Farm Animal Production Research Articles

AGRICULTURE OF THE VOLOGDA REGION

В статье приведены показатели производства продукции растениеводства и животноводства АПК Вологодской области, а также инвестиции в сельское хозяйство. Показана роль эффективных методов хозяйствования, использование инновационных технологий для повышения качества получаемой продукции в АПК региона. The article provides indicators of production of crop production and animal husbandry in the agro-industrial complex of the Vologda region, as well as investments in agriculture. The role of effective management methods, the use of innovative technologies to improve the quality of the products obtained in the agro-industrial complex of the region is shown.

Local People Standings on Existing Farm Animal Welfare Legislation in the BRIC Countries and the USA. Comparison with Western European Legislation

ABSTRACT This study explored the demand for improved farm animal welfare (FAW) legislation in the BRIC countries and the USA. Results are discussed in comparison to Europe. Interviewees ranked their willingness to support or oppose introduction of more FAW-friendly laws in their country. A multinomial logistic regression was fit to the data (p < 0.001), with the parameters “country × gender” (p < 0.001) and “country × age” (p < 0.001) found significant. Americans, Russian women, and older Brazilian men are very supportive. The age effect is also felt in India, where older people are more supportive. Chinese, American men, and younger Indians are less supportive. Russian males are the group that oppose the most, followed by younger Brazilians and Indians. The law and its application vary a lot between countries. Nevertheless, the societal willingness to improve FAW legislation is high in all countries. The willingness is higher in Europe. The different cultural backgrounds, the socio-economic factors, and the social, economic, and environmental sustainability are enough reasons to create barriers to policy harmonization in the global trade of farm animal products.

Contribution of Climate-Smart Forage and Fodder Production for Sustainable Livestock Production and Environment: Lessons and Challenges from Ethiopia

Sustainable farm animal raising is dependent on the production of sufficient quantities and quality of forages and fodder, especially in dry regions. Improved forage and feed species are an option for these aspects because adequate feed resources enhance soil health and carbon, generate income, and reduce emissions. Therefore, the purpose of this review paper was to investigate the role of climate-smart forage production in sustaining farm animal production and maintaining the environment in arid and semiarid regions. Seasonal fluctuations in feed supply cause temporal scarcity in Ethiopia, with more acute gaps in dry periods, particularly in drought-prone regions. To address these problems in the country, improve forages to strengthen farm productivity, climate change resilience, and environmental sustainability, particularly in arid and semiarid areas. The country has a long history and is of some exemplary practices in indigenous improved forage production, but the input of improved forage to the total biomass production in feed resources is still low due to many factors like scarcity of land and water for irrigation, lack of awareness, forage seed, and policy recommendations. Despite the potential profits of feed and forage grasses and legumes, the availability of species adapted to a wide range of situations in actual use in the livestock sector has been insufficient. Therefore, it is strongly suggested that climate-resilient forage species be popularized to sustain livestock production and the environment, particularly in the country’s arid and semiarid regions.

Knockout of Rlim Results in a Sex Ratio Shift toward Males but Superovulation Cannot Compensate for the Reduced Litter Size.

Technologies that can preselect offspring gender hold great promise for improving farm animal productivity and preventing human sex-related hereditary diseases. The maternal Rlim allele is required for imprinted X-chromosome inactivation, which is essential for the normal development of female mouse embryos. In this study, we inactivated the maternal Rlim allele in embryos by crossing a male transgenic mouse line carrying an X-linked CMV-Cre transgene with a female line carrying a loxP-flanked Rlim gene. Knockout of the maternal Rlim gene in embryos resulted in a male-biased sex ratio skew in the offspring. However, it also reduced litter size, and this effect was not compensated for by superovulation in the mother mice. In addition, we showed that siRNA-mediated knockdown of Rlim in mouse embryos leads to the birth of male-only progenies. This study provides a new promising method for male-biased sex selection, which may help to improve the productivity in livestock and prevent sex-associated hereditary diseases in humans.

Life cycle assessment of urban food supply: Key findings and recommendations from a French metropolitan area case study

The environmental challenges raised by urban food supply requirements must be addressed and sustainable local food policies need to be designed. For these reasons, the major areas of improvement should be identified in terms of both consumption and production. This paper aims at implementing Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) to achieve a comprehensive diagnosis of the environmental impacts of food supply at a city level, and to provide adequate recommendations on how to perform data collection. Initially designed to quantify the environmental performance of a product or service, proposals have been made to adapt LCA to city and territory scales. However, applications are still scarce, as data collection can be very resource-intensive. Most existing studies apply a top-down approach that presents a number of limitations. For example, an overly aggregated representation of the studied sectors is proposed, while mainly greenhouse gas impacts are quantified without addressing a broad coverage of environmental issues. In this paper, a bottom-up approach is adopted, where the collected data concerns a comparison between two data sources involving individual food consumption (i.e. a national and a local survey). AGRIBALYSE 3.0 database is used for life cycle inventories of food products and different methods are employed to scale up the analysis to city level. Results indicate that the main impacts arise from animal product consumption and agricultural production stages, with certain variations according to the impact category and considered food product. A comparison between national and local data on food consumption confirms that average national data are sufficient for an initial diagnosis. One of the next challenges will be to improve the LCA databases. Although they now include several hundred foodstuffs, they do not distinguish between alternative practices (e.g., for agricultural or retailing step) and product sources.

Snow Cover Phenology in Xinjiang Based on a Novel Method and MOD10A1 Data

Using Earth observation to accurately extract snow phenology changes is of great significance for deepening the understanding of the ecological environment and hydrological process, agricultural and animal husbandry production, and high-quality development of the social economy in Xinjiang. Considering snow cover phenology based on MODIS product MOD10A1 data, this paper constructed a method for automatically extracting key phenological parameters in Xinjiang and calculated three key phenological parameters in Xinjiang from 2001 to 2020, including SCD (snow cover duration), SOD (snow onset date), and SED (snow end date). The daily data of four field camera observation points during an overlapping period from 2017 to 2019 were used to evaluate the snow cover phenological parameters extracted by MOD10A1, and the mean absolute error (MAE) and root mean square error (RMSE) values were 0.65 and 1.07, respectively. The results showed the following: 1. The spatiotemporal variation in snow phenology was highly altitude dependent. The mean gradients of SCD in the Altai Mountains, Tienshan Mountains, and Kunlun Mountains is 2.6, 2.1, and 1.2 d/100 m, respectively. The variation trend of snow phenology with latitude and longitude was mainly related to the topography of Xinjiang. Snow phenological parameters of different land-use types were different. The SCD values in wasteland were the lowest and the SED was the earliest, while forest land was the first to enter SOD accumulation. According to the study, the mean annual values of SCD, SOD, and SED were 25, 342 (8 December), and 51 (8 February) as day of year (DOY), respectively. The snow cover area was mainly distributed in the Altai Mountains, Junggar Basin, Tianshan Mountains, and Kunlun Mountains. 2. The variation trend and significance of snow cover phenological parameters in different regions are different, and the variation trend of snow cover phenological parameters in most regions of Xinjiang is non-significant.

Optimal investment of water resources and Evaluate its impacts on the productivity of grain crops in Muqdadiya district

Water resources in any region are considered one of the most important elements of life and represent the basis on which the plant and animal agricultural production processes are based. The relationship between water and agricultural activity is a direct relationship. This study aims to discover the sources of water resources in the district of Muqdadiya, and ways to invest them in a way that is compatible with the agricultural areas in the district, and its impact on the cultivated areas and the agricultural productivity of grain crops. The total area was (115,722) dunums, and the area of lands irrigated by floods amounted to (68,784) dunums, while the area of land irrigated by means was (32,477) dunums. The study included three axes, the first axis included (water resources in the Muqdadiya district and its discharge in cubic meters), the second axis included (the productivity of grain crops in the Muqdadiya district), and the third axis included (the challenges facing the optimal investment of water resources in the Muqdadiya district and its impact on agricultural production ).

MAIN ASPECTS OF THE MANUFACTURER OF ORGANIC PRODUCTS IN UKRAINE

The article is devoted to highlighting the state and prospects for the development of organic production in Ukraine. The main requirements for the production, classification and labeling of organic products of animal and plant origin are presented. The current legal norms governing their certification and circulation are emphasized. The key provisions regarding evaluation and regulation in this field of activity are reflected. The stages of improvement of the domestic legislative framework of organic production are shown on the way of adaptation to European standards.Purpose. To highlight the state and prospects for the development of organic production in Ukraine and the improvement of the legislative framework of organic production on the way to adaptation to European standards. Materials and methods. Methodical analysis and abstract-logical method for summarizing the criteria for evaluating the formation, development and integration of domestic organic production into the structure of the world production of safe products of animal husbandry and crop production. Results. The article describes in detail the development of the organic movement, which is a promising lever for food security in Ukraine. Therefore, the work on the legal regulation of the activities of domestic producers of organic products does not stop. The legislation is improving in the direction of introducing effective state support in this area at the regional and national levels. Of course, organic feed production, animal husbandry and crop production will continue to exist in parallel with non-organic production. However, the principles and relationship of these systems will depend significantly on the availability of energy sources, plant protection products, fertilizers, soil fertility, care for the preservation of the natural environment, ensuring welfare population and its needs in healthy nutrition. In addition, for the restoration of agricultural lands, demining and bioremediation with the use of bacterial and phytoremediation of soil and water resources should be applied. For this, after the liberation of our state, a return to the peaceful management of the national economy is necessary. We believe in the victory and restoration of Ukraine with the help of allied states and people of good will.

Factors Influencing Disease Prevention and Control Behaviours of Hog Farmers

Animal diseases are a serious threat to animal husbandry production and diet health, and effective prevention and control measures need to be explored. This study investigates the factors influencing the adoption of biosecurity prevention and the control behaviours of hog farmers towards African swine fever and provides appropriate recommendations. Using research data from Sichuan, Hubei, Jiangsu, Tianjin, Liaoning, Jilin, and Hebei, we employed a binary logistic model to empirically analyse these factors. Regarding individual farmer characteristics, male farmers emphasised biosecurity prevention and control in farms, with higher education actively influencing the adoption of prevention and control measures. Farmers who received technical training were actively inclined to adopt such behaviours. Furthermore, the longer the duration of farming, the more probable the farmers were to neglect biosecurity prevention and control. However, the bigger and more specialised the farm, the more inclined they were to adopt prevention and control behaviours. With respect to disease prevention and control awareness, the more risk-averse the farmers were, the more they actively adopted epidemic prevention behaviours. As the awareness of epidemic risk increased, the farmers tended to adopt active epidemic prevention behaviours by reporting suspected outbreaks. The following policy recommendations were made: learning about epidemic prevention and improving professional skills; large-scale farming, specialised farming; and timely dissemination of information to raise risk awareness.

Investigating Extreme Snowfall Changes in China Based on an Ensemble of High-Resolution Regional Climate Models

Anthropogenically induced global warming intensifies the water cycle around the world. As a critical sector of the water cycle, snow depth and its related extremes greatly impact agriculture, animal husbandry, and food security, yet lack investigation. In this study, five high-resolution climate models are selected to simulate and project snow depth and its extremes over China. The simulation capabilities of models in reproducing the basic climate variables in winter are gauged in terms of spatial and temporal patterns over nine subregions. It is found that the driving global climate model (GCM) can contribute to similar patterns, while the different regional climate model (RCM) schemes lead to large variations in the snowfall accumulating on the land surface. The warming magnitude is larger under a higher representative concentration pathway (RCP) scenario (2.5 °C greater under RCP8.5 than RCP4.5). The distribution of ensemble mean winter precipitation changes is more fragmented because of the relatively low skill in reproducing water-related content in the climate system. The projected precipitation change is larger under RCP8.5 than under RCP4.5 due to the amplification of the hydrological cycle by temperature warming. The projected changes in the ensemble mean snow depth mainly occur over the Tibetan Plateau with a decreasing trend. Only several grids over the Himalayas Mountains and the upper stream of the Yarlung Zangbo River are projected with a slight increase in snow depth. Both the intensity and frequency of extreme snow events are projected to increase in Northeast China and Inner Mongolia, which are important agricultural and animal husbandry production areas in China. The reason behind this projection can be explained by the fact that the hydrological cycle intensified by temperature warming leads to excessive snowfall stacking up during winter. The changes in extreme snowfall events in the future will have a significant impact on China’s agricultural and animal husbandry production and threaten food security.

Establishment and Application of an Indirect ELISA for the Detection of Antibodies to Porcine Streptococcus suis Based on a Recombinant GMD Protein

S. suis is an important zoonotic pathogen from sick and recessive carrier pigs that poses a serious threat to animal husbandry production and public health. It usually causes horizontal transmission among pigs. The morbidity and mortality of this disease are very high. Human infection is caused through direct or indirect contact with sick pigs. The two large-scale outbreaks in China were due to the outbreak of S. suis on pig farms, which spread to human infection; thus, detecting S. suis in pig herds is crucial. At present, the commercial S. suis ELISA type 2 kits on the market can only detect single serotypes, high probabilities of interaction reactions, and biosafety risks when using inactivated S. suis as an antigen. Phosphate-3-glyceraldehyde dehydrogenase (GAPDH), muramidase-released protein (MRP), and dihydrolipoamide dehydrogenase (DLDH) are important S. suis type 2, S. suis type 7, and S. suis type 9 protective antigens. This study purified the GMD protein (B-cell-dominant epitopes of GAPDH, MRP, and DLDH antigens) and used a diverse combination of dominant epitopes of the multiple different antigens as coated antigens, improving the sensitivity and safety of the indirect ELISA experiments. An indirect ELISA method (GMD-ELISA) was developed for detecting S. suis antibodies. The antigen-antibody response was optimized using checkerboard titration. The results of testing using ELISA for Salmonella enterica (S. enterica), Escherichia coli (E. coli), Staphylococcus aureus (SA), and Streptococcus pyogenes (S. pyogenes) were all negative, indicating that this method had strong specificity. The results were still positive when the dilution ratio of S. suis-positive serum reached 1:6, 400, thus indicating that the method had high sensitivity. The results of the reproducibility assay for indirect ELISA showed that the intra-assay coefficient of variation and the inter-assay coefficient of variation were less than 10%, indicating that the method had good repeatability. We investigated the seroprevalence of S. suis in 167 serum samples collected in East China, and 33.5% of the samples were positive for antibodies against S. suis, indicating that the prevalence of S. suis is high in pig farms in Eastern China. The novel GMD-ELISA is a convenient, sensitive, and specific diagnostic method that provides technical support for rapid diagnosis and epidemiological investigation.

Потенциал растений-фитобиотиков для развития отечественного животноводства и птицеводства (обзор)

In order to fully realize the genetic potential of the productivity of farm animals, it is necessary to use complete feeding rations, including the introduction of biologically active additives that increase productivity and normalize homeostasis. Currently, various substances are used, including those of plant origin, that reduce the bacterial load, the so-called phytobiotics (phytogenics). More than 800 medicinal plants have been described in pharmacology. They contain a number of biologically active substances: essential oils, tannins, polyphenols, flavonoids, alkaloids and have antimicrobial, antiviral, antifungal, anti-inflammatory effects. The uniqueness of phytobiotics lies in the fact that they can replace antibiotic growth stimulants in livestock and poultry farming, especially today the search for an alternative to antibiotics is a priority in agriculture. Keywords: PHYTOBIOTICS, FEED, ANTIBIOTICS, BIOLOGICALLY ACTIVE SUBSTANCES, FARM POULTRY

Effect of Adding Biochar to Ration on Productive Performance and Some Carcass Characteristics of Iraqi Awassi Lambs

This study was conducted at Department of Animal production farm College of Agriculture University of Tikrit from 6/12/2017 until 21/2/2018 (77days) . Sixteen Awassi lambs were used, aged 4-5 months and average weight 23.38±0.14 Kg . Lambs were divided in to four groups (four lambs at each group) according to their weight, treatments distributed randomly into the groups.Individual feeding was used which included four concentrate diet with different levels of biochar (0% ,1% , 2% and 3% ).Statistical analysis results showed that there was a significant increase (P&lt;0.05) in the final weight for second group (1% biochar) compared with fourth group, also result showed a significant increase (P&lt;0.05) for second group in the average daily gain and final body gain and feed conversion ratio compared with third and fourth groups. Also significant increase (P&gt; 0.05) in the second group in hot and cold carcass weight and in the percentage Dressing based on hot and cold weight, relative to live weight as well as empty body weight and in Rib-eye muscle area compared with the other groups.&#x0D; &#x0D;

Grassland Ecological Compensation, Income Level and Policy Satisfaction: An Empirical Analysis Based on a Survey of Herders in Ecological Protection Redline Areas

In the past 10 years, the implementation of grassland ecological compensation policy has played an important role in the sustainable development of the pastoral economy. How much impact on herders will delineating the ecological conservation redline have? Such delineation is significant for the smooth implementation of the ecological conservation redline. Based on this, taking the three banner counties with a large area under the control area of the ecological redline of the Xilin Gol as examples, OLS and quantile regression were used to analyze the impact of a grassland ecological compensation policy on herdsmen’s income level, and the ordered Probit model was used to analyze the influencing factors of herdsmen’s satisfaction with the policy. The results show that: (1) grassland ecological compensation has a significant positive impact on low-income herders in ecological protection redline areas; (2) grassland ecological compensation, income and the implementation of current policy have a positive impact on the satisfaction of herders in the redline area; (3) herdsmen are highly satisfied with the grassland ecological compensation policy, but there is still a lot of room for improvement in the compensation policy after the redline is delineated. In this regard, we should increase compensation for areas with a high proportion of ecological conservation redlines, and explore ways to increase income from animal husbandry products. At the same time, we should strengthen the publicity of ecological protection redline policies and promote the timely disbursement of funds, reconstruct the grassland ecological compensation mechanism by strengthening policy incentives and hardening regulatory constraints, and effectively improve the policy efficiency of ecological protection redlines.

Overview of the effect of rumen-protected limiting amino acids (methionine and lysine) and choline on the immunity, antioxidative, and inflammatory status of periparturient ruminants.

Overproduction of reactive oxygen species (ROS) is a well-known phenomenon experienced by ruminants, especially during the transition from late gestation to successful lactation. This overproduction of ROS may lead to oxidative stress (OS), which compromises the immune and anti-inflammatory systems of animals, thus predisposing them to health issues. Besides, during the periparturient period, metabolic stress is developed due to a negative energy balance, which is followed by excessive fat mobilization and poor production performance. Excessive lipolysis causes immune suppression, abnormal regulation of inflammation, and enhanced oxidative stress. Indeed, OS plays a key role in regulating the metabolic activity of various organs and the productivity of farm animals. For example, rapid fetal growth and the production of large amounts of colostrum and milk, as well as an increase in both maternal and fetal metabolism, result in increased ROS production and an increased need for micronutrients, including antioxidants, during the last trimester of pregnancy and at the start of lactation. Oxidative stress is generally neutralized by the natural antioxidant system in the body. However, in some special phases, such as the periparturient period, the animal's natural antioxidant system is unable to cope with the situation. The effect of rumen-protected limiting amino acids and choline on the regulation of immunity, antioxidative, and anti-inflammatory status and milk production performance, has been widely studied in ruminants. Thus, in the current review, we gathered and interpreted the data on this topic, especially during the perinatal and lactational stages.

Spatio-Temporal Changes and Influencing Factors of Meteorological Dry-Wet in Northern China during 1960–2019

In northern China, precipitation fluctuates greatly and drought occurs frequently, which mark some of the important threats to agricultural and animal husbandry production. Understanding the meteorological dry-wet change and the evolution law of drought events in northern China has guiding significance for regional disaster prevention and mitigation. Based on the standardized precipitation index (SPI), this paper explored the spatio-temporal evolution of meteorological dry-wet in northern China. Our results showed that arid area (AA) and semi-arid area (SAA) in the west showed a trend of wetting at inter-annual and seasonal scales, while humid area (HA) and semi-humid area (SHA) in the east showed a different dry-wet changing trend at different seasons under the background of inter-annual drying. AA and HA showed obvious “reverse fluctuation” characteristics in summer. The drought frequency (DF) and drought intensity (DI) were high in the east and low in the west, and there was no significant difference in drought duration (DD) and drought severity (DS) between east and west. The DD, DS and DI of AA and SAA showed a decreasing trend, while the DD and DS of HA and SHA showed a slight increasing trend, and the DS decreased. In summer and autumn, the main influencing factors of drying in the east and wetting in the west were PNA, WP, PDO and TP1, and the fluctuations of NAO-SOI, NAO-AMO and PNA-NINO3.4 jointly determined the characteristics of SPI3 reverse fluctuations of HA and AA in summer.

The importance of the human–animal relationship for commercial farms

The human–animal relationship is a key aspect of managing livestock. Poor stockmanship may lead to negative implications for the health, welfare and productivity of farm animals and could lead to poor job satisfaction for the stockperson. It can also make it potentially difficult for veterinarians and farmers to treat livestock because an animal may associate humans with negative experiences. This review summarises research based on human–animal interactions, discusses its implications for the health and welfare of livestock, and provides suggestions for improving relationships between humans and farm animals.

Can dogs help chickens? Pet owners' willingness to pay for animal welfare-friendly pet food in the United States.

Consumer concern about farmed animal welfare is growing but does not always translate into real-world purchasing behaviour of welfare-friendly animal products for human consumption. Possible reasons for this include unfamiliarity with farming practices and economic sensitivity. In contrast, the number and role of pets in the United States have grown measurably, and spending on pets is strong. The pet food market has many opportunity niches as pet owners navigate strong marketing trends and nutrition philosophies. We hypothesised that pet owners in the US would be willing to pay a premium for pet food containing welfare-friendly animal ingredients. Eight hundred and thirty-eight pet owners completed an online survey asking questions that measured their knowledge of and interest in farm animal welfare, and their willingness-to-pay for pet food labelled as farm animal welfare-friendly. Respondents overall displayed relatively low knowledge about farm animal welfare, but poor self-assessment of their own knowledge. They displayed interest in farm animal welfare and an overall positive mean willingness-to-pay (WTP) for welfare-friendly pet food. Younger respondents, women and cat owners displayed a higher WTP than older respondents, men and dog owners. Income level was not correlated to WTP. Creating pet food products that contain animal ingredients produced using welfare-friendly practices may enhance farm animal welfare via two primary avenues: by providing a sustainable and value-added outlet for the by-products of welfare-friendly human food products, and by providing an educational opportunity about farm animal production via pet food packaging and other advertising.

Effects of Climate Change on Animal Husbandry

Climate has a significant impact on agricultural production. According to scientific data, climate change is having a growing impact on the planet's life, and different regions of the world are experiencing this impact in different ways. The greatest challenge to achieving sustainable development is climate change, which also poses a serious risk to the survival of humanity. It will have far-reaching consequences within the context of animal production, and particularly in regions of vital importance to the world's nutrition and livelihoods. All species have ideal climatic parameters for survival in animal husbandry, and changes to these variables have a negative impact on the quality and quantity of farm animals and animal products. There are four key areas where the effects of climate change on animal productivity can be studied. These include effects on pasture quality, effects on animal diseases and pests, effects on animal health, growth, and reproduction. They also include implications on the availability, quality, and price of feed crops. Planning for the sector's future is crucial in order to meet the population's food needs, lessen the impact of climate change on livestock output, and reduce the sector's contribution to global warming. Adapting animal husbandry to climate change is required to reduce all these harmful effects.

Deep-Learning-Based Flying Animals Migration Prediction With Weather Radar Network

Monitoring and forecasting aerial animal migration benefit biological conservation, aviation safety, and agricultural production. Due to the lack of large-scale observation data and quantitative knowledge of aerial animal migration mechanisms, it is difficult to build a numerical simulation system for migration prediction. However, the extensive deployment of weather radars makes it possible to obtain large-scale aerial migration information. Meanwhile, artificial intelligence technologies provide new insights into the modeling of complex system. In this paper, we develop a deep-learning model to predict aerial migration from the perspective of spatio-temporal evolution. Specifically, an undirected graph is applied to describe the geographic structure of the weather radar network, and then graph convolution and gated recurrent unit are combined to extract spatio-temporal features of migration information. In addition, a multi-head self-attention mechanism is applied to enhance long-term dependence. Experiments are conducted to validate the effectiveness of the proposed model on the data from the Chinese weather radar network. The results show that our model can achieve state-of-the-art performance among the competing methods. Moreover, improvements from graph convolution and multi-head self-attention are also analyzed. In future applications, more weather radar data will be collected to enrich the dataset and build an aerial migration monitoring and prediction system.