Interactive effects between genotype, protein nutrition and immune status on the parasite-induced anorexia of sheep

Infection with nematode parasites detrimentally affects production efficiency in grazing animals, mainly through a reduction in food intake (anorexia).This thesis describes a series of six in vivo experiments designed to investigate the interactive effects of genotype, immune status and protein nutrition on the occurrence of parasite-induced anorexia of sheep. The experiments also investigated the role of the hormore leptin in immune response and anorexia following infection with gastrointestinal nematodes. In general, each experiment involved two breeds of lambs (Suffolk x Greyface, S, and Scottish Blackface, B) or ewes (Greyface cross, G, and Scottish Blackface, B) that are known to differ in their production potential. In each experiment, animals were either infected with the abomasal nematode Teladorsagia circumcincta and fed ad libitum or non-infected and fed either ad libitum or restrictedly..The first two experiments investigated the effect of a primary and a secondary infection on anorexia and plasma leptin concentrations (PLC) in growing lambs (Chapter 3). The secondary infection started two weeks after the discontinuation of the primary infection. The results showed that lambs of the S breed were more susceptible to nematode infection than B lambs, as judged from the differences in faecal egg counts. Primary infection resulted in anorexia in S lambs but not in B lambs and re-infection tended to affect the food intake of S lambs only. Infection did not result in an acute increase in PLC, but its effect was significant when variation in food intake between treatments was accounted for. These results suggest that anorexia can occur in previously infected lambs, thus the effect of re-infection on anorexia was further investigated (Chapter 4).Chapter 4 describes a series of 3 experiments with lambs. In these experiments, previously naïve lambs of approximately 3 (experiment I) or 7 (experiment II) months of age were infected with T. circumcincta for either 10 or 7 weeks, respectively. Lambs of experiment I were re-infected either 4 or 8 weeks after the end of the primary infection (experiment III). The results showed that the breed differences in resistance to infection were not associated with breed differenced in the degree of anorexia (experiment I) and infection of 7-month old lambs did not result in anorexia. Re-infection of previously infected lambs did also not result in anorexia when lambs were re-infected 4 or 8 weeks after the end of the primary infection. In addition, the results of these experiments showed that nematode (re)infection did not result in an increase of PLC. These results suggest that leptin may be involved in the response of Iambs to infection, but it is unlikely that leptin alone is responsible for the parasite induced anorexia in lambsThe last experiment (Chapter 5) investigated the consequences of protein supplementation on anorexia, and PLC in infected periparturient ewes. Infection resulted in a breakdown of immunity to parasites (PPRI) and a reduction in food intake in both breeds. The breeds differed in the extent of PPRI (G ewes having higher FEC than B ewes), but not in the magnitude of anorexia. Protein supplementation resulted in a reduction in FEC, but had no effect on the magnitude of anorexia. Plasma leptin concentrations changed significantly over time, but were not affected by protein supplementation or infection. It was concluded that infection with T. circumcincta in periparturient ewes results in anorexia that is not alleviated by protein supplementation. Leptin is unlikely to be responsible for the anorexia of nematode infection in periparturient ewes.The outcomes of the above experiments are brought together with the literature in the General Discussion (Chapter 6) and directions of future work, to elucidate the mechanisms as well as the functional significance of anorexia, are put forward

Recommendations on innovative strategies related to health management and quality

The SOLID project (Sustainable Organic Low-Input Dairying) carried out research to improve the sustainability of low-input/organic dairy systems in different ways. This deliverable is part of a series of three that summarise recommendations arising from participatory research with innovative strategies involving farmers, supply chain partners and researchers in the SOLID project

Recommendations on innovative strategies related to nutrition, health and welfare of small ruminants

The SOLID project (Sustainable Organic Low-Input Dairying) carried out research to improve the sustainability of low-input/organic dairy systems in different ways. This document summarises major challenges in practice for both organic and low input production systems of small ruminants. Workshops and trials explored feed supply (including feeding of by products and pasture irrigation), and health and welfare as important areas for improvement. The report presents some first conclusion from the participatory trials

Innovative strategies related to forage production, utilization and feeding for dairy cow productivity

The SOLID project (Sustainable Organic Low-Input Dairying) carried out research to improve the sustainability of low-input/organic dairy systems in different ways. This deliverable is one of the three that are resulting from the WP1 of the SOLID project and presents and discusses a series of participatory on-farm studies that were conducted to test innovative approaches related to forage production, utilization and feeding in organic and low-input dairying systems. Specifically, the participatory studies focus on a) improvement of soil organic matter through grazing management and establishment of diverse swards b) on-farm strategies for the improvement of forage yield and protein content of the pasture c) utilisation of industrial by-products for dairy cow nutrition and d) the effects of dietary mineral supplementation on mineral concentrations in milk, with particular focus on iodine supplementation

Extensive Sheep and Goat Production: The Role of Novel Technologies towards Sustainability and Animal Welfare

[EN] Sheep and goat extensive production systems are very important in the context of global food security and the use of rangelands that have no alternative agricultural use. In such systems, there are enormous challenges to address. These include, for instance, classical production issues, such as nutrition or reproduction, as well as carbon-efficient systems within the climate-change context. An adequate response to these issues is determinant to economic and environmental sustainability. The answers to such problems need to combine efficiently not only the classical production aspects, but also the increasingly important health, welfare, and environmental aspects in an integrated fashion. The purpose of the study was to review the application of technological developments, in addition to remote-sensing in tandem with other state-of-the-art techniques that could be used within the framework of extensive production systems of sheep and goats and their impact on nutrition, production, and ultimately, the welfare of these species. In addition to precision livestock farming (PLF), these include other relevant technologies, namely omics and other areas of relevance in small-ruminant extensive production: heat stress, colostrum intake, passive immunity, newborn survival, biomarkers of metabolic disease diagnosis, and parasite resistance breeding. This work shows the substantial, dynamic nature of the scientific community to contribute to solutions that make extensive production systems of sheep and goats more sustainable, efficient, and aligned with current concerns with the environment and welfareSIThe CECAV authors acknowledge financial support of the research unit, which was financed by the National Funds from FCT, the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT), project number UIDB/CVT/00772/2020. Financial support from FCT (Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia, Lisboa, Portugal) in the form of infrastructural funding to LEAF (UID/AGR/04129) and PhD grants SFRH/BD/143992/2019 (DM Ribeiro) and 2021.07638.BD (L Sacarrão-Birrento). Author L.E.H.C. acknowledges funding from the Agencia Estatal de Investigación (Spain) (RYC2019- 027064-I/AEI/10.13039/501100011033

Diverse swards and mob grazing for dairy farm productivity: A UK case study

The paper presents first year results of one participatory case study carried out as part of EU FP7 funded SOLID project (Sustainable Organic and Low Input Dairying) on an organic dairy farm managed with diverse swards and mob grazing in Britain. Mob grazing is a livestock management strategy consisting of high stocking density for a short time to remove forage rapidly due to high grazing pressure and then removing livestock to allow grass recovery. On the farm this is combined with a diverse sward, paying particular consideration to soil fertility. First results indicate that there was more available herbage in front of the cows, especially in the summer months, than could be expected from rotational grazing with shorter rest periods. Differences between the diverse and standard mixture measure in one field were not as marked as expected. Further measurements during the coming grazing season will be carried out

Supporting Innovation in Organic Agriculture: A European Perspective Using Experience from the SOLID Project

Organic farming is recognized as one source for innovation helping agriculture to develop sustainably. However, the understanding of innovation in agriculture is characterized by technical optimism, relying mainly on new inputs and technologies originating from research. The paper uses the alternative framework of innovation systems describing innovation as the outcome of stakeholder interaction and examples from the SOLID (Sustainable Organic Low-Input Dairying) project to discuss the role of farmers, researchers and knowledge exchange for innovation. We used a farmer-led participatory approach to identify problems of organic and low-input dairy farming in Europe and develop and evaluate innovative practices. Experience so far shows that improvements of sustainability can be made through better exploitation of knowledge. For example, it is recognized that optimal utilization of good quality forage is vitally important, but farmers showed a lack of confidence in the reliability of forage production both in quantity and quality. We conclude that the systems framework improves the understanding of innovation processes in organic agriculture. Farmer-led research is an effective way to bring together the scientific approach with the farmers’ practical and context knowledge in finding solutions to problems experienced by farmers and to develop sustainability

Building Organic Bridges', at the Organic World Congress

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Bioeconomy and Livestock Production Nexus: A Bibliometric Network Analysis

Over the last couple of decades, the livestock production systems of the agri-food sector increase meat production in order to meet the demand and adapt to satisfy the food preferences of the continuously increasingly world population. This fact, along with the promotion of sustainable production, has brought to light the topic of bioeconomy. The rapid increase in publications on the research area of bioeconomy has become the motivation for this study in order to analyze its relation with livestock production. This study provides a thorough review of the scientific literature on the bioeconomy of livestock production. The bibliometric network analysis (i.e., software VOSviewer) were performed over the time frame of 2004–2021. The results identified 624 documents bioeconomy of livestock production by 160 research organizations from 83 countries. This paper visualizes the strongest links about livestock production bioeconomy, main research topics, most influential countries, authors, and organizations, as well as high-frequency keywords. Therefore, this study contributes to building global bioeconomy policies and encouraging the livestock sector to implement bioeconomy practices. The research gap identified in many countries should be the trigger for future research in this subject