Brazilian donkey slaughter and exports from 2002 to 2019

The international demand for donkeys has increased sharply in recent years, motivated by China’s growing interest in producing ejiao (a traditional medicine made from donkey skin) and, in a smaller proportion, donkey meat. Since the Chinese donkey population dropped by 75.4% in the past 25 years, the country has searched for supply in the international market, mainly in Africa and South America. Aiming to understand the participation of Brazil in this scenario, this paper presents and discusses official data on donkey slaughter and donkey meat and skin exports in Brazil from 2002 to 2019. After the recent news reports of donkey trade-related mistreatment in the Brazilian Northeast, the issue has attracted attention from public authorities, the media, and civil society, but it lacked a quantitative description that could give a tangible dimension to the situation. The interpretation of these data is made with the collaboration of qualitative research methods, emphasizing some aspects of human-animal relations.A demanda internacional por jumentos vem aumentando drasticamente nos últimos anos, motivada pelo crescente interesse da China em produzir ejiao (medicamento tradicional feito a partir da pele do animal) e, em menor proporção, carne de jumento. Devido à redução de 75,4% na população de jumentos chineses nos últimos 25 anos, o país tem buscado se abastecer no mercado internacional, principalmente na África e na América do Sul. Com o objetivo de compreender a participação do Brasil neste cenário, este artigo apresenta e discute dados oficiais sobre abate de jumentos e exportação de carne e pele de jumentos no Brasil, de 2002 a 2019. Após a recente divulgação de notícias sobre maus-tratos relacionados ao comércio de jumentos no Nordeste do Brasil, o assunto tem atraído a atenção do poder público, da mídia e da sociedade civil, mas ainda carecia de uma descrição quantitativa que pudesse fornecer uma dimensão tangível à situação. A interpretação desses dados é feita com a colaboração de métodos de pesquisa qualitativa, enfatizando algumas facetas das relações humano-animais

The cascade effect of nitrogen on Brazilian soybean production chain intended for animal production on Europe

A ação do homem sob o ambiente tem promovido mudanças no ciclo do nitrogênio. Boa parte destas mudanças se devem à cadeia produtiva de alimentos (cerca de 74 a 85% do total de uso antropogênico de nitrogênio). Devido à mobilidade das moléculas e o excesso de produção de nitrogênio reativo, há uma cascata de efeitos ambientais do nitrogênio, que já tornaram este elemento no status de alerta dentre as nove fronteiras planetárias, potencializando efeitos ambientais irreversíveis que comprometem a sobrevivência de espécies no planeta. A soja e o farelo de soja são importantes fontes de proteína para alimentação de animais em todo o mundo, e o Brasil é um dos principais produtores e exportadores deste produto. Sendo assim, o objetivo deste estudo é estimar o efeito cascata do nitrogênio na exportação de soja e farelo de soja brasileiros destinados à alimentação de animais de produção na Europa. A hipótese é que este comércio internacional potencialize o acúmulo de nitrogênio entre os principais setores desta cadeia produtiva. Para avaliá-la, utilizou- se o método da contabilidade de fluxo de materiais, desde à produção de soja em grãos até o consumo por animais de produção, em um período de 12 anos. Os fluxos de nitrogênio analisados demonstram um possível aumento na eficiência relativa do uso do nutriente nas etapas de produção de soja e produção animal. Mas suas emissões para o ambiente durante toda a cadeia produtiva, os resultados tendem a uma estabilidade no indicador. Além disso, observa-se um maior aporte de nitrogênio reativo em cada fase do sistema produtivo nos anos avaliados, em termos absolutos. Esse maior aporte de nitrogênio reativo, aliado às emissões para o ambiente, potencializaram o efeito cascata do nitrogênio nesta cadeia produtiva, com o indicador demonstrando um acúmulo em torno de 30% em cada ano do estudo. Com isso, ressalta-se a importância de abordagens sistêmicas de cadeia produtiva para um melhor entendimento dos impactos do nitrogênio no ambiente visando a adoção de práticas mitigadoras.The action of man on the environment has promoted changes in the nitrogen cycle. Most of these changes are due to the food production chain (about 74 to 85% of the total anthropogenic use of nitrogen). Due to the mobility of molecules and the excess production of reactive nitrogen, there is a cascade of environmental effects of nitrogen, which have already made this element into alert status among the nine planetary frontiers, potentiating irreversible environmental effects that compromise the survival of species on the planet. Soybeans and soybean meal are important sources of protein for animal feed around the world, and Brazil is one of the main producers and exporters of this products. Therefore, this study aims to estimate the cascade effect of nitrogen in the export of Brazilian soybeans and soybean meal destined for feed to farm animals in Europe. The hypothesis is that this international trade enhances the accumulation of nitrogen between the main sectors of this production chain. For this, the material flow accounting method was used, from the production of soybeans to consumption by farm animals, in 12 years. The analyzed nitrogen fluxes demonstrate a possible increase in the relative efficiency of the nutrient use in the soy production and animal production stages. But its emissions to the environment throughout the production chain, the results tend to stability in the indicator. In addition, there is a greater supply of reactive nitrogen in each phase of the production system in the years evaluated, in absolute terms. This greater contribution of reactive nitrogen, together with emissions to the environment, potentiated the cascade effect of nitrogen in this production chain, with the indicator showing an accumulation of around 30% in each year of the study. Thus, it emphasizes the importance of systemic approaches in the production chain for a better understanding of the impacts of nitrogen on the environment, intending to adopt mitigating practices

Brazilian soybeans as feed for livestock in Europe: an insight into the nitrogen flows

International audienceGiven the agricultural demand to supply animals with food, the scope of today's soybean production and international trade can influence the nitrogen cycle. Rather than using soybeans from within the region of animal production, animal producers import nutritional supplements from distant growers. This widely opens the biogeochemical cycle of nitrogen, which reduces local recycling and increases carriage of reactive nitrogen via the supply chain. Ultimately, this potentiates the effects of a "nitrogen cascade" process. This study estimates nitrogen flows for Brazilian soybean transported to feed European livestock and attempts to quantify the understanding of how this flow can impact the nitrogen cascade effect. The hypothesis is that the growing trade of Brazilian soybean products is sufficient to spike reactive nitrogen production that can potentially cause distant environmental impacts of the nitrogen cascade. In this respect, the estimation of the nitrogen flows was evaluated using material flow analysis, and the cascade effect was quantified by means of a nitrogen cascade indicator (NCI). Notably, NCI can calculate the released amount of nitrogen in the environment along the entire supply chain of livestock products. NCI-based evaluation of Brazilian soybean products consumed by European livestock indicated the accumulation of nitrogen levels. There was also an increase in nitrogen flows in the Brazilian phase (0.058 Gg in 2007 to 139.86 Gg in 2019 for soybean meal; 584.28 Gg in 2007 to 309.78 Gg in 2019 for soybeans) accompanying a stability in European livestock production. This highlights the necessity for adjustments in nitrogen circularity between all levels of food production and improved strategies of more localised feed autonomy for sustainable global development. Keywords Material flow analysis • Cascade effect • Sustainability • Circular economy • International trade Communicated by Luis Lassaletta

Cascade Effect of Nitrogen on Brazilian Soybean Production Chain

Soybean is one of the most traded products. Naturally, soy fixes nitrogen through biological symbiosis. Its cultivation transforms natural inert atomic nitrogen into its reactive forms. The advancement of soybean can have environmental impacts, both locally and globally. This study estimated nitrogen flows and their use efficiency in the Brazilian soybean production chain applying material flow analysis. We innovate proposing a new indicator to estimate the “cascade effect of nitrogen” in a framework of 12 years (2007 to 2019). We hypothesized that it is capable to show accumulated nitrogen emissions through the chain. Besides, the method can show the main sources of nitrogen to the environment. The biological fixation was the largest entry. The efficiency in the use of nitrogen was 81% for grain production, and the nitrogen cascade indicator, which represents the ratio of the nitrogen emission in the environment to the total nitrogen available in the product, was only 5.2% in the soybean meal production chain for the year of 2019, with a clear trend of increasing during the period. Thus, Brazil contributes significantly to global nitrogen emissions in the environment since the country is an important producer and player in the world market

Average daily gain and reactivity in Caracu young bulls

Studies have shown associations between temperament traits and productivity on cattle industry, some results indicate that animals which adapt easily are less agitated, therefore there will be fewer losses in carcass due to the low incidence of hematomas and higher weight gain. The objective of this study was to associate the average daily gain in Caracu animals, subject to performance test (PT), with reactivity measured by flight speed test. The average daily gain was divided in three classes, considering 0.5 standard deviation below and above the average. The average gain classes 1, 2 and 3 was 1158.55 ± 89.48, 957.14 ± 54.77, 620.88 ± 127.41 g/day, respectively. The flight speed test (FS) measures how long the animal takes to cover a known distance after the release of the squeeze chute. Faster animals were considered more reactive. The study was performed at Centro APTA Bovinos de Corte from Instituto de Zootecnia-Sertãozinho, SP, in which were used 109 flight speed records, of 56 animals, obtained in the beginning and at the end of PT. Data were analyzed using the PROC MIXED (SAS 9.3). The model of analyses included the fixed effects of average daily gain classes (1, 2 and 3) and measures (1 and 2), besides the random-effects of animal and residue. The interaction classes measures, even as age as covariate, were excluded from the initial model, because they didn’t show significance at level of 5%. Significant differences weren’t observed (P>0.05) on reactivity of animals for the various average daily gain classes, evidencing that there was no relationship between performance and temperament in the animals evaluated. As in the present work, others studies performed in Centro APTA Bovinos de Corte, with Nelore animals also didn’t find correlations between average daily gain and the flight speed test. The reactivity in Caracu steers measured in the beginning and at the end of PT was significantly (P<0.01) different. Whereas at the second measurement, the animals were slower to cross the distance stipulated. This fact was expected, because at the end of the test animals were habituated to handling and so less reactive. The results of this study indicate that there is no relationship between temperament and weigh gain on the animals evaluated. Caracu animals adapt easily to weighing handling

Ganho médio diário e reatividade em novilhos da raça Caracu

O artigo não apresenta resumo em português

Ganho médio diário e reatividade em novilhos da raça Caracu

O artigo não apresenta resumo em português