scholarly journals Dairy vs. beef production – expert views on welfare

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Roi Mandel ◽  
Marc B.M. Bracke ◽  
Christine J. Nicol ◽  
John A. Webster ◽  
Lorenz Gygax
Keyword(s):  
Welfare State ◽  
Production Systems ◽  
Beef Cows ◽  
Red Meat ◽  
Farm Animals ◽  
Meat Production ◽  
Dairy Production ◽  
Beef Production ◽  
Beef Calves ◽  
Beef Herds

AbstractConsumers’ views and concerns about the welfare of farm animals may play an important role in their decision to consume dairy, meat and/or plants as their primary protein source. As animals are killed prematurely in both dairy and beef industries, it is important to quantify and compare welfare compromise in these two sectors before the point of death. Seventy world-leading bovine welfare experts based in 23 countries, were asked to evaluate the likelihood of a bovine to experience 12 states of potential welfare concern, inspired by the Welfare Quality® protocol. The evaluation focused on the most common beef and dairy production systems in the experts’ country, and was carried out separately for dairy/beef calves raised for red-meat, dairy/beef calves raised for veal, dairy/beef calves raised as replacement, and for dairy/beef cows. The results show experts rated the overall likelihood of a negative welfare state (i.e. welfare risk) to be higher in animals from dairy herds than from beef herds, for all animal categories, regardless of whether they were used to produce milk, red-meat or veal. These findings suggest that consuming food products derived from common dairy production systems (dairy or meat), may be more harmful to the welfare of animals than consuming products derived from common beef production systems (i.e. from animals solely raised for their meat). Raising awareness about the linkage between dairy and meat production, and the toll of milk production on the welfare state of animals in the dairy industry, may encourage a more sustainable and responsible food consumption.

scholarly journals Antagonism in the carbon footprint between beef and dairy production systems

2015 ◽  
Vol 44 (5) ◽  
pp. 17-20
Author(s):  
MM Scholtz ◽  
J Du Toit ◽  
FWC Neser
Keyword(s):  
Dairy Cows ◽  
Carbon Footprint ◽  
Production Systems ◽  
Beef Cows ◽  
Dairy Farming ◽  
Feed Water ◽  
Dairy Production ◽  
Pasture Production ◽  
Total Mixed Ration ◽  
Cow Calf

Primary beef cattle farming in South Africa is largely extensive, whereas dairy farming is based on both total mixed ration and pasture production systems. Under natural rangeland conditions, decomposition of manure is aerobic, which produces carbon dioxide (CO2), part of which is absorbed by the regrowth of vegetation rather than released into the atmosphere, and water (H2O) as end products. Thus the cow releases methane (CH4) and the manure CO2. This is in contrast to intensive cow-calf systems in large parts of Europe and North America, where large quantities of manure are stockpiled and undergo anaerobic decomposition and produce CH4. Thus both the cow and the manure release CH4, which result in a higher carbon footprint than the extensive cow-calf systems. In dairy farming, increasing cow efficiency through intensive feeding (same kg milk output by fewer animals) can reduce farm CH4 production by up to 15%. In addition, when differences in productivity are accounted for, pasture systems require more resources (land, feed, water, etc.) per unit of milk produced and the carbon footprint is greater than that of intensive systems. This raises the question as to why the carbon footprint of intensive dairy cow production systems is less, but the carbon footprint of intensive beef cow-calf production systems is higher. The explanation lies in the differences in production levels. In the case of beef cows the weight of the intensive cows will be ± 30% higher than that of the extensive cows, and the weaning weight of their calves will also differ by ± 30%. In the case of dairy cows the weight of the intensive cows will be ± 20% higher, but their milk production will be ± 60% higher. The higher increase in production (milk) of intensive dairy cows, compared to the increase in production (calf weight) of intensive beef cows, explains the antagonism in the carbon footprint between different beef and dairy production systems. Unfortunately, carbon sequestration estimates have been neglected and thus the quantitative effects of these differences are not known.Keywords: Cow-calf production, methane, pasture production, production levels, total mixed ration

Using temporal associations to determine maternal parentage in extensive beef herds

2018 ◽  
Vol 58 (5) ◽  
pp. 943 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. Menzies ◽  
K. P. Patison ◽  
N. J. Corbet ◽  
D. L. Swain
Keyword(s):  
Genetic Improvement ◽  
Production Systems ◽  
Human Intervention ◽  
Data Recording ◽  
Beef Production ◽  
Traditional Methods ◽  
Index Method ◽  
Sheep Industry ◽  
Weight Index ◽  
Beef Herds

The assignment of maternal parentage, although time-consuming and expensive using traditional methods, is essential for genetic improvement. Within the sheep industry the recording of time-based (temporal) associations without human intervention has been routinely used to derive maternal parentage, however it has not been researched in extensive beef production systems. To determine whether temporal associations could be used to assign maternal parentage, cows and calves had their identity recorded as they walked to water over a 27-day trial. Two methods of association were investigated, being the half-weight index and the time difference between a cow and calf having their identity recorded. The half-weight index, which is a measure of the number of times two individuals are recorded together, correctly assigned greater than 90% of maternal pairs. When investigating the duration of data recording it was shown that 85% of maternal parentage could be achieved within only 21 days. Further work is required to determine the effect of calf age, herd and paddock size; however, the results showed that the half-weight index method of determining maternal associations is a labour-saving and accurate alternative to traditional methods used to identify maternal parentage.

Chilean consumers’ perception about animal welfare in dairy production systems: short communication

2017 ◽  
Vol 57 (1) ◽  
pp. 147 ◽  
Author(s):  
Einar Vargas-Bello-Pérez ◽  
José Luis Riveros ◽  
Claus Köbrich ◽  
Pamela Alejandra Álvarez-Melo ◽  
Joop Lensink
Keyword(s):  
Animal Welfare ◽  
Dairy Products ◽  
Family Income ◽  
Production Systems ◽  
Dairy Product ◽  
Farm Animals ◽  
Dairy Production ◽  
Quality Attribute ◽  
Pet Ownership ◽  
Animal Products

Information on animal welfare and ways that farm animals are kept has gained more and more importance with regard to the consumers’ behaviour and expectations when buying food products. In certain countries, animal welfare is considered as an important extrinsic quality attribute of animal products. Until now, hardly any studies have been conducted in Latin America on consumers’ expectations and knowledge regarding animal welfare aspects of the products they buy. The objective of this study was to determine the knowledge and expectations of consumers in Chile regarding information about dairy production systems and animal welfare, and the main aspects they considered when buying dairy products. A face-to-face interview was conducted on a sample of 501 persons from the Province of Santiago, Chile. The survey was conducted in major supermarkets from 15 different municipalities of Santiago in November and December 2012. The main aspects considered before purchasing dairy products were fat content (30%) and price (26%). It was shown that 66.9% of the participants associated the term animal welfare with responsible pet ownership, 12.4% to farm animal care, 11.6% to vegetarianism and 9.2% to the freedom and nature of animals. Age, educational level and family income were related (P < 0.001) to responsible pet ownership whereas gender did not relate to the concept of animal welfare. From the total surveyed participants, 73% were interested in receiving more information about animal welfare; 62% of these were women between 18 and 30 years of age. Information about the conditions of milk production and animal welfare were considered to be an important aspect to be included in dairy products’ labelling for 86% of the participants. Also, 68% of the participants declared a willingness to pay more for an animal welfare friendly dairy product. Data from this study may be useful in order to include animal welfare as an extrinsic quality attribute of dairy products in Chile and to define a market-oriented strategy including animal welfare.

scholarly journals Feed, N and P utilisation of Brown Swiss heifers in comparison with Angus and Simmental suckler cows with their progeny grazing mountain pastures

2010 ◽  
Vol 53 (3) ◽  
pp. 293-308
Author(s):  
H.-R. Wettstein ◽  
B. L. Estermann ◽  
F. Sutter ◽  
M. Kreuzer
Keyword(s):  
Body Weight ◽  
Weight Gain ◽  
Production Systems ◽  
Body Weight Gain ◽  
Beef Cows ◽  
Contrast Model ◽  
Beef Calves ◽  
Brown Swiss ◽  
Nutrient Use ◽  
Daily Body Weight

Abstract. The aim of the present study was to compare intake and nutrient turnover in two major production systems on mountainous pastures, suckler beef production and rearing of heifers. Data from 4 × 6 Angus or Simmental suckler beef cows with Angus sired calves were opposed to those measured in six growing Brown Swiss heifers applying a contrast model. In each of two vegetative seasons (years A and B) animals were kept together on three mountainous pastures, P1 (1 000 m a.s.l.), P2 and P3 (both 2 000 m a.s.l.), providing either first growth (P1, P2) or re-growth herbage (P3). Intake and herbage digestibility were estimated by the double alkane indicator technique. On average of the two years, the cows together with their progeny weighed 741 kg and the heifers 374 kg. The average daily body weight gain in beef calves (1 044 g) was twice of that measured in the heifers (546 g). Body weight of the cows remained quite constant on average. Dry matter intakes were 17.0 and 8.2 kg/d, and 118 and 96 g/kg0.75 body weight in suckler cows with progeny and heifers, respectively. On all pastures, cattle of both categories selected herbage of similar energy and protein content. Digestibilities of organic matter (73–74 %) and fibre (NDF, 69 %) were similar between categories, though differing among pastures. Nitrogen utilisation was equal in both categories (8 % of intake), but varied among pastures (11 %, 8 % and 5 % on P1, P2 and P3, respectively) and years (11 % and 6 % in years A and B) due to different herbage N contents and intakes. When related to intake, also excretion of faecal and urinary N was equal in both categories. Faecal P losses relative to weight gain were similar in both categories but differed between pastures and years. The results demonstrated unexpectedly similar nutrient use efficiencies and relative N and P losses of the two livestock system options currently common in utilising of mountainous pasture.

scholarly journals Supplementing Trace Minerals to Beef Cows during Gestation to Enhance Productive and Health Responses of the Offspring

Animals ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (4) ◽  
pp. 1159
Author(s):  
Kelsey Margaret Harvey ◽  
Reinaldo Fernandes Cooke ◽  
Rodrigo da Silva Marques
Keyword(s):  
Respiratory Disease ◽  
Research Group ◽  
Production Systems ◽  
Bovine Respiratory Disease ◽  
Beef Cows ◽  
Trace Minerals ◽  
Nutritional Management ◽  
Beef Production ◽  
Developmental Processes

Nutritional management during gestation is critical to optimize the efficiency and profitability of beef production systems. Given the essentiality of trace minerals to fetal developmental processes, their supplementation represents one approach to optimize offspring productivity. Our research group investigated the impacts of supplementing gestating beef cows with organic-complexed (AAC) or inorganic sources (INR) of Co, Cu, Mn, or Zn on productive and health responses of the progeny. Calves born to AAC supplemented cows had reduced incidence of bovine respiratory disease and were >20 kg heavier from weaning until slaughter compared to unsupplemented cohorts. Complementing these findings, heifer progeny born to AAC supplemented cows had accelerated puberty attainment. Collectively, research demonstrates supplementing trace minerals to gestating beef cows may be a strategy to enhance offspring productivity in beef production systems.

scholarly journals Environmental Sustainability in Beef Production and Life Cycle Assessment as a Tool for Analysis

2020 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 11-25
Author(s):  
Pedro Henrique Presumido ◽  
Fernando Sousa ◽  
Artur Gonçalves ◽  
Tatiane Cristina Dal Bosco ◽  
Manuel Feliciano
Keyword(s):  
Life Cycle Assessment ◽  
Life Cycle ◽  
Environmental Sustainability ◽  
Environmental Performance ◽  
Production Systems ◽  
Meat Production ◽  
Beef Production ◽  
Conservation Of Natural Resources ◽  
Intuitive Method ◽  
The Impact

The sustainability of meat production systems has been highlighted by the impact on the environment and the conservation of natural resources. The aim of this manuscript is to provide a specific review of the environmental sustainability of beef production in a life cycle assessment (LCA) context. Questions about the main environmental impacts caused by beef production were discussed. The phases of the LCA were detailed as well as the main functional units, boundaries of the systems and categories of impacts used in recent studies. LCA is a fast, easy and intuitive method that correlates human activities and their environmental performance in different sectors, such as beef production.

scholarly journals Impacts of red meat production on biodiversity in Australia: a review and comparison with alternative protein production industries

2010 ◽  
Vol 50 (8) ◽  
pp. 723 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. E. Williams ◽  
R. J. Price
Keyword(s):  
Protein Production ◽  
Production Systems ◽  
Red Meat ◽  
Meat Production ◽  
Potential Contribution ◽  
Meat Industry ◽  
Farming Community ◽  
Relative Potential ◽  
Terrestrial Biodiversity ◽  
The Impact

All food production systems are under pressure to comply with societal expectations that the produce is not only of good nutritional value but is also sustainably produced. This review compares the performance of the red meat industry in Australia against white meat, plant-protein and other protein production systems across a range of biodiversity pressures through a review of over 500 peer-reviewed and other scientific sources. The review finds that taking into account the past legacy of red meat production systems, these industries make the largest relative potential contribution to the impact on terrestrial biodiversity in Australia, by both the area covered and the nature of the impacts. The review also finds that many initiatives of the beef and sheep industries have the potential to improve the management of biodiversity. To minimise the impact of beef and sheep meat systems on biodiversity, the conservation of natural resources needs to become a core and integral part of production systems, rather than it being perceived as an optional extra if times are good. To help address these challenges, stewardship payments for the ecosystem services (such as carbon, water and biodiversity) provided by the farming community to the wider society warrant further consideration.

scholarly journals Scientometrics Approach to Research in Ovine Mastitis from 1970 to 2019 (with a Complete List of Relevant Literature References)

Pathogens ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (7) ◽  
pp. 585
Author(s):  
Daphne T. Lianou ◽  
George C. Fthenakis
Keyword(s):  
Risk Factors ◽  
Small Ruminant ◽  
Production Systems ◽  
Relevant Literature ◽  
Meat Production ◽  
Dairy Production ◽  
Scientific Content ◽  
Contagious Agalactia ◽  
Search Terms ◽  
Dairy Science

The present study is a scientometrics evaluation of refereed publications on bacterial mastitis in sheep; the objectives were the evaluation of the relevant papers and the presentation of quantitative characteristics regarding their scientific content and bibliometric details. The Web of Science platform was used with search terms: [mastitis OR *mammary infection*] AND [sheep OR ewe* OR ovine] for papers from 1970 tο 2019; only ‘articles’, ‘reviews’, ‘proceedings papers’, or ‘data papers’ were evaluated, whilst documents related solely to contagious agalactia, mammary aspects of lentiviral infections, or infections of the teats and the udder skin were excluded. Finally, 580 papers were considered in detail. The number of published papers increased from 8 during the 1970s to 273 during the 2010s. These papers originated from 43 countries (most from Greece or Spain, n = 87 from each) and 240 institutions (145 universities and 95 other establishments), of which 35 produced ≥ 5 papers each. Most papers present original studies (n = 539) with a few reviews (n = 41). The original papers refer to dairy (n = 428), meat (n = 113), or wool (n = 1) production systems and present field (n = 329), laboratory (n = 163), or experimental (n = 67) work; the papers report aetiology (n = 146), risk factors (n = 100), pathogenesis (n = 92), diagnosis (n = 88), effects (n = 66), treatment (n = 50), control (n = 36), or descriptive epidemiology (n = 32) of the disease. Papers related to dairy production present more field and fewer experimental work than papers related to meat production; also, in papers describing work performed in dairy sheep, studies about aetiology, risk factors, and diagnosis of the disease predominate, whilst in papers performed in meat sheep, studies about aetiology, pathogenesis, and effects/diagnosis are reported more often. The papers were published in 175 scientific journals (most in Small Ruminant Research, n = 90, or Journal of Dairy Science, n = 54). On average, the papers received 16.8 total citations and 1.6 yearly citations (h-index = 47). Most papers were published in Scimago classification Q1 (n = 240) or Q2 (n = 230) journals and received 23.4 or 15.4 total citations, respectively. Reviews received more citations than original papers; among the latter, papers with work referring to dairy production received more yearly citations than papers referring to meat production; no differences in citations were seen according to type of work or mastitis aspect covered. Most citations were received by papers from France. Papers published in Journal of Dairy Science or Small Ruminant Research received the most citations. In total, there were 1558 individual authors of the papers, with 24 authors having co-authored > 10 papers each (max: 73 papers); on average, there were 5.2 co-authors per paper (min–max: 1–25). Average number of co-authors progressively increased from 2.1 in the 1970s to 6.3 in the 2010s, with original papers having a higher number of co-authors than reviews: 5.3 and 3.7, respectively. Papers from France had highers number of co-authors (7.9). The findings of this first ever scientometrics study into ovine mastitis indicate that the disease has not been studied as other sheep diseases and that future studies in it should be directed to its control.

An economic evaluation of traditional twinning and sex-controlled systems of beef production in southern Australia

1993 ◽  
Vol 44 (7) ◽  
pp. 1541 ◽  
Author(s):  
RM Herd ◽  
BW Bootle ◽  
DC Parfett
Keyword(s):  
Production System ◽  
Management Practices ◽  
High Efficiency ◽  
Production Systems ◽  
Feed Consumption ◽  
Meat Production ◽  
Efficient Production ◽  
Beef Production ◽  
Efficient System ◽  
Single Sex

On a representative farm in southern Australia, the efficiency of beef production might be improved l.8 fold through changes in management practices and adoption of new techniques to induce twinning and to regulate the sex of calves born. Twenty-six modelled production systems were examined. Two of the three most efficient systems (kg meat per unit feed energy) produced crossbred calves, used twinning to produce more calves and sold them at yearling (18 months) rather than weaner (7 months) age. The other most efficient system was a single-sex all-female production system. Profit was calculated for each production system using a gross margins analysis (that is, total income minus variable costs). This, with the pattern of feed supply, feed consumption and labour use for each production system, was used in a linear programming model of a 'representative farm' to determine the optimum (most profitable) beef production system. Two of the three most efficient production systems were also the most profitable, being more than twice as profitable as the simplest traditional systems. The high cost of producing single-sex calves in the all-female system made it, and other systems using sex-control, unprofitable. Cows in systems with high net returns were very productive, had a high efficiency of lean meat production, but also a high feed requirement which forced a reduction in the optimum (most profitable) number of cows for the representative farm. Good management and attention to feed supply will be essential for these more profitable systems to be sustainable.

AN ECONOMICAL STUDY TO MEASUREMENT OF MARKETING EFFICIENCY IN CALF FATTENING FIELDS IN NINEVEH GOVERNORATE(2018)

2020 ◽  
Vol 51 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Abdullah & Al-Taye
Keyword(s):  
Commodity Prices ◽  
Red Meat ◽  
Production Costs ◽  
Meat Production ◽  
Marketing Efficiency ◽  
Basic Source ◽  
Essential Nutrient ◽  
High Production ◽  
Marketing Costs ◽  
Marketing Margins

This study was aimed at assessing marketing efficiency in the main sites of meat production of calf fattening fields in the private sector due to the importance of meat, especially red meat, which has essential nutrient for human body growth and high commodity prices depending on the measurement indicators used to suit the nature of the research conducted in calves fattening production fields in Gogjali region- Nineveh  (2018). The basic source data of the study is obtained from sources on the ongoing ground- marketing questionnaire of three levels, the producer, the wholesaler, the retailer and two fields groups of caste random sample. The first group included (100) fields with imported calves class. The second included (51) fields with local calves class. Whereas, according to the production and marketing costs indicator, the average of marketing efficiency (ME1 ) of marketed meat in both groups of claves fattening fields amounted (92.47, 93.39%) respectively for a kilogram which is a sign of high production costs and, according to the marketing margins indicator, the average of marketing efficiency (ME2 ) of marketed meat in both groups of claves fattening fields amounted (86.89,79.13 %) for per kg which is a sign of high marketing margins. Thus the study concluded a high value of marketing efficiency using the first scale with the fattening period time for both groups while marketing efficiency by using the second scale was characterized by the gradual decline in the imported fattening fields and a gradual rise in the local fattening fields.  The study recommends supporting production inputs (fodder, treatment), unifying markets and limiting the    importation of red meat importation  in order to obtain a good production and currency policy by which the production costs could be reduced to the minimum .

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