Meat Production and Market in Italy

Aim of this review was to describe the Italian meat production and market. The weight of Italian meat production in terms of the national agriculture gross domestic product (GDP) is around the 25%. The present review will analyze the market and the productive systems of the main types of meat sold in the Italian market focusing the attention on their strength and weakness points as well as the possible future developments. The final part of the article will evaluate the recent trends of consumptions for the different meat in Italy as well as the expectations of the Italian consumer when buying meat products

Corn gluten meal or dried brewers grains as partial replacement for soybean meal in the diet of Holstein cows.

Abstract Holstein cows (n = 24, 9 primiparous) were assigned equally to diets based on corn silage and high moisture corn supplemented with soybean meal alone or with either corn gluten meal or dried brewers grains. In diets with two protein sources, the protein quantity from each source was similar. Dietary CP and ADF averaged 16.3 and 18.8%, and undegraded protein as a percentage of CP was 33.6, 41.1, and 41.8% for the respective diets. After parturition. COWS were fed the soybean meal diet for a 3-wk covariant period, an experimental diet for 10 wk, the soybean meal diet for 3 wk, and the experimental diet for another 10 wk. Milk production by cows fed those diets averaged 30.9, 31.7, and 34.9 kg/d; protein averaged .90, .94, and 1.02 kg/d; and DMI averaged 16.8, 18.8, and 18.2 kg/d, respectively, for the two 10-wk periods. No dietary differences occurred for 3.5% FCM, estimated DM digestibility, BW, BW gain, or percentages of milk fat, protein, or SNF. Ruminal isobutyrate and isovalerate differed by diet; isovalerate was highest in the diet containing soybean meal plus corn gluten meal, probably because of the high Leu content of corn gluten meal. Ruminal NH 3 N did not differ. The favorable production response by cows fed dried brewers grains can be explained by a more favorably balanced AA profile in the ruminally undegraded protein than in other diets

Citizens’ View on Veal Calves’ Fattening System in Italy and Animal Welfare

Aims of this study were to assess citizens’ view on the current veal calves’ fattening system in Italy and on animal welfare, and to find relationships with veal meat consumption. Socio-demographic characteristics, veal meat consumption habits, knowledge of veal calves rearing system and animal welfare attitudes of 100 citizens were investigated through a questionnaire submitted on a voluntary base in supermarkets/butcher shops. Results showed that 61 respondents were veal meat consumers and the remaining 39 were non-consumers. A large proportion of respondents were aware of the modern veal calves rearing system but their knowledge as such did not affect veal meat consumption. Non-consumers declared they didn’t like veal meat organoleptic characteristics, opposed the production system or considered it too expensive. Most citizens sustained animal welfare but no correlations were found between concerns for animal welfare and veal meat consumption/purchase (rs 0.05). Citizens conceptualized animal welfare through the aspects of care animals received by the farmer and veterinarian and of healthy feed for animals. It could be concluded that consumers don’t really think of animal welfare while buying or having meat, and they still have idealised notions of naturality, traditional farming, free-range and small scale production linked to farm animal production

Main critical factors affecting the welfare of beef cattle and veal calves raised under intensive rearing systems in Italy: a review

This review describes the principal causes of poor welfare in beef cattle and veal calves raised in intensive husbandry systems in Italy. Nowadays there are no specific regulations in force for beef cattle welfare. However, a document produced in 2001 by the Scientific Committee on Animal Health and Animal Welfare of the European Commission on Health and Consumer Protection identified the main causes of inadequate welfare levels in the different cattle rearing systems in Europe. In Italy and in the Po Valley in particular, the beef cattle farms are mainly finishing units characterised by animals kept at high density in multiple pens and fed high starch diets. Under these rearing conditions the limited space allowance is one of the most important issues impairing animal welfare. Other risk factors for poor welfare related to the housing structures are type of floor, space at the manger, number of water dispensers and lack of specific moving and handling facilities. Microclimatic conditions can be critical especially during the summer season when cattle can experience heat stress. The feeding plan adopted in the Italian beef farms may be another factor negatively affecting the welfare of these animals due to the low content of long fibre roughage which increases the risk of metabolic acidosis. In the veal calf rearing systems there has been a mandatory introduction of the new system of production according to the European Council Directives 91/629/EEC and 97/2/EC. Farms had to adopt group housing and to provide calves with an increasing amount of fibrous feed in addition to the all-liquid diet. Despite this specific legislation, several risk factors for calves' welfare can still be identified. Some of them are related to the housing system (type of floor, air quality, feed and water supply equipment and lack of loading facilities) and some others to the feeding plan (type and amount of roughage, quality of milk replacers). Recent studies have shown that the welfare of veal calves and beef cattle can be severely affected by the quality of the stockmanship and particularly by negative human-animal interaction

Citizens’ View on Veal Calves’ Fattening System in Italy and Animal Welfare

Aims of this study were to assess citizens’ view on the current veal calves’ fattening system in Italy and on animal welfare, and to find relationships with veal meat consumption. Socio-demographic characteristics, veal meat consumption habits, knowledge of veal calves rearing system and animal welfare attitudes of 100 citizens were investigated through a questionnaire submitted on a voluntary base in supermarkets/butcher shops. Results showed that 61 respondents were veal meat consumers and the remaining 39 were non-consumers. A large proportion of respondents were aware of the modern veal calves rearing system but their knowledge as such did not affect veal meat consumption. Non-consumers declared they didn’t like veal meat organoleptic characteristics, opposed the production system or considered it too expensive. Most citizens sustained animal welfare but no correlations were found between concerns for animal welfare and veal meat consumption/purchase (rs 0.05). Citizens conceptualized animal welfare through the aspects of care animals received by the farmer and veterinarian and of healthy feed for animals. It could be concluded that consumers don’t really think of animal welfare while buying or having meat, and they still have idealised notions of naturality, traditional farming, free-range and small scale production linked to farm animal production

Importanza e distribuzione spazio-temporale delle frazioni organiche disciolte dell\u27azoto e fosforo nel bacino del nord Adriatico

The effects of continental inputs and biological processes acting on dissolved inorganic (DIN and DIP) and organic (DON and DOP) nitrogen and phosphorus are discussed in the North-western Adriatic Sea. The allocthonous contributions of DIN are evidenced, particularly in winter, in the mixed layer (up to 18 μmol-N?dm-3) while the other fractions of nitrogen and phosphorous show behaviours which depend more on the biological activity in the marine environment. The presented. data evidence the importance of DON and DOP which can constitute, in this basin, up to 93% and 96% of the available nitrogen and phosphorus, respectively. Moreover, the phosphorus deficiency, when compared to nitrogen, has been evidenced not only in the inorganic fraction (DIN/DIP ratios from 25 up to 3000) but also in the organic fraction(DON/DOP ratios from 50 up to 1500). At last, spatial and seasonal trends of these parameters suggest the uncoupling between these nutrients and indicate a faster recycling of phosphorus with respect to nitrogen through the biological compartments of the ecosystem

Pain in Pig Production: Text Mining Analysis of the Scientific Literature

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IN-SITU RUMINAL DISAPPEARANCE OF ESSENTIAL AMINO-ACIDS IN PROTEIN FEEDSTUFFS

Four protein sources were incubated in situ to estimate AA disappearance. Bags containing either soybean meal, corn gluten meal, herring meal, or meat meal were washed in water or suspended in the rumen of two Holstein cows for 8, 12, 16, 24, 48, 72, and 120 h. Cytosine, a bacterial marker for microbial contamination, was used to correct the essential AA profile for microbial contribution to determine the residual essential AA composition of the protein sources after incubation. Ruminal disappearance of individual essential AA was different among feedstuffs. Relative to original feed protein, soybean meal and corn gluten meal decreased the concentration of specific essential AA in the RUP. Concentration of all essential AA, except Arg and His, increased in undegraded meat meal protein. The difference between original and residual AA concentrations in herring meal approached statistical significance. Use of the original AA profile of the feed protein to predict essential AA available for absorption is not accurate because accuracy differs with sources

A blend of animal and cereal protein or fish meal as partial replacement for soybean meal in the diets of lactating Holstein cows.

Abstract Six replications in Experiment 1 and four replications in Experiment 2 of a 3 × 3 Latin square arrangement of treatments were used to compare soybean meal or soybean meal partially replaced with fish meal or a protein blend for response in intake, milk yield and composition, ruminal NH 3 N, blood urea, and ruminal fermentation in lactating Holstein cows. The blend contained 30% corn gluten meal, 30% poultry by-products, 30% blood meal, and 10% feather meal. Periods were 28 d, and the first 7 d were used for adjustment. In addition to these protein sources, diets contained corn silage, alfalfa haylage, dried cracked corn, ground barley plus added fat, and a mineral and vitamin mixture. In Experiment 1, mean DMI was 24.4kg, mean milk yield was 36.7kg, mean fat percentage was 3.48%, and mean milk protein percentage was 3.06%; there were no significant differences. In Experiment 2, DMI was different for soybeans (22.6kg) versus other sources (21.4kg), but milk yield (32.1kg) and fat (3.39%) and protein (2.87%) percentages did not differ among diets. In Experiment 1, ruminal NH 3 N was greatest for cows consuming soybean diets (11.0 mg/dl) and lowest for cows consuming diets containing the protein blend (8.7 mg/dl). No differences in VFA were found. The lack of response to RUP can be explained by a rather high intake of a fermentable diet, which supplied sufficient absorbable AA according to the Cornell AA model