Skatole pattern during the growth period 50 to 100 kg liveweight in entire male pigs of the crossbreed combinations YDxLYD and HxLYD kept in groups of entire male pigs or in groups with dominant female pigs

1. Dominant females do not decrease the skatole and androstenone concentration in entire male pigs being dominated during the growth period from 50-100 kg liveweight (see fig. 1 and 3). 2. The amount of entire male pigs having higher skatole concentrations in blood – corresponding to skatole in backfat > 0.15 µg/g – are surprisingly high at 50 kg and 75 kg liveweight compared to 100 kg (10, 9 and 13 entire male pigs). 3. Furthermore it is not the same pigs having high skatole concentrations during the period from 50 over 75 to 100 kg liveweight. 4. The crossbreed HxLYD had significant higher skatole concentration in backfat at slaughter (100 kg liveweight) compared to the crossbreed YDxLYD (P<0.05)(see fig. 2). However, there was no significant difference in androstenone concentration in backfat at 100 kg liveweight between the 2 crossbreeds (see fig. 3)

Effect of nose ringing and stocking rate of pregnant and lactating outdoor sows on exploratory behavior, grass cover and nutrient loss potential

Nose ringing of outdoor sows is practiced to reduce grass sward damage for environmental reasons but conflicts with natural behaviour considerations. We investigated effects of ringing pregnant and lactating outdoor sows on foraging and explorative behaviour, grass cover and nutrient deposition. The experiment included both ringed and unringed sows. For unringed sows the paddocks were either used continuously throughout the experiment or divided into two and sows were moved half way through the experimental period leaving the first used paddock for regrowth. Ringing did not prevent the sow’s rooting, but rooting was less pronounced, when sows were ringed. On average, ringing increased grass cover from 14 to 38% and from 64 to 81% in paddocks with pregnant and lactating sows, respectively. In paddocks with unringed sows kept at a double density and followed by a resting period, the grass cover in autumn was restored to a high degree in paddocks with pregnant sows. In lactating sow paddocks the level of inorganic N was high but with no significant relation to extent of grass cover. In pregnant sow paddocks the soil inorganic N content was significantly reduced by increased grass cover and at 60% grass cover soil inorganic N content was at a low level. From the experiment it was evident that although ringing did have a positive environmental effect, it was not the main factor influencing potential losses. Management choices in terms of feeding, animal density and nutrient distribution are considered to be at least as important

Outdoor production of slaughter pigs requires an optimized management to mitigate N pollution

In Danish outdoor pig production the sows are usually kept on grassland, while their progeny are transferred at weaning to indoor housing with access to an outdoor concrete pen. It may seem paradoxical that a large part of meat consumed from outdoor systems comes from pigs that during the majority of their life have been prevented from natural behaviour such as rooting, digging and grazing. The explanation is the drawbacks of rearing growers outdoors including huge space demand, high work expenditure, high feed consumption and high environmental costs due to nutrient losses to aquifers and the atmosphere caused by high nutrient load and difficulty maintaining grass cover. However, it may be questioned if pigs reared indoors comply with consumers’ expectation for animal welfare in outdoor pig production systems. Therefore, systems need to be developed for growing pigs on grassland

Slagtesvin på friland kræver optimeret driftsledelse for at mindske miljøbelastningen

Ved produktion af svin på friland er det almindeligt at have søerne på græs, mens smågrisene ved fravænning sættes på stald med adgang til et betondækket udeareal. Det kan forekomme paradoksalt at en stor del af det økologiske svinekød stammer fra grise, som hovedparten af deres liv ikke har haft mulighed for naturlig adfærd i form af at rode, grave og græsse. Når producenterne vælger ikke at have slagtesvin på friland hænger det blandt andet sammen med en række forventede negative effekter, såsom et stort arealkrav, stor arbejdsbelastning, stort foderforbrug og stort tab af næringsstof til omgivelserne. Der kan imidlertid stilles spørgsmål ved om den indendørs produktion af slagtesvin svarer til forbrugernes forventninger om dyrevelfærd i økologiske produktionssystemer, og derfor er der behov for at udvikle systemer til slagtesvin på friland

Slagtesvin på græs - produktionsmæssige muligheder og miljømæssige risici

Slagtesvin på friland er et reelt alternativ til den nuværende mest almindelige indendørsproduktion ud fra et produktions- og kødkvalitetsmæssigt synspunkt. Men det er dog også klart, at produktionen indebærer en betydelig risiko for miljømæssige ulemper i form af et stort N-tab til omgivelserne

Inductive microwave response of Yu-Shiba-Rusinov states

We calculate the frequency-dependent admittance of a phase-biased Josephson junction spanning a magnetic impurity or a spinful Coulomb-blockaded quantum dot. The local magnetic moment gives rise to Yu-Shiba-Rusinov bound states, which govern the subgap absorption as well as the inductive response. We model the system by a superconducting spin-polarized exchange-cotunnel junction and calculate the linear current response to an ac bias voltage, including its dependence on phase bias as well as particle-hole and source-drain coupling asymmetry. The corresponding inductive admittance is analyzed and compared to results of a zero bandwidth, as well as an infinite-gap approximation to the superconducting Anderson model. All three approaches capture the interaction-induced 0-π transition, which is reflected as a discontinuity in the adiabatic inductive respons

Information Reference Models for European Pork Supply Networks – Identifying Gaps in Information Infrastructures –

 Several global developments such as diminishing production resources, limits in the availability of water and the growing demand for bio-energy as well as sector-wide crises (e.g. BSE, swine fever, dioxin) have led to a changing attitude of society towards the conse-quences of the food system‘s activities for social, economic and environmental issues, cap-tured in the term of sustainability. As a consequence, consumers show increasing interest in the characteristics of food, and in turn, on the availability of related information and guaran-tees. The paper introduces different information reference models for European pork supply networks, which give an aggregated overview about information availability and exchange in the pork sector, identify additional information demands of decision makers at different stages of pork production, and identify gaps in the existing information infrastructure. The models support different parties involved in pork production, such as enterprises, system developers and consultants, in developing enterprise or network specific solutions

Concepts for a multi-criteria sustainability assessment of a new more biobased economy in rural production landscapes

This study presents a new approach to model the biophysical potentials for increased biomass harvest in Denmark, and a multi-criteria sustainability assessment of the socio-economic and environmental effects of different scenarios for such increased production and new biobased economy in rural landscapes. Thereby the results serve as input to the ongoing productivism – post-productivism debate related to rural spaces in Europe. Empirical results from a case study of large scale conversion to biorefenery technologies, aiming to increase the total Danish harvest of biomass by 10 million tonnes via the conversion to new types of crop production and land management, is used as an example, and will be related to the common conceptual model presented by the workshop convenors, and a so called “Traffic-light” multi-criteria sustainability assessment scheme introduced and exemplified in the present paper. The aim is to contextualize how the problems in relation to the concrete scenario results can be considered with the landscape as the meeting basis, and used as input for a discussion of innovative models for future farming systems, landscape research and management

Building Successful Partnerships for Technology Transfer

As budgets for Cooperative Extension projects get tighter, many units are enticed to consider partnerships with agencies and organizations to continue to proactively deliver services. Our experience working with the USDA Forest Service in a partnership that involves joint staffing and funding for technology transfer and research projects enables us to offer specific advice on how to use this tool most effectively. Communication and planning are essential and should cover everything from who gets office keys to who hires temporary staff

Changes in aerosol properties during spring-summer period in the Arctic troposphere

The change in aerosol properties during the transition from the more polluted spring to the clean summer in the Arctic troposphere was studied. A six-year data set of observations from Ny-Ålesund on Svalbard, covering the months April through June, serve as the basis for the characterisation of this time period. In addition four-day-back trajectories were used to describe air mass histories. The observed transition in aerosol properties from an accumulation-mode dominated distribution to an Aitken-mode dominated distribution is discussed with respect to long-range transport and influences from natural and anthropogenic sources of aerosols and pertinent trace gases. Our study shows that the air-mass transport is an important factor modulating the physical and chemical properties observed. However, the air-mass transport cannot alone explain the annually repeated systematic and rather rapid change in aerosol properties, occurring within a limited time window of approximately 10 days. With a simplified phenomenological model, which delivers the nucleation potential for new-particle formation, we suggest that the rapid shift in aerosol microphysical properties between the Arctic spring and summer is mainly driven by the incoming solar radiation in concert with transport of precursor gases and changes in condensational sink