Assessment of the Sustainability of Extensive Livestock Farms on the Common Grasslands of the Natural Park Sierra de Grazalema

The communal pastures of the Natural Park Sierra de Grazalema are grazed by a total of 23 extensive herds, of which 75% are certified as organic, although only 39% are subsidized for being organic. In a previous research work, these farms were characterized and classified into four typologies: group 1 (farms of intermediate size and without sheep), group 2 (large and very extensive farms), group 3 (farms with sheep suitable for both meat and milk) and group 4 (farms with dairy goat milk and without cattle). In this article, the sustainability of these farms is evaluated and compared based on their organic orientation (whether they are organic or conventional) and their typology (the four typologies indicated), as a tool for decision-making in the management of this natural protected area. To do so, 49 sustainability indexes have been generated, grouped into five attributes: adaptability, self-management, equity, stability, and productivity. The results indicate that, at the global level, there are no significant differences in sustainability between the organic and conventional farms studied. In contrast, depending on the typologies, the results indicate that group 3 is the most sustainable, followed by groups 1 and 4, with group 2 being the one with the lowest level of sustainability. Taking into account that there are a reduced number of herds grazing in this natural park, it is essential to solve the weaknesses of these farms in order to guarantee that they continue to maintain environmental equilibrium in the grasslands

A Typological Characterization of Organic Livestock Farms in the Natural Park Sierra de Grazalema Based on Technical and Economic Variables

This paper describes the typological characterization of the Natural Park Sierra de Grazalema (NPSG) livestock farms using its communal pastures (N = 23, 100% of population) in order to study their sustainability from 160 technical, economic and social variables (from direct on-farm data collection). A principal components analysis (PCA) produced four principal components related to size, livestock species, main productions and intensification level, explaining 73.6% of the variance. The subsequent cluster analysis classified the farms into four groups: C1 (medium size farms without sheep), C2 (large size and very extensive farms), C3 (farms with multipurpose sheep) and C4 (farms with dairy goat and without cattle). Forty-eight-point-seven percent of the surface was registered as organic but none of the farms’ commercialized products were organic. C2 and C3 (both having three ruminant species) are those farms that have more economic differences, the former generating the lowest profit, and the latter generating the highest; however, there is a risk to grasslands conservation from the current tendency that leads dairy farms to rapid intensification. Nevertheless, the very extensive farms are the most interesting for NPSG conservation and the administration should help to maintain the profitability of this sustainable traditional activity, which is necessary to conserve communal pastures

Montanera fattening average daily gain of Silvela iberian pigs according to growing system

Average daily gain during the montanera fattening period (grazing acorns and grass) of a flock of 84 pure Silvela Iberian pigs is analysed. A group was bred in an intensive system and the other one was bred in an traditional outdoor system. The results show better ADG in pigs from the traditional outdoor system but those confirm that is possible to obtain good performances with pigs from intensive system alter an adaptation to grazing period (0.87±0.02 kg versus 0.59±0.02 kg).Se analiza la ganancia media diaria a lo largo de los dos primeros meses de montanera de un grupo de 84 cerdos Ibéricos puros de la estirpe Silvela pertenecientes a dos grupos de recría diferentes: intensivo en parques y extensivo tradicional. Los resultados indican que se obtienen mejores resultados de ganancia media diaria con el sistema extensivo tradicional pero que es posible obtener buenos resultados con los cerdos procedentes del sistema intensivo, previa adaptación al pastoreo (0,87±0,02 kg versus 0,59±0,02 kg; p<0,001)

Productive structure of caprine farms in pampean west (Argentina)

In La Pampa, the average caprine farm land is 5700 ha, without fences and poor infra-estructure for animal management, there are two farmyards with an area of 5-8 m2/goat and a shed for kids housing with an area of 0.15 m2/kid. The average flock size is 164 goats, with horses and catle, extensively grazed daily and penned at nigth, without planning or suplementation. Reproducers usually began with the sexual activity before to have an apropiate weight. Kidding peaks occurs between end of september and middle of november. The number of bocks is 1-3/100 female. Reproductive parameters are: fertility 97,3 percent; fecundity 89,4 percent; real prolificity 177,2 percent and comercial prolificity 160,6 percent. Major health problems were contagious ectima, diarrhoea in kids, mastits and pediculosis.Las explotaciones caprinas pampeanas, son de 5700 ha, sin delimitación perimetral e infraestructura muy deficiente, con un par de corrales sin techar de 5-8 m2/cabra y uno techado para cabritos (0,15 m2 por cabrito). En promedio 164 cabras, con equino y vacuno, pastorean extensivamente, con encierro nocturno, casi sin planificación y sin suplementación alimenticia. Los reproductores entran en servicio sin suficiente peso y la paridera va de fin de septiembre a mediados de noviembre. Con 1-3 machos/100 hembras, los índices reproductivos son: fertilidad 97,3 p.100; fecundidad 89,4 p.100; prolificidad real 177,2 p.100 y prolificidad comercial 160,6 p.100. Los problemas sanitarios son ectima contagioso, diarrea de los cabritos, mastitis y pediculosis

Effect of Non-Genetic Factors on Reproduction of Extensive versus Intensive Florida Dairy Goats

The main objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of the production system and other environmental/phenotype factors on age at first kidding (AFK), kidding interval (KI) and prolificacy of 19,772 Florida goats reared between 2000 and 2019 on 49 dairy farms (38 farms intensively managed and 11 extensively managed with grazing). AFK was lower on intensive (490.2 ± 0.9 days; n = 13,345) than on extensive farms (511.7 ± 2.5 days; n = 2357; p < 0.001), and highest during the spring season (533.9 ± 2.7 days; n = 1932; p < 0.001) in both production systems. The average KI was 355.7 ± 0.4 days, mainly varying according to dry period, kidding season and lactation number and kidding type (p < 0.01). A significant interaction between production system, kidding season and dry period was observed with the highest AFK on intensive farms during spring and summer for goats presenting a dry period of up to six months. The overall prolificacy (1.64 ± 0.01) increased in recent years in both systems, and it was affected by the production system, but with different patterns; so, the highest prolificacy of primiparous and multiparous goats was observed on extensive and intensive farms, respectively. Besides that, the prolificacy and other reproductive parameters, such as AFK, significantly increased in the last decade, which could be related to management improvements. Besides that, the existence of inter-annual variations should be considered to compare data between farms and years, and to establish the farms’ objectives according to their production systems and production goals

Spike-based VITE control with Dynamic Vision Sensor applied to an Arm Robot.

Spike-based motor control is very important in the field of robotics and also for the neuromorphic engineering community to bridge the gap between sensing / processing devices and motor control without losing the spike philosophy that enhances speed response and reduces power consumption. This paper shows an accurate neuro-inspired spike-based system composed of a DVS retina, a visual processing system that detects and tracks objects, and a SVITE motor control, where everything follows the spike-based philosophy. The control system is a spike version of the neuroinspired open loop VITE control algorithm implemented in a couple of FPGA boards: the first one runs the algorithm and the second one drives the motors with spikes. The robotic platform is a low cost arm with four degrees of freedom.Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación TEC2009-10639-C04-02/01Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad TEC2012-37868-C04-02/0

The Role of Women on Dairy Goat Farms in Southern Spain

One of the factors involved in goat milk production is the role of women as farmers. The aim of this study was to evaluate the role of women on dairy goat farms, considering: (1) the profile of women occupationally involved, (2) the organization of the women’s work, (3) the degree of involvement by women in the decision-making on these farms, and (4) the influence of women’s work on productive results. This study was conducted on 52 dairy goat farms in southern Spain. A descriptive analysis and means comparisons were performed to describe the farms where any women were involved or not. In 61.5% of the farms, at least one woman was involved, with an age of 42.2 ± 8.8 years. Very few women were farm owners, although women took binding decisions in 81.25% of these farms. Their work is dedicated to milking and caring for the kids. Women had a positive influence on the productive variables analysed, and for mastitis in herds, the incidence was lower in herds where women participated (p < 0.01). In conclusion, it is recommended to include women’s work as a factor when characterizing dairy goats farms’ systems to evaluate their positive effect on a farm’s performance

The Feeding Behaviour Habits of Growing-Finishing Pigs and Its Effects on Growth Performance and Carcass Quality: A Review

Based on the available data of feeding behaviour habits (FBHs), this work aimed to discuss which type of pig, according to its FBHs, performs better and is more efficient. As pigs grow, average daily feed intake, meal size, and feeding rate increase, whereas small variations or even decreases in time spent eating and daily feeder visits have been reported. Moreover, the sex, breed, space allowance, feeder design, feed form, diet composition, and environmental conditions modify FBHs. On the other hand, the literature indicates the existence of four types of pigs: pigs that eat their daily feed intake in many short meals (nibblers) or in few large meals (meal eaters) combined with eating fast (faster eaters) or slow (slow eaters). The available scientific literature about ad libitum fed pigs suggests that pigs eating faster with bigger meals eat more, gain more weight, and are fatter than pigs eating less, slower, and with smaller meals. However, the feeding rate and the meal size do not influence feed efficiency. In conclusion, studies comparing growing-finishing pigs with similar feed intake, but different feeding rate and meal size are needed to better understand the influence of FBHs on feed efficiency

Acorn production at the dehesa: influential factors

This paper reviews the state-of-the-knowledge of acorn production in the South-Western Iberian dehesas. In the first part are briefly described the soil and climatic determining factors and phenology of most common trees of genus Quercus at the dehesa (Q. ilex, Q. suber and Q. faginea). In the second part, acorn production estimations are analyzed. Was established a mean acorn yield of 300 to 700 kg/ha; with individual productions of 8-14 kg/tree for Q. ilex, 5-10 kg/tree for Q. suber and 1-11 kg/tree for Q. faginea; with a highly variable production, both between and within years and individual trees. Finally we review the factors affecting acorn production, describing density of trees (estimated in 20-50 trees/ha), masting phenomenon (with cycles of 2-5,5 years and asynchrony between trees), individual cha-racteristics of trees (genetic potential, age, top surface, etc.), tree mass handling (with favourable effect of tilling, moderate pruning and sustainable grazing), meteorological conditions (mainly drought and meteorology during flowering) and sanitary status (Lymantria, Tortrix, Curculio, Cydia, Balaninus and Brenneria).Se revisa el conocimiento sobre la producción de bellota en las dehesas del SW de la Península Ibérica. Primero se analizan los condicionantes edafoclimáticos y la fenología de los principales árboles del género Quercus (Q. ilex, Q. suber y Q. faginea) presentes en las dehesas. A continuación se analiza la producción de bellota, que presentan valores medios de 300 a 700 kg/ha y producciones individuales de 8-14 kg/árbol para Q. ilex, 5-10 kg/árbol para Q. suber y 1-11 kg/árbol para Q. faginea; resultando producciones muy variables entre individuos, tanto intra como interanualmente. Finalmente, se revisan los factores que afectan a la producción de bellota; y entre éstos se describen la densidad de árboles (estimada en 20-50 pies adultos/ha), el fenómeno de la vecería (con ciclos de 2-5,5 años y asincronía entre árboles), las características individuales de los árboles (potencial genético, edad, superficie de copa, etc.), el manejo de la arboleda (con efecto favorable del laboreo, las podas ligeras y el pastoreo sostenible), las condiciones meteorológicas (principalmente sequía y meteorología durante la floración) y el estado sanitario (Lymantria, Tortrix, Curculio, Cydia, Balaninus y Brenneria)