Research on animal health and welfare in organic farming—a literature review

The ability of dairy farmers to keep their cows for longer could positively enhance the economic performance of the farms, reduce the environmental footprint of the milk industry, and overall help in justifying a sustainable use of animals for food production. However, there is little published on the current status of cow longevity and we hypothesized that a reason may be a lack of standardization and an over narrow focus of the longevity measure itself. The objectives of this critical literature review were: (1) to review metrics used to measure dairy cow longevity; (2) to describe the status of longevity in high milk-producing countries. Current metrics are limited to either the length of time the animal remains in the herd or if it is alive at a given time. To overcome such a limitation, dairy cow longevity should be defined as an animal having an early age at first calving and a long productive life spent in profitable milk production. Combining age at first calving, length of productive life, and margin over all costs would provide a more comprehensive evaluation of longevity by covering both early life conditions and the length of time the animal remains in the herd once it starts to contribute to the farm revenues, as well as the overall animal health and quality of life. This review confirms that dairy cow longevity has decreased in most high milk-producing countries over time and its relationship with milk yield is not straight forward. Increasing cow longevity by reducing involuntary culling would cut health costs, increase cow lifetime profitability, improve animal welfare, and could contribute towards a more sustainable dairy industry while optimizing dairy farmers’ efficiency in the overall use of resources available.

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Animal health syndromic surveillance: a systematic literature review of the progress in the last 5 years (2011–2016)

Veterinary Medicine Research and Reports ◽

10.2147/vmrr.s90182 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol Volume 7 ◽

pp. 157-170 ◽

Cited By ~ 15

Author(s):

Fernanda C Dórea ◽

Flavie Vial

Keyword(s):

Literature Review ◽

Systematic Literature Review ◽

Syndromic Surveillance ◽

Animal Health

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Rethinking and engaging with animal health in organic farming

Improving organic animal farming - Burleigh Dodds Series in Agricultural Science ◽

10.19103/as.2017.0028.06 ◽

2019 ◽

pp. 59-78

Author(s):

Mette Vaarst ◽

Keyword(s):

Organic Farming ◽

Animal Health

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PUBLIC POLICIES AND ANIMAL WELL BEING: A BIBLIOGRAPHIC REVIEW

ENVIRONMENTAL SMOKE ◽

10.32435/envsmoke.202031040-047 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 3 (1) ◽

pp. 040-047

Author(s):

Gil Dutra Furtado ◽

Grazielly Diniz Duarte ◽

Flávio Santos Guimarães ◽

Soraya Abrantes Pinto de Brito ◽

Martin Lindsey Christoffersen

Keyword(s):

Literature Review ◽

Environmental Health ◽

Human Health ◽

Deductive Reasoning ◽

Public Policies ◽

Animal Health ◽

Well Being ◽

Federal State ◽

Human Beings ◽

And Control

The populational control of wandering animals and the well-being of animals are among the non-resolved public policies in Brazil. The lack (or non-application) of educational and punitive laws in the area are some of the reasons for implementing Federal, State, and Municipal Public Policies dealing with this issue. The aim of this literature review is to reflect on the need for developing public policies focused on the surveillance and control of zoonoses in Brazil. By deductive reasoning, associated with bibliographic revision and documental research, we studied the norms, doctrines, and philosophical currents relevant to the area. We provide a brief summary of public policies in general. Next, we approach the concept of unified health, that considers the interdependency between human health, animal health and environmental health. We analyze the judicialization of public policies so that the State and the collectivity observe their duty to guard animals and protect the fauna. In this way, they may indirectly help to protect the human being. We try to enforce the implementation of public policies centered on the protection of animals, of the environment, and of human beings deriving from the concept of unified health.

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AS NOVAS ALTERNATIVAS RURAIS NA QUARTA COLÔNIA, RS, Brasil: um estudo sobre a agricultura de base agroecológica e a agricultura orgânica

InterEspaço Revista de Geografia e Interdisciplinaridade ◽

10.18764/2446-6549.v3n9p175-194 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 3 (9) ◽

pp. 175

Author(s):

Vanessa Manfio ◽

Vinício Luís Pierozan

Keyword(s):

Data Collection ◽

Literature Review ◽

Rural Development ◽

Organic Farming ◽

Organic Agriculture ◽

Agricultural Practices ◽

Rio Grande ◽

Qualitative Approach ◽

Rio Grande Do Sul ◽

Data Collection And Analysis

THE NEW RURAL ALTERNATIVES IN QUARTA COLÔNIA, RS, Brazil: a study on the agroecological and organic agricultureLAS NUEVAS ALTERNATIVAS RURALES EN LA QUARTA COLONIA, RS, Brasil: un estudio acerca de la agricultura de base agroecológica y la agricultura orgánicaNeste artigo, foram discutidos os resultados referentes ao estudo de práticas agrícolas, de base agroecológica e orgânica de mercado, realizado nos municípios de Dona Francisca, Agudo e Nova Palma, pertencentes à Quarta Colônia - região localizada no centro do Estado do Rio Grande do Sul. Este trabalho tem como objetivo central a análise a respeito da produção de alimentos orgânicos e agroecológicos na região, utilizando a abordagem qualitativa para o direcionamento da coleta de dados e da análise dos resultados. O artigo encontra-se estruturado em duas partes. A primeira é composta pela revisão de literatura, em que apresentamos e desenvolvemos os conceitos de agricultura agroecológica, ecológica e orgânica. A segunda parte aborda experiências de agricultura de base agroecológica e orgânica. Ambas as discussões levarão à construção das considerações finais, destacando as suas particularidades em relação ao desenvolvimento rural em âmbito local/regional.Palavras-chave: Agricultura de Base Agroecológica; Agricultura Orgânica; Quarta Colônia.ABSTRACTIn this paper will be discussed the outcomes from the study of agroecological and organic market agricultural practices conducted in the counties of Dona Francisca, Agudo and Nova Palma, belonging to Quarta Colônia – a region located in the center of the Rio Grande do Sul state in Brazil. The main goal of this work is to analyze the production of organic and agroecological foods in this region, using the qualitative approach to guide the data collection and analysis of the results. The paper is structured in two parts. The first one is composed by the literature review, in which we present and develop the concepts of agroecological, ecological and organic agriculture. The second part addresses the agroecological and organic farming experiences. Both discussions will lead to the disclosure of the final considerations, highlighting their particularities regarding to the rural development at the local / regional level.Keywords: Agroecological Based Agriculture; Organic Agriculture; Quarta Colônia. RESUMENEn este artículo, serán discutidos los resultados en que se refiere al estudio de prácticas agrícolas de base agroecológica y orgánica de mercado, realizado en los municipios de Dona Francisca, Agudo e Nova Palma, pertenecientes a la Quarta Colônia – región ubicada en el centro del Estado de Rio Grande do Sul, en Brasil. Este trabajo tiene como objetivo central el análisis acerca de la producción de alimentos orgánicos y agroecológicos en la región, utilizando el abordaje cualitativo para el direccionamiento de la recolección de datos y del análisis de los resultados. El artículo se estructura en dos partes. La primera está compuesta por la revisión de literatura, en la que presentamos y desarrollamos los conceptos de agricultura agroecológica, ecológica y orgánica. La segunda parte aborda experiencias de agricultura de base agroecológica y orgánica. Ambas discusiones llevarán a la construcción de las consideraciones finales, destacando sus particularidades en relación al desarrollo rural a nivel local / regional.Palabras clave: Agricultura de Base Agroecológica; Agricultura Orgánica; Quarta Colônia.

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