d'en Galmés and , and by artefacts such as the bronze statuette of a calf found at the taula of in 1980.
The Menorquina was the only cattle breed on Menorca. When importations of modern specialised dairy cattle began in the twentieth century, it was rapidly displaced by these and numbers fell sharply. The survival of the breed is largely due to the efforts of a local vet, Gabriel Seguí, who in the 1940s brought together the remaining stock on his estates.
In 1991 the population was reported to be 184 head. The Menorquina was classified among the breeds "at risk of extinction" by the Ministerio de Agricultura, Alimentación y Medio Ambiente, the Spanish ministry of agriculture, on 7 November 1997. A breeders' association, the Associació de Ramaders de Bestiar Boví de Raça de Menorca, was formed in 1998, and the Menorquina breed received official recognition on 31 March 2000. At the end of 2014 the total population was recorded as 1536, of which 1196 were female and 340 male.
Use and management.
The Menorquina was formerly a triple-purpose breed, used as a draught animal and for milk and meat production. It is now raised mainly for dairy use, and is one of only two autochthonous dairy cattle breeds of Spain, the other being the Pasiega of Cantabria. Milk yield may exceed per lactation. The milk is not usually sold, but is used to make Formatge de Maó, a traditional local cheese which has European Union DOP status.
The Menorquina is well adapted to the Mediterranean climate and landscape, and is used in vegetation management. It has a high level of resistance to piroplasmosis, which is endemic to Menorca.


Leslie Arthur Schubert

Leslie Arthur Schubert (aka Les Schubert) was a notable Western Australian pastoralist and author born in Eudunda, South Australia on 25 August 1922 and died in Perth on 22 March 2012. In 1974 he was the largest sheep wool grower in West Australia with over 65,000 merino sheep on three sheep stations and two farms totalling over 500,000 hectares (1,250,000 acres) of pastoral land.
Early life.
Born into a immigrant German Lutheran community at Peep Hill to the North East of the Barossa Valley in South Australia, his early life was founded in the traditional German manner.
His family moved to Bruce Rock in Western Australia at the start of the Depression in 1929 and while living on a wheat farm his family suffered severe deprivation.
Schubert completed his education at the Bruce Rock Primary School, leaving at the early age of 14 to assist his father in running of their farm “Rocky View” five kilometres from the town.
In 1932 Schubert accidentally shot himself in the chest with a .22 calibre rifle while shooting birds on his father's farm at Bruce Rock. The bullet narrowly missing his heart.
With the commencement of World War 2, and with his German heritage and religious beliefs he was interred at the Marrinup Internment Camp near Pinjarra where he was engaged in planting pine plantation trees and timber cutting to support the War effort.
Upon release from the camp Schubert married Dorothy Joan Sloan from a pioneering family in East Rockingham and took up crown land at various locations in the South West of Western Australia, developing significant wheat and sheep farms. They had three sons and one daughter.
Pastoral industry involvement.
He and his family moved to sheep station Pardoo in the Pilbara in March 1963 having sold his agricultural interests at Gnowangerup to Sir Eric Smart
In 1966 he swapped Pardoo Station with Karl Stein for the cattle stations Louisa & Bohemia Downs in the Kimberley Region along with a cash balance in addition.
While on Louisa Downs together with his two sons they pioneered the technique of aerial mustering cattle in the Kimberley using a Cessna 182 aircraft. This improved the efficiency and viability of many remote cattle stations, and is now widely practised using helicopters.
In 1969 he sold Louisa and Bohemia Downs to the recently formed Australia Land & Cattle Company and purchased Yallalong Station, a sheep station in the Murchison Region.
Schubert subsequently purchased Nookawarra Station, near Cue, and Hamelin Station at Shark Bay, and in 1974 was the largest wool grower in Western Australia, shearing in excess of 50,000 sheep and producing over 1,000 bales of wool.
At this time he became active in the Pastoralist & Graziers Association of WA as well as becoming a member of the State Council of the Liberal Party of Australia
Mining involvement.
While living on Louisa Downs Station he was shown outcrops of cuprite near Mount Bertram in the Wunaamin Miliwundi Ranges (formerly King Leopold Ranges) by indigenous Australian stockmen working on the station. Subsequently he developed interests in mining exploration and entered into a number of partnerships with Western Australia mining entrepreneurs including Alan Bond.
Later years.
Upon his retirement and the death of his wife, Joan Sloan, Schubert made regular visits to Louisa Downs station where he assisted the indigenous Cox Family and their descendants in the management of the station. During this time he wrote and published 6 books.
The first an Autobiography "Wiping Out the Tracks," in three Volumes followed by social commentary on indigenous Australia stockmen in 2 books: "Kimberley Dreams and Realities" and "A Century of Freddie Cox"
His last work was a romantic novel "Leila," a fictionalised version of the life of a pastoralist's wife.
In addition he wrote an anthology of poems: The Poetry of My Life


De Zoeker

De Zoeker ("The Seeker") is the name of an oil windmill, located in the Zaanse Schans, Zaanstad. Its purpose is to press seeds such as linseed and rapeseed into vegetable oil. It is the only oil mill still in operation, and is one of five remaining oil mills in the area.
The mill was built in 1672 in Zaandijk. The mill continued with few interruptions until 1968, when it was moved to the Schans.
The mill is owned by the .


Jewish Farm School

The Jewish Farm School (JFS) is an environmental education non-profit founded by Nati Passow, Simcha Schwartz, Robert Friedman, Rachel Tali Kaplan and Shemariah Blum-Evitts in 2005. The organization’s mission is to “practice and promote sustainable agriculture and to support food systems rooted in justice and Jewish traditions.” The school educates participants through farm-based service learning experiences, practical skills trainings, Jewish text study, and outreach and consulting. JFS runs a variety of sustainability-themed and farm-based programs with the help of Rabbi and Director of Programs Jacob Fine. It also oversees the Farm at Eden Village Camp in Putnam Valley, New York.
Background.
Since its formation in 2005, Jewish Farm School has run over fifty different programs, reaching over 4,800 children, college students and adults. JFS runs Alternative Break (AB) trips with college students on farms around the country, urban sustainability workshops in Philadelphia, and oversees the Farm at Eden Village, a two-acre educational farm on the grounds of Eden Village Camp, a new Jewish summer camp outside of New York City. Through JFS Cooperative Design, JFS consults with synagogues, JCCs and private landowners on educational and public interest Jewish farming and gardening projects.
Programs.
Jewish Farm School runs a variety of year-round events and workshops. Past programs at the Farm at Eden Village include Bee Keeping 101, Herbal Medicine, Natural Building, and Maple Sugaring. Urban Eden takes place at urban community farms in Brooklyn and Manhattan.
Other initiatives include Anafim: Sustainable Food and Farming Internship for High School Seniors, JFS Seminar in Organic Agriculture and Educational Gardening and Organic Farming Alternative Break service learning trips for college students.
Curriculum.
Alumot: A Jewish Gardening Project is a resource manual for educators to start their own garden program.
Jewish Food Rules: Principles of a Contemporary Food Ethic provides a contemporary perspective on what it means to “eat Jewish.” The curriculum explores Jewish texts and traditions that explain laws and values on workers rights, animal rights, and agricultural practices.
Staff.
Nati Passow, Co-Founder & Executive Director, is a writer, carpenter and educator living in Philadelphia.
Simcha Schwartz, Co-Founder & Associate Director, is originally from Chicago and graduated with a degree in Sociology from the University of Kansas. In 2004, working for Hazon, Simcha coordinated the NY Jewish Enviro
Rabbi Jacob Fine, Rabbi and Director of Programs, a graduate of Vassar College, was ordained by the Ziegler School of Rabbinic Studies. .
Partners.
Hazon, a New York-based Jewish environmental organization, is Jewish Farm School’s fiscal sponsor. JFS operates autonomously but maintains nonprofit status under the umbrella of Hazon.
In June 2010, Nati Passow was selected to the Joshua Venture Group Fellowship for Jewish Social Entrepreneurs for his work with the Jewish Farm School. In 2010, JFS was listed in the Slingshot guide as one of the 50 most innovative Jewish organizations in North America.
JFS is supported by several foundations and organizations, including Hazon, Repair the World, UJA-Federation of New York, Bikkurim, the Joshua Venture Group, the Natan Fund, the Joyce and Irving Goldman Foundation, and the Lisa and Maury Friedman Foundation.
Eden Village Camp partners with JFS to run year-round farm-based, Jewish educational programs for both children and adults.
JFS has been a resident of Bikkurim: An Incubator of New Jewish Ideas since July 2009, which provides office space and professional guidance to pioneering Jewish organizations.
JFS runs a track on organic farming and gardening for the annual Teva Seminar for Jewish Environmental Education.
Additional References.
Earlier press appears on the JFS website.
External links.
[[Category:Agricultural organizations based in the United States]]
[[Category:Jewish organizations based in the United States]]


Mallina Station

Mallina Station is a pastoral lease that was once a sheep station but now operates as a cattle station in Western Australia.
It is located approximately south west of Port Hedland and south east of Karratha on the Peawah River in the Pilbara region of Western Australia.
Background.
The station was one of the earliest pastoral leases in the North West, with the lease being taken up by the Withnell family in the late 1870s or early 1880s. Gold was discovered on the property in January 1888. Jimmy and Harding Withnell were working on the property when they saw a crow sitting on their lunch box. Jimmy picked up a stone to throw at the crow and noticed light reflecting off particles of gold. This was one of the earliest reported discoveries of gold in the North West.
Roy Hill Station was established in 1886 by Nat Cooke, who owned Mallina Station. Mallina had suffered from several years drought, so Cooke was keen to secure new pastures.
The station was owned in 2008 by Peter Cook, a pharmacist, who owned other properties in the Pilbara including Croydon, Hooley, Pyramid and Sherlock Stations.
In 2015 it was purchased by Bettini Bros (now Bettini Beef) in a package with Pyramid and Sherlock Stations. The Bettinis still owned the leases in 2018.


Yezin Agricultural University

Yezin Agricultural University (YAU) ( ), located in Yezin, is the only institution of higher learning in agriculture in Myanmar. YAU also has major campuses in Mawlamyine and Hlegu, as well as five smaller regional campuses in Aungpan, Hmawbi, Kyaukse, Magway and Phyu. The Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Irrigation administered university offers primarily a four-year Bachelor of Agricultural Science (BAgrSc) program in addition to small master's and doctorate programs. Starting from the 2009 academic year, third-year and fourth-year undergraduate students have to select one crop as a specialized subject and study off campus at one of seven designated farms of the Myanmar Agricultural Service.
YAU produces more than 200 graduates both for bachelor and postgraduates each year. The university has already produced more than 9000 bachelor's degree holders together with numbers of postgraduate degrees up to 2012.
History.
Agricultural education at the college level in Myanmar began in 1924 with the establishment of the Agricultural College and Research Institute of Mandalay, offering a 3-year diploma course. In 1938, the college became a constituent college of Rangoon University. Students who had passed the Intermediate of Science examination of the Rangoon University were admitted to the agricultural course and were conferred BSc (Agriculture) degree after a two-year period of study. In 1947, the college was upgraded to the Faculty of Agriculture in Mandalay under the administration of Rangoon University. The two-year agricultural course was extended to a three-year course in 1955 and BSc (Sericulture) degree was also awarded in that year. The Faculty of Agriculture was further upgraded to a separate university known as the Institute of Agriculture in 1964.
An expansion program moved the institute from Mandalay to Yezin in 1973 with the aim of training more students and providing more practical experience. In 1993 it was transferred from the Higher Education Department of the Ministry of Education to the Ministry of Agriculture and Irrigation. It was renamed Yezin Agricultural University in 1998.
The university began a master's degree program in 1978 and a doctorate degree program in 2001.
Admissions.
YAU accepts only 250 first-year undergraduate students a year. Admission criteria to YAU are based primary on college matriculation exam marks and Burmese citizenship until 2006. Since 2006, the admission criteria have been based on the entrance examination administered by the university. High school graduates have to take the entrance examination in English and biology, and pass an interview. The school accepts additional 30 third-year students from a pool of top students with a Diploma in Agriculture from one of State Agricultural Institutes.
Programs.
YAU offers a five-year Bachelor of Agricultural Science (BAgrSc) degree program, a three-year Master of Agricultural Science (MAgrSc) degree program, and a doctorate (PhD) program.
Post-Graduate Diplomas.
Starting from the 2009 academic year, third-year and fourth-year undergraduate students have to select one crop as a specialized subject and study off-campus at one of seven designated farms of the Myanmar Agricultural Service. The aim is to "expose students to their specialized crop and do more research in order to become crop specialists". The farms growing the specialized crops are paddy in Hmawbi in Yangon Region; maize and cereals in Aungban in Shan State; pulse and oil crops in Magway in Magway Region; cotton in Nangyaw in Mandalay Region; sugarcane in Nyaungbintha in Bago Region; perennial crops in Hpa Auk in Mon State, and horticultural crops in Hlegu in Yangon Region. Fourth-year students must take one elective course in agronomy, agricultural botany, agricultural chemistry, entomology, plant pathology, horticulture and agricultural economics. Each class typically has 27 students who were chosen based on their second-year examination marks.
Faculty and administration.
YAU is administered by the Ministry of Agriculture of Myanmar. In 2005, YAU maintained a staff of 600 including a 140 academic staff of whom 75 per cent have received training overseas.
The university comprises nine major academic departments and four supporting academic departments.
Timeline of YAU.
The agricultural education at the college level in the Union of Myanmar was started on December 22, 1924 with the establishment of the Agricultural College and Research Institute of Mandalay. The college offered a 3-year diploma program. The college was closed from 1933 to 1937 due to the Great Depression.
In 1938, the college became a constituent college of the University of Rangoon. Students who had passed the Intermediate of Science examination of the Rangoon University were admitted to the agricultural course and were conferred a B.Sc. (Agriculture) degree after two years of study. The college was closed from 1942 to 1945 due to the Second World War. After the war, temporary arrangements were made for the second year agricultural students to continue their studies at Mahling Farm for the academic year 1945–46.
In 1947, the college was transformed to the status of Faculty of Agriculture in Mandalay under the administration of the University of Rangoon. The two-year agricultural course was extended to three-year course in 1955 and B.Sc. (Sericulture) degree was also awarded in that year.
The Intermediate College of Mandalay became a separate university in 1958, and the Faculty of Agriculture was placed under the University of Mandalay.
The Faculty of Agriculture was upgraded to the separate university known as the Institute of Agriculture. Due to the expansion program, the Institute was relocated from Mandalay to Yezin in 1973. It began offering master's degree programs in 1978.
The Yezin Agricultural University was transferred from the Higher Education Department, Ministry of Education to the Ministry of Agriculture and Irrigation on 1 September 1993. In 1998, the Institute of Agriculture was renamed as Yezin Agricultural University. It began offering Ph.D. courses in November 2001. In 2019, Yezin Agricultural University opened a facility to study Israeli techniques for agriculture and water management.
Timeline of YAU
Principals and Rectors.
Mandalay (1924 - 1980)
Rectors.
Yezin (1973–Present)
Administrative Organization.
The supervision of the YAU and its policies and affairs are carried out by the Administrative and Academic Body of the University. All actions of these bodies are subject to the final approval by the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Irrigation, and Ministry of Education, the Central Academic Council and the Central Administrative Council of the Universities, and Colleges of the Republic of the Union of Myanmar. The University affairs are administered by the Rector and two Pro-Rectors with the assistance of the Academic Body and Administrative Body of the University. The professional staff members of the university consist of one Rector and two Pro-rectors with the academic and administrative staff of over 600 supporting team. The affairs of YAU's outreached campuses are administered by the Principals under the control of Rector and Pro-rectors of YAU.
Campus Facilities and Associations.
In Yezin Agricultural University, residential facilities are provided for all students for their safe, clean, comfortable and affordable living environment. Yezin Campus has 9 hostels with 1014 rooms, housing over 2000 students. Students can reach to any buildings including their class rooms by walking.
Each dormitory is equipped with wireless Internet access. Residents in the hostels are required to cooperate with each other to maintain their surroundings. YAU hostels have certain rules that all resident should comply with, and the residents will be held responsible for any violation of rules.
YAU has a total area of 360 acres. There are varieties of centers and associations of common interest for the students coming from all over the country. The university is not only the center of science and technology but also the place which helps students preserving their cultures and polishing their gifts and talents, and promoting their social status. Literature and Culture Subcommittees of the National Races, Fine Arts Association, Religious Association, Regional Families, English Speaking Club, Agronomy Society, Floriculture Association, Soil Science Association, Yezin Agricultural University Information Technology Association, and Sports and Gymnastics Club are some of them.
Agricultural University Alumni Association (AUAA), an association founded in YAU as the milestone of diamond jubilee in 1999, was intended for independent and effective functions both for academic and international collaboration. It is an essence of its alma mater and assisting the mother institute in bringing all the YAU graduates together for common collaborative work. Another association under the wing of YAU founded in 2011 is the Young Scientists Association of YAU (YSAY), and it is mainly composed of junior staff and senior students of common interest in YAU. The association is aimed for the persuasion and initiation of appropriate contemporary research crafted by the young scientists of YAU and also their contribution to the welfare of YAU students.


Kfar Bin Nun

Kfar Bin Nun (, "lit." Son of Nun Village) is a moshav in central Israel. Located in the Ayalon Valley, it falls under the jurisdiction of Gezer Regional Council. In it had a population of .
History.
The moshav was founded in 1952 by the Agricultural Union on the land of the depopulated Palestinian village of al-Qubab.
It was initially named Mishmar Ayalon Bet as it was located at the road junction to the existing Mishmar Ayalon, which had been established two years before, but was later renamed Kfar Bin Nun after Operation Bin Nun, which was named itself after the second name of Joshua (1:1), who fought here in the Ayalon valley (Joshua 10:12). During two efforts, IDF did not succeed to capture Latrun during the 1948 Arab–Israeli War.
Until the Six-Day War in 1967, it was classed as a border settlement, which meant it was entitled to financial compensation for the attacks it suffered due to its proximity to the Jordanian border.


William Soltau Davidson

William Soltau Davidson (15 June 1846 – 17 July 1924) was the New Zealand pioneer of refrigerated shipping.
Early life.
Son of Frances Pillans and bank manager David Davidson, William Davidson was born in Montreal, Canada. He attended the Edinburgh Academy, (his father having become Edinburgh manager of the Bank of Scotland), before taking a position book keeping in Glasgow. Davidson was planning to work on a ranch in Argentina, when, while travelling by train, met Canterbury and Otago Association shareholder James Morton. On the strength of their conversation during the journey, Morton hired William Davidson as a cadet - and persuaded his father to invest £10,000.
Sheep farming in New Zealand.
William Davidson arrived in Port Chalmers on 30 December 1865 in the ship Celaeno. He was sent to the company's 600 km2 farm at Timaru where he spent 2 years as a shepherd under James Hassell, being responsible for the 85,000 Merino sheep. By the end of the two years, Davidson was overseeing 15 Scottish shepherds, and had helped survey and fence much of the previously open land. Using £150,000 borrowed from the company, he purchased more land., increasing holdings to 2,000 km2. He also assisted James Little in his experiments to cross Merinos with Lincoln Stud rams, producing the Corriedale breed. In 1875, he was made superintendent.
On a trip back to Edinburgh, Davidson married Jane Emily Davidson, daughter of the sheriff of Midlothian, in October 1873.
In 1878 the Canterbury and Otago Association amalgamated with James Morton's other venture, the New Zealand and Australian Land Company, and now incorporated over a 10,000 km2 between the two countries. However, when Morton was implicated in the collapse of the City of Glasgow Bank the following year, and bankrupted, the banks liquidators (holding nearly half the new company's stock), attempted to sell the land to realise their assets. Davidson replaced Morton as General Manager, and persuaded Morton's creditors to continue to hold all but the most marginal land.
Refrigeration.
At the time, sheep were farmed only for wool. With the success of the Antipodean farmers, international wool markets suffered from supply outpacing demand, and between 1873 and 1888 wool prices fell by a third. Davidson had been looking to the United Kingdom's increasing population and fixed food supply to provide a solution. He converted some land to dairying in Southland, helping establish a cheese making industry in Edendale. However his real hopes were to find a use other than wool for the company's vast herds of sheep. New Zealand had attempted to export meat in cans in the 1870s, however while popular in the South Pacific islands to this day, canned meat did not sell well in Europe. Live shipment was prohibitively expensive. Assorted experiments in refrigerated shipping had been attempted in the mid-1870s - sometimes successful on a small scale, but generally not successful on a larger scale. The first attempt to ship refrigerated sheep meat from Australia had resulted in the loss of the whole cargo.
Working with his successor as Superintendent, Thomas Brydone, Davidson inspected refrigerated ships, and researched different methods of refrigeration. In 1881 he arranged for the "Dunedin" to be refitted with a compression refrigeration unit, and supervised the establishment of a slaughter works at Totara Estate, Oamaru. Despite the loss of 650 carcases when the crankshaft of the compressor broke, on February 15, 1882, the "Dunedin" sailed for London with what was to be the first commercially successful refrigerated shipping voyage, and the foundation of both this industry and New Zealand's early lead in it.
The refrigerated shipping industry expands.
The SS "Marlborough" - sister ship to the "Dunedin" - was immediately converted and joined in the trade before the end of 1882, although beaten by the rival New Zealand Shipping Company vessel the "Mataurua". The German "Marsala" became the first steam ship to carry frozen New Zealand lamb in December 1882. Within 5 years, 172 shipments of frozen meat were sent from New Zealand to the United Kingdom, (of which only 9 had significant amounts of meat condemned). Refrigerated meat and dairy produce continue to provide the main primary exports for New Zealand to this day.
Return to Britain.
Davidson was increasingly based in the UK as NZALC general manager, although he continued to regularly visit New Zealand and Australia. Davidson's wife had died in 1884, leaving him to care for their daughter Jane. He became director of two companies, and was appointed to the boards of the Scottish Union and National Insurance Company and the National Bank of Scotland. His portrait was painted by Sir James Guthrie in 1918. William Davidson retired as general manager of the NZALC in 1916, remaining on the board of directors until his death in 1924. William Davidson was posthumously inducted into the New Zealand Business hall of fame.
He died at Leuchie in North Berwick on 17 July 1924. He is buried in Grange Cemetery in south Edinburgh. The grave stands on the south side of the central vaults facing the south-east section.
Family.
In 1887 he married Caroline Elizabeth Thomas Thierens. The couple had no children.


Leo Heikkinen

Leo Leonard Heikkinen (June 11, 1917 – September 10, 1999) was an American entrepreneur and millionaire who founded and owned numerous forestry production companies in Prentice, WI, including Prentice Hydraulics, Inc. (now a division of Caterpillar, Inc.) and Multitek North America, LLC. He is credited for inventing the "knuckleboom" hydraulic loader, an invention that propelled the Prentice loader to 51% of the worldwide market.
Family Life and Education.
Heikkinen was born the third child in a family of ten in Brantwood, WI. He graduated from Tripoli High School in 1935, married his wife Norma in 1941, worked in Milwaukee, WI for the Koehring Company, and returned to Price County in 1945 where he made the town of Prentice his home.  Heikkinen had four children with his wife Norma. He died in September 1999 at the age of 82.
Prentice Hydraulics, Inc..
In 1959, after running Heikkinen Machine Shop with his brothers for over a decade, Heikkinen incorporated Prentice Hydraulics. With Prentice Hydraulics, Heikkinen excelled due to selling his knuckleboom loader, a revolutionary design for pulpwood loaders that allowed a single operator to load a truck through a design that featured essentially a “yo-yo” and “claw” versus manually wrapping logs with a cable or worse, loading the logs by hand. The company began with 35 employees and grew to 340 employees and $9 million in sales prior to its sale to Omark Industries in 1967.
Multitek North America, LLC.
In 1970, Heikkinen founded Multitek North America, LLC which focused primarily on machines to process firewood, conveyors, wheel-crusher and attachments for skid steers. Multitek was in the Heikkinen family (first owned and operated by Leo and then by his three sons) until 2006 when it was sold to a Wisconsin-based investment group. Doug Kamps became the first President of Multitek North America, LLC under the new owners.
Charity.
Heikkinen was heavily involved in community projects around Prentice, WI. His donations included a community center, community park and pond, high school athletic fields, lights and equipment, a house for the town’s first doctor, land for the village’s first dental office. He also built and donated the Village of Prentice Municipal Golf Course and the Village of Prentice Airport. Heikkinen served as Village President for approximately 10 years while donating most of his pay back to the community.


Humane Society of the Pikes Peak Region

The Humane Society of the Pikes Peak Region (commonly abbreviated as HSPPR) is a nonprofit corporation in both Colorado Springs, Colorado and Pueblo, Colorado. Incorporated in 1949, HSPPR rescues stray or forsaken pets and facilitates adoption. A variety of fundraising events throughout the fiscal year keep them financially viable.
Events.
In the fall, HSPPR hosts the Pawtoberfest 5K/beer festival at Bear Creek Regional Park. During the winter, they hold a 12 Strays of Christmas adoption drive in partnership with Daniels Long Chevrolet.
Ratings and reviews.
The Humane Society of the Pikes Peak Region is a Better Business Bureau-accredited charity, meeting the 20 standards of Charity Accountability. In fact, it is rated 100/100 for Transparency & Accountability by Charity Navigator, with an overall rating of 4/4 stars. In terms of animal care certification, HSPPR has also been accredited by the American Animal Hospital Association.


Gerard Lynch (Irish politician)

Gerard M. Lynch (born 15 June 1931) is a former Irish Fine Gael politician. A baker and farmer by profession, he was first elected to Dáil Éireann as a Fine Gael Teachta Dála (TD) for the Kerry North constituency at the 1969 general election. He was re-elected at the 1973 general election but lost his Dáil seat at the 1977 general election. He was subsequently elected to the 14th Seanad Éireann on the Agricultural Panel. He was an unsuccessful candidate at the 1981 general election.


List of Iberian horse breeds

This is a list of the breeds of horse considered in Portugal and Spain to have originated wholly or partly in those countries. Inclusion here does not necessarily imply that a breed is predominantly or exclusively of Iberian origin.


Mittelrhein (wine region)

Mittelrhein (or Middle Rhine) is a region ("Anbaugebiet") for quality wine in Germany, and is located along a 120 km stretch of river Rhine in the tourist portions of the Rhine region known as Middle Rhine. On the left bank of Rhine, vineyards begin immediately downstream of the Nahe River estuary and last until Koblenz. On the right bank, vineyards begin where Rheingau ends and last until 8 kilometers south of Bonn, in the Siebengebirge. Parts of the Rhine Gorge, a UNESCO World Heritage since 2002, make up the southern part of Mittelrhein.
The region's of vineyards (2013 situation) are dominated by white wine grapes (85%) to a higher extent than any other wine region of Germany with the exception of Mosel. With the much-appreciated Riesling being the most grown variety at 68% of the vineyards, and considering the vicinity to the world-famous regions Rheingau and Mosel, it could perhaps be expected that Mittlerhein would enjoy a commercial success. In reality, the situation is quite the opposite. In between 1989 and 2009 the Middle Rhine lost 36% of its total area of vines under cultivation, while the nationwide development shows a plus of 7.37%
Since the region's planted area has been shrinking for quite some time, the region's wines are hardly ever seen on export markets, and seem to be rather unknown even inside Germany. The underlying reasons are manifold.
The must per hectare comparison of German wine growing regions shows that in average, the Middle Rhine ranks 3rd lowest in output per hectare with an average of 68 hl / ha between 2001 and 2012. Only Saale-Unstrut (56 hl/ha) and Saxony (45 hl/ha) yield a lower output. The nationwide average over the same time frame comes up to 91 hl/ha. Hence, in a ten-year average, the Middle Rhine region only yields 75% of the nation’s average hectolitre per hectare output. In 2012, the output per hectare was 59 hl / ha, hence even 13% less than the ten year average of the region and 35% less than the average national output for 2012. In 2013, there were greater difficulties for harvesting and production. The bad weather conditions throughout the year led to minimal output, especially for late ripening grapes like Riesling, by far the most grown variety. Many quality producers only harvested 30 hl / ha, and some producers less. Despite these low yields, the region's wines in the 2013 vintage were of a high quality, and prices remained stable and low.
From countless conversations to wine growers in and outside the area, the conclusions on the underlying reasons are various. On one side, the area is vulnerable to the climate conditions of the respective vintage year; on the other side, there is an ongoing trend to forfeit quantity for the sake of quality. The most hyped wineries all over the world get worked up on only selecting the best grapes by hand. Due to the region’s geological conditions, this is usual practice on the Middle Rhine. The difference: Prices don't quadruple because of this fact.
Geographical classification.
Mittelrhein is divided into two districts ("Bereiche"), made up of eleven sites ("Großlagen") and 111 vineyards ("Einzellagen"). In the north, four villages which are situated in the federal state of North Rhine-Westphalia make up the district Siebengebirge, while the bulk of the vineyards, in the federal state of Rhineland-Palatinate, define the district Loreley. Vineyards are situated on both sides of the Rhine, with a few vineyards being situated on the banks of Lahn, a tributary of the Rhine.
From south to north, the districts and sites making up the region are:
District Loreley (Rhineland-Palatinate)
District Siebengebirge (North Rhine-Westphalia)
View a list of all the vineyards on the Middle Rhine.
Grape varieties.
The most cultivated grape varieties, by area in 2008, were:


Andrew RT Davies

Andrew Robert Tudor Davies CBE (born 1968) is a Welsh Conservative Party politician serving as Leader of the Welsh Conservative Group in the Senedd since 2021, and previously from 2011 to 2018. He has been a Member of the Senedd (MS) since 2007.
He was elected Leader of the Welsh Conservatives in the Senedd on 14 July 2011, resigning the position on 27 June 2018. He was re-appointed as Welsh Conservative leader on 24 January 2021, following the resignation of Paul Davies.
Background.
Davies was educated at Llanfair Primary School, St John's Preparatory School, Porthcawl, and later boarded at Wycliffe College, Stroud. He is married to a qualified midwife and they have four children. He is a partner in the family farming business based in St Hilary near Cowbridge in the Vale of Glamorgan. Davies was a Welsh delegate on the Council of the National Farmers Union (NFU), vice-president of the local Young Farmers Club, and is a former Chairman of Creative Communities, which seeks to develop structural community development. Davies is also a life governor of the Royal Welsh Agricultural Society, and was the Society's Oxford Farming Conference Scholar in 2002. He is a former governor at Llanfair Primary School.
Early political career.
Joining the Conservative Party in 1997, Davies fought Cardiff West in the 2001 general election, and Brecon and Radnorshire in 2005. He served as Deputy Chairman (Political) for the Conservative Party in South Wales Central from 2002 to 2003, a region that comprises the Conservative Associations in Cardiff, Rhondda Cynon Taff and the Vale of Glamorgan. Between 2004 and 2005 he was Deputy Chairman of the Cardiff West Conservative Association. In 2007, he was elected to the National Assembly of Wales on the South Wales Central regional list. Davies' political interests include education, health and rural affairs.
In the Third Assembly he was appointed Shadow Minister for Transport in the Senedd from 7 July 2007 to 16 June 2008, and Shadow Minister for Education, Lifelong Learning and Skills from 16 June 2008. He also sat on the Assembly's Petitions Committee and the Subordinate Legislation Committee. In 2009 he became the Shadow Minister for Health in the National Assembly for Wales. He has also won an award for being "Assembly Member to Watch" in December 2008.
First leadership of the Welsh Conservative Group.
He was elected as Leader of the Welsh Conservative Group on 14 July 2011, having won 53.1 per cent of the vote.
In June 2018 Wales Online led an investigation into what they described as Davies keeping his "public constituency office hidden from the public". The piece stated the office was located in a "wooden cabin 50 yards beyond a vehicle security barrier on a rural farm estate". In a freedom of information response by the Assembly Commission, the address of the office was confirmed as Penllyn Estate, Llwynhelig, Cowbridge CF71 7FF, a 1,200-acre mixed farm operation. The information only came to light after the FOI request by a Conservative Party member. A spokesperson for Davies responded to the investigation by stating the arrangements had been made "following a security incident at Andrew’s previous office on Cowbridge High Street where police attended to support a female employee", necessitating a more secure location. They continued stating that "Andrew regularly hosts constituents and organisations at his office and if he knew a Western Mail journalist had intended to visit he would’ve been there to welcome him with the kettle on".
Davies led criticism of Natural Resources Wales in November 2018, particularly around their selling of timber on a closed rather than open market. He has proposed splitting NRW into two separate bodies, and described the "bloated and largely incompetent quango" body as "no longer fit for purpose". Plaid agriculture spokesman Llyr Gruffydd however stated the issues faced by NRW were down to the 35% real terms cut in their budget and the organisation being under resourced.
Resignation.
Davies responded to concerns raised by Airbus in June 2018 regarding the threat of a no-deal Brexit by stating that "there is a lot of hyperbole flying around" regarding a no deal Brexit. The comments were criticised by Conservative figures including Guto Bebb. Bebb went on to dispute Davies title as "Leader of the Welsh Conservatives", stating he only led the Assembly group. Secretary of State Alun Cairns described Airbus' comments as a "wake-up call" for "one of the jewels in the crown of UK manufacturing". A number of Davies' Welsh Conservative colleagues, including Secretary of State Alun Cairns, Mr Davies' Deputy, Paul Davies, and Monmouth AM Nick Ramsay, were all Remain supporters, in contrast to Davies role as a Vote Leave voice in the Welsh Conservatives.
In Spring 2018, a text was reportedly sent by Cairns which discussed with Welsh Conservative AMs how and when to remove Davies. Davies initially only stated that a figure in Westminster had sent the text, but refused to name the individual. This text was reportedly sent to Davies by accident, describing how "the other end of the M4" were in support of his replacement.
In around April 2018, it was rumoured that his Deputy Leader Paul Davies was planning a leadership challenge to Davies. Amid internal discussions in the party, Nick Ramsay reportedly made it clear to Mr Davies that they did not like each other prior to his resignation, and an AM reportedly "stormed out" of a dinner regarding the leadership of the party after Davies had spoken, who later was reported to be Ramsay.
Davies resigned as Leader of the Welsh Conservatives on 27 June 2018. A source close to Davies described the events at the time as "the revenge of Tory Remainers who can’t forgive him for going against Cameron and campaigning for a Leave vote in the Brexit referendum." Davies resignation was viewed by some in the media as sparked by Davies' "inflammatory remarks" towards Airbus. Sources close to Davies however spoke to the media and stated they felt he had been victim of "a plot to get rid of him for "seven or eight weeks" dating back to his controversial "decision to back a Leave vote in the 2016 Brexit referendum" which came against the wishes of then Prime Minister David Cameron, who had backed Remain.
Inter-leadership career.
In 2019, Davies was reported by Wales Online as having the highest budget for constituency office spending of any AM in the five Assembly political groups, with a spend of £102,655, including £35,182 for a salary for his wife Julia. Davies did not respond to requests for comments in the piece.
In a June 2019 op-ed on Nation.Cymru, Davies stated his top wishes from an incoming Conservative Prime Minister for Wales would be:
Following the storming of the United States Capitol by supporters of Donald Trump in January 2021, Davies was criticised for comparing the riot to other British politicians' opposition to Brexit.
Second leadership of the Welsh Conservative Group.
He was appointed as Leader of the Welsh Conservatives Group on 24 January 2021, following the resignation of Paul Davies, after a scandal involving possible breaches of Welsh COVID-19 regulations.
Stance on Brexit and its impact on Wales.
During the Brexit referendum campaign Davies suggested Wales would be better off financially outside the EU, stating: "Wales could be as much as half a billion pounds a year better off if the UK votes to leave the European Union."
In a July 2016 interview with WalesOnline, Davies promised that Brexit would not reduce investment in Wales, and instead told the newspaper that "Wales must not lose a penny of the money that has historically flowed into Wales". His claim was later proven false after the referendum when his fellow Conservative, the Secretary of State for Wales Alun Cairns, confirmed that the UK Government would reduce the amount allocated for Wales (which the European Union had earmarked at £1.9 billion for the period 2014 to 2020).
In the run-up to the UK's invocation of Article 50 of the Treaty on European Union, Davies claimed that the Welsh Government should be denied the right to be part of Brexit negotiations on devolved areas.
Despite his firm anti-EU stance, Davies' family firm TJ Davies and Sons had accepted a total of £96,808.89 in EU subsidies over the period 16 October 2013 to 15 October 2014 alone, including £70,930.63 allocated under the Single Area payment scheme, £24,099.86 in agro-environmental payments, and £1,728.40 from the first Afforestation of Agricultural Land scheme. Commenting on the revelation of these figures, "Britain Stronger in Europe" spokesman James McGrory said "taking money from Europe while saying we should leave is hypocrisy of the first order."
In September 2019 Davies criticised proposals by the Liberal Democrats, Labour, and other parties which would force Prime Minister Boris Johnson to seek an extension to Article 50 if it prevented a no deal exit from the European Union. He described the avoidance of Brexit on 31 October as a "betrayal of democracy". He criticised First Minister Mark Drakeford for recalling the Welsh Assembly to debate Brexit, stating that the decision would "achieve nothing", and joined Conservative ministers in voting against a motion criticising the UK Government's handling of a no deal exit.
Vale of Glamorgan Council.
Davies was elected as a County Councillor for Rhoose in a by-election on 14 February 2019, and claims a salary of £13,868 before expenses, alongside his salary as an Assembly Minister. When standing for election Davies pledged to donate his council salary to good causes in the Rhoose ward and has since created a community fund which makes regular donations to community groups and worthwhile causes in the area.
Davies has been a keen opponent of the Barry incinerator site, and in August 2019 in his role as Assembly Member queried Deputy Environment Minister Hannah Blythyn on when she had last met council officials regarding the project, and whether an Environmental Impact Assessment would be carried out.
Honours.
Davies was made a Commander of the Order of British Empire (CBE) in the 2020 New Year Honours, "for political and public service".


Teak in Myanmar

Teak, tectona grandis, is a hardwood tree native to much of South and Southeast Asia, including Myanmar. Due to its natural water resistance, teak is sought out for a variety of uses including furniture-making and shipbuilding. Teak grows throughout much of Burma, but was first exploited in the Tenasserim (now Tanintharyi) region in the southeast of Burma on the Malay Peninsula Though it has long been used by locals, teak has been important to the economy of Myanmar since British Colonization and remains a political issue today.
Ecology.
Teak is indigenous to much of Myanmar, Laos, Thailand and parts of India. In Myanmar, it is naturally found in areas between the 25°30'N and 10°N lines of latitude. Teak mostly grows in hilly areas below in elevation. Within the country, teak is most common in mixed deciduous forests as well as evergreen and semi evergreen forests. In the south of Myanmar, major teak forests existed in the Pegu and Tenasserim Hills. Other notable areas of teak growth include the Arakan Mountains in the west of the country and the Shan Hills in the East.
While teak is still abundant in many of these locations, native forests have been significantly threatened in the late twentieth century. In the 1990s, the Myanmar state attempted to increase revenue by cutting more teak. This uptick in logging increased deforestation throughout the country, of which the Pegu Hills were particularly affected.
History.
Beginning of Colonial Rule.
In the nineteenth century, the British Empire was the largest naval power in the world. As such, they were in constant need of shipbuilding supplies, including teak. After its victory in the First Anglo-Burmese War in 1826, Britain found in its newly conquered Burmese territory an ample source of teak. Extracting this resource, however, proved a puzzle. Though the British Government had initially held a monopoly over all Burmese teak, in 1829 it chose to open it up to private industry. This move was supposedly made to ensure the harvest and sale of sufficient wood, but in reality was a surrender by the government to well-connected timber merchants. Entrepreneurs of all types flocked to Tenasserim to make their fortunes from teak. The government imposed few rules on these loggers and by 1841 they had exhausted the majority of teak stocks in the region. In response to this over-harvesting, the colonial rulers of Burma chose to take more direct control of teak exploitation. The British colonial government would not take a laissez faire, hands off approach to teak management again.
Reforming Teak Exploitation.
In 1841 the first Superintendent of Forests for Tenasserim was appointed. This appointment represented a change from indiscriminate to considered teak exploitation in Burma. Other areas with major teak stocks, such as the Pegu (now Bago) Hills, were placed under the control of the British Government. However, even though, on paper, the British government owned the land the teak was situated on, it did not necessarily control it. Taking control of this land conveniently dovetailed with a particular method of teak cultivation. This method was shifting cultivation or taungya. Taungya is the practice of removing the teak from stretches of forest, burning the remainder, planting teak and other crops in their place and nurturing both together until the teak is mature enough to grow on its own, at which point another section of forest can be started on. This practice meant that the laborers who planted teak and tended crops would be strongly tied to the British colonial authorities, from whom they received salaries. In addition to creating a British presence in the lives of locals, taungya was quickly taken up due to being cheaper than the creation of teak plantations.
Resistance by the Karen.
Early efforts to introduce taungya to Burmese teak productions started in the Pegu Hills, between the Irrawaddy and Sittaung rivers in central Burma. The people that the British imagined would implement their taungya system of teak cultivation were ethnic Karens who had been residents of the region for generations without incorporation into the lowland Burman culture. Avoidance of the lowland has long been key to the identity and survival of the Karen people. Some, like the political scientist James C. Scott, argue that Karen civilization has been carefully organized with the goal of lessening the influence of the dominant empire of the time, be it Burmese or British This tendency often meant that Karens choose to live in upland areas where they would be out of immediate reach of such states. Given this heritage, many Karen living in the Pegu Hills were reluctant to integrate themselves into the taungya system that the British devised. In addition to opposing it for the political power it gave the British, they found the practice of a form of agriculture unpracticed by their fore-bearers culturally threatening.
While the taungya system of simultaneously growing teak and other crops was espoused by the British, shifting cultivation was and has remained the norm in Burma. Due to its precolonial roots and perceived inefficiencies, it is often characterized as backwards. However, some scholars find this assessment to be flawed given the political independence that it gave to its practitioners While the taungya system did entail shifting cultivation, it ran counter to the goals of the Karen. The initial steps of logging and burning meant the destruction of the native forest. The forest, along with the hills, naturally isolated the Karen from the rest of Burma. Taungya also meant that the British or their agents would return to the previously cut areas after some years to harvest the newly planted teak. This increased traffic through their territory would also impact their secluded status. Given their suspicion of the lowland states they were isolated from, the British included, the Karen were reluctant to lose this protection.
Implementation of Taungya.
 Because the Karen were more interested in maintaining their independence than uniting economically with the British, the implementation of Taungya required the use of force. The British government seized on the fact that the Karen had no legal title to the land that they occupied, and had occupied for generations. Teak tracts in the Pegu Hills were pronounced state property. The government also made it illegal to burn or damage teak trees within these forests. This law effectively criminalized traditional Karen agricultural practices. Due to the wide distribution of teak in the Pegu Hills, almost any location that a Karen farmer could choose to clear would contain some trees. The British government now found itself in a position to fine or prosecute most of the people living in the area. However, the new laws were difficult to enforce. Breakage was rampant and the British criminal justice system was underfunded and ineffectual. It took until 1869 for a concrete and successful push to implement taungya to be made. At this point, the colonial government, tired of Karen resistance, began to make deals with villages promising them plots of land for permanent cultivation in return for their labor in the taungya system. This arrangement was a major concession for Karen villagers as it entailed abandoning the shifting cultivation they had traditionally practiced.
Transition from to Taungya to the Myanmar Selection Systems.
Almost directly on the heels of taungya came another form of teak exploitation. This system, which eventually came to be known as the Myanmar Selection System reduced the British Empire's dependency on the local Karen people. This method entails dividing an area of forest into thirty sections of roughly equal area, one of which is logged every thirty years. However, to put this system into place, the colonial government needed greater control of the forest than the taungya system entailed. To do so, in 1870, the British government created the first enclosure that prevented natives from cutting teak and other woods. Without locals interfering with teak and other woods, the government was free to enact new forestry policies. By 1879 it had reserved of forest.
 Between the 1870s and the 1930s, the taungya system became less and less supported as a method for harvesting teak. In 1885, the British Empire won the Third Anglo-Burmese War and took control of Upper Burma. Control of this region gave the Empire access to an even larger supply of teak. However, taungya was not the most effective manner to exploit this newly acquired bounty. Most of Upper Burma was remote, and the British Forest Department did not have the resources to administer the taungya systems in the area. Instead the government selectively felled teak without the providing continuous employment for locals. Taungya also suffered in the Pugu Hills. As the British consolidated their control of Burma, they depended less and less on the cooperation of the Karen people to retain their power. Therefore, they were able offer less beneficial terms to taungya practitioners. Over time, this led to a decline in its use among Karen in the Pegu Hills.
Consequences for the Karen People.
While the Karen people of the Pegu Hills had initially been unwilling to adopt the taungya system, increased enclosure and agreements with British Colonial authorities meant that by the 1890s most Karen had no choice but to adapt. These same people came to feel left in the lurch when the British Government began to shift its focus to cheaper and less labor-intensive methods of teak extraction in Upper Burma. Karen who had bought into the taungya system felt sold out when they could no longer count on the government to pay them for their compliance. Those who had avoided adopting the system and continued shifting cultivation found that most was either under permanent cultivation or taungya. These feelings were heightened when taungya was phased out in 1935.
Privatization of Teak Extraction.
In the twentieth century, private enterprise, which had been discouraged since the disaster in the Tenasserim region, was allowed back into the teak trade. Several companies, of which the largest was the British Bombay Burmah Trading Corporation Limited leased teak forests from the British government and felled them using the Myanmar Selection System. These new companies cut teak at a much faster rate than the government had in the nineteenth century and sped up even more after World War I. Many European timber merchants were able to influence Forest Department policy, which left out native Burmans, who did not enjoy the same connections. The British Forest Department also preferentially awarded contracts to European traders and companies. This meant that most of the valuable teak leases in Burma were sold to outsiders.
Burmese People's Response.
There was strong Burmese pushback against the international exploitation of teak and its negative effects on locals. This is evidenced by several failed attempts by Burmese politicians to change British forestry policy with respect to teak and other woods. One of the effects of the enclosure policies that the Forestry Department had adopted was that local villagers were no longer allowed to cut their own firewood for free, as they had for generations. Burmese nationalist politicians attempted to convince the colonial Legislative Council of Burma to expand local's rights to free forest products in 1926. This effort, however, was voted down.
 In 1937, under the Government of Burma Act, Burma was administratively separated from the colony of India. While this theoretically would give the Burmese people a greater ability to govern themselves, the powers they gained were limited Burmese did become more represented in the formally predominantly European Forest Service, making up about one quarter in 1942. Native Burmans took more control over the Forest Service during the Japanese occupation, as all British officials were forced to flee the country.
Independence.
 Since Burma received independence in 1948, teak has been a major economic resource for all of its governments. However, it took some time for the government to attain the kind of control of the teak trade that the British colonial state had. World War II and its aftermath left the new Burman government with little control over much of its territory, or forests. However, due to the lucrative nature of the teak trade, Prime Minister U Nu's Forestry Department resumed cutting teak as soon as practicable.
Socialist Rule and Nationalization.
 During the years of socialist rule in Burma, teak was an important part of the economy. Nationalization of timber in Burma led to the creation of a new State Timber Board, controlled by Ne Win, the Burman socialist head of state. While other industries declined during this period, the teak trade was one of the only major sources of funds for the government. In the early 1980s one third of national export earnings came from teak. To make up for decreased rice exports, the State Timber Board encouraged greatly increasing teak production. This new demand led to destructive extraction practices in easily accessible areas, like the southern Pegu hills. Burma became even more dependent on the teak trade after the State Law and Order Restoration Council (SLORC) (later known as the State Peace and Development Council (SPDC)) took power from Ne Win in 1988. In need of money to purchase military equipment in case of more uprisings like the one that led to deposition of Ne Win, the government had little choice but to cut more and more teak. The frequency of cutting within the Myanmar Selection System was increased and with it the rates of forest degradation and deforestation.
Thai Logging Concessions and the KNU.
 Neighboring Thailand had been not regulated teak extraction as robustly as Burma or its British rulers, and by 1988 suffered from major deforestation. Thai timber companies no longer had sources of teak within their own country and needed new resources to exploit to stay viable. The state in Myanmar responded by selling them permission to log in territory controlled by the militant Karen National Union (KNU). The KNU was a longtime antagonist of the Myanma state that had been able to thrive due to its inaccessible location near the Thai border, as well as its connections to cross-border smuggling. The Thai logging and the infrastructure it would bring to the area considerably diminished the KNU's strategic advantage. In addition to weakening the KNU, Thai loggers also replicated the deforestation and ecological damage that they had wreaked in their own country.
Teak in the Twenty-First Century.
 The process of democratization in Myanmar has brought reforms to the logging industry as well. In an attempt to preserve existing forests from the rampant logging of the 1990s, the government banned the export of raw timber laws in 2014. Being that the vast majority of teak from Myanmar was sold in this format, this action largely amounts to a ban on teak exports. However, even the ban has not been totally successful in preventing forest degradation. Illegal loggers, many of them Chinese, have continued to cut teak in remote areas of the Kachin State, near the Chinese border. The Myanma government has attempted to discourage this practice by meting out draconian punishments to captured loggers. In 2015, 153 Chinese loggers were given life sentences for illegal logging.


Conservation Trust of Puerto Rico

The Conservation Trust of Puerto Rico is a private, nonprofit organization protecting natural areas; constituting conservation easements; restoring, rehabilitating and preserving historical structures; developing educational programs that foster the protection of natural areas; and directing a tree nursery program for native and endemic species, among others. The Conservation Trust of Puerto Rico has been accredited by The Land Trust Accreditation Commission. The Conservation Trust is also a member of the International Union for Conservation of Nature, a global environmental organization with more than 1,200 public and private members from 160 countries.
It purchased the Inés María Mendoza Nature Reserve in 1975 and the Northern Zone Aquifers in 1977.
In June 2013, the Conservation Trust of Puerto Rico launched its nonprofit unit, Para la Naturaleza. Its goal is to integrate society at large in the conservation of natural ecosystems, in order to increase the amount of protected lands in Puerto Rico, from the actual 8 percent, to 33 percent by the year 2033. The unit groups all of the Trust's educational programming, volunteer and Citizen Science events, and all fundraising initiatives of the organization. Para la Naturaleza also manages all visitor centers and natural areas protected by the Trust, including Hacienda Buena Vista in Ponce, Hacienda La Esperanza in Manatí. The Trust administers the Cabezas de San Juan Light and Nature Reserve located in Fajardo and listed on the US National Register of Historic Places.


Araucaria moist forests

The Araucaria moist forests, officially classified as mixed ombrophilous forest (Portuguese: "Floresta Ombrófila Mista") in Brazil, are a coniferous forest ecoregion of the Atlantic Forest Biome. The forest ecosystem is located in southern Brazil and northeastern Argentina. The ecorregion also includes select areas of open field called "campos de cima da serra" or "coxilhas" (highland fields).
Setting.
The moist forests cover an area of , encompassing a region of mountains and plateaus in the Brazilian states of São Paulo, Paraná, Santa Catarina, and Rio Grande do Sul, and extending into Misiones Province of Argentina.
The ecoregion lies above , rising to elevation on the high slopes of the Serra da Mantiqueira.
The ecoregion is bounded by the Alto Paraná Atlantic forests to the north, west, and south, the Cerrado savannas and shrublands to the northeast, The Serra do Mar coastal forests to the east, and the Uruguayan savanna to the southwest.
Climate.
The Araucaria moist forests have an oceanic temperate climate ("Cfb"), with frequent frosts during the winter months and considerable snowfalls (generally light) in the highest areas. Annual precipitation is high, ranging from , without a dry season.
Flora.
The ecoregion mostly consists of evergreen subtropical moist forests, with a canopy made up of "Ocotea pretiosa" and "O. catharinense" (Lauraceae), "Campomanesia xanthocarpa" (Myrtaceae), and "Mimosa scabrella" and "Parapiptadenia rigida" (both Leguminosae). Brazilian araucaria ("Araucaria angustifolia") forms an emergent layer, growing up to in height. The forests are significant from an evolutionary perspective, as a relict of mixed coniferous and broad-leafed forests that were once much more widespread, and are home to many taxa characteristic of the Antarctic flora.
Fauna.
The ecoregion is home to several threatened species endemic to the Atlantic forests, including the brown howler monkey ("Alouatta guariba") and the red-spectacled parrot ("Amazona pretrei"). The Araucaria moist forests is recognized as an important endemic bird area.
Conservation and threats.
The Araucaria moist forests are within the Atlantic Forest Biome ("Mata Atlântica"), which is recognized as a biodiversity hotspot by Conservation International, and as a Global 200 ecoregion by the World Wildlife Fund.


Narragansett turkey

The Narragansett turkey is a breed of "Meleagris gallopavo" which descends from a cross between the eastern wild turkey ("Meleagris gallopavo silvestris") and the domestic turkey. According to the American Livestock Breeds Conservancy, the Narragansett turkey is a "historic variety, unique to North America" and is named for Narragansett Bay.
Characteristics.
The Narragansett has plumage with black, gray, tan, and white feathers. It resembles the Bronze turkey but has feathers of gray or dull black replacing the Bronze's distinctive coppery coloring. The Narragansett sometimes has bars of white feathers on its wings due to a genetic mutation not found outside the United States. It has a black beard, a horn-colored beak, and a mostly featherless head and neck which range in color from red to blueish white.
The breed is prized for its excellent temperament combining a calm disposition with good maternal abilities. They mature early, are good egg producers, have excellent quality meat, and "when kept at liberty, [it] doesn't wander too far from home". Improved over generations through selective breeding, young Narragansett turkey toms weigh 22–28 pounds and hens weigh 12–16 pounds. They can run quickly, fly well, and prefer to spend their nights roosting in trees.
History.
While never as popular as the Bronze turkey, this breed was still valued for commercial agriculture across the United States. According to an account from the early 1870s, flocks of up to two hundred birds were common. Narragansett turkeys were successful at foraging for crickets, grasshoppers and other insects, and could be maintained with little supplemental feed.
Narragansett turkey became the foundation of the turkey industry in New England and was especially important in Rhode Island and Connecticut. It was also popular in the Mid-Atlantic States and the Midwest. This breed was recognized by the American Poultry Association in 1874.
In the early 20th century, the popularity of the Bronze turkey grew even more and the Narragansett turkey soon became a rarity. It was not commercially cultivated for many decades until the early 21st century when a growing niche market was established for consumers with a "renewed interest in the biological fitness, survivability, and superior flavor" of the Narragansett.
Varieties.
A fancy variety known as the Silver Narragansett was developed with white plumage replacing the tan and gray. Never accepted by the American Poultry Association and very rare, Silver Narragansett mutations still occasionally appear in flocks of more typically colored birds.


Karl K. Kleppe

Karl Korneliussen Kleppe (30 March 1877 – 27 March 1959) was a Norwegian farmer and politician for the Liberal Party.
He was born at Kleppe in Klepp as a son of farmer Cornelius Carlsen Kleppe (1846–1941) and Anne Malene Tønnesdotter Anda (1855–1941). He first took education at the Rogaland Agricultural School, graduating in 1898, and then at the Norwegian College of Agriculture in 1900. From 1900 to 1942 he was a teacher at Jæren Folk High School, and from 1909 to 1940 he was also in charge of the family farm.
He was deputy mayor in Klepp from 1913 to 1916 (also serving as mayor for some time), and mayor from 1931 to 1934. He was elected to the Parliament of Norway in 1918 from the constituency Jæderen. He was re-elected in 1921, 1924, 1927, 1930, 1933 and 1936, representing Rogaland. To historians he is known for keeping minute protocols from meetings in the Liberal parliamentary group. He died in March 1959.


Herman Linder

Herman Linder (5 Aug 1907—18 Jan 2001) was a rancher, rodeo competitor, and rodeo promoter.
Linder was born in Darlington, Wisconsin 5 Aug 1907, to a circus performer who had emigrated from Switzerland to North America. The family later moved to Cardston, Alberta, Canada, where the young Linder began to ride young steers and unbroken horses for amusement. He and his brother, Warner, soon took to rodeoing. The first time he competed at the Calgary Stampede, Linder won both the Canadian championships for Saddle bronc and bareback bronc riding. He soon began to dominate the sport, becoming known as "King of the Cowboys" in the 1930s, winning the Canadian all-round championship 7 times, and the North American championship 5 times in a row.
In 1936, Linder joined 60 other cowboys in staging a rodeo cowboy strike at the Boston Garden. This action led to the birth of the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association. Later he was involved in the foundation of the Canadian Professional Rodeo Association. Following his retirement as a competing cowboy, Linder produced rodeo competitions; including one presented at Expo 67 in Montréal, Quebec.
Linder became a member of the (American) National Cowboy Hall of Fame in 1980. He was inducted into the Rodeo Hall of Fame of the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum in 1955 when they opened their doors. He was made an honorary chief of the Blood Indians. In 1982, he was inducted into the Canadian Pro Rodeo Hall of Fame.
He died in Cardston, Alberta, on 18 January 2001.


Rocky Mountain Horse

The Rocky Mountain Horse is a horse breed developed in the state of Kentucky in the United States. Despite its name, it originated not in the Rocky Mountains, but instead in the Appalachian Mountains. A foundation stallion, brought from the western United States to eastern Kentucky around 1890, began the Rocky Mountain type in the late 19th century. In the mid-20th century, a stallion named Old Tobe, owned by a prominent breeder, was used to develop the modern type; today most Rocky Mountain Horses trace back to this stallion. In 1986, the Rocky Mountain Horse Association was formed and by 2005 has registered over 12,000 horses. The breed is known for its preferred "chocolate" coat color and flaxen mane and tail, the result of the relatively rare silver dapple gene acting on a black coat, seen in much of the population. It also exhibits a four-beat ambling gait known as the "single-foot". Originally developed as a multi-purpose riding, driving and light draft horse, today it is used mainly for trail riding and working cattle.
Breed characteristics.
Rocky Mountain Horses stand between high. Any solid color is accepted by the registry, but a dark brown color called "chocolate" with a pale, "flaxen" mane and tail is preferred. This coloration is the result of the relatively rare silver dapple gene acting on a black base coat. Although uncommon, this gene has been found in over a dozen breeds, including the Rocky Mountain Horse. Minimal white markings are accepted by the registry, although leg markings may not extend above the knee. The physical characteristics are somewhat variable, due to the disparate breeds that created the Rocky Mountain Horse. The Rocky Mountain Horse is known by enthusiasts for its hardiness and ability to withstand winters in the mountains. It is also praised for its good nature and affinity for humans. Rocky Mountain Horses have the highest risk of any breed for the genetic ocular syndrome multiple congenital ocular anomalies (MCOA), originally called equine anterior segment dysgenesis (ASD). MCOA is characterized by the abnormal development of some ocular tissues, which causes compromised vision, although generally of a mild form; the disease is non-progressive. Genetic studies have shown that the disorder may be tied to the silver dapple gene, as most horses diagnosed with MCOA carry the gene.
The breed exhibits a natural ambling gait, called the single-foot, which replaces the trot seen in a majority of horse breeds. Both gaits are an intermediate speed between a walk and a canter or gallop; ambling gaits are four-beat gaits, whereas the trot is a two-beat gait. The extra footfalls provide additional smoothness to a rider because the horse always has at least one foot on the ground. This minimizes movement of the horse's topline and removes the bounce of a two-beat gait, caused by a moment of suspension followed by the jolt of two feet hitting the ground as the horse shifts from one pair of legs to the other. The value of an intermediate speed is that the horse conserves energy. More than thirty horse breeds are "gaited," able to perform a four-beat ambling gait, and some can also trot. Thus, a Rocky Mountain Horse, with rider, can use the single-foot to cover rough ground at around and short stretches of smooth ground at up to . The faster speed is known as the rack. In comparison, the average medium trot speed is .
History.
Eastern Kentucky is known for its gaited breeds, created through a mixture of Spanish horses from the southern United States and English horses from the North. American Saddlebreds, Tennessee Walking Horses and Missouri Fox Trotters also originated in the same general geographic area, from the same mixing of Spanish and English blood. Rocky Mountain Horses have a similar history to the Kentucky Mountain Saddle Horse, and together are sometimes called "Mountain Pleasure Horses". The Rocky Mountain Horse originated in eastern Kentucky from a foundation stallion brought to the Appalachian Mountains from the Rocky Mountains around 1890. Brought to the area as a colt, oral histories state that the "Rocky Mountain Horse", as he was known, possessed the preferred chocolate color and flaxen mane and tail found in the breed today, as well as the single-foot gait. He was used to breed local saddle mares, and due to the small area in which he was bred, a local strain of horse originated.
This foundation stallion produced a descendant, named Old Tobe, who became the more modern father of the Rocky Mountain Horse breed. Old Tobe was owned by a resident of Spout Springs, Kentucky named Sam Tuttle. For most of the 20th century, Tuttle was a prominent breeder of Rocky Mountain Horses, and helped to keep the strain alive during the Great Depression and World War II. After World War II, despite declining horse populations in the US, Tuttle kept his herd, and continued to use Old Tobe as a breeding stallion. Tuttle held the Natural Bridge State Park concession for horseback riding, and used Old Tobe for trail rides in the park and for siring additional trail horses, the latter until the stallion was 34 years old. Old Tobe died at the age of 37. The presence of the single-foot gait makes it possible that the breed is in part descended from the Narragansett Pacer, a breed known for passing its gaited ability on to other American breeds.
In 1986, the Rocky Mountain Horse Association was created to increase population numbers and promote the breed; there were only 26 horses in the first batch of registrations. Since then, the association has, over the life of the registry, registered over 25000 horses as of 2015, and the breed has spread to 47 states and 11 countries. In order to be accepted by the registry, a foal's parentage must be verified via DNA testing. Horses must also, after reaching 23 months of age, be inspected to ensure that they meet the physical characteristic and gait requirements of the registry. The Rocky Mountain Horse is listed at "Watch" status by the American Livestock Breeds Conservancy, meaning that the estimated global population of the breed is fewer than 15,000, with fewer than 800 registrations annually in the US.
The breed was originally developed for general use on the farms of the Appalachian foothills, where it was found pulling plows and buggies, working cattle and being ridden by both adults and children. Today, it is still used for working cattle, as well as endurance riding and pleasure riding. The breed's gait and disposition make it sought out by elderly and disabled riders. Each September, the Kentucky Horse Park hosts the International Rocky Mountain Horse Show.


Bruce McNevin

Thomas Bruce McNevin (6 February 1884 – 2 March 1951) was a Liberal party member of the House of Commons of Canada. He was born in Ops Township, Ontario and became a farmer by career.
McNevin attended public and continuation schools in Victoria County, Ontario. In Lindsay, he became president of the Farmers Union Insurance Company.
He was first elected to Parliament at the Victoria, Ontario riding in the 1935 general election after an unsuccessful campaign there as a Progressive party candidate in 1925. He was re-elected in 1940 then defeated by Clayton Hodgson of the Progressive Conservatives in 1945. McNevin was also unsuccessful in unseating Hodgson in 1949.
McNevin died at Omemee, Ontario on 2 March 1951 survived by his wife (Edith Dundas) and two daughters.


Cheviot sheep

The Cheviot is a breed of white-faced sheep which gets its name from a range of hills in north Northumberland and the Scottish Borders. It is still common in this area of the United Kingdom, but also in north west Scotland, Wales, Ireland and the south west of England (especially Dartmoor and Exmoor), as well as more rarely in Australia, New Zealand, Norway (2%), and the United States. The Cheviot is a dual-purpose breed, being raised primarily for its wool and meat.


Alexander Barrow

Alexander Barrow I (March 27, 1801 – December 29, 1846) was a lawyer and United States Senator from Louisiana. He was a member of the Whig Party. He was the half-brother of Washington Barrow, sharing the same father.
Born near Nashville, Tennessee, to Willie Barrow and his first wife Jane Green, Barrow attended the United States Military Academy in West Point, New York, from 1816 to 1818. Then he studied law and was admitted to the bar, in 1822, commencing practice in Nashville.
Soon afterward he relocated to Feliciana Parish, Louisiana, where he continued to practice law. Later he abandoned his legal career to become a planter.
Eventually, Alexander Barrow became involved in politics and was elected to the Louisiana House of Representatives, where he served for several years. In 1840 Barrow was elected a Whig to the United States Senate, serving from 1841 until his death. There he was Chairman of the Committee on Public Buildings and Grounds during the 27th Congress and of the Committee on the Militia during the 27th and 28th Congresses.
Senator Barrow died in Baltimore, Maryland, on December 29, 1846. His remains were interred in the family cemetery on Afton Villa plantation, near Bayou Sara, Louisiana.
Alexander and Mary Ann Barrow had three children, Alexander II, Willie Micajah, and Jane.


Baronnie de Coussergues

Baronnie de Coussergues is a family winery in Montblanc, Hérault, France,
It raises vines on the grounds of Château de Coussergues, the estate covering over 620 hectares of which 120 are vineyards.
The production include white, red and rosé wines, they are wines of blend grape varieties or high in oak.
References.
"Article contains translated text from on French Wikipedia retrieved on 25 February 2017."


Laurel Valley Sugar Plantation

Laurel Valley Sugar Plantation is located in Thibodaux, Louisiana. It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
History.
The plantation was owned by Joseph Tucker, a Virginian, who bought more than 50,000 acres of land along Bayou Lafourche. The earliest structures on the property date to the 1830s. It was at one time the largest producer of sugar in Lafourche Parish, and a mill was built on the property for this purpose.
As many as 135 slaves lived and worked on the property prior to the Civil War. While the main house built by Tucker was destroyed during the Civil War, shotgun houses (slave quarters) and Creole cabins remain on the property. The mill stopped production in the 1930s, and sustained significant damage during Hurricane Betsy in 1965.
It is named after where it is located.
Laurel Valley today.
With over fifty original structures remaining it is the largest surviving 19th- and 20th-century sugar plantation complex left in the United States and is still a working sugarcane farm. The general store on the property is open to the public, displaying tools and farm implements used in the cultivation of sugar cane as well as locally made arts and crafts. The store wasn't originally at the plantation, it had to be moved there. Its proprietor was Leon Z. Boudreaux.
Laurel Valley Plantation was added as a historic district to the National Register of Historic Places on March 24, 1978.
Contributing properties.
The historic district comprises about 80 buildings and structures dating from c.1850 to c.1910:
Popular culture.
Several movies have been filmed at Laurel Valley, including "Angel Heart", "Crazy in Alabama", "A Gathering of Old Men", "Interview with the Vampire", "A Lesson Before Dying", "", and "Ray".The Depeche Mode Music Video "Freelove" was also filmed on the plantation.


Tarentaise cattle

Tarentaise cattle descend from the domestic cattle of the Tarentaise valley in France where they were isolated from other breeds for many thousands of years. The cattle adapted in such a way as to allow them to exist in high altitudes and be able to range in very steep and rough terrain to forage. They are used in France today to produce the cheese with a distinct flavor that comes from the high alpine villages of the Tarentaise, Beaufortain and Maurienne valley. These cattle have found special niches around the world in commercial cattle grazing and calving. In the USA these cattle are used primarily for producing crossbred cows distinctly suited for tough rangeland conditions and higher elevations. They are also bred for the beauty of their markings and their docile demeanor.