Purpose This paper aims to explore factors influencing adoption and intensity of adoption of digital technologies that promote more efficient use of resources by beef cattle farmers in Brazil. Design/methodology/approach The empirical analysis was based on primary data obtained from a sample of 185 beef cattle feedlots across all Brazilian regions. Three groups of feedlots were identified using multiple correspondence analysis: (1) non-adopters of digital technologies, (2) adopters of management software and (3) adopters of management software and automation technologies. A multinomial logit model was then applied to test hypotheses on factors influencing adoption and intensity of adoption of digital technologies. Findings The econometric results show that the high scale of production, specialization in livestock, higher farmer education, young age and access to consultants increased the probability of adoption and the intensity in use of digital technologies by beef cattle farmers. These results indicate that barriers of scale, access to information and qualification might be hindering the digital transition in Brazilian beef cattle production. Research limitations/implications The results are relevant for strategies and policies that aim to overcome barriers and accelerate the diffusion of digital technologies in Brazilian livestock. These technologies have been associated with more efficient use of resources, which is crucial to increase the sustainability in Brazilian beef cattle production. Originality/value The article investigates the twin transition in Brazilian beef cattle production using previously unpublished farm-level data and a mixed econometric approach that accounts for digital technologies at varying stages of diffusion, thereby offering a novel contribution to the literature on technological and sustainable agricultural transformation.

Aim. To determine the role of natural and socio-historical determinants in shaping the structure and functioning patterns of cultural landscapes in the mid-mountainous regions of Chechnya and Ingushetia between the mid-19 th and mid-20 th centuries across different spatial levels. Methodology. The research is based on a comprehensive analysis of historical regional studies, literary sources, statistical compendia, and cartographic materials from the Soviet period, as well as field expedition descriptions of the landscape structure and inherited ele­ments from the period of traditional economic development of cultural landscapes. The method of historical-cartographic reconstruction, carried out using GIS modeling, allowed for the identification of spatial patterns in the structure model and the quantitative assess­ment of the influence of natural factors on the land use of traditional cultural landscapes in the study area. The comparative-historical method was applied to identify the characteristic changes in traditional land use systems during their transformation. Results. The research enabled a comprehensive assessment of the interaction between the natural environment and anthropogenic activity at multiple spatial scales. At the level of landscape-economic settlement areas, the key factors are the distance of agricultural lands from settlements and the morphometric factor (slope steepness, plan and profile curva­ture), which determine the selection of areas for agriculture and livestock farming. At the micro-regional level, i.e., at the level of the territories of rural communities in Chechnya and Ingushetia, significant factors include altitudinal zonation and slope aspect, which are responsible for the diversity of types and subtypes of landscape structure in the mid-moun­tain regions. These factors, in turn, determine various types of traditional land use: grain farming, haymaking, and seasonal transhumant pastoralism. However, at the regional level, encompassing the mid-mountain areas of the formerly unified (until 1993) Chechen-Ingush region, socio-historical factors play an important role. Due to the specific characteristics of the study area, these socio-historical factors conflict with natural determinism, leading to qualitative transformations in land use structure and the alteration of the traditional func­tioning of cultural landscapes. Research implications. The study holds both theoretical and practical significance, contrib­uting to a more nuanced understanding of the adaptability of economic activities within the context of resource-constrained mountain landscapes. This is particularly pertinent to the North Caucasus, given the contemporary trend of re-utilizing abandoned mid-mountain ar­eas, and thus facilitates the formulation of effective rural development strategies and cultural landscape management plans.

The traditional Iberian pig production system in the dehesa ecosystem of southwestern Spain and Portugal represents a significant cultural and ecological model of extensive livestock farming currently facing sustainability challenges. This study aimed to identify eco-efficiency indicators by integrating economic and environmental dimensions across traditional Iberian pig farms. Structured surveys were conducted across 68 farms, complemented by life cycle assessment (LCA) to evaluate environmental impacts including climate change, acidification, eutrophication, energy demand and land occupation. Multivariate statistical analysis identified two distinct farm types: Mixed-orientation Farms (MF, 45.59% of farms), characterised by diversified production phases and greater reliance on external inputs, and Acorn-Fed Farms (AF, 54.41% of farms), specialised in acorn-based fattening with greater dehesa ecosystem integration. AF demonstrated significantly lower environmental impacts across all categories except land occupation, with reductions ranging from 9% to 18% compared to MF. Furthermore, AF achieved superior eco-efficiency with gross margins 15% higher than MF and economic returns per unit of environmental impact 32% to 59% higher across all indicators. These findings demonstrate that farrow-to-finish farms specialised in montanera systems can simultaneously achieve greater profitability and reduced environmental impacts, providing a replicable model for sustainable livestock production in Mediterranean agroecosystems.

Occupational and environmental livestock exposures are associated with alterations in the upper respiratory tract microbiome.

Effects of different ammonia emission reduction strategies from livestock farming on ambient ammonia concentrations in nature areas: a series of scenario analyses

Mobile genetic elements potentially drive adaptive evolution of pork-derived multidrug-resistant Salmonella Derby ST40 lineages: An integrated analysis.

Extensive livestock farming provides crucial ecosystem services but faces several challenges (e.g. adverse effects of climate change, increasing production costs, lower scale economy). Large carnivores play a pivotal ecological role, contributing to ecosystem stability. However, without effective management, they can pose an additional challenge for livestock farming. To assess the impact of carnivores on livestock in the Friuli Venezia Giulia region (North-Eastern Italy), we conducted structured interviews at 58 randomly selected Alpine summer farms out of 162 actives in the area. Data, collected from June to October 2023 through structured interviews (i.e. oral conversations), covered farm characteristics, livestock raised, grazing systems, carnivores’ impact, and herder opinions and perceptions on human-carnivore conflict and coexistence. Among the 58 interviewed herders, the 38% have experienced livestock predations. Sheep and goats were the main target of carnivore attacks, possibly due to their smaller size and ineffective anti-predatory behaviours. Grazing system had no significant effect, presumably because the free-ranging one was primarily used with cattle, the least affected livestock category. Similarly, grassland features showed no significant effect, likely due to limited fragmentation and herders’ avoidance of high-elevation, steep-slope areas to reduce predation risks. Herders expressed dissatisfaction over post-damage compensations, which excludes indirect losses (e.g. stress, reduced foraging time, abortions). Regardless of actual predation incidents, the 76% of herders viewed future human-carnivore coexistence as unachievable. The support from wildlife policy-makers in the implementation of effective preventive measures is thus essential to mitigate the impact of carnivores, and improve herders’ tolerance towards the species.

Probiotic potential of Bacillus velezensis MZ-09: Assessing characteristics and safety through in vitro and in vivo analyses.

Method: Using a commercial precision livestock farming activity collar to automatically record and classify dairy cow activity at pasture

Computer vision in precision livestock farming: benchmarking YOLOv9, YOLOv10, YOLOv11, and YOLOv12 for individual cattle identification

Temperature-dependent transformation of piggery biogas residue pyrolysis products: Balancing resource recovery and environmental safety.

Housed pig identification and tracking for precision livestock farming

Assessing Knowledge, Attitudes, and Preventive Practices of Smallholder Livestock Farmers toward Antimicrobial Use, Resistance, and Sources in Bangladesh

This study presents the design, development, and evaluation of an automatic temperature control system for broiler chicken coops using NodeMCU and DHT11 sensors integrated within an Internet of Things (IoT) framework. The system was designed to maintain coop temperature stability automatically, minimizing manual intervention and optimizing environmental conditions for broiler productivity. Using a Research and Development (R&D) approach, the system was constructed with hardware components including NodeMCU ESP8266, DHT11 sensor, servo motor, relay, lamp, and cooling fan, while the software utilized Arduino IDE, Python, and Telegram Bot API for real-time monitoring. The seven-day experimental testing, with thirty readings per day, demonstrated that the system maintained an average temperature of 27.6°C (±0.8°C), achieving 98.5% accuracy compared to manual thermometers, with an average error of 0.65%. The actuators exhibited an average response time of 1.8 seconds, ensuring quick adaptation to environmental changes and preventing heat stress in broilers. The automation reduced manual monitoring time by 80% and inspection frequency by 83%, while lowering energy consumption by approximately 40% through temperature-based device activation. These results confirm that low-cost IoT automation enhances environmental stability, animal welfare, and operational efficiency, aligning with the global trend toward precision livestock farming. Future improvements should focus on integrating multi-node systems, adaptive control algorithms, and humidity regulation to expand scalability, reliability, and sustainability in poultry management.

ABSTRACT To meet the growing demands for consumption of chicken products and to balance the contradiction of land resources scarcity in China, large-scale caged poultry farms are gradually replacing the flat-farming mode, and becoming an increasingly important new direction for poultry farm investment and construction. However, such caged poultry farms also have certain problems, such as the centralized coexistence of AC loads and DC loads in the farmhouse, the failure to consider renewable energy access. Moreover, it is also associated with the high indirect carbon emissions and the high cost of purchasing electrical energy. In view of the above issues, this study proposes a hybrid AC/DC microgrid with improved gray wolf optimization algorithm, which are suitable for near-zero carbon economic development of caged poultry farms. By reasonably designing the capacity of wind energy, solar energy and battery storage subsystems, as well as the exponential convergence factor and population initialization method proposed in the algorithm in this paper, the hybrid microgrid can not only meet the variations of both AC and DC loads in caged poultry house but also achieve 99.99% C O 2 emission reduction within the scheduling time period. In addition, our improved intelligent algorithm also increases the economic profits by 34.08% relative to the original gray wolf algorithm, hence it is a significant contribution to the development of low-carbon livestock and poultry farming in the future.

Family farming must face complex socio-technical challenges to function, reproduce, and resist: it must co-innovate. This article presents an ongoing co-innovation (between livestock farmers and researchers) in Uruguayan family livestock farming: the tick biopesticide creBIO 7. A sociotechnical approach to innovation is used, particularly the sociology of translation (or actor-network theory), to describe and analyze the different phases of the biotickicide’s development. The problematization addresses the various forms the product takes and the multiple influences (technical, social, political) that shape it, along with the alliances, commitments, translations, and betrayals that occur throughout the process. This “socio-technical narrative” analyzes the work experience of an NGO, Batoví Instituto Orgánico-Uruguay (BIO-Uruguay), with agricultural producers, based on their technical reports, field observations, participant observation, and workshops carried out between 2015 and 2024. The main results highlight the “turbulent” and complex nature of co-innovation, the redefinitions of the experimental design resulting from observations by producers and BIO-Uruguay technicians, the scaling-up of its use, and the bottlenecks (barriers) in the process, particularly from the administration and laboratories. Co-innovation challenges researchers in their research practices and methodologies. The results show clues to innovate methodologically and develop evolutionary and flexible devices. Also, that when co-innovating with actors, it is possible to produce actionable scientific knowledge, which can be quickly or easily translated into concrete actions or practices.

ABSTRACT Land-use and land-cover (LULC) change has been the major driver of environmental and socio-economic change in sub-Saharan Africa, with wide-ranging implications for rural communities. Pastoral and agro-pastoral areas in Ethiopia, where livelihoods heavily rely on natural resources, experience the most significant impact. This study examine effect of LULC change on the livelihoods of pastoral and agro-pastoral communities in the West Guji Zone, Ethiopia. It used Landsat imagery and socioeconomic data from observations, interviews, and discussions. LULC classes of the study area shown serious changes. The findings revealed significant shifts in land classes of all kebeles. Bare land decline in Boko Goro Bali and Deru Danfile Kebeles in Dugda Dawa Woreda but an increase in Chame Kura in Dugda Dawa and Hida Korma and Mediba in Suro Barguda Woreda. Grassland expanded in most Kebeles except Chame Kura, where it declined. Settlement areas grew in Boko Goro Bali, Chame Kura, Hida Korma, and Mediba, while woodland increased only in Boko Goro Bali. Population pressure and resource degradation in LULC regions disrupt livelihoods, causing displacement and disrupting livestock production, agriculture, and food security. Urgent intervention strategies emphasize sustainable management and community engagement, focusing on improving livestock systems in the study area.

An Agro-Ecological Evaluation of Human–Carnivore Conflict Mitigation on Namibian Livestock Farms

Livestock farming is an important sector in meeting the food needs of the community, especially for animal protein from meat and dairy products. Although livestock farming has great potential, livestock productivity still faces significant challenges, including inadequate husbandry systems, technological limitations, and a lack of understanding of reproductive management. In an effort to improve productivity, two approaches that can be applied are Good Farming Practices (GFP) and Artificial Insemination (AI) based on molecular biology. GFP includes principles of feed management, sanitation, livestock health, and a good environment, which are expected to improve livestock welfare and the quality of production results. On the other hand, IB uses advanced technology to improve the genetic quality of livestock and enhance reproductive efficiency, particularly with the integration of molecular biology techniques. This study aims to compare the effectiveness of both approaches in improving livestock productivity. By applying GFP and IB synergistically, it is hoped that the increasing market demand can be met without neglecting animal welfare aspects.

This study aims to review the latest literature on livestock nutrition, feed management, and digital technology developments in animal husbandry, and how these findings support the development of the NutriFarm Website as a web-based nutrition management platform. The results show that the main problems in livestock farming, especially on a small scale, include nutritional imbalances, high rates of metabolic diseases such as hypocalcemia due to calcium deficiency, and low literacy among farmers in feed management. On the other hand, digital technologies such as the Internet of Things (IoT), decision support systems, and feed automation have been proven to improve livestock efficiency and health, but their adoption remains low due to limited access and complexity of use. The literature synthesis confirms that simple and accessible digital platforms, such as the NutriFarm Website, have the potential to be practical solutions to help farmers calculate nutritional requirements, understand feed composition, and prevent diseases related to nutritional imbalances. This study concludes that the NutriFarm Website not only improves feed management efficiency but also strengthens farmer education and encourages the adoption of technology to support productivity and sustainability in Indonesia's livestock sector.