Frontiers in Animal Science最新文献

{"title":"The effects of stocking rate, residual sward height, and forage supplementation on forage production, feeding strategies, and productivity of milking dairy cows","authors":"Gastón Ortega, Natalia Berberian, P. Chilibroste","doi":"10.3389/fanim.2024.1319150","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3389/fanim.2024.1319150","url":null,"abstract":"The intensification process in Uruguayan dairies over the last 30 years has involved increases in stocking rate (SR) and individual milk production. This research aimed to compare biophysical indicators along with the associated feeding strategies for Holstein–Jersey crossbred dairy cow systems. The comparison was conducted in farmlets representing a typical Uruguayan pasture-based dairy system on a grazing area. The study spanned from 2017 to 2019, combining 1.5 or 2.0 milking cows per hectare (SR), with two different residual sward heights (RH)—low (LR) and high (HR). These combinations resulted in four treatments: 1.5 LR, 1.5 HR, 2.0 LR, and 2.0 HR. A total of 96 cows were randomly allocated to each treatment based on parity, body weight (BW), and body condition score (BCS) for the years 2017, 2018, and 2019. The response variables per hectare were analyzed using a linear mixed model, including SR, RH, their interaction effect, year, and paddock as a repeated measurement. Results show that forage production did not differ between treatments, and forage directly harvested by cows was affected by SR, as well as milk and solids productivity. An interaction effect was detected between SR and RH on milk and milk solids production where 2.0 HR was higher than 2.0 LR, but treatments on SR 1.5 were not different between them. The consumption of concentrate, forage, and conserved forage per hectare was influenced by the level of SR. However, individual milk production was not influenced by SR or RH. Dry matter intake were affected by SR where 2.0 HR had higher consumption than 1.5 LR and 1.5 HR but was not different from 2.0 LR. The concentrate DMI per cow was not different between treatments, while the conserved forage DMI per cow was affected by SR and higher for SR 2.0 than that for SR 1.5. These combinations of feed determined varying proportions of time allocated for grazing, which were influenced by the SR and RH. This research highlights different approaches to enhance the competitiveness of Uruguayan grazing systems through improvements in forage harvest.","PeriodicalId":503755,"journal":{"name":"Frontiers in Animal Science","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-02-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"139781129","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"The effects of stocking rate, residual sward height, and forage supplementation on forage production, feeding strategies, and productivity of milking dairy cows","authors":"Gastón Ortega, Natalia Berberian, P. Chilibroste","doi":"10.3389/fanim.2024.1319150","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3389/fanim.2024.1319150","url":null,"abstract":"The intensification process in Uruguayan dairies over the last 30 years has involved increases in stocking rate (SR) and individual milk production. This research aimed to compare biophysical indicators along with the associated feeding strategies for Holstein–Jersey crossbred dairy cow systems. The comparison was conducted in farmlets representing a typical Uruguayan pasture-based dairy system on a grazing area. The study spanned from 2017 to 2019, combining 1.5 or 2.0 milking cows per hectare (SR), with two different residual sward heights (RH)—low (LR) and high (HR). These combinations resulted in four treatments: 1.5 LR, 1.5 HR, 2.0 LR, and 2.0 HR. A total of 96 cows were randomly allocated to each treatment based on parity, body weight (BW), and body condition score (BCS) for the years 2017, 2018, and 2019. The response variables per hectare were analyzed using a linear mixed model, including SR, RH, their interaction effect, year, and paddock as a repeated measurement. Results show that forage production did not differ between treatments, and forage directly harvested by cows was affected by SR, as well as milk and solids productivity. An interaction effect was detected between SR and RH on milk and milk solids production where 2.0 HR was higher than 2.0 LR, but treatments on SR 1.5 were not different between them. The consumption of concentrate, forage, and conserved forage per hectare was influenced by the level of SR. However, individual milk production was not influenced by SR or RH. Dry matter intake were affected by SR where 2.0 HR had higher consumption than 1.5 LR and 1.5 HR but was not different from 2.0 LR. The concentrate DMI per cow was not different between treatments, while the conserved forage DMI per cow was affected by SR and higher for SR 2.0 than that for SR 1.5. These combinations of feed determined varying proportions of time allocated for grazing, which were influenced by the SR and RH. This research highlights different approaches to enhance the competitiveness of Uruguayan grazing systems through improvements in forage harvest.","PeriodicalId":503755,"journal":{"name":"Frontiers in Animal Science","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-02-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"139840943","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Stacking nitrogen mitigation strategies for future pasture-based dairy farms: impacts on leaching and profit","authors":"Pierre Beukes, Craig Depree, Katrina A. Macintosh, David Silva-Villacorta","doi":"10.3389/fanim.2024.1277131","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3389/fanim.2024.1277131","url":null,"abstract":"Producers in New Zealand’s pasture-based, seasonal dairy sector are striving to reduce nitrogen (N) losses to the environment whilst maintaining or increasing farm profitability. This study examined the cost-effectiveness of stacking different combinations of five N leaching mitigation strategies within the whole farm system; 1) reduced N fertilizer input, 2) off-paddock infrastructure, 3) recycling N by growing maize silage on a dedicated area on the farm using effluent as a fertilizer source followed by a catch-crop, 4) dietary salt supplementation to dilute urinary N, and 5) applying a nitrification inhibitor (NI) to slow the release of nitrate in the soil. The reference point (baseline) was a typical current dairy farm (CF) system in the Waikato region of New Zealand. We modelled four Future Farm scenarios by stacking mitigation strategies as follows: baseline plus reduced N fertilizer input, reduced stocking rate, and off-paddock infrastructure (FF); FF plus a dedicated maize block (FFP); FFP plus dietary salt (FFPS); and FFPS plus NI (FFPSNI). These systems were modelled using the Whole Farm Model coupled with the Urine Patch Framework, and APSIM models, using observed climate and economic input data over five consecutive years from 2013-2018. Relative to CF, the FF system achieved a N leaching reduction of 31% with a reduction in profit of 16%. The FFP system had a smaller N leaching reduction (22%), but the reduction in profit was smaller (11%). The fully stacked system (FFPSNI) demonstrated the largest leaching reduction of 33%, but also the largest profit reduction of 27%, compared with the CF. Stacking these five N mitigation strategies can achieve substantial N leaching reductions at the farm-scale. Including a dedicated, effluent-fertilized maize block followed by a catch-crop as part of the stack can reduce the negative impact on profitability but has a trade-off in N leaching. Farmers will have to weigh up these compromises between profit and leaching, considering risk factors not modelled here.","PeriodicalId":503755,"journal":{"name":"Frontiers in Animal Science","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-02-09","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"139848465","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Stacking nitrogen mitigation strategies for future pasture-based dairy farms: impacts on leaching and profit","authors":"Pierre Beukes, Craig Depree, Katrina A. Macintosh, David Silva-Villacorta","doi":"10.3389/fanim.2024.1277131","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3389/fanim.2024.1277131","url":null,"abstract":"Producers in New Zealand’s pasture-based, seasonal dairy sector are striving to reduce nitrogen (N) losses to the environment whilst maintaining or increasing farm profitability. This study examined the cost-effectiveness of stacking different combinations of five N leaching mitigation strategies within the whole farm system; 1) reduced N fertilizer input, 2) off-paddock infrastructure, 3) recycling N by growing maize silage on a dedicated area on the farm using effluent as a fertilizer source followed by a catch-crop, 4) dietary salt supplementation to dilute urinary N, and 5) applying a nitrification inhibitor (NI) to slow the release of nitrate in the soil. The reference point (baseline) was a typical current dairy farm (CF) system in the Waikato region of New Zealand. We modelled four Future Farm scenarios by stacking mitigation strategies as follows: baseline plus reduced N fertilizer input, reduced stocking rate, and off-paddock infrastructure (FF); FF plus a dedicated maize block (FFP); FFP plus dietary salt (FFPS); and FFPS plus NI (FFPSNI). These systems were modelled using the Whole Farm Model coupled with the Urine Patch Framework, and APSIM models, using observed climate and economic input data over five consecutive years from 2013-2018. Relative to CF, the FF system achieved a N leaching reduction of 31% with a reduction in profit of 16%. The FFP system had a smaller N leaching reduction (22%), but the reduction in profit was smaller (11%). The fully stacked system (FFPSNI) demonstrated the largest leaching reduction of 33%, but also the largest profit reduction of 27%, compared with the CF. Stacking these five N mitigation strategies can achieve substantial N leaching reductions at the farm-scale. Including a dedicated, effluent-fertilized maize block followed by a catch-crop as part of the stack can reduce the negative impact on profitability but has a trade-off in N leaching. Farmers will have to weigh up these compromises between profit and leaching, considering risk factors not modelled here.","PeriodicalId":503755,"journal":{"name":"Frontiers in Animal Science","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-02-09","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"139788800","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Editorial: Securing animal welfare in times of crisis and animals’ end of life outside conventional slaughter","authors":"W. Ursinus, Lodi H. Laméris, Irene Camerlink, Mette S. Herskin","doi":"10.3389/fanim.2024.1330143","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3389/fanim.2024.1330143","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":503755,"journal":{"name":"Frontiers in Animal Science","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-02-06","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"139861947","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Editorial: Securing animal welfare in times of crisis and animals’ end of life outside conventional slaughter","authors":"W. Ursinus, Lodi H. Laméris, Irene Camerlink, Mette S. Herskin","doi":"10.3389/fanim.2024.1330143","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3389/fanim.2024.1330143","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":503755,"journal":{"name":"Frontiers in Animal Science","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-02-06","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"139802029","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Blend of organic acids improves gut morphology and affects inflammation response in piglets after weaning","authors":"Nienke de Groot, Fernando Fariñas, Carolina G. Cabrera-Gómez, Francisco J. Pallarés, Guillermo Ramis","doi":"10.3389/fanim.2024.1308514","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3389/fanim.2024.1308514","url":null,"abstract":"Weaning is a stressful period in a piglet’s life, when many morphological and functional changes occur in the gastrointestinal tract. Examples are an alteration of the barrier function and an increase in production of cytokines, suggesting the immune system of the GIT is activated after weaning. The goal of this study was to evaluate the effect of a commercially available feed additive based on short and medium chain fatty acids on supporting intestinal health and reduce inflammation in the intestine of post-weaning piglets. Seventy piglets were divided over 2 treatments, a control diet and a blend of short and medium chain fatty acids, including butyrate. On day 0, 15, 30 and 45 after weaning blood samples and intestinal tissue samples were collected from sacrificed piglets. Blood and tissue samples were analysed for cytokine gene expression, and tissue samples from jejunum and ileum were analysed on morphology and gene expression of tight junctions. Results show that the use of a blend of short and medium chain fatty acids, including butyrates, improved intestinal morphology, measured by villous length and v/c ratio, reduced expression of tight junction proteins and influenced cytokine production in the intestine, implicating that the use of organic acids as feed additives potentially can reduce damage caused by weaning to the intestinal barrier and due to the higher absorption capacity of the villi potentially improve nutrient absorption.","PeriodicalId":503755,"journal":{"name":"Frontiers in Animal Science","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-02-05","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"139802397","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Blend of organic acids improves gut morphology and affects inflammation response in piglets after weaning","authors":"Nienke de Groot, Fernando Fariñas, Carolina G. Cabrera-Gómez, Francisco J. Pallarés, Guillermo Ramis","doi":"10.3389/fanim.2024.1308514","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3389/fanim.2024.1308514","url":null,"abstract":"Weaning is a stressful period in a piglet’s life, when many morphological and functional changes occur in the gastrointestinal tract. Examples are an alteration of the barrier function and an increase in production of cytokines, suggesting the immune system of the GIT is activated after weaning. The goal of this study was to evaluate the effect of a commercially available feed additive based on short and medium chain fatty acids on supporting intestinal health and reduce inflammation in the intestine of post-weaning piglets. Seventy piglets were divided over 2 treatments, a control diet and a blend of short and medium chain fatty acids, including butyrate. On day 0, 15, 30 and 45 after weaning blood samples and intestinal tissue samples were collected from sacrificed piglets. Blood and tissue samples were analysed for cytokine gene expression, and tissue samples from jejunum and ileum were analysed on morphology and gene expression of tight junctions. Results show that the use of a blend of short and medium chain fatty acids, including butyrates, improved intestinal morphology, measured by villous length and v/c ratio, reduced expression of tight junction proteins and influenced cytokine production in the intestine, implicating that the use of organic acids as feed additives potentially can reduce damage caused by weaning to the intestinal barrier and due to the higher absorption capacity of the villi potentially improve nutrient absorption.","PeriodicalId":503755,"journal":{"name":"Frontiers in Animal Science","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-02-05","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"139862225","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Why has animal science not led to improved farm animal health and welfare?","authors":"Albert Sundrum","doi":"10.3389/fanim.2023.1214889","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3389/fanim.2023.1214889","url":null,"abstract":"To sustain the economic viability of a livestock farm in a global market, characterised by a price undercutting competition, farmers are forced to adapt to what the market demands. At the same time, they have to care for the functionality of the farm system as a whole and of the subsystems, such as the farm animals, so that they for their part they can contribute to an economic success. Now, that animal health and welfare (AHW) has become an increasingly important issue for citizens and consumers, not only the decision makers but also the disciplines of animal science are challenged to improve an unsatisfying AHW level that has been neglected for long. However, to reduce AHW problems requires a quite different approach than to increase productive efficiency. A common sense can be assumed concerning the need to strive for an optimal cost-to-benefit ratio while balancing positive and negative impacts of production processes on economic and AHW target figures. However, what is often not adequately considered is the fact that economic and biological demands have to be balanced within a living system, e.g. in the individual animal and farm system. These function as the relevant reference systems in all cases where measures to reduce AHW problems are considered. Furthermore, there is a large gap of scientific knowledge, however, not in the traditional sense. While the predominant approaches, scientists generate context-invariant, and thus generalisable disposal knowledge in diversified subdisciplines, problem solving requires contextualisation, orientation and action-guiding knowledge within transdisciplinary approaches. The reason is that AHW problems are highly context-sensitive as well as multifactorial. They develop within the farm specific interconnectedness of manifold and highly varying factors, emerging a complexity that does not allow predictive statements via inductive approaches but requires an iterative procedure to approach to a farm specific AHW level, which is balanced with the overarching goal of economic viability. Recommended action guiding knowledge has to be of high external and ecological validity, before farmers might consider it to be implemented in farm practice. From the reflection about the discrepancy between the knowledge needed to reduce AHW problems and what is offered by animal science, it is concluded that not only the farm systems but also the predominant approaches of animal science have to be transformed. Otherwise, there is not a big chance to considerably reduce AHW problems in farm animals.","PeriodicalId":503755,"journal":{"name":"Frontiers in Animal Science","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-01-05","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"139384262","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Novel quality feed from a wasted resource: measuring the nutritional value of low-glycoalkaloids potato haulm in sheep","authors":"Justine Kilama, Batool Izhiman, Philip Wagali, C. Sabastian, Godliver Ngomuo, Haim Rabinowitch, S. Mabjeesh","doi":"10.3389/fanim.2023.1242989","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3389/fanim.2023.1242989","url":null,"abstract":"This study evaluated the potential of low-glycoalkaloid potato haulm (LGPH) as a high-quality feed for ruminants. The low-glycoalkaloid potato plants were grown in a net house following standard agricultural practices. Dehaulming was performed a fortnight before the harvest of the tubers, as commercially practiced. Four healthy female lambs (aged 4 months) were employed in a 4×4 Latin square feeding experiment design. The lambs were fed with either a maintenance diet consisting of 73% roughage (control), or treatment diets with supplementation of 10% (P10), 15% (P15), and 20% (P20) LGPH on a dry matter (DM) basis for a period of 21 days, including 14 days of adaption and 7 days of sampling. Refusals and feces were collected for 6 days and pooled followed by a 24 h urine collection on the 7th day. On the 6th day, an hour after morning feeding, blood, and rumen liquid samples were collected. All the samples were analysed, and the data generated were analysed using ANOVA with diet and period as fixed effects and sheep as a random effect. Orthogonal contrasts were used to detect linear and quadratic effects of LGPH in the diet. Linear or polynomial equations were produced to extract the nutrient digestibility and metabolizable energy (ME) of LGPH. No toxicological clinical signs were observed, and the haematology profiles were normal throughout the trial. LGPH did not affect the daily intake of nutrients and energy. However, the apparent digestibility of DM, organic matter (OM), crude protein (CP), and gross energy increased (P= 0.01) linearly (P< 0.01) with supplementation of LGPH in the diet. The inclusion of LGPH had a quadratic effect on neutral detergent fiber (NDF) digestibility (P= 0.027), reaching a peak of 54.8 % at 12.3 % LGPH supplement on a DM basis. The N retention in lambs fed with the P20 diet was nearly twice that of the control diet (P= 0.032; 19.1 vs. 10.2 g/d). The computed digestibility values of DM, OM, CP, and NDF for LGPH were 76.1, 79.7, 84.2, and 72.1 %, respectively, and ME was 2.62 Mcal/kg DM. Conclusively, by significantly reducing the glycoalkaloids’ content in potato haulm, we can safely repurpose the currently wasted foliage as a new source of high-quality roughage feed for ruminants, equivalent to alfalfa hay, without imposing any additional environmental burden. However, further research is necessary to assess impact of LGPH on growth performance, and milk productivity before practical application on commercial farms.","PeriodicalId":503755,"journal":{"name":"Frontiers in Animal Science","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-01-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"139386734","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}