Knowledge and Perception on Animal Welfare in Chilean Undergraduate Students with Emphasis on Dairy Cattle

The objectives of this study were to determine differences in knowledge and perception of animal welfare (with emphasis on dairy cattle) among undergraduate students from two universities with different missions and visions and between students from different faculties. One thousand surveys were obtained from Universidad de Chile (UChile; n = 500) and Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile (PUC; n = 500) students. The students from both universities were from the following faculties: Agronomy, Architecture, Biology, Economic Sciences, Psychology, Law, Philosophy, Basic Education, Civil Engineering and Medicine. The majority (77%) of students from both universities were aware of animal welfare. Most (56%) students understand animal welfare as the ’mental and physical state of animals’. Regardless of their faculty, around 97% of the total respondents perceived animal welfare as important for production systems. Regarding specific knowledge about cows’ welfare related to milk management and behavior, students from Economic Sciences, Psychology, Law, Philosophy, Basic Education, and Civil Engineering had less (p < 0.001) self-reported knowledge about cows´ basic behavior and specific management practices such as milking and were more negative in their perceptions of dairy production. Overall, results showed that the students’ faculty explained most of the differences among undergraduate students in relation to their perceptions and knowledge about animal welfare. Our data is important, as undergraduate students will make purchasing and power decisions as well as having potential influence on future policies that could modify the animal production industry.

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Characterization of the factors associated with the growth phase of dairy cattle in family farming

Semina Ciências Agrárias ◽

10.5433/1679-0359.2018v39n4p1653 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 39 (4) ◽

pp. 1653

Author(s):

Rodrigo De Andrade Ferrazza ◽

Gilvando Fabio Uliana de Moura ◽

Marcos Aurélio Lopes

Keyword(s):

Dairy Cattle ◽

Growth Phase ◽

Management Practices ◽

Production Systems ◽

Family Farming ◽

Factors Associated ◽

Family Farmers ◽

Survey Form ◽

Husbandry System ◽

Transition Milk

The aim of this study was to characterize the factors associated with the growth phase of dairy cattle used in family farming. We investigated 20 family-run milk production systems located in the Conceição de Ipanema municipality, MG, Brazil. Farmers were interviewed using a semi-structured survey form containing 152 questions. The questions were aimed at characterizing the farmer, herd, and husbandry system at pre- and post-weaning phases. Data were processed by using Sphinx® software, and descriptive analyses were performed in MS Excel® software. The results showed strengths, including navel healing (100%), location of the calf housing above (45%) or next to the pen (35%), and existence of a sanitary calendar (90%). However, several limitations in the management of calves and heifers were identified, such as lack of zootechnical bookkeeping (55%), manual milking with calf at the foot (65%), absence of herd sizing (100%), no routine weighing of calves (95%), incorrect colostrum management (80%), non-supply of transition milk to calves (85%), and likely failure to diagnose diseases by a fraction of the farmers. Thus, training regarding adequate management practices by extension technicians is imperative, along with the formulation of public policies that comply with the aspirations of family farmers, while promoting their economic and social sustainability.

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Farm Animal Welfare and Handling in the Tropics: The Ethiopia Case

Advances in Agriculture ◽

10.1155/2014/428129 ◽

2014 ◽

Vol 2014 ◽

pp. 1-7

Author(s):

Bimrew Asmare

Keyword(s):

Animal Welfare ◽

Production Management ◽

Management Practices ◽

Production Systems ◽

Farm Animal ◽

Farm Animals ◽

Farm Animal Welfare ◽

The Tropics ◽

The Relationship ◽

Ethical Basis

The issue of farm animal welfare has become increasingly of essence in many countries these days. Farm animal welfare concerns are expressed about the conditions in which farm animals are kept and management practices, particularly in systems where animals are kept in confinement for most of their lives, feed methods, health care, and expression of normal behaviors. The use of an ethical basis for animal welfare standards requires some generally accepted principles on how animals should be treated and used by humans. Animals have enormous capacity to feel a huge range of emotions, to learn from their experiences, to adapt to challenges, and to suffer when their needs are either ignored or disrespected. It is now time, in the evolution of the relationship between humans and animals, to move forward with this knowledge and take real action to improve the lives of farm animals. The use of behavioral principles should improve efficiency of livestock handling and reduce stress on animals. Changing public opinion about the importance of good animal welfare and applying legislative actions will be important in animal production systems especially in developing countries where the poor animal welfare is immense and production management is below substandards.

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Productive and reproductive performance of crossbred and indigenous dairy cows at smallholdings in selected towns of Jimma Zone, Ethiopia

Animal Production Science ◽

10.1071/an19380 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 61 (1) ◽

pp. 92

Author(s):

Belay Duguma

Keyword(s):

Dairy Cattle ◽

Dairy Cows ◽

Milk Yield ◽

Reproductive Performance ◽

Management Practices ◽

Production Systems ◽

Management Strategies ◽

Factors Affecting ◽

Jimma Zone ◽

Improvement Programs

Context Evaluation of the performance of dairy cows kept in different production systems is essential for the development of appropriate breeding strategies. Aims To examine milk production and reproductive performance of crossbred (CB) and indigenous (I) dairy cows, farmers’ traits preference for CB and I breeding females, and factors affecting the performance of dairy cattle on smallholdings in selected towns of Jimma Zone, Ethiopia. Methods In total, 52 smallholder dairy cattle farmers were randomly sampled and data were collected through individual face-to-face interviews by using structured questionnaires. The traits studied were daily milk yield (DMY), lactation milk yield (LMY), lactation length (LL), age at first service (AFS), age at first calving (AFC), calving interval (CI), days open (DO), and number of service per conception (NSC), all being factors affecting performance of dairy cattle and farmers’ preferred dairy traits. Results On average, CB cows had significantly (P < 0.05) higher DMY (6.0 ± 0.33 vs 1.8 ± 0.07 L/cow), LMY (1466.7 ± 1.13 vs 376.0 ± 21.02 L (L)), LL (8.1 ± 0.41 vs 6.9 ± 0.22 months), and lower AFS (2.69 ± 0.1 vs 3.3 ± 0.07 years), AFC (3.7 ± 0.13 vs 4.3 ± 0.07 years) and CI (21.2 ± 1.37 vs 29.8 ± 1.30 months) than did I cows. However, DO and NSC were not significantly (P > 0.05) affected by genotype. In order of perceived importance, high milk yield (mean rank = 0.306), LL (0.292) and fertility (0.199) were farmers’ most preferred traits for CB breeding cows, and the corresponding preferred traits for I cows were high milk yield (0.253), adaptability (0.229) and LL (0.192). The most important factors perceived by farmers affecting the performance of dairy cattle were breed, nutrition, diseases, breeding and management practices Conclusions The findings of the study indicated that even though CB cows performed better, the performance of both breeds of dairy cows in the study area was found to be generally low due to delayed AFS, late AFC, long CI, shorter LL, low daily and LMY and high NSC. Implications The study highlighted that there is a potential for increasing the performance of dairy cows in the study area, through improved management strategies leading to shorter AFS, AFC, CI and lower NSC. Furthermore, future breed-improvement programs should take into consideration farmers’ trait preferences in design of sustainable improvement programs.

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Animal Welfare and Production Challenges Associated with Pasture Pig Systems: A Review

Agriculture ◽

10.3390/agriculture10060223 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 10 (6) ◽

pp. 223 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Silvana Pietrosemoli ◽

Clara Tang

Keyword(s):

Animal Welfare ◽

Production System ◽

Management Practices ◽

Production Systems ◽

Management Strategies ◽

Extreme Temperatures ◽

Pig Production ◽

Potential Contact ◽

Piglet Mortality ◽

Cleaning And Disinfection

A review of published literature was conducted to identify pasture pig production system features that pose risks to animal welfare, and to develop recommendations aimed at improving the wellbeing of the animals managed in those systems. Pasture pig production systems present specific challenges to animal welfare that are inherent to the nature of these systems where producers have little room to make improvements. However, these systems present other challenges that could be reduced with a carefully designed system, by adopting appropriate management strategies and by avoiding management practices that are likely to negatively affect animal wellbeing. In pasture pig production systems, exposure to extreme temperatures, potential contact with wildlife and pathogens (especially parasites), vulnerability to predators, risk of malnutrition, pre-weaning piglet mortality, complexity of processes for monitoring and treating sick animals, and for cleaning and disinfection of facilities and equipment are among the main threats to animal welfare.

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Gut microbiota resilience in horse athletes following holidays out to pasture

Scientific Reports ◽

10.1038/s41598-021-84497-y ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 11 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Núria Mach ◽

Léa Lansade ◽

David Bars-Cortina ◽

Sophie Dhorne-Pollet ◽

Aline Foury ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Gut Microbiota ◽

Animal Welfare ◽

Management Practices ◽

Fecal Microbiota ◽

Microbiota Composition ◽

Beneficial Effects ◽

Withdrawn Behavior ◽

Before And After ◽

And Behavior ◽

And Control

AbstractElite horse athletes that live in individual boxes and train and compete for hours experience long-term physical and mental stress that compromises animal welfare and alters the gut microbiota. We therefore assessed if a temporary period out to pasture with conspecifics could improve animal welfare and in turn, favorably affect intestinal microbiota composition. A total of 27 athletes were monitored before and after a period of 1.5 months out to pasture, and their fecal microbiota and behavior profiles were compared to those of 18 horses kept in individual boxes. The overall diversity and microbiota composition of pasture and control individuals were temporally similar, suggesting resilience to environmental challenges. However, pasture exposure induced an increase in Ruminococcus and Coprococcus that lasted 1-month after the return to individual boxes, which may have promoted beneficial effects on health and welfare. Associations between the gut microbiota composition and behavior indicating poor welfare were established. Furthermore, withdrawn behavior was associated with the relative abundances of Lachnospiraceae AC2044 group and Clostridiales family XIII. Both accommodate a large part of butyrate-producing bacterial genera. While we cannot infer causality within this study, arguably, these findings suggest that management practices maintained over a longer period of time may moderate the behavior link to the gut ecosystem beyond its resilience potential.

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A Conceptual Model of Grassland-Based Beef Systems

International Journal of Agricultural and Environmental Information Systems ◽

10.4018/jaeis.2011010102 ◽

2011 ◽

Vol 2 (1) ◽

pp. 20-39 ◽

Cited By ~ 6

Author(s):

Guillaume Martin ◽

Roger Martin-Clouaire ◽

Jean-Pierre Rellier ◽

Michel Duru

Keyword(s):

Conceptual Model ◽

Management Practices ◽

Production Systems ◽

Management Strategies ◽

Specific Knowledge ◽

Biophysical Processes ◽

Farm Scale ◽

Context Specific ◽

Production Objectives ◽

Agricultural Production Systems

Fulfilling the production objectives of a grassland-based beef system requires a robust management strategy to secure the best practicable use of forage resources with regard to the cattle demand. To address the challenging issue of designing such strategies, this article describes the application of an ontology of agricultural production systems to the generic conceptual model SEDIVER, which supports the representation and dynamic farm-scale simulation of specific grassland-based beef systems. The most salient and novel aspects of SEDIVER concern the explicit modeling of (a) the diversity in plant, grassland, animal and farmland, and (b) management strategies that deal with the planning and coordination of activities whereby the farmer controls the biophysical processes. By using the SEDIVER conceptual framework, part of the subjective and context-specific knowledge used in farm management can be captured and, in this way, enable scientific investigation of management practices.

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Does basic education students know the importance of agroecology production systems for the conservation of biodiversity?

Research Society and Development ◽

10.33448/rsd-v9i4.2784 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 9 (4) ◽

pp. e04942784

Author(s):

Andrea Aline Mombach ◽

Carla Grasiele Zanin Hegel ◽

Rogério Luis Cansian ◽

Sônia Beatris Balvedi Zakrzevski

Keyword(s):

Student Perceptions ◽

Rural Areas ◽

Water Conservation ◽

Social Transformation ◽

Basic Education ◽

Production Systems ◽

Agricultural Systems ◽

Education Students ◽

Chi Square ◽

Conservation Of Biodiversity

The perception of a basic education of the importance of agroecological agricultural systems for human and environmental health is fundamental for changes in consumption habits, the conservation of local biodiversity and long-term social transformation. We analyzed, by utilizing a questionnaire consisting of open and closed questions, the perceptions about agroecological and conventional agricultural production systems in 360 final students of basic education residing in nine Functional Planning Regions of southern Brazil. We used classification categories for answers within thematic axes, expressed in percentages and analyzed by means of Chi-square and Kruskal-Wallis tests. In general, students recognize agroecological systems as healthier for their families and for soil and water conservation, largely because they do not use agrochemicals. However, they demonstrated difficulties when arguing their importance for the conservation of biodiversity, ecosystems and for ensuring the food security of populations. Television was the main source of information related to agroecology, mainly for students residing in rural areas, thus pointing out shortcomings in basic education regarding the approach of the theme in schools. Our results show the need to build a complex network of knowledge and discussions on agroecological agricultural systems in basic education, involving changes in student perceptions, behaviors and sustainable choices.

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Nitrate Leaching to a Shallow Mid-Atlantic Coastal Plain Aquifer as Influenced by Conventional No-Till and Low-Input Sustainable Grain Production Systems

Water Science & Technology ◽

10.2166/wst.1993.0475 ◽

1993 ◽

Vol 28 (3-5) ◽

pp. 691-700 ◽

Cited By ~ 7

Author(s):

J. P. Craig ◽

R. R. Weil

Keyword(s):

Management Practices ◽

Production Systems ◽

Cropping Systems ◽

Cropping System ◽

Atlantic Coastal Plain ◽

Grain Production ◽

Nitrogen And Phosphorus ◽

Mineral N ◽

Low Input ◽

No Till

In December, 1987, the states in the Chesapeake Bay region, along with the federal government, signed an agreement which called for a 40% reduction in nitrogen and phosphorus loadings to the Bay by the year 2000. To accomplish this goal, major reductions in nutrient loadings associated with agricultural management practices were deemed necessary. The objective of this study was to determine if reducing fertilizer inputs to the NT system would result in a reduction in nitrogen contamination of groundwater. In this study, groundwater, soil, and percolate samples were collected from two cropping systems. The first system was a conventional no-till (NT) grain production system with a two-year rotation of corn/winter wheat/double crop soybean. The second system, denoted low-input sustainable agriculture (LISA), produced the same crops using a winter legume and relay-cropped soybeans into standing wheat to reduce nitrogen and herbicide inputs. Nitrate-nitrogen concentrations in groundwater were significantly lower under the LISA system. Over 80% of the NT groundwater samples had NO3-N concentrations greater than 10 mgl-1, compared to only 4% for the LISA cropping system. Significantly lower soil mineral N to a depth of 180 cm was also observed. The NT soil had nearly twice as much mineral N present in the 90-180 cm portion than the LISA cropping system.

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Legumes increase grassland productivity with no effect on nitrous oxide emissions

Plant and Soil ◽

10.1007/s11104-019-04338-w ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 446 (1-2) ◽

pp. 163-177 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Arlete S. Barneze ◽

Jeanette Whitaker ◽

Niall P. McNamara ◽

Nicholas J. Ostle

Keyword(s):

Management Practices ◽

Production Systems ◽

N Uptake ◽

Relative Proportion ◽

Management Strategies ◽

Ghg Emissions ◽

Chemical Properties ◽

Nitrous Oxide Emissions ◽

Mineral N ◽

Grassland Productivity

Abstract Aims Grasslands are important agricultural production systems, where ecosystem functioning is affected by land management practices. Grass-legume mixtures are commonly cultivated to increase grassland productivity while reducing the need for nitrogen (N) fertiliser. However, little is known about the effect of this increase in productivity on greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in grass-legume mixtures. The aim of this study was to investigate interactions between the proportion of legumes in grass-legume mixtures and N-fertiliser addition on productivity and GHG emissions. We tested the hypotheses that an increase in the relative proportion of legumes would increase plant productivity and decrease GHG emissions, and the magnitude of these effects would be reduced by N-fertiliser addition. Methods This was tested in a controlled environment mesocosm experiment with one grass and one legume species grown in mixtures in different proportions, with or without N-fertiliser. The effects on N cycling processes were assessed by measurement of above- and below-ground biomass, shoot N uptake, soil physico-chemical properties and GHG emissions. Results Above-ground productivity and shoot N uptake were greater in legume-grass mixtures compared to grass or legume monocultures, in fertilised and unfertilised soils. However, we found no effect of legume proportion on N2O emissions, total soil N or mineral-N in fertilised or unfertilised soils. Conclusions This study shows that the inclusion of legumes in grass-legume mixtures positively affected productivity, however N cycle were in the short-term unaffected and mainly affected by nitrogen fertilisation. Legumes can be used in grassland management strategies to mitigate climate change by reducing crop demand for N-fertilisers.

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