Concentrate levels of crossbred bulls slaughtered at 16 or 22 months: Performance and carcass characteristics

This study was performed to assess the animal performance of 97 bulls, 1/2 Puruna~ vs. 1/2 Canchim, that were slaughtered at 16 (16M) or 22 (22M) months with three concentrate levels (0.8, 1.2, and 1.6%) of body weight (BW). The initial body weight was lower for the 16M bulls. The final body weight and hot carcass weights were similar between the two slaughter ages. The hot carcass dressing was higher for 22M bulls. The average daily gain was higher for 16M bulls. The feed intake and dry matter feed conversion were similar between 16 and 22M bulls. The carcass length, marbling, and bone percentage were lower for 16M bulls. However, the Longissimus dorsi muscle area was higher for 16M bulls. The leg length, cushion thickness, fat thickness, conformation, colour, texture, muscle percent, and fat percent were similar between 16 and 22M bulls. The final and hot carcass weights were lower for bulls that were fed with 0.8% of BW. The carcass dressing was similar for the three concentrate levels. The average daily gain was higher for bulls that were fed with 1.6% of BW of concentrate and lower for those that were fed with 0.8%. The concentrate levels had no effect on carcass characteristics, feed intake, and dry matter conversion

La rete di rapporti orientati ed interconnessi nel sistema agroalimentare: una proposta di analisi di filiera

There is an extensive debate concerning the best approach to analyse the relationships into the "chain", and the problem of the information availability which should provide a clear identification of the object of analysis is not yet solved. This is true in particular with regard to the agri-food system. This study aims to underline that the incompatibility between analytical level of information and the theoretical construct of reference is often problematic for the studies of the agri-food system. Moreover this study highlights that the concept of system borrowed by the General System Theory (von Bertalanffy, 1968) and by Malassis (Malassis, 1973; 1979), is an approach able to design and to analyse the agri-food network. The representation of the system as a net oriented relationships is a tool capable of recognising the subjects involved into the network and also the functional relationships among them

Strategie di sviluppo di aziende da latte in collina e montagna

L\u2019obiettivo di questo studio consiste nell\u2019analisi dei costi, dei ricavi, dei punti di forza e di debolezza di differenti tipologie di aziende zootecniche bovine da latte di collina e montagna, caratterizzate da differenti tecniche di allevamenti e differenziati canali di vendita del prodotto. Lo studio permette di valutare quanto i cambiamenti tecnici e commerciali adottati da queste aziende possano ricondursi alle modificazioni in corso anche in altri contesti ambientali e di mercato

A comparative profitability analysis of organic and conventional farms in Emilia-Romagna and in Minnesota

Recent discussion surrounding organic agriculture (also referred to as organic farming) has turned from just whether it represents a viable alternative to conventional agriculture to whether it would be adopted by a significant percentage of farmers. After a beginning phase in which the adoption was mainly due to an ethically based choice of the farmer, the success in the market and the increasing demand for organic products are increasing the number of farmers converting their farming system. Despite the continuing importance of non-economic factors and the uncertainty given by short-term and mid-term fluctuations of prices, a decisive point is whether the conversion to organic farming may be worthwhile from an economic perspective. The aim of the paper is to compare the actual profitability of farms using organic production methods to those farms using conventional production methods. The analysis will be based on several data-sets, provided on the Italian side by Emilia-Romagna Region, Italian National Institute of Agricultural Economics (INEA), Italian National Institute of Statistics (Istat), and on the US side by the Center for Farm Financial Management (CFFM) in the Department of Applied Economics, University of Minnesota