Factors affecting growth performance in beef production: an on farm survey

This study aimed to investigate sources of variation of average daily gain in beef cattle, with an on farm approach, in the Veneto region. Data of 38707 animals fattened in 29 farms and belonging to 5 genotypes (Charolais, Charolais Female, French Crossbred, Limousin and Polish Friesian) were analysed considering type of farm, farm nested within type, genotype, housing system, arrival live weight, percentage of dead and injured animals, season of sale and diet. Genotype, farm, percentage of unhealthy animals and season of sale significantly affected average daily gain. Charolais and French Crossbred showed the highest values of average daily gain, Charolais Female the lowest. The effect of farm suggests that management is very important for growth performance in beef cattle. Moreover, batches of animals with high percentage of dead and injured presented lower values of average daily gain. In spring-summer 2003 an extremely hot climate was unfavourable for growth performance

The alpine summer pastures in the Veneto Region: management systems

The aim of this study was to identify the management systems of the alpine summer pastures of the Veneto region and their geographical distribution, by means of detailed questionnaires on 417 holdings. A non-hierarchical cluster analysis identified 5 different management systems: 1: milk and cheese production, 2: milk and cheese with agritourism, 3: milk without cheese, 4: disadvantaged holdings with prevalence of sheep and goats; 5: holdings with dry and replacement cows. The different groups showed also a clear tendency to concentrate spatially in different portions of the study area. Regional policies should consider this variability to better sustain the alpine summer pasture management systems

Consequential-based life cycle assessment of reducing the concentrates supply level in the diet fed to lactating cows in the alpine dairy farming system

This study aimed to assess the consequences of reducing the concentrates supply level (CSL) in the lactating cows’ diet on Alpine dairy system’s GHG emissions. Consequential-based Life Cycle Assessment (cLCA) was adopted to assess the consequences within the ‘dairy_system’ (farm plus milk processing) and outside (‘expanded_system’). The functional unit was 1 kg of protein and fat (ProtFat). Data (1-year average) originated from 40 dairy farms in the Alps, collected through farm questionnaires during farm visits. Emissions were evaluated without (GWP) and with land-based emissions (crop- (GWP_LULUC_cb) or global-based (GWP_LULUC_gb) method). The feed conversion ratio was computed in terms of potentially human-edible gross energy (HeECR, MJ feed/MJ milk). Three scenarios were explored: 100% (t0), 75% (t175), and 50% (t150) of the initial CSL. Impact values for both systems were analysed with a mixed model to test the effect of the scenarios. At ‘dairy_system’, 1 kg ProtFat caused 19.0 (GWP), 22.9 (GWP_LULUC_cb) and 23.4 kg CO2-eq (GWP_LULUC_gb) at t0 and HeECR resulted in 0.71 MJ feed/MJ milk. The CSL reduction from t0 to t175 and t150 significantly increased impact values (2–11%) and decreased HeECR (from −10 to −23%). Considering ‘expanded_system’, CSL reduction significantly increased GWP (4%) and GWP_LULUC_gb (3%) but decreased GWP_LULUC_cb (up to −4%). In conclusion, cLCA-based approach evidenced that CSL reductions implied diversified effects on GHG emissions, at Alpine dairy system and at food supply level, giving new insights into the challenge of reducing GHG emissions while favouring the decoupling of milk production from the use of human-edible resources.Highlights Consequential Life Cycle Assessment of reducing concentrates supply (CSL) to lactating cows on the GHG emission of Alpine dairy products was analysed GHGs per protein plus fat in the product increased with decreasing CSL (75% and 50% of initial CSL) but can decrease considering land-use change GHG Decoupling Alpine dairy production from concentrates could be environmentally challenging but feasible

An analysis of roe deer (Capreolus capreolus) traffic collisions in the Belluno province, eastern Italian Alps

Data of roe deer traffic collisions from 1989 to 2004 in the Belluno province were analyzed to describe patterns of road kills by zone, season and sex and to compare resulting annual trends and sex ratios with those estimated for roe deer population. The province was divided in 2 districts on the base of differences in climate, landscape and roe deer population status. Pearson's simple correlation was used to investigate the associations, in the two districts, among road kills data, year, population density, traffic index, and snow depth. Bonferroni's confidential intervals to 95% of significance were used to compare the monthly distributions of collisions between sexes and between districts. In conclusion, the analysis of car accidents may not reflect population trends and sex ratios when traffic rates change and when different ecological factors, others from deer density, influence the probability of deer to incur in a car accident. In addition, differences of accident probability between sexes and months can be found in areas with different landscapes, climates and population structures. These factors should be evaluated in order to manage accident risk and to understand the potential of car accidents records as a tool for monitoring population status

Wild boar (Sus scrofa) damages to mountain grassland. A case study in the Belluno province, eastern Italian Alps

Five alpine pastures (34±14ha) of the Belluno province, patchily damaged by wild boar, were chosen to investigate on main environmental parameters that might influence the rooting sites selection. Eighty damage sites were examined. For each damage surrounding type of grassland and distance from woodland were recorded and mapped using a G.I.S. software. Proportional availability (% of total pasture surface) of grassland types (rough grass, rich grass, degraded, shrubs and trees) and classes of distance from woodland (120m), and the respective use (% of total damage events) were estimated and compared with Chi-square test. A selection index was calculated as use/availability and Bonferroni confidence intervals (95%) were used to test significance. Degraded pastures and areas closer to woodland blocks were preferred. A vegetational analysis inside and outside the damaged areas showed a reduction in frequency of species producing bulbs and rhizomes, and in Poaceae as respect to other families of lower forage value. Future studies should investigate the role of different root forms, and invertebrate richness, on rooting site selection. Longer term studies are also needed to better define the evolution of pasture botanical composition of damaged areas

Activity budget and movement patterns of Brown Swiss and Alpine Grey lactating cows during summer grazing in alpine pastures

We used GPS tracking to monitor the grazing patterns of Brown Swiss and Alpine grey lactating cows on an alpine summer pasture (2038 m a.s.l.; SD = 146) in the Dolomites. The pasture (171 ha) was managed with a continuous grazing system (0.52 LU/ha) with morning and evening milking in the barn, guided grazing during the ‘day’, and free grazing at ‘night’. GPS positions were collected from 8 Brown Swiss multiparous and 9 Alpine Grey (4 primiparous and 5 multiparous) cows every two minutes. We inferred behaviours (grazing, resting, walking) from movement metrics, activity sensors and direct behavioural observations. After excluding milking periods, the cows grazed for 8 h/d, rested 10–11 h/d, and walked for 1.5/d. Grazing extended into late evening after milking, and resting prevailed throughout the ‘night’ until the morning milking. When grazing and resting, cows mainly used grasslands as the preferred habitat, but forest and sparse shrub were also used remarkably without consistent negative or positive selection. The pasture use was highly heterogeneous, with higher animal loads close to the barn, especially at night, and in areas with gentler slopes. Alpine Grey primiparous cows were less limited by slope and distance from the barn in their movement but were more selective in habitat use than multiparous cows. Differences between multiparous cows of the two breeds were less marked. Further studies should help understand the internal and external drivers of cattle grazing patterns to devise management practices combining animals’ productivity and welfare with the conservation of the grassland ecosystem services

Effect of microparticulated whey proteins on milk coagulation properties

The enhancement of milk coagulation properties (MCP) and the reuse of whey produced by the dairy industry are of great interest to improve the efficiency of the cheese-making process. Native whey proteins (WP) can be aggregated and denatured to obtain colloidal microparticulated WP (MWP). The objective of this study was to assess the effect of MWP on MCP; namely, rennet coagulation time (RCT), curd-firming time, and curd firmness 30 min after rennet addition. Six concentrations of MWP (vol/vol; 1.5, 3.0, 4.5, 6.0, 7.5, and 9.0%) were added to 3 bulk milk samples (collected and analyzed during 3 d), and a sample without MWP was used as control. Within each day of analysis, 6 replicates of MCP for each treatment were obtained, changing the position of the treatment in the rack. For control samples, 2 replicates per day were performed. In addition to MCP, WP fractions were measured on each treatment during the 3 d of analysis. Milk coagulation properties were measured on 144 samples by using a Formagraph (Foss Electric, Hillerød, Denmark). Increasing the amount of MWP added to milk led to a longer RCT. In particular, significant differences were found between RCT of the control samples (13.5 min) and RCT of samples with 3.0% (14.6 min) or more MWP. A similar trend was observed for curd-firming time, which was shortest in the control samples and longest in samples with 9.0% MWP (21.4 min). No significant differences were detected for curd firmness at 30 min across concentrations of MWP. Adjustments in cheese processing should be made when recycling MWP, in particular during the coagulation process, by prolonging the time of rennet activity before cutting the curd

Activity budget and movement patterns of Brown Swiss and Alpine Grey lactating cows during summer grazing in alpine pastures

We used GPS tracking to monitor the grazing patterns of Brown Swiss and Alpine grey lactating cows on an alpine summer pasture (2038 m a.s.l.; SD = 146) in the Dolomites. The pasture (171 ha) was managed with a continuous grazing system (0.52 LU/ha) with morning and evening milking in the barn, guided grazing during the ‘day’, and free grazing at ‘night’. GPS positions were collected from 8 Brown Swiss multiparous and 9 Alpine Grey (4 primiparous and 5 multiparous) cows every two minutes. We inferred behaviours (grazing, resting, walking) from movement metrics, activity sensors and direct behavioural observations. After excluding milking periods, the cows grazed for 8 h/d, rested 10–11 h/d, and walked for 1.5/d. Grazing extended into late evening after milking, and resting prevailed throughout the ‘night’ until the morning milking. When grazing and resting, cows mainly used grasslands as the preferred habitat, but forest and sparse shrub were also used remarkably without consistent negative or positive selection. The pasture use was highly heterogeneous, with higher animal loads close to the barn, especially at night, and in areas with gentler slopes. Alpine Grey primiparous cows were less limited by slope and distance from the barn in their movement but were more selective in habitat use than multiparous cows. Differences between multiparous cows of the two breeds were less marked. Further studies should help understand the internal and external drivers of cattle grazing patterns to devise management practices combining animals’ productivity and welfare with the conservation of the grassland ecosystem services

Responses of pigs of different genotypes to a variation in the dietary indispensable amino acid content in terms of their growth and carcass and meat quality traits

We studied the response of pigs from two crossbred genetic lines (GL) in the 60 to 145 kg body weight interval to a variation in the indispensable amino acid (AA) content of their feed. Ninety-six barrows of two paternal GLs (Hypor Maxter and PIC 337) were housed in eight pens and fed quasi ad libitum on feeds differing in their standardized ileal digestible (SID) indispensable AA contents. Pigs in four pens received feeds containing 9.4 to 8.0 g/kg of SID Lys (HAA), considered non-limiting, while the others received feeds containing 8.5 to 6.5 g/kg of SID Lys (LAA). The two feeds had identical indispensable lysine, methionine, tryptophan and threonine contents per unit of crude protein (CP). Feed intake, growth, carcass weight, and the weights of the lean and fat cuts were recorded, and samples of longissimus lumborum were analyzed. Data were analyzed using a two-way factorial mixed model. The LAA feed lowered the estimated N excretion (p < 0.001) compared with HAA, without affecting growth, carcass or meat quality traits. Genetic line had trivial effects and the AA level 7 genotype interaction was never significant. The two pig genotypes did not differ sufficiently in growth potential and leanness to respond differently