Analysis of Sustainability In Livestock Production Systems In Cordoba, Colombia.

The concept of sustainability is usually broad; it refers to the ability of the system to meet the current demand for livestock products without compromising the use of resources by future generations. Therefore, this study has been conducted to provide an overview of rotational, intensive, and regenerative livestock models to evaluate and measure their level of sustainability in the environmental, social, and economic dimensions to guide livestock guilds, professionals and stakeholders to transform their agricultural systems by adopting the concept of sustainability. The results show that the regenerative livestock system has a high association with the economic dimension in the Almost Good category, in the environmental dimension in the Moderate category, and in the social dimension in the Almost Good and Very Good categories. On the other hand, the rotational livestock system and the intensive livestock system have an association with the environmental dimension categorized as good; however, the association of the intensive livestock system is not as strong as that of the rotational livestock system.

Sustainability of Livestock Systems in the Pampa Biome of Brazil: An Analysis Highlighting the Rangeland Dilemma

The objective of this study was to analyse the sustainability of different livestock systems in the Brazilian Pampa biome, from the perspective of the rangeland dilemma. We used the indicator-based framework for evaluating the sustainability of natural resource management systems (MESMIS). These were constructed for social, economic and environmental dimensions, and they were measured across a study suite of 115 establishments, representing the rangeland livestock system (RLS), intensive livestock system, and livestock–agricultural system (ALS). Indicator averages were compared between three systems via ANOVA and Tukey test. The results allocated a higher level of sustainability to RLS. When the three land-use systems were analysed across the dimensions, significant differences were found in their environmental sustainability, with the ALS presenting poorer results. Within each dimension, there were significant differences in the indicators for production systems, social participation and capital flow. We discussed two main points: the results found through the concept of the rangeland dilemma, by exploring its conditions, in addition to exposing the concept of functional integrity. In conclusion, an approach to develop policies for the Pampa is to recognize the rangeland as a “common good”, to generate income and stimulate the local economy.

Sheep in the Vineyard: First Insights into a New Integrated Crop–Livestock System in Central Europe

The multiple land use of agricultural areas is a building block for increased land use efficiency. Unlike monoculture, integrated crop–livestock systems optimally improve ecosystem services, making it an important field of research and application for adapting land use and food systems that have sustainability deficits. The integration of sheep in viticulture production is described as a promising example of an integrated crop–livestock system. While some studies of the integration of sheep into vineyards are already available for other parts of the world, there is still no research on its implementation in Central European viticulture systems. In order to fill this gap of knowledge, we conducted standardized interviews with 34 winegrowers who already graze sheep in their vineyards. The method allowed a wider overview of the implementation of the integrated crop-livestock system than would have been possible with other approaches. Furthermore, the authors kept sheep in their own vineyard for three years to evaluate the statements of the survey participants. The period during which sheep graze in vineyards is quite heterogeneous in Central Europe. Some farms use sheep only during vine dormancy; others also let sheep graze during a certain period in summer. There are also viticulture training systems where grazing is almost continuously possible. In Central Europe, summer grazing normally requires operational adjustments such as lifting the wires of the training system and branches of the vine; otherwise, the vines could be damaged. This option seems to be tailored to the training system in use. Some interviewees mentioned that sheep not only use the accompanying vegetation as fodder and therefore control the undervine growth, but in some cases, they were also able to replace other work processes, such as defoliating the grape zone or cleaning undesired vine shoots near the ground. However, a high additional workload due to livestock keeping was also mentioned by some survey participants. Some of the interviewees cooperate with shepherds, which could help to solve this challenge. Finally, we summarize possible opportunities and risks of this integrated crop–livestock system. Integrating sheep in vineyards seems to be quite feasible in the period of vine dormancy, whereas more information and considerably more effort is needed to integrate sheep during the vegetation period. Further research is needed to answer open questions especially for the necessary adaptions of the common vine training system or the implementation of alternative systems more suitable to combine with livestock keeping. Some practitioners found opportunities to merchandize the use of sheep in wine sales. This potentially unique selling point could be a solution for a broader consideration of sheep in vineyards.

Changes in Serum Thiol-Disulphide Homeostasis in Sheep with Gastrointestinal Nematodes

This work aimed to evaluate the thiol-disulphide homeostasis in serum of lambs naturally infected by gastrointestinal nematodes presenting different levels of parasite load indirectly indicated by faecal worm egg counts (EPG). Furthermore, the possible changes in the thiol-disulphide dynamic after different procedures to reduce the parasitic charge, such as the integrated crop-livestock system or anthelmintic treatment, were assessed. The results were compared with a panel of various oxidative stress and inflammatory biomarkers. The lambs were divided into three groups: animals highly infected (EPG higher than 5000) and packed cell volume (PCV) lower than 24% (G1); animals highly infected (EPG higher than 5000) and normal PCV (>24%) (G2); and animals presenting EPG lower than 5000 and normal PCV (>24%) (G3). The highly infected lambs (G1 and G2) showed lower total thiol (TT) and native thiol (SH) (p ≤ 0.01) than those from G3. After treatment, TT and SH increased significantly in all groups (p ≤ 0.01), and the disulphide (SS)/TT and SS/SH ratios decreased significantly (p < 0.01) in G1 and G2. These results show that the thiol-disulphide balance was impaired in lambs infected by gastrointestinal nematodes and that it could be potentially used as a biomarker to monitor this disease.