Livestock Enterprises Research Articles

Profitability of farming systems on tribal farms in Udham Singh Nagar District of Uttarakhand, India

The motive of this study is to identify the most profitable farming system on tribal farm. To identify the same, this study was conducted in Udham Singh Nagar district of Uttarakhand. The study was based on data collected from 60 tribal farmers for the agricultural year 2008–09. To measure the profitability of farming systems, total cost and total return were calculated. Total costs were calculated by estimating total material cost, total operational cost and other costs. Total returns from the farming systems were calculated by valuing the total output at the prices received by the farmers. It was observed that the net returns over total cost from FS-I (crop + livestock) was estimated to be highest among all the farming systems while net return over variable cost was highest from FS-III (crop + livestock + orchard). Crop enterprise shared more than 89 per cent net return over variable cost among all the farming system except FS-IV (livestock). While livestock and orchard enterprise didn't emerged as more profitable. Crop production appeared as the main source of income on tribal farm drawing more attention towards its improvement in the study area.

Baseline and greenhouse-gas emissions in extensive livestock enterprises, with a case study of feeding lipid to beef cattle

For accurate calculation of reductions in greenhouse-gas (GHG) emissions, methodologies under the Australian Government’s Carbon Farming Initiative (CFI) depend on a valid assessment of the baseline and project emissions. Life-cycle assessments (LCAs) clearly show that enteric methane emitted from the rumen of cattle and sheep is the major source of GHG emissions from livestock enterprises. Where a historic baseline for a CFI methodology for livestock is required, the use of simulated data for cow–calf enterprises at six sites in southern Australia demonstrated that a 5-year rolling emission average will provide an acceptable trade off in terms of accuracy and stability, but this is a much shorter time period than typically used for LCA. For many CFI livestock methodologies, comparative or pair-wise baselines are potentially more appropriate than historic baselines. A case study of lipid supplementation of beef cows over winter is presented. The case study of a control herd of 250 cows used a comparative baseline derived from simple data on livestock numbers and class of livestock to quantify the emission abatement. Compared with the control herd, lipid supplementation to cows over winter increased livestock productivity, total livestock production and enterprise GHG emissions from 990 t CO2-e to 1022 t CO2-e. Energy embodied in the supplement and extra diesel used in transporting the supplement diminished the enteric-methane abatement benefit of lipid supplementation. Reducing the cow herd to 238 cows maintained the level of livestock production of the control herd and reduced enterprise emissions to 938 t CO2-e, but was not cost effective under the assumptions of this case study.

English

The stochastic metafrontier method is applied to estimate technical efficiency levels in beef cattle production in Kenya. Subsequently, a Tobit model is used to assess factors that might influence efficiency. Results show that the average efficiency level is 0.69, suggesting that there is considerable scope to improve beef production in Kenya. Considering the importance of the livestock enterprise to rural livelihoods and its potential role in poverty reduction, there is need for appropriate development strategies for enhanced efficiency. In particular, livestock development policies should focus on provision of technology-related services. For instance, promoting use of controlled cattle crossbreeding methods would enhance productivity gains. Effective institutional support is also necessary in order to improve efficiency, including improved access to market contracts, better farm management skills and off-farm income opportunities. Key words: Beef production, technical efficiency determinants, metafrontier, Kenya.

Applying Grey Forecasting Model on the Milk Yield of Guangxi

By using milk production data of Guangxi statistical yearbook from 2001 to 2010, based on the Grey theory and Grey prediction models, which are GM(1,1), have been adopted to predict the milk throughput of Guangxi in this paper. So we establish the GM(1,1) prediction model and predict the milk production of Guangxi from 2011 to 2020. The results show that the Grey theory and Grey prediction models have good simulation and feasibility. At the same time, with the combination of livestock products market demand, we provide livestock enterprises and farmers with some appropriate recommendations.

Evaluation of Livestock- Crop Enterprise Diversity Associated with Shift from Pastoral to Agro-Pastoral Farming Systems in Transmara West District of Narok County- Kenya

The Kenyan Government in partnership with the private sector has set up co-operative societies for marketing livestock and livestock products in TransMara west district of Narok County. These co-operatives are supposed to trigger extensive expansion in livestock production. Despite perceived steady incomes, high turnover and ready market for livestock associated with existence of cooperatives in the area, the pastoral Maasai community is shifting from pastoralism to agro-pastoralism. This community is strongly traditional with much cultural and economic attachment to livestock. The shift in livelihoods could be following a rational and economic decision with effects on the diversity of livestock and crops but empirical evidence is lacking to ascertain this assumption. Evaluating livestock and crop enterprise diversities associated with the shift may explain the rationale of observed behavior and inform development strategies for such areas. Specific objective of the study was to compare pastoral and agro-pastoral based livelihoods for livestock and crop enterprise diversities of the farming systems associated with the shift. Data were collected from a sample of 130 households through interview schedule. The diversity of crops and livestock was based on Shannon index. The findings indicated that the diversity for crops was 0.3 units higher in agro-pastoral farming compared to pastoral farming.

Resource-Use and Partial-Budget Analysis of a Transition to Reduced-Input and Organic Practices and Direct Marketing: A Student-Farm Case Study

The Berea College student farm undertook a transition to alternative practices in an effort to improve the sustainability of its operations, which included an expansion of organic crop production, a transition to reduced-input cattle and hog production, and a shift toward local marketing and sales, particularly of value-added products. The changes, developed and planned by students, staff and faculty in 2007, were implemented in 2008–2009 and fully in place by 2010. The plan required a reduction in livestock herd sizes, creating less dependence on purchased off-farm inputs, such as livestock feedstuffs and fertilizers for growing animal feed-crops. Third-party certifications, including USDA Certified Organic and Animal Welfare Approved, facilitated access to price premiums and new markets. Selling more meat and fewer live animals resulted in financial gains for the livestock enterprises, but the greatest returns were generated through organic horticultural production. Questions remain about the environmental, social, and animal-welfare trade-offs from the transition, but it clearly resulted in financial improvements and reduced dependence on off-farm inputs. This paper quantitatively documents the effects of the initiatives and illustrates the interdependencies among the changes to the whole-farm system.

Determinants of Food Security among Rural Livestock Farmers in Southwestern Nigeria

This study examined the extent to which livestock production has contributed to food security of the rural households in Southwestern Nigeria. Multistage sampling procedure was used to select respondents for the study. Fifty percent of the states in Southwestern Nigeria and 30% of rural households in the selected local government areas were randomly selected resulting in a sample size of 306 respondents. Household food insecurity access scale (HFIAS), food insecurity scale was used to assess the food insecurity of the respondents. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics while binomial regression was used to determine the determinants of food security at p = 0.05. Most respondents (76.1%) were males and married (83.7%), while about half (46.0%) of them completed secondary education. Mean age, household size and monthly income from livestock enterprises were 48.8 ± 12.8 years, 6.6 ± 3.2 and N45,068 ± 97,077, respectively. A large proportion (71.9%) practiced extensive system of livestock production. Sources of information (β = 5.304), income (β = 7.453) and constraints to livestock enterprises (β = 2.807) increased the odds of their food security. Policies that encouraged that promote diversification of income sources should be promoted to increase entrepreneurs’ income in order to improve food security situation of rural households.Keywords: Rural, Livestock Production, Food Security, Southwestern

Watershed-livestock linkages: A study in Bundelkhand region of Madhya Pradesh

The study focuses on the characterization of livestock production system in the watersheds in Bundelkhand region of Madhya Pradesh. Data were collected from 240 households selected from eight watersheds and eight control villages. A probit analysis was done for identifying the factors which influence the livestock ownership by the sample households and multiple regression models were fitted to identify the determinants of livestock holding and income from livestock enterprises. The study indicated a larger holding size per household and unit land area in watersheds than control villages. Land holding size and off-farm income were the significant factors which influence livestock ownership as well as holding. Livestock enterprises contributed very low share of income at both watershed as well as control villages. There is a need to integrate livestock improvement activities explicitly in the planning and implementation of watershed programmes in the country.

The economics of transformation toward sustainable hill country land use: Whatawhata case study

Abstract The Whatawhata integrated catchment management project generated a substantial amount of data on the biophysical impacts of land use and management change - livestock enterprise performance, terrestrial biodiversity, water quality etc. The question has been posed: What was the impact of the changes on the financial viability of the catchment farm system? Farm operating budgets before and after land use changes, enterprise gross margins, costs associated with tree planting, and farm system modelling with FarmaxPro® have been integrated to give a whole-system view of farm business viability over the long term (1995-2030). This information compared the existing system (1990s) with the new system implemented in 2000. Annual operating profit for the 296 ha breeding ewe and breeding cow system in the late 1990s was between $25 000-$30 000 reflecting the size and land use capability distribution of the block. Changes to the livestock enterprises improved farm surplus from ca. $100/ha to ca. $330/ha in the first 3 years, but on a reduced pastoral land area (150 ha). This gave an annual operating profit (EFS) of ca. $50 000. Much of this difference reflected product price movements. The cost of land use change was approximately $969 000 over the first 10 years. Selective intensification of hill lands can improve per ha profitability in the short-medium term. Two key financial issues, the transformation cost and medium term viability, need to be addressed in implementing land use change to move toward hill land sustainability. Keywords: integrated catchment management, land use change, sustainable hill country

Application of Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) Technology in Dairy Herd Management

Animal identification is a process to identify and track animals. It is done for a variety of reasons including verification of ownership, biosecurity control, record keeping, efficient farm management, registration, insurance and presentation of theft of animals. Identification of animal in livestock enterprise is of immense importance to draw attention regarding their status in production as well as performance. Thus, proper identification of animal is very important for understanding the need of record keeping and will provide a base to improve the management of herd. The use of RFID for automation will also aid to minimize labour input, thus allowing each farmer to cater for more cows, or enabling farmers to have more time to spend on other activities – either way, maximizing results from their input.

Summer-growing perennial grasses are a potential new feed source in the low rainfall environment of southern Australia

In the Mallee region of southern Australia, the dry and variable climate results in frequent summer–autumn feed gaps, restricting the profitability of farms that combine livestock and crop enterprises. To assess the suitability of summer-growing perennial grasses to fill such feed gaps, two replicated field experiments comparing the persistence and productivity of several cultivars were conducted at Hopetoun and Karoonda. The data from these experiments also served to validate a C4 grass model, which was then used in a simulation experiment comparing productivity on two different soil types at three locations. Most grass cultivars established well except on sandy, non-wetting soils. At Hopetoun, four of five cultivars persisted over 6 years, demonstrating the tolerance of the selected cultivars to the typical long, dry summers and cold, wet winters of the region. Biomass production showed little difference between cultivars and a strong response to the amount of summer rainfall, ranging from 1500 to 3000 kg ha–1 under average seasonal conditions and peaking at 9000 kg ha–1 in the very wet summer of 2010–2011. Model performance was satisfactory (R2 0.85–0.93, RMSE 476–1673 kg ha–1, depending on the cultivar), in terms of predicting both the magnitude and the timing of biomass production. Simulation outputs indicated that biomass production closely followed seasonal trends in temperature and moisture availability. Grazing potential was highest from early summer to autumn, which coincides with the period of feed shortages and highest marginal value of forage. In areas with warm-season (October–April) rainfall averages of 175 and 225 mm, the grazing of C4 grass pastures on marginal soils would be possible in at least 40% of the years for 2 and 3 months, respectively. It was concluded that summer-growing perennials are a promising option to alleviate feed gaps on mixed crop–livestock farms in areas with at least 150 mm of rainfall from October to April.

A Study on Cattle Insurance in Villages of Gandhinagar District

Livestock enterprises are flourishing business of rural India and are interwoven in socio-economic fabric of villages. 62% of rural India largely depends on dairy farming, which provides supplementary income to crop farmers. Crop farming and cattle rearing are strategic business units of rural enterprise, which provides part-time occupation to women and make them empowered. In the study a noteworthy point was found that women were engaged in cattle rearing from childhood. Cattle must be protected against the various types of risk such as death, disease, epidemic episode, burglary, fodder risk, dry-period risk, and permanent total or partial disability to provide milk etc. It was very rare to see that all the cattle were insured. Cattle insurance was availed due the motivation of Village Cooperative Society (VCS). Insurance was sold on partneragent model and that too from a single company with whom VCS had a close tie-up. Lower amount of cattle valuation proved to be fatal in the event of death of the cattle and its replacement with new cattle, due to escalating prices. Broadening the riders and introduction of novel annuity or medi-claim plans would open up scope for cattle insurance business and safeguard the recipients against major risk inherent in cattle rearing.

Incorporating farmed goats into sustainable rangeland grazing systems in southern Australia: a review

The recent trend to farming or re-domestication of feral goats poses serious questions for the ecological sustainability of the semiarid and arid rangelands of southern Australia. This paper reviews aspects of the biology and grazing habits of goats, and aspects of the Australian goat industry, relevant to their sustainable management in livestock enterprises. Key factors identified include high fertility and fecundity even under low seasonal rainfall conditions and a generalist feeding strategy. Adverse consequences for rangeland condition can be expected if seasonal or market conditions result in an imbalance between population growth and turnoff, resulting in high grazing pressures. Given the limited control of the reproductive process at the current stage of the development of goat farming, strategies aimed at ensuring continuity of sale of goats (e.g. on-property feed lots or supply chain and market development) will be important in ensuring that imbalances are avoided. Conservative stocking rates and use of seasonal risk management tools are also particularly relevant. The major research and development needs identified by this review, from a resource management perspective, concern the appropriate dry sheep equivalent rating for goat classes based on age, sex and reproductive status, the extent and consequences of heterogeneity of grazing in space, time, and across forage species, and development of means of establishing sustainable stocking rates based on the use of all available forage sources, including browse.

Large-chamber methane and nitrous oxide measurements are comparable to the backward lagrangian stochastic method.

Measurement of individual emission sources (e.g., animals or pen manure) within intensive livestock enterprises is necessary to test emission calculation protocols and to identify targets for decreased emissions. In this study, a vented, fabric-covered large chamber (4.5 × 4.5 m, 1.5 m high; encompassing greater spatial variability than a smaller chamber) in combination with on-line analysis (nitrous oxide [NO] and methane [CH] via Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy; 1 analysis min) was tested as a means to isolate and measure emissions from beef feedlot pen manure sources. An exponential model relating chamber concentrations to ambient gas concentrations, air exchange (e.g., due to poor sealing with the surface; model linear when ≈ 0 m s), and chamber dimensions allowed data to be fitted with high confidence. Alternating manure source emission measurements using the large-chamber and the backward Lagrangian stochastic (bLS) technique (5-mo period; bLS validated via tracer gas release, recovery 94-104%) produced comparable NO and CH emission values (no significant difference at < 0.05). Greater precision of individual measurements was achieved via the large chamber than for the bLS (mean ± standard error of variance components: bLS half-hour measurements, 99.5 ± 325 μg CH s and 9.26 ± 20.6 μg NO s; large-chamber measurements, 99.6 ± 64.2 μg CH s and 8.18 ± 0.3 μg NO s). The large-chamber design is suitable for measurement of emissions from manure on pen surfaces, isolating these emissions from surrounding emission sources, including enteric emissions.

Optimizing Resource Use and Economics of Crop-Livestock Integration Among Small Farmers in Semiarid Regions of South Africa

The adoption of crop-livestock integration (CLI) among smallholder farmers in the developing countries is no doubt one of the solutions to food security, risk management, and poverty alleviation in sub-Saharan Africa. However, adequate assessment on the current status of CLI becomes necessary for the development and its evolution among smallholder farmers. This article presents a basic and multi-objective linear programming (LP) model to determine enterprise combinations of crop and livestock activities that maximize total gross margin (TGM) among small farms in the Eastern Cape Province. Optimization modeling results and trade-off analysis showed 122.61% increase and 58% decreases, respectively, compared with the average TGM per livestock unit (LU). Smallholder CLI farmers can optimally maximized profit, but fail to optimally maximize home consumption with profit maximization objectives at present resource level. The results further revealed that resources such as land, livestock enterprises were (loose resources) not efficiently used. Efficient and capital use and compact arrangement of crop-livestock integration are suggested instead of free access grazing practice in the study area.

Early pregnancy: Concepts, challenges, and potential solutions

Early pregnancy encompasses the period from formation of the zygote after fertilization in the oviduct to the establishment of pregnancy and implantation of an elongated conceptus in the uterus. Important facets of early pregnancy in livestock include: The success of early pregnancy has a major influence on production and economic efficiency of livestock enterprises. The majority of embryo loss occurs during the first two to three weeks of pregnancy in ruminants and first month in pigs. Nutrition, disease, environment, and genetics are important determinants of early pregnancy success. Genomic technology is expected to improve our understanding of the underlying complex biological processes involved in pregnancy and provide useful tools to decrease embryo mortality in livestock. By increasing fertility, the efficiency and sustainability of livestock production enterprises can be maximized.

Climate change and broadacre livestock production across southern Australia. 3. Adaptation options via livestock genetic improvement

Climate change is predicted to reduce the productivity of the broadacre livestock industries across southern Australia; to date there has been no formal evaluation of the potential of genetic improvement in cattle or sheep to ameliorate the impacts of changing climates. We used the GRAZPLAN simulation models to assess selection of five traits of sheep and cattle as adaptation options under the SRES A2 global change scenario. Analysis of the breeding strategies was carried out for 25 representative locations, five livestock enterprises and three future years (2030, 2050, 2070). Uncertainty in future climates was taken into account by considering projected climates from four global circulation models. For three sheep enterprises, breeding for greater fleece growth (at constant body size) was predicted to produce the greatest improvements in forage conversion efficiency, and so it was the most effective genetic adaptation option. For beef cow and steer enterprises, breeding for larger body size was most effective; for beef cows, however, this conclusion relied on per-animal costs (including provision of bulls) remaining stable as body size increases. Increased conception rates proved to be less effective but potentially viable as an adaptation in beef cow and crossbred ewe enterprises. In the southern Australian environments that were analysed, our modelling suggests that breeding for tolerance to heat stress is unlikely to improve the performance of livestock production systems even at 2070. Genetic improvement of livestock was able to recover much less of the impact of climate change on profitability at drier locations where the need for adaptation is likely to be greatest. Combinations of feedbase and livestock genetic adaptations are likely to complement one another as the former alter the amount of forage that can be consumed, while the latter affect the efficiency with which consumed forage is converted to animal products. Climate change impacts on pasture production across southern Australia are likely to have only small effects on methane emissions intensity, as are a range of candidate genetic and feedbase adaptations to climate change; methane emissions per hectare in future climates will therefore be driven mainly by changes in livestock numbers due to alterations in pasture productivity.

English

Poultry production has a high priority because poultry meat has better energy and protein conversion ratio than many other animals. Traditional poultry is a well-known livestock enterprise in northern Nigeria and women contribute immensely to agricultural production but still their contribution to the country’s development remains largely not documented. This study therefore, aimed at assessing the role of rural women, their contribution and constraints to traditional poultry production in Kaura-Namoda local government area, Zamfara State-Nigeria. Sixty (60) women poultry keepers were randomly selected from twelve villages of four districts selected at random and administered with questionnaires to collect relevant data on socio-economic characteristics, management system adopted, output and constraints of poultry production. Data collected were analyzed using descriptive statistics. The result revealed that majority of the respondent were young (26-35 years) and married with no formal schooling whose kept between 11 to 20 bird with ratio of 1:2 of cock to hen. Extensive management system is practicing by the majority of respondent also; recorded more than 40 eggs laid by their hens with farm returns of N2000.00 to N5000.00 ($12.5 to $31.25) per week and sales their produce at market. Majority of the respondents provide local oral leaf and bark extract of mahogany and solanaceous plant for disease control while some uses local trap in controlling rodents, debeaked their birds to avoid cannivalism. Transportation, pest and diseases, weather changes, poor extension services and low capital are some of the constraints of poultry production in the study area. Key words: Traditional poultry, women, Kaura-Namoda.

Estimation of nitrous oxide and methane emission from livestock of urban agriculture in Beijing

Livestock farming systems are major sources of heat trapping greenhouse gases (GHG) and the attendant global warming. From 2007 to 2009, the total quantity of GHG emissions from livestock sector in Beijing was 1.67 Tg CO2eyr−1, of which N2ON and CH4 emissions were 1.04Ggyr−1 (489 Gg CO2eyr−1) and 47.25Ggyr−1 (1181.25 Gg CO2eyr−1), respectively. The emission intensity per 10,000 RMB was 1.2Mg CO2e, which accounted for 63% of the averaged value of 1.9Mg CO2e in Beijing. Consequently, Beijing's modern urban agriculture has made progress to some extent. To reduce GHG emissions from the livestock sector, relevant strategies such as improving rearing technologies, breeding, strengthening management and developing large-scale biogas industry should be considered. Theoretical, biogas industry could offset about 80% of GHG emissions from livestock sector, yet there are some barriers, which need to be overcome to enhance cooperation among government agencies, market organizations and livestock enterprises. Furthermore, it is both essential and feasible to adopt a healthy lifestyle, clean cooking, and low-C food systems to mitigate and reduce GHG emissions.

Climate change and broadacre livestock production across southern Australia. 1. Impacts of climate change on pasture and livestock productivity, and on sustainable levels of profitability

Broadacre livestock production is a major but highly diverse component of agriculture in Australia that will be significantly exposed to predicted changes in climate over coming decades. We used the GRAZPLAN simulation models to assess the impacts of climate change under the SRES A2 scenario across southern Australia. Climate change impacts were examined across space (25 representative locations) and time (1970-99, 2030, 2050 and 2070 climate) for each of five livestock enterprises. Climate projection uncertainty was considered by analysing projections from four global circulation models (GCMs). Livestock production scenarios were compared at their profit-maximizing stocking rate, constrained to ensure that risks of soil erosion were acceptable. Impacts on net primary productivity (ANPP) varied widely between GCM projections; the average declines from historical climate were 9% in 2030, 7% in 2050 and 14% in 2070. Declines in ANPP were larger at lower-rainfall locations. Sensitivity of ANPP to changes in rainfall ranged from 0.4 to 1.7, to temperature increase from -0.15 to +0.07°C(-1) and to CO2 increase from 0.11 to 0.32. At most locations the dry summer period lengthened, exacerbating the greater erosion risk due to lower ANPP. Transpiration efficiency of pastures increased by 6-25%, but the proportion of ANPP that could safely be consumed by livestock fell sharply so that operating profit (at constant prices) fell by an average of 27% in 2030, 32% in 2050 and 48% in 2070. This amplification of ANPP reductions into larger profitability declines is likely to generalize to other extensive livestock systems. Profit declines were most marked at drier locations, with operating losses expected at 9 of the 25 locations by 2070. Differences between livestock enterprises were smaller than differences between locations and dates. Future research into climate change impacts on Australian livestock production needs to emphasise the dry margin of the cereal-livestock zone.