Promoting good health and welfare in European organic laying hens

Egg production in line with organic principles includes outdoor access, preferential use of preventative measures and alternative treatment methods, a 100% organic diet from 2012 onwards and consistent use of non beak-trimmed birds. This proposal focuses on the main challenges for organic laying hen farms regarding disease management, adverse animal welfare and negative impacts on the environment. Parasite infestation levels as well as prevalence of major health and welfare problems such as feather pecking, cannibalism, keel bone and foot lesions are affected by a combination of housing and management factors, e.g. with respect to feeding or hygiene, genotype or therapeutic treatments. The design and management of the range influence how well and evenly it is used by the hens and the extent to which nutrients accumulate in the surrounding environment. By adopting an epidemiological approach, major risk factors for diseases, and negative welfare and environmental impacts will be identified. 107 flocks distributed over 8 countries will be included in the observational study with a cross sectional design. Flocks will be visited twice at specified age periods during two seasons. Housing, management and animal based data will be recorded during interviews, direct measurements or from farm documentation. Recommendations will be formulated based on analyses carried out in four specific work packages. These recommendations will help organic egg producers to further develop bird health and welfare according to the organic principles, and to enhance economic competitiveness through improved bird health and performance

Constraints to the sustainability of a stockless arable rotation

The sustainability of an organic stockless arable rotation on a fertile soil in eastern England was assessed from 1990 to 2005. The good water and nutrient holding characteristics of the silty clay loam soil were well suited to a stockless organic rotation. Fertility-building clover crops were the most difficult to establish, and failed completely in some years despite one or two re-sowings. Crop yields were good, particularly for cereals, with an average for winter wheat of 7 t ha-1. Crop yield did not show any particular trend with time; there was no evidence of either a post conversion adjustment period, or a fall in yield due to declining fertility. High organic crop prices in the 1990s, resulted in significantly higher gross margins than from comparable non-organic farms. However, falling organic crop prices from 2000 resulted in profitability only similar to non-organic. Supply of N, P and K was probably not a major limitation to crop growth and yield. However, in the longer term, additions of sustainable sources of plant-available phosphorus and potassium would be necessary, even on the nutrient retentive and potassium rich soil. Effective mechanical weeding was difficult on the silty soil. The rotation favoured perennial weeds, particularly creeping thistle which increased progressively despite efforts at control with mechanical and hand weeding

ICOPP Report: Can the range contribute to the nutritional needs of organic pigs and poultry?

On-farm habitats, including woodlands, agroforestry, headlands, field margins and agri-environment scheme options such as game bird cover strips, support a wide diversity of floral and faunal resources that may provide opportunities to enhance feed provision from the range for monogastrics. There have been many biodiversity studies of these habitats and this desk study will collate these data and information to test the hypothesis that the range can contribute to the nutritional needs of pigs and poultry as part of the CORE Organic II project ICOPP

Modelling a two-dimensional spatial distribution of mycotoxin concentration in bulk commodities to design effective and efficient sample selection strategies

Mycotoxins in agricultural commodities are a hazard to human and animal health. Their heterogeneous spatial distribution in bulk storage or transport makes it particularly difficult to design effective and efficient sampling plans. There has been considerable emphasis on identifying the different sources of uncertainty associated with mycotoxin concentration estimations, but much less on identifying the effect of the spatial location of the sampling points. This study used a two-dimensional statistical modelling approach to produce detailed information on appropriate sampling strategies for surveillance of mycotoxins in raw food commodities. The emphasis was on deoxynivalenol (DON) and ochratoxin A (OTA) in large lots of grain in storage or bulk transport. The aim was to simulate a range of plausible distributions of mycotoxins in grain from a set of parameters characterising the distributions. For this purpose, a model was developed to generate data sets which were repeatedly sampled to investigate the effect that sampling strategy and the number of incremental samples has on determining the statistical properties of mycotoxin concentration. Results showed that, for most sample sizes, a regular grid proved to be more consistent and accurate in the estimation of the mean concentration of DON, which suggests that regular sampling strategies should be preferred to random sampling, where possible. For both strategies, the accuracy of the estimation of the mean concentration increased significantly up to sample sizes of 40-60 (depending on the simulation). The effect of sample size was small when it exceeded 60 points, which suggests that the maximum sample size required is of this order. Similar conclusions about the sample size apply to OTA, although the difference between regular and random sampling was small and probably negligible for most sample sizes

Strategien zu Umsetzung tierbezogener Kriterien entwickeln - Legehennengesundheit: Status quo und Zielgrößen

In dem workshop wurden erste Ergebnisse von 19 deutschen ökologischen Legehennenbetrieben aus dem europäischen Forschungsprojekt HealthyHens präsentiert. Auf dieser Basis wurden folgende Punkte diskutiert - die Anwendbarkeit der Tieruntersuchungen auf den Betrieben - der Nutzen der Untersuchungsergebnisse für die HennenhalterInnen, Zertifizierungs- und Kontrollstellen, KonsumentInnen und die Wissenschaft - Szenarien zur zukünftigen Anwendung - Vor- und Nachteile von Grenzwerten zu den Tiergesundheits-Parameter

Identification of Novel Pesticides for Use against Glasshouse Invertebrate Pests in UK Tomatoes and Peppers

To inform current and future pesticide availability to glasshouse vegetable growers, the current project trialled more than twenty products, including existing industry standards, against four key pests of glasshouse tomatoes and bell peppers. These included experimental conventional chemical pesticides as well as alternative biopesticide and biorational products based on phytochemicals, microbials and physically-acting substances. The results suggest that certain biopesticide products, particularly botanicals, provide good levels of pest control, with the same being true of experimental conventional chemical pesticides not yet recommended for use against these pests on these crops. Efforts are on-going to ensure that results of the current project translate to industry benefit via new pesticide approvals

Forest Fires in Greece and Their Economic Impacts on Agriculture

Forest fires have increased in the last decades, due to many factors such as climate change, land use change and management. In Greece, wildfires burn cultivated lands and affect significantly the rural economy and society. However, the economic impacts of forest fires on agricultural areas has not been estimated, and this is our aim. After an extended literature review and consultation with the stakeholders, we decided to build a model with many variables. The total cost of fire depends on the cost of prevention and suppression measures, and also direct and indirect costs. Direct costs, as adjusted for the immediate effects of fire, are divided into two categories: direct damages instantaneous and direct losses induced. Direct damages are estimated by a function that calculates the instantaneous damage in permanent crops, seasonal crops, livestock, infrastructure, construction and machinery. Direct losses are estimated by a function that calculates fire-induced costs in permanent crops, seasonal crops, livestock, additional borrowing costs and services costs. For the composition of the time-space model, we will use secondary data, as well as data originated from fieldwork. The literature review showed that the ex post analysis involving detailed consultation with a representative sample of affected farms, provides a more consistent appraisal

HealthyHens

Promoting good health and welfare in European organic laying hen

An evaluation of root phytochemicals derived from Althea officinalis (Marshmallow) and Astragalus membranaceus as potential natural components of UV-protecting dermatological formulations

Open access journalAs lifetime exposure to ultraviolet (UV) radiation has risen, the deleterious effects have also become more apparent. Numerous sunscreen and skincare products have therefore been developed to help reduce the occurrence of sunburn, photo-ageing and skin carcinogenesis. This has stimulated research into identifying new natural sources of effective skin protecting compounds. Alkaline single cell gel electrophoresis (comet assay) was employed to assess aqueous extracts derived from soil or hydroponically glasshouse-grown roots of Althea officinalis (Marshmallow) and Astragalus membranaceus, compared with commercial, field-grown roots. Hydroponically grown root extracts from both plant species were found to significantly reduce UVA-induced DNA damage in cultured human lung and skin fibroblasts, although initial Astragalus experimentation detected some genotoxic effects, indicating that Althea root extracts may be better suited as potential constituents of dermatological formulations. Glasshouse-grown soil and hydroponic Althea root extracts afforded lung fibroblasts with statistically significant protection against UVA irradiation for a greater period of time than the commercial field-grown roots. No significant reduction in DNA damage was observed when total ultraviolet irradiation (including UVB) was employed (data not shown), indicating that the extracted phytochemicals predominantly protected against indirect UVA-induced oxidative stress. Althea phytochemical root extracts may therefore be useful components in dermatological formulations.UK Department of Trade and IndustryUK Department for Environment, Food and Rural AffairsBiotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC

The effects of minimal tillage, contour cultivation and in-field vegetative barriers on soil erosion and phosphorus loss.

Runoff, sediment, total phosphorus and total dissolved phosphorus losses in overland flow were measured for two years on unbounded plots cropped with wheat and oats. Half of the field was cultivated with minimum tillage (shallow tillage with a tine cultivator) and half was conventionally ploughed. Within each cultivation treatment there were different treatment areas (TA). In the first year of the experiment, one TA was cultivated up and down the slope, one TA was cultivated on the contour, with a beetle bank acting as a vegetative barrier partway up the slope, and one had a mixed direction cultivation treatment, with cultivation and drilling conducted up and down the slope and all subsequent operations conducted on the contour. In the second year, this mixed treatment was replaced with contour cultivation. Results showed no significant reduction in runoff, sediment losses or total phosphorus losses from minimum tillage when compared to the conventional plough treatment, but there were increased losses of total dissolved phosphorus with minimum tillage. The mixed direction cultivation treatment increased surface runoff and losses of sediment and phosphorus. Increasing surface roughness with contour cultivation reduced surface runoff compared to up and down slope cultivation in both the plough and minimum tillage treatment areas, but this trend was not significant. Sediment and phosphorus losses in the contour cultivation treatment followed a very similar pattern to runoff. Combining contour cultivation with a vegetative barrier in the form of a beetle bank to reduce slope length resulted in a non-significant reduction in surface runoff, sediment and total phosphorus when compared to up and down-slope cultivation, but there was a clear trend towards reduced losses. However, the addition of a beetle bank did not provide a significant reduction in runoff, sediment losses or total phosphorus losses when compared to contour cultivation, suggesting only a marginal additional benefit. The economic implications for farmers of the different treatment options are investigated in order to assess their suitability for implementation at a field scale