Association between body condition score and live weight in pasture-based Holstein-Friesian dairy cows

peer-reviewedThe objective was to quantify the strength of the relationship between body condition score (BCS) and live weight (LW) in pasture-based Holstein-Friesian dairy cattle, and to determine the kg LW per unit BCS. A total of 26021 test-day records with information on both BCS (1–10 scale, where 1 is emaciated and 10 is obese) and LW across 1110 lactations from one research farm were used in the analysis. Correlation and regression analyses were used to determine the degree of association between BCS and LW in different parities, stages of the inter-calving interval and years. Correlations between BCS and LW were relatively consistent, with the mean correlation between BCS and LW across all data of 0·55 implying that differences in BCS explain approximately 30% of the variation in LW. Significantly different regressions of LW on BCS were present within stage of inter-calving interval by parity subclasses. Excluding calving, LW per unit BCS varied from 17 kg (early to mid lactation in parity 1) to 36 kg (early lactation in parity 4 and 5). However, LW per unit BCS was greatest at calving varying from 44 kg in first parity animals to 62 kg in second parity animals. On average, 1 BCS unit equated to 31 kg LW across all data

The Position of Statutory Construction in Present Day Law Practice

Even the title assigned to this article emphasizes a point of view. We will consider the position of statutory construction not from the aspect of judges, appellate or trial, who must decide cases. Instead we are to look at the subject from the point of view of the practitioner, the lawyer himself. The practice of law is of course varied. And there are many fields of knowledge which control that practice. Some of these obviously do not involve law at all. The lawyer is a litigator, an advocate in court or before quasi-judicial bodies. He is also a counsellor, an advisor and a guide. Sometimes he is a specialist. In many of his activities he is called upon to exhibit his knowledge of diverse fields as well as certain of his attributes of character and personality which have little to do with the law as such. In all of his activities, however, the solid foundation of law and his knowledge of it provide the reason for his retention and for his presence in the matter. Traditionally, the lawyer\u27s skill in analyzing and interpreting judicial decisions has been a primary requisite for all phases of practice. It is now becoming increasingly necessary for him to refer to statutes, and to develop methods and skills in interpreting them, in order to practice the art of counselling as well as the art of advocacy.\u27 This is obviously true in the field of public law, which usually depends on a basic statute. It has become equally true in the great areas of private law with which most lawyers are primarily concerned in the day-to-day practice of their profession