scholarly journals Dairy Sheep and Goat Farmers: Socio-Demographic Characteristics and Their Associations with Health Management and Performance on Farms

Land ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (12) ◽  
pp. 1358
Author(s):  
Daphne T. Lianou ◽  
George C. Fthenakis
Keyword(s):  
Secondary Education ◽  
Milk Production ◽  
Management Practices ◽  
Demographic Characteristics ◽  
Farm Workers ◽  
Laboratory Evaluation ◽  
Dairy Sheep ◽  
Dairy Farmers ◽  
Post Secondary ◽  
The Mean

The objectives were to determine the socio-demographic profiles of small ruminant dairy farmers and to study associations with management practices, production outcomes and health parameters on their farms. In total, 325 sheep flocks and 119 goat herds across Greece were included in the study and visited for collection of information. Socio-demographic characteristics of the dairy farmers and details of management practices, production outcomes and health parameters on their farms were recorded. For the analysis of results, multivariable models were created using mixed-effects logistic regression, with farms as the random effect. Most dairy farmers were male (93.2%), most were full-time professionals in farming (89.4%) and most had a farming family tradition (86.9%). The mean age was 47.0 years and the mean farming experience was 24.3 years. For 17.3% of the farmers, the highest level of education received was primary education, for 54.3% it was secondary education, for 16.4% it was post-secondary vocational training and for 12.0% it was tertiary education. In 35.4% of dairy farms, external farm workers were employed. Of the socio-demographic characteristics, farming experience was associated with geographical location of farms, management system, breed of animals, application of quarantine measures, laboratory evaluation of feedstuffs, ultrasonographic examination for pregnancy diagnosis, application of vaccination against clostridial infections, means of calculation of bodyweight for drug administration to animals, maintenance of colostrum bank, number of annual veterinary visits, annual milk production per animal, number of newborns and somatic cell counts and total bacterial counts in milk. Further, the employment of external farm workers on the farm was associated with management system, machine-milking, number and breed of animals, application of quarantine measures, laboratory evaluation of feedstuffs, ultrasonographic examination for pregnancy diagnosis, number of annual veterinary visits, annual milk production per animal, protein content in milk and number of newborns. The findings indicate that dairy sheep/goat farming is still a family-driven business, but, nevertheless, there are now younger people among these farmers, many of them with post-secondary education. Socio-demographic characteristics may influence the management practices applied, which in turn can have consequences for production and health results of the farms.

Survey of management practices used by Brazilian dairy farmers and recommendations provided by 43 dairy cattle nutritionists

2019 ◽  
Vol 99 (4) ◽  
pp. 890-904 ◽  
Author(s):  
Diego P. Silva ◽  
Alexandre M. Pedroso ◽  
Murillo C.S. Pereira ◽  
Gustavo P. Bertoldi ◽  
Daniel H.M. Watanabe ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Dairy Cattle ◽  
Health Problem ◽  
Management Practices ◽  
Primary Source ◽  
Dairy Farmers ◽  
Web Based ◽  
Major Health Problem ◽  
Major Health ◽  
Nutritional Recommendations ◽  
The Mean

This work aimed to survey management practices used by dairy farmers and to report nutritional recommendations adopted by 43 dairy cattle nutritionists in Brazil. The web-based survey consisted of 80 questions. Almost 50% of the participants had clients that produce <1000 kg of milk daily and 48.8% had clients who own fewer than 100 dairy cows. Corn was the primary source of grain (97.4%), and 43.9% of the nutritionists included from 41% to 50% concentrate in lactation diets. The mean roughage inclusion in lactation diets was 50.5% and 79% of the nutritionists reported corn silage as the primary roughage source. Average crude protein and rumen-degradable protein concentrations recommended by the nutritionists for lactation diets were 15.7% and 9%, respectively. Average Ca and P concentrations recommended for lactation diets were 0.70% and 0.41%, respectively. The major health problem reported by 83.9% of the nutritionists was mastitis. The present survey provides an overview of management practices adopted by dairy farmers and nutritional recommendations currently applied by dairy cattle nutritionists in Brazil. The most critical points identified were low milk yield, mastitis as the major health problem, lack of proper mixing and delivery of rations, and destination of male calves.

scholarly journals Health management practices and disease prevalence in dairy sheep systems in Argentina

2009 ◽  
Vol 29 (11) ◽  
pp. 931-937 ◽  
Author(s):  
Victor H. Suárez ◽  
Margarita R. Busetti
Keyword(s):  
Management Practices ◽  
Health Management ◽  
Clinical Mastitis ◽  
Gastrointestinal Nematodes ◽  
Dairy Sheep ◽  
Cross Sectional Survey ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Mating Period ◽  
Regular Treatment ◽  
The Mean

A cross-sectional survey of 19 dairy sheep farms in Argentina was carried out with the purpose to know farm management, health practices, and occurrence and mortality of diseases. The survey comprised 40% of all sheep milking farms in Argentina. A questionnaire was conducted by way of personal interviews with sheep owners during farm visits. The proportions of farms reporting routine vaccination for clostridial diseases, contagious ecthyma, pneumonia and mineral and vitamin parenteral administration were 63%, 47.3%, 16.6% and 42.1% respectively. Regular treatment against lice was used in 37.5% of the farms, and 89.5% o the farmers treated against gastrointestinal nematodes (GIN). The mean number of GIN drenches per farm was 2.26±1.78 annually. In 68.4% of the milking flocks the California Mastitis Test was regularly done and 55.6% of the farmer managers had sampled their flocks once a year for Brucella ovis antibodies. During the pre-mating period respectively 68.4% and 50% of farmers clinically examined their rams and ewe for general health and teeth condition. The udders of ewes were frequently inspected at the start of each milking period. The most important parasite problems noticed were GIN (reported by 57.9% of farmers), lice (57.9%) and scabies (10.5%) and the most frequent infectious diseases were ecthyma (73.7%), pneumonia and other respiratory problems (57.9%), clinical mastitis (55.6%), clostridial diseases (36.9%) and foot lameness (35.2%). Photosensitivity (47.4%) and ruminal acidosis (42.1%) were reported as other frequent toxic or metabolic disorders. Owners mentioned that the mean lifespan or milk productive time per ewe was 4.5±1.4 years. Perinatal lamb mortality was 8.5% and the total flock mortality rates, above the first 24 h of life was 6.9%. The high rates of lamb mortality during the pre-weaning (10.3%) and post-weaning (5.9%) periods indicate that this problem, as well as the most prevalent diseases, should be the subject of further studies.

Level of Adoption of Good Management Practices by Dairy Farmers in Haryana

2021 ◽  
Vol 37 (1) ◽  
pp. 8-20
Author(s):  
Manju Loura ◽  
Suman Ghalawat ◽  
Joginder Singh Malik ◽  
K.K. Kundu ◽  
K.K. Yadav ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Management Practices ◽  
Animal Health ◽  
Dairy Farm ◽  
Mean Value ◽  
Primary Data ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
High Morbidity ◽  
Dairy Farmers ◽  
Direct Benefits ◽  
The Mean

India contributes the largest to the world milk production. The main objective of the study is to investigate the different technologies adopted by dairy farmers in Haryana. Primary data was collected from 200 dairy farmers from different places in Haryana state. The study was conducted in Haryana study revealed that among all the good dairy practices animal health practices was followed by majority of the dairy farmers and the corresponding mean value was 1.75 and the rank was 1st, followed by management practices (corresponding mean value 2.02 and rank 2nd), hygiene milking practices (corresponding mean value 2.12 and rank 3rd), animal wellbeing (corresponding mean value 2.23 and rank 4th), nutrition (corresponding mean value 2.56 and rank 5th), and environment practices with corresponding mean value 2.57, were least preferred or we may say least adopted by dairy farmers hence environment practices was given rank 6th.Poor animal health is one of the principal constraints to increasing small-scale dairy productivity, as it results in high morbidity and low production. Overcoming this constraint could significantly improve productivity and results in real and direct benefits for producers. The IBM SPSS22 software was used to calculate the mean score of the statements based on Likert 5-point scale.This study gives us an idea about how we start a dairy farm and what management practices should be adopted.

scholarly journals Integrated Management of Downy Mildew on Slicing Cucumber With Fungicides and Host Resistance But Not Trellising

Plant Disease ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 103 (10) ◽  
pp. 2592-2598
Author(s):  
Anthony P. Keinath
Keyword(s):  
Downy Mildew ◽  
Host Resistance ◽  
Management Practices ◽  
Integrated Management ◽  
Cultivar Resistance ◽  
Fall Season ◽  
Fungicide Treatment ◽  
Progress Curve ◽  
Management Techniques ◽  
The Mean

The objective of this study was to evaluate fungicide applications, host resistance, and trellising, alone and in combination, as management practices for downy mildew on slicing cucumber. A split-split plot experimental design was used with three and four replications in spring and fall 2017, respectively. The whole-plot treatment was fungicide, four applications of chlorothalonil (Bravo Weather Stik 6SC) alternated with three applications of cyazofamid (Ranman 400SC), or water. Split plots were nontrellised or trellised with four strings supported by stakes. Split-split plots were cultivar Bristol, which is intermediately resistant to downy mildew, or cultivar Speedway, which is susceptible to downy mildew with similar parentage as Bristol. In both seasons, area under the disease progress curve (AUDPC) values were lower with fungicides than water for both cultivars. In the spring, AUDPC for Bristol was lower than for Speedway regardless of fungicide treatment. In the fall, Bristol had a lower AUDPC than Speedway with fungicides, but the AUDPC did not differ between the two cultivars with water. The mean AUDPC for trellised plants (376.2) was lower than for nontrellised plants (434.0; P = 0.007). Fungicide applications increased marketable and total fruit weights in both seasons (P ≤ 0.0002). Marketable weight with fungicides was almost double (93% greater) the marketable weight with water. Marketable weight was 55% greater for Bristol than for Speedway in spring, but yields did not differ between cultivars in fall (season-by-cultivar interaction, P ≤ 0.0003). Because trellising had no effect on marketable yields (P = 0.11), trellising is not recommended for managing downy mildew on slicing cucumber. Of the three management techniques examined, fungicides had the largest effects on disease and yields, followed by cultivar resistance.

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