Extensive Sheep Farming Research Articles

The influence of different stress factors on the production and quality of sheep milk

Around 10.5 million tonnes of sheep milk are produced worldwide, and around 3.1 million tonnes in Europe. In Europe, sheep milk production has stagnated slightly in recent years and currently accounts for around 1/3 of the global production. Due to its high content of dry matter, milk fat, total protein and casein, sheep milk is an excellent raw material for cheese production. Milk processing and cheese making are not only economically important, but also part of the cultural heritage based on a long tradition, often taking place in rural and less developed areas. Milk production and quality are very complex and are influenced by numerous factors, the most important of which are breed, feeding and body condition, parity and stage of lactation, milking and udder health, and environmental factors. In addition, different types of stress such as heat stress, nutritional stress, weaning stress, shearing stress, stress of regrouping, etc. have a significant impact on the welfare and health of the sheep as well as on the quantity of milk produced, its chemical composition, processing characteristics and the economic efficiency of the flock. In recent years, due to climate change, there has been an increasing number of studies on the effects of heat stress on the reproductive and production characteristics of sheep, as well as on their welfare and health. In addition, heat stress is often associated to the feed and the lack of water. The effects of stress are particularly pronounced in extensive sheep farming and milk production, which are prevalent in sheep farming. The aim of this paper is to describe the effects of the main types of stress on the quantity and chemical composition of sheep milk and on animal welfare.

Collective Study on Housing Management Practices of Kenguri Sheep Farmers under Intensive and Extensive Rearing Systems in Yadgir District of Karnataka, India

The main domains of housing management practices followed by Kenguri sheep farmers were analyzed during the research. Twenty sheep farms in intensive and extensive were pointed out based on the accessibility in the respective study location Yadgir (Northern Eastern dry agro-climatic zone) district of Karnataka, India. The examination was carried out during the months of January to February in the year 2022. The objectives of housing practices were assessed by computing frequency percentage values and average descriptive values. The majority of intensive sheep farmers had wooden type of flooring (60.00%) and whereas, mud flooring (100.00%) is the only option for extensive sheep farmers. All intensive sheep farms had galvanized roofing (100.00%), in contrast all extensive sheep farms were with no roofing. Sheep in intensive rearing had trough water sources (45.00%) majorly and in extensive rearing they had natural water source (70.00%) accessibility. Most of the intensive sheep farmers maintained proper commercial feed (60.00%) access for the sheep, but fodder (65.00%) was the key food type for sheep reared under an extensive system. The advantage of fans for better ventilation (40.00%) was seen in intensive rearing systems, whereas, only natural ventilation (100.00%) was observed in extensive rearing system. The good space availability and pen dimensions are the only concerns with an intensive rearing system. The outcomes of this work will help the sheep farmers become accustomed to the better housing management practices in the near times.

Investigating the perceived versus actual gastrointestinal nematode challenge on extensive sheep farms

Extensive farming systems form an integral part of sheep production systems across Europe. However, with innate production handicaps, declining sheep numbers and narrow economic margins, production is becoming increasingly challenging threatening the future sustainability of the industry. Gastrointestinal nematodes (GINs) are a significant cause of production losses to the global sheep industry, with well-established resistance to the major anthelmintic groups. Traditionally, extensive farming systems are not thought to have a significant parasite challenge compared with intensive farms, but there is a need to identify the scale and importance of GINs on extensive farms to inform the need for sustainable control strategies. In this study, a questionnaire of extensive farmers (n=34) was conducted and parasitological data were collected from nine study farms to investigate the perceived versus actual GIN and anthelmintic resistance challenge faced by extensive farms. The results showed a production-limiting challenge on most farms, with a higher GIN challenge observed on improved pastures. Furthermore, over half of the extensive farmers perceived anthelmintic resistance to be a greater problem for intensive farmers, with only 20% of respondents reporting known anthelmintic resistance. However, all study farms had evidence of resistance to at least one group of anthelmintics. Consequently, this study has demonstrated that despite the traditional perception of parasitism on extensive farms, there is a need to increasingly consider its impact and take a proactive approach to sustainable control, with solutions tailored to their unique management.

In Search of the Niche—Targeting Lamb Meat Consumers in North-East Germany to Communicate the Ecosystem Services of Extensive Sheep Farming Systems

Extensive sheep farming systems provide numerous ecosystem services, most of which consumers are not aware of. Consumers’ subjective quality perception relates to intrinsic and extrinsic quality attributes. Extrinsic quality attributes, like animal welfare, conservation of biodiversity, and regional and sustainable lamb meat production, meet the expectations of meat consumers. Communication of quality attributes can support consumers’ willingness to buy and pay a premium price, as well as producers’ economic viability. Previous studies focused on consumers’ perception of intrinsic quality attributes, while it is our objective to analyse the target group-specific communication of extrinsic quality attributes of extensive sheep farming. An online survey with 387 valid respondents included lamb meat consumers in Berlin-Brandenburg and revealed their consumption patterns. The sample is representative of Berlin-Brandenburg in net household income, population division and gender, while academics and respondents over 50 years were overrepresented. The survey addressed demographics, meat consumption and purchasing behaviour, preferences for different lamb meat products, purchasing motives and barriers, perception of communication messages and personal initiative for the purchase of regional lamb. Via Principal Component Analysis (PCA) and Cluster Analysis, we identified two key target groups for regionally produced lamb meat: “Foodies” and “Cooking enthusiasts”. Guided by Alphabet theory with its specific focus on Knowledge, Information seeking behaviour and purchasing Habit, we derive recommendations for target-group-specific communication of regionally produced lamb meat. “Foodies” showed a high potential for direct marketing and personal storytelling of sheep farmers. “Cooking enthusiasts” are best addressed through print and online marketing with a focus on cooking and personal health.

Sustainable Husbandry?—A Comparative LCA of Three Lamb Breeding Systems in Turkey

The agricultural sector has historically been the forefront economic sector in Turkey and is crucial for the rural sustainability and the pastures that are critical for biodiversity. However, inadequate policies and factors such as climate change and malpractices result in brittle pastures, rural–urban migration, and a declining agricultural sector. Also, pastures have been left without function and appropriated to other land uses such as quarries, energy power plants, and mines. Although the husbandry sector produces significant greenhouse gas emissions, pastures have a significant capacity of CO2 sequestration. In this study, Life cycle assessment (LCA) is applied to quantify the advantages and disadvantages of the transition between extensive and intensive production. The methodology presents a holistic analysis of the several impact categories and amounts of relevant products, services, and resource emissions along their life cycles. In order to assess the environmental effects of the lamb meat production, three sheep breeding systems in Turkey are evaluated. The study aims to promote a sustainable use of natural resources/assets without compromising the quality, competitiveness, or animal welfare and obtain recommendations for the future husbandry systems and rural development in Turkey. As an overall result, it can be stated that the intensification of sheep farming can lead to a decrease of greenhouse gas emissions per kg of meat. However, extensive sheep farming shows less impacts on soil acidification or eutrophication and can even be beneficial for erosion resistance or biodiversity if properly managed.

Use of a Global Positioning System (GPS) to Manage Extensive Sheep Farming and Pasture Land

The terrestrial climate is not sufficient to produce enough food to meet the roughage needs of the animals benefiting from the pasture lands because of excessive and early grazing of those areas. Plant growth is adversely affected in pastures that are not uniformly grazed. Tracking animals using the Global Positioning System (GPS) is a very important factor in determining the uniform distribution of grazing animals in a pasture, increasing the utilization rate of the pasture, and saving costs and time. With GPS tracking systems, establishing more effective pasture-use systems by monitoring the feeding regimes of small animals, the status of feed in the pasture, and the grazing behavior of the animals would be possible. The present study aimed to investigate the use of GPS for pasture and herd management in Turkey in addition to using the traditional techniques.In the present study conducted in the village of Köseyusuflu in Yozgat Province in May 2017, 2018, and 2019, grazing benefits that were determined from the pasture containing two Akkaraman sheep herds were recorded using GPS tracking devices. The results suggested that the area covered with vegetation along the sheep’s spring grazing routes varied between 43.6 and 62.9%, the ratio of legumes in the pasture grass in the low grazing areas was between 0.50 and 4.10%, and the grass species were between 12.75 and 44.50%. We determined that the sheep in herd A traveled between 7.6 and 9.9 km, while the sheep in herd B traveled between 4.7 and 5.7 km daily, and the two herds grazed an average of between 122 and 254 daa.

Sheep and goat breeding

The beginnings of sheep and goat production go back to the dawn of human civilization. In the geographical areas where the first human civilizations began to develop, the domestication of sheep from wild animals that lived there began. The first domesticated animals did not differ much from their original forms and changes in morphological and production characteristics followed later during the development of sheep and goat production. Significant contributions to the development of these branches of animal husbandry were made by ancient world cultures such as Egyptian, Greek, and Roman. Changes in production were formed specifically to meet the needs of specific products such as wool, meat and milk. In this process, significant morphological modifications have occurred, such as changes in hair in wool in sheep, changes in the skin, deposition of adipose tissue, horn lessness and so on. In addition to this, there was a differentiation of breeds in accordance with the production goals that were primary, so that meat, dairy and wool production types were singled out. Along with the processes of differentiation of production types, a large number of breeds have developed, mainly according to geographical distribution. New breeds have characteristics that have been developed under the influence of man and are based on specialized or combined production of milk, meat and wool. In Europe, sheep production accounts for a significant share of total livestock production, especially in countries where cattle production has been reduced due to various geographical factors. In sheep and goat production in Europe, the leading countries are the Mediterranean countries, which have developed traditional sheep and goat products of high economic value. In Bosnia and Herzegovina, sheep and goat production are not at a satisfactory level. It is mostly about extensive sheep and goat farming without organized and systemic solutions to the problems in this production. The breed composition in Bosnia and Herzegovina is based mostly on strains of the autochthonous pramenka breed without organized selection work. Typically, sheep and goat products should be based on different technological processes such as the production of meat, milk, wool and combined output. The breeding system itself is based on the breeding of purebred breeding heads and the breeding of commercial heads for production and the market. An important element of breeding is reproduction, since these are seasonal animals whose mating season is in the fall. In order to increase the productivity and accumulativeness of these branches of livestock production, the method of estrus synchronization using various hormonal preparations is applied. Defining breeding goals is the main starting point when it comes to any livestock production, so this is the case with sheep and goat breeding. Animal selection is carried out in accordance with breeding goals. In addition to economic importance, sheep and goat production play an important role as an ecological factor in the use, preservation and conservation of pastures.

Assessment of a decision-making model in meat sheep cooperatives in SW Spain

The need to produce safe food products for an ever-growing world population while reducing the impact on climate change makes it necessary for the farm business to combine productivity and sustainability. As more efficient and sustainable production systems need to be developed for this purpose, the creation of new instruments that allow the management of farms and provide information to contribute to their evolution and improvement becomes more relevant. The main goal of this paper is to assess a model to be used as a decision-making tool in a meat sheep cooperative group in southwest Spain. The methodology is structured in three stages: (i) creation of a model, (ii) identification of representative farms and (iii) model assessment. The model is applied to representative farms obtained from a cluster analysis. A simulation of the model is performed taking into account profitability variables under different stocking rate and weather scenarios. The outcomes of the model show that farmers may try to maximize the profitability per hectare adjusting their stoking rate to average weather scenarios. In a climate change framework this model could be a useful tool to assess extensive sheep farms, as it might contribute to the design of sustainable management strategies.

Assessing future sustainability and resilience of farming systems with a participatory method: A case study on extensive sheep farming in Huesca, Spain

Finding pathways to more sustainability and resilience of farming systems requires the avoidance of exceeding critical thresholds and the timely identification of viable alternative system configurations. To serve this purpose, the objective of this paper is to present a participatory, integrated and indicator-based methodology that leads researchers and farming system actors in six steps to a multi-dimensional understanding of sustainability and resilience of farming systems in the future. The methodology includes an assessment of current performance (Step 1), identification of critical thresholds whose exceedance can lead to large and permanent system change (Step 2), impact assessment when critical thresholds are exceeded (Step 3), identification of desired alternative systems and their expected improved performance of sustainability and resilience (Step 4), identification of strategies to realize those alternative systems (Step 5), and an assessment on the compatibility of alternative systems with the developments of exogenous factors as projected in different future scenarios (Step 6). The method is applied in 11 EU farming systems, and the application to extensive sheep production in Huesca, Spain, is presented here, as its problematic situation provides insights for other farming systems. Participants in the participatory workshop indicated that their farming system is very close to a decline or even a collapse. Approaching and exceeding critical thresholds in the social, economic and environmental domain are currently causing a vicious circle that includes low economic returns, low attractiveness of the farming system and abandonment of pasture lands. More sustainable and resilient alternative systems to counteract the current negative system dynamics were proposed by participants: a semi-intensive system primarily aimed at improving production and a high-tech extensive system primarily aimed at providing public goods. Both alternatives place a strong emphasis on the role of technology, but differ in their approach towards grazing, which is reflected in the different strategies that are foreseen to realize those alternatives. Although the high-tech extensive system seems most compatible with a future in which sustainable food production is very important, the semi-intensive system seems a less risky bet as it has on average the best compatibility with multiple future scenarios. Overall, the methodology can be regarded as relatively quick, interactive and interdisciplinary, providing ample information on critical thresholds, current system dynamics and future possibilities. As such, the method enables stakeholders to think and talk about the future of their system, paving the way for improved sustainability and resilience.

Progress With Livestock Welfare in Extensive Production Systems: Lessons From Australia.

The extensive livestock production industries are vital to the national economy of Australia. Continuing improvements to extensively-raised livestock welfare is desirable, necessary and in some situations mandatory, if the social license for animal sourced food and fiber production is to continue sustainably. However, meeting increasingly high welfare standards is challenging. The changing climate in this millennium, has seen the occurrence of two of the most severe drought periods on record in Australia, resulting in complex welfare issues arising from unforeseen disease, trade and environmental catastrophes. The onset of the first drought coincided with an uncontrolled epidemic of ovine paratuberculosis. It ended just prior to a temporary ban on live export of tropical cattle to Indonesia that induced a major market failure and led to severe morbidity and mortality on some beef properties. The second drought period progressed in severity and culminated in the most extreme bushfires recorded, causing unprecedented levels of mortality, morbidity and suffering in farmed animals and wildlife. Temperature extremes have also caused periodic heat-associated or cold-induced hyopthermia losses, requiring increased vigilance and careful management to reduce both temperature-induced stress during transport and the high ovine peri-parturient losses traditionally observed in extensive sheep farming. Several issues remain controversial, including surgical mulesing of wool sheep to manage flystrike, and the continuing live export trade of sheep and cattle. However, in reviewing the increasingly complex welfare challenges for the extensive livestock population industries that are export trade dependent and remain vulnerable to welfare activism, it appears progress has been made. These include development of prescribed livestock welfare Standards and Guidelines and the introduction of the Exporter Supply Chain Assurance System (ESCAS) to address export concerns. Further, the sheep mulesing crisis led to improved producer welfare attitudes and practices, including pain management during aversive husbandry procedures that is now occurring globally. Finally, innovations in animal welfare surveillance and assessment, are additional encouraging signs that suggest improving change management of extensive farm animal welfare is occurring that provides lessons well-beyond Australian shores.

Implications of alternative farm management patterns to promote resilience in extensive sheep farming. A Spanish case study

The vulnerability of extensive sheep systems in marginal areas, and their capacity to deliver important socio-economic functions and ecosystem services, can be studied through the lens of resilience theory. This research aims to explore how alternative farm management patterns contribute to build resilience in the extensive sheep farming system of Huesca, northeaster Spain. The methodology is based on the content analysis of in-depth interviews to farmers. We follow a specified framework based on the definition of the resilience capacities of robustness, adaptability and transformability, and propose to assess nine case-specific attributes. Results show that sheep farms have undertaken four management patterns to develop over time, namely, extensification, intensification, re-orientation, and conservation. Patterns conservation and extensification appear to promote robustness and adaptability necessary to keep delivering characteristic functions, whereas transformability is much more evident in re-orientation and intensification patterns that re-address the farms' original functions. Matching with natural resources, traditions and perspectives, and farmers' networks are crucial resilience attributes for extensive farming. On the other hand, financial and labour resources, and on-farm diversity favour re-orientation and intensification. The paper casts light on the diverse ways through which farms build their own resilience, and highlights the importance of a balanced development of alternative trajectories for the whole farming system's resilience.

Economic risk assessment of the quality labels and productive efficiency strategies in Spanish extensive sheep farms

CONTEXTThe socio-economic decline of extensive sheep farming caused by its low profitability in southern European Union (EU) regions threatens marginal depopulated rural areas' survival. In the face of new future institutional and climate challenges, there appears to be an urgent need for strategies to improve economic performance. OBJECTIVEThis paper aims to evaluate the economic performance and risk of two alternative demand-oriented and productive efficiency strategies: i) protected geographical indication certification, and ii) increased ewe reproduction prolificacy. MethodBased on regional farm records and price data and a survey of 54 local farmers, we formulated a stochastic gross margin model to simulate and analyze four strategic scenarios (baseline, quality labelling, productive efficiency, and joint strategies) under two specific stressors, namely decreased lamb prices and increased feeding costs. RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONSWe found that feeding costs constitute the main risk factor, whereas price instability has less influence. Our findings highlight improvements in performance under a quality scenario, albeit with higher vulnerability to price variability with respect to the baseline scenario. In contrast, the productive efficiency scenario performs much better in terms of average gross margin and reduced vulnerability to feeding costs, albeit with a larger variation for the expected outcomes. SIGNIFICANCEThe paper casts light on the vulnerability of the quality label under price risk, and suggests the potential for the joint implementation of both quality production and productive efficiency strategies, which could compensate for their respective weaknesses.

Iceberg Indicators for Animal Welfare in Rural Sheep Farms Using the Five Domains Model Approach.

Simple SummaryAnimal welfare is difficult to quantify, especially among farmers, in extensive rural sheep farms where there is a low level of animal interaction and a lack of technology. In this study, we searched for iceberg indicators of animal welfare using the Five Domains Model approach, and studied the relationship among sheep flight distance, sheep handling training and job satisfaction in extensive rural sheep systems. A structured survey was used to obtain socio-demographical, job satisfaction and sheep handling training data. A full animal welfare evaluation was performed on all farms; furthermore, a health status examination was also made in which blood and stool samples were taken. Four iceberg indicators were found with the potential to predict overall animal welfare scores on farms, and one to study state of mind in extensive rural sheep systems, as well as interactions among job satisfaction, training in sheep handling and sheep mind state.Animal welfare for sheep in extensive rural farms is difficult to quantify among rural farmers due to several factors, including the lack of technology and the low level of interaction they have with the animals. The purpose of this study was to search for animal-based iceberg indicators using the Five Domains Model approach and study the relationship between sheep reactive behavior (flight distance), sheep handling training and farmers job satisfaction. Thirteen extensive commercial dual-purpose sheep farms (n = 520 animals) were evaluated in Marulanda, Caldas (Colombia, South America). On-farm Animal Welfare Indicators (AWIN) were assessed using an adapted version of this protocol. Socio-demographic characteristics, sheep handling training and job satisfaction were evaluated using a structured interview. Blood and stool samples were taken to determine Fecal Egg Count and Packed Cell Volume. Bivariate regression models were used to find animal-based indicators that predicted Nutrition, Ambience, Health and Behavior welfare domains, and a Qualitative Behavior Analysis was used for mind state domain analysis. Body condition score (BCS) (p = 0.001), fleece cleanliness (p = 0.03), FAMACHA© Score (p = 0.05), and flight distance in meters (p = 0.19) were found to be indicators, and were useful for predicting overall welfare assessment (R2 = 0.85) on theses farms. Regarding mind welfare domain, Qualitative Behavioral Assessment found two principal components (PC) that explained 82% and 67% of the variance, and described emotional valence and energy levels of sheep, respectively. Sheep handling training (β = −8.75, p = 0.004) and job satisfaction (β = −7.5, p = 0.013) had a negative association with the average flock flight distance. Spearman’s rank correlations were significant (p < 0.001) between Fecal Egg Count, Packed Cell Volume, FAMACHA© Score (FS), Body Weight (BW) and, BCS. The strongest association was observed between Packed Cell Volume (PCV) and Fecal Egg Count (FEC) (r = −0.43), also FS was correlated with PCV (r = −0.28) and FEC (r = 0.21), and BCS was correlated with weight (r = 0.32). We suggest that these animal-based indicators could be useful as iceberg indicators for extensive sheep production systems and may set the ground for more research in small extensive sheep farms to develop strategies to find welfare problems and solutions.

Analysis of livestock breeders’ perceptions and their adaptation measures to climate change in Morocco‘s arid rangelands

AbstractThe high plateaus of eastern Morocco are already suffering from the adverse impacts of climate change (CC), as the local populations’ livelihoods depend mainly on extensive sheep farming and therefore on natural resources. This research identifies breeders’ perceptions about CC, examines whether they correspond to the recorded climate data and analyses endogenous adaptation practices taking into account the agroecological characteristics of the studied sites and the difference between breeders’ categories based on the size of owned sheep herd. Data on perceptions and adaptation were analyzed using the Chi-square independence and Kruskal-Wallis tests. Climate data were investigated through Mann-Kendall, Pettitt and Buishand tests.Herders’ perceptions are in line with the climate analysis in term of nature and direction of observed climate variations (downward trend in rainfall and upward in temperature). In addition, there is a significant difference in the adoption frequency of adaptive strategies between the studied agroecological sub-zones (χ2 = 14.525, p &lt;.05) due to their contrasting biophysical and socioeconomic conditions, as well as among breeders’ categories (χ2 = 10.568, p &lt; .05) which attributed mainly to the size of sheep flock. Policy options aimed to enhance local-level adaptation should formulate site-specific adaptation programs and prioritise the small-scale herders.

Seroprevalence of Corynebacterium pseudotuberculosis and Toxoplasma gondii in sheep in semi-arid region of Ceará state

ABSTRACT: The present study was conducted to investigate in 20 extensive sheep farms for the seroprevalence of Corynebacterium pseudotuberculosis (n=402) and Toxoplasma gondii (n=228). Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) was used for the detection of antibodies to C. pseudotuberculosis/T. gondii. It was observed that C. pseudotuberculosis showed the highest prevalence in the region (34.07%) with statistically significant presence (p&lt;0.05) in ewes. Antibodies to T. gondii was reported in 14.91% of the animals studied. About C. pseudotuberculosis/T. gondii coinfection the categories of rams showed significant (p&lt;0.05) differences, suggesting that this gender could perpetuate the diseases in the flocks. It was concluded that the knowledge about the diseases in the region under study would facilitate the execution of prophylactic measures, especially against the diseases that pose risks to the public health and cause damages to the producer.

Will Brexit Impact on the Social Contributions Made by Agriculture?

SummaryThere is some concern in the UK policy community that Brexit may damage the contribution that the farming industry makes to social networks, social capacity, community resilience and other aspects of social and cultural capital in rural areas. There is a perception that the impact may be particularly significant in the more remote and least densely populated parts of the UK, such as rural Wales. There the agricultural system, especially extensive sheep farming, coupled with land tenure laws and local inheritance norms that kept family farms small, created a need to co‐operate and share labour. This tradition appears to have had an enduring influence on the character of Welsh rural society. However, a lack of hard evidence could result in possible under‐ or over‐estimates of the importance of agriculture's social contributions to rural communities and thus lead to inappropriate policy responses – over‐ or under‐reacting – to mitigating any likely damage from Brexit. The Welsh Government commissioned a study to examine the available evidence and to propose ways of filling gaps. This article discusses the issues involved in identifying and evaluating evidence of agriculture's social contributions and the proposals for further research, with specific reference to Wales, against the backdrop of Brexit.

Dicrocoeliosis in extensive sheep farms: a survey

BackgroundThis study investigated the epidemiological and molecular aspects of dicrocoeliosis in extensive sheep farms.MethodsFrom 2013 to 2014, copromicroscopical analyses in 190 dairy sheep farms and anatomo-pathological inspections in six slaughterhouses were carried in Sardinia, Italy. Rectal faecal samples were analyzed using the FLOTAC® method, and anatomo-pathological examinations were based on detecting thickened terminal bile ducts (TTBDs). In addition, genetic analyses were conducted on representative DNA samples of adult Dicrocoelium spp.ResultsNinety-seven (51.1%) out of 190 sheep farms were coprologically positive for Dicrocoelium spp. In the liver, on the surface and cut surface, TTBDs were reported in 40.1% (309/770) and 15.3% (118/770) of the animals examined, respectively, with an overall prevalence of 25.5% (196/770). No intraspecific genetic variation was observed among the Dicrocoelium dendriticum isolates.ConclusionsOur survey reveals the widespread presence of D. dendriticum in Sardinia, although seasonal, geographical and climatic conditions might be key factors in modulating the infection prevalence. Examining typical lesions due to D. dendriticum in the liver in abattoirs can be used as a marker for tracking chronic dicrocoeliosis infection.

Prevalence and risk factors for Cysticercus tenuicollis in goats and sheep in Paraíba, northeastern Brazil

This study aimed to determine the prevalence and risk factors for C. tenuicollis among goats and sheep in slaughterhouses in Paraíba. 390 animals (195 goats and 195 sheep) in the municipalities of Patos and Esperança, Paraíba, Brazil, were inspected between February and May 2014. The prevalence of C. tenuicollis was 39% (76/195) in goats and 17.4% (34/195) in sheep. In both species, most of the cysticerci vesicles were located at the omentum and mesentery. The only risk factor found was extensive sheep farming. It can be concluded that C. tenuicollis is highly prevalent in small ruminants in Paraíba, being more prevalent in goats than in sheep. Extensively-reared sheep were twice as likely to develop infection by this parasite.

Respuesta de la vegetación al manejo por corte en fajas en un arbustal de Mulguraea tridens en Patagonia sur

In Santa Cruz province, nearly 2.83 million hectares are occupied by a shrub steppe dominated by Mulguraea tridens (locally called matorral de mata negra), where the main activity is extensive sheep farming. This paper focuses on the effects of management practices such as removal in strips of the above ground shrub layer. The treatments were the control and the cutting of 4 and 8 m wide strips. Meteorological variables (humidity, rainfall, temperature and wind), the effect of treatments on soil variables, shrub regrowth capacity and aspects related to soil seed bank (SSB), potential germination and seedling recruitment in the field were monitored for a term of three years. The vegetation cover and grassland productivity was assessed after one, three and five years of treatments application. Shrub litter from cutting strip treatments varied between 5700 and 8000 kg/ha of dry matter, resulting in a decrease in soil range temperature (2-5 °C) and an increase in soil moisture (2.5-7.5%) during spring-summer months. Short grasses and herb productivity in the control was 11.6 kg/ha of dry matter and under strips management was up to 88.2 kg/ha of dry matter in the fifth year possibly due to better soil water use rather than seedling establishment. No significant effect of treatments on the SSB was observed. Shrubs showed ability to resprout, which provide flexibility in long term management allowing a rotational scheme of strips.

Increase of drought stress negatively affects the sustainability of extensive sheep farming in sub-Mediterranean climate

The sub-Mediterranean climate, characterized by inter-annual variability, is undergoing an increase in aridity. We assessed how inter-annual variation of precipitation affects pastoral systems of central Italy, to evaluate whether climate change may cause extensive sheep farming to become unsustainable. Since the assessment of pasture-rumen interaction is considered a key tool in evaluating the status of the system, we collected data on precipitation, soil water deficit, aboveground phytomass, forage chemical composition, sheep rumen keratinization and body condition. We found that drought stress negatively affected forage quantity and quality with a pattern of responses that are partially different from those reported for both Mediterranean and Temperate regions. The most negatively affected plant communities were those of productive habitats. In clipped plots, we also observed a decrease in the re-growth capacity after clipping, especially in plant communities of southerly slopes. Positive correlations were identified for body condition with phytomass and crude protein, and negative correlations for rumen degree of keratinization with crude fibre and Acid Detergent Fibre. We suggested that the body condition of sheep deteriorates because the reduced quantity and quality of pasture changes the sheep rumen, which in turn limits absorption of volatile fatty acid.