55,034 research outputs found
Possibilities and limitations of protein supply in organic poultry and pig production
It is one of the general recommendations in animal nutrition that the diet should be formulated according to the specific requirements of animals at the various stages of their development. To which degree the farmer can adapt the nutrient supply to the specific requirements of the animals depends primarily on the production goal and on the availability of nutrient resources. This report gives a general introduction to the present situation for dietary protein supply to poultry and pig production in relation to the principles for organic agriculture and husbandry production. Furthermore it includes partly literature based on research from conventional animal production, as the requirements on the level of the animals are not different in both systems. Moreover, there only few research projects of organic production systems available.
This report is primarily focussing on the question whether a nutrient supply of 100% organic feed can and should be realised. In this context, it is not possible to cover all aspects in detail as the report cannot replace a textbook. The main emphasis is laid on a coherent argumentation based on the leading ideas of organic agriculture. Concerning further relevant aspects it is referred to the report âSupply and demand for concentrated organic feed in the EU in 2002 and 2003â by Susanne Padel as part of the same EU-project: âResearch to support the EU-regulation on Organic Agricultureâ (www.organic-revision.org) and to the project âAvailability of organically reared livestockâ (S. Gomez, JRC, Institute for Prospective Technological Studies, this study is expected to be completed in November 2005).
In conventional animal production, a nutrient supply that is closely related to the requirements is an important tool in the performance-oriented production (FLACHOWSKY, 1998). The objective of animal nutrition is to adapt the nutrient supply as accurately as possible to the requirements resulting from maintenance and performance need. Soybean meal, due to the high protein content and high protein quality, has developed into the most important protein source in the nutrition of monogastric animals. Additionally, synthetic amino acids (DL-methionine) and industrial amino acids (produced from microbial fermentation, L-amino acids) are used to balance the supply of essential amino acids.
While the use of soybean meal and synthetic amino acids is normal practice in conventional animal production, the Council-Regulation No. 2092/91, amended by Council Regulation No. 1804/99 on organic livestock production bans the use of chemically extracted soybean meal and synthetic amino acids on organic farms as livestock must be fed primarily on organically produced feedstuffs (Annex 1, paragraph 4.2). By way of a derogation from paragraph 4.2, for a transitional period expiring on 24 August 2005, the use of a limited proportion of non-organic feedstuffs is authorised where farmers can show to the satisfaction of the inspection body that they are unable to obtain feed exclusively from organic production (paragraph 4.8). The derogation, although with a declining percentage of non-organic feedstuffs over the next years, has been prolonged in July 2005.
The preferable use of home-grown feedstuffs and limitations in the choice of boughtin
feedstuffs can be the cause of considerable variation in the composition of the diets, and considerably restrict the possibilities for the adaptation of the feed ration to the specific requirements. Due to the limited availability of essential amino acids in particular, there is concern that nutritional imbalances encountered in practice might lead to deteriorating animal health and welfare. On the other hand, there is also the concern that allowing conventional feedstuffs to be fed in organic livestock production will result in intensification of production. The intensification might cause the same problems in organic production as conventional production already shows (animal health problems, risk of residues and GM contamination etc.). Thus, the use of non-organic feedstuffs may have a damaging effect on consumer confidence in organic products of animal origin.
In the following the nutritional-physiological effects of a variation in protein supply with respect to growth performance and protein accretion in broilers, turkeys, laying hens, and pigs are examined by means of a literature review. Additionally, the potential effects of the protein content in the diet on product quality, animal health and environmental damage are addressed.
It is the aim of the report to provide an overview of the many different aspects of the protein supply in organic poultry and pig production. Many different aspects are taken into account to elaborate possibilities to handle the use of organic and non-organic feedstuffs with respect to the objectives and framework conditions of organic livestock production. However, due to the complex interactions not all aspects can be covered. There is room and need for explanation and for further research
A Note on Asymptotic Freedom at High Temperatures
This short note considers, within the external field approach outlined in
hep-ph/0202026, the role of the lowest lying gluon Landau mode in QCD in the
high temperature limit. Its influence on a temperature- and field-dependent
running coupling constant is examined. The thermal imaginary part of the mode
is temperature-independent in our approach and exactly cancels the well-known
zero temperature imaginary part, thus rendering the Savvidy vacuum stable.
Combining the real part of the mode with the contributions from the higher
lying Landau modes and the vacuum contribution, a field-independent coupling
alpha_s(T) is obtained. It can be interpreted as the ordinary zero temperature
running coupling constant with average thermal momenta \approx 2pi T for
gluons and \approx pi T for quarks.Comment: 4 pages; minor changes, version to appear in Phys. Rev.
Forfeiture of Attorney\u27s Fees Under RICO and CCE
We present the matching relations of the variable flavor number scheme at next-to-leading order, which are of importance to define heavy quark partonic distributions for the use at high energy colliders such as Tevatron and the LHC. The consideration of the two-mass effects due to both charm and bottom quarks, having rather similar masses, are important. These effects have not been considered in previous investigations. Numerical results are presented for a wide range of scales. We also present the corresponding contributions to the structure function
The Three Loop Two-Mass Contribution to the Gluon Vacuum Polarization
We calculate the two-mass contribution to the 3-loop vacuum polarization of
the gluon in Quantum Chromodynamics at virtuality for general masses
and also present the analogous result for the photon in Quantum
Electrodynamics.Comment: 5 pages Late
The Two-mass Contribution to the Three-Loop Gluonic Operator Matrix Element
We calculate the two-mass QCD contributions to the massive operator matrix
element at in analytic form in Mellin
- and -space, maintaining the complete dependence on the heavy quark mass
ratio. These terms are important ingredients for the matching relations of the
variable flavor number scheme in the presence of two heavy quark flavors, such
as charm and bottom. In Mellin -space the result is given in the form of
nested harmonic, generalized harmonic, cyclotomic and binomial sums, with
arguments depending on the mass ratio. The Mellin inversion of these quantities
to -space gives rise to generalized iterated integrals with square root
valued letters in the alphabet, depending on the mass ratio as well. Numerical
results are presented.Comment: 99 pages LATEX, 2 Figure
The two-mass contribution to the three-loop pure singlet operator matrix element
We present the two-mass QCD contributions to the pure singlet operator matrix
element at three loop order in x-space. These terms are relevant for
calculating the structure function at as well as
for the matching relations in the variable flavor number scheme and the heavy
quark distribution functions at the same order. The result for the operator
matrix element is given in terms of generalized iterated integrals that include
square root letters in the alphabet, depending also on the mass ratio through
the main argument. Numerical results are presented.Comment: 28 papges Latex, 3 figure
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