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The role of livestock in sustainable food systems and sustainable diets is a complex issue. It should be assessed in terms of its impacts on environmental, economic, and social sustainability, as well as the levels of animal performance, the human food supply, and the human food production system. However, such nuanced analyses are made difficult by the lack of multi-metric, multi-domain modelling frameworks and a lack of data on regional variation in livestock production. This paper proposes a conceptual biophysical modelling framework that could be used as a pathway to address existing methodology gaps and improve sustainability analyses across multiple levels. Realising this modelling framework requires clear, transparent, and enforceable frameworks for multi-scale sustainability assessments, as well as long-term investment into region-specific data collection, particularly from under-represented regions. To ensure representativeness and broader utility, this framework must also be able to model variation in both production systems and consumer dietary patterns, and the feedback loops between producer/consumer decisions and on-farm production. Beyond the level of science, this will also require concerted effort by the various actors in the livestock and food-chain sectors such as governmental bodies, the food production industry and local communities. Once realised, this framework could be used to assess trade-offs between potential food-system changes and to ensure that decisions are being made from a big picture, net-benefit perspective, while exploring methods for building flexible, diverse food systems that are sustainable across multiple scales. For sustainable agriculture to be truly sustainable, it must be sustainable across the domains of environmental, economic, and social sustainability. However, most sustainability assessments focus primarily on environmental impacts, and many current tools and models can model only one or two of these domains, making nuanced, big-picture assessment difficult. This review proposes a holistic modelling framework for nuanced, multi-metric sustainability of livestock systems, while highlighting challenges that must be addressed to realise and implement this framework. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It is clear that the societal role of meat is being challenged with ideological and simplified logic without substantiation from robust data-driven science. With this background, the international summit titled 'The societal role of meat – what the science says' was held in Dublin, Ireland, during October 2022, to provide evidence-based evaluations and the Dublin Declaration was signed by over 1000 scientists. In this paper, we provide a synopsis of the summit and then give context for evaluating the societal role of meat in Australia. The key themes of the summit were the essential roles of meat in (1) diet and health, (2) a sustainable environment and (3) society, economics and culture. Evidence clearly showed the role of meat as a nutrient-dense source of high-quality protein and micronutrients that can be safely consumed by humans. Further, the complementary role of livestock in agricultural systems was highlighted with both plant- and animal-based agriculture reliant on each other to maximise the efficient production of food. Thus, from both an Australian and world perspective, very little food considered to be human-edible is fed to livestock. The role of livestock in rural societies across the world was emphasised to underpin regional and national economies, with particular importance in those countries with developing economies to facilitate growing wealth to 'step out' of poverty and provide gender equality. Meat production, particularly from ruminants, is a critical part of Australian primary production and it is concluded that the Dublin Declaration is highly relevant to Australia. Finally, concern regarding future funding and organisation of research and extension is discussed. There is a need to continue funding highly collaborative programs that bring a broad range of disciplines together, in conjunction with undergraduate and postgraduate teaching to underpin the social license to operate for meat and livestock production. The societal role of meat is being challenged with ideological and simplified logic without substantiation from robust data driven science. The international summit titled 'The societal role of meat – what the science says' was held to provide evidence-based evaluations and the Dublin Declaration. A synopsis of the summit is described and the societal role of meat in Australia is evaluated under the themes of meat for (1) diet and health, (2) a sustainable environment and (3) society, economics and culture. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The rise of sequencing technology brought about a surge of new methodologies that offered a new and deeper level of understanding of the role of the microbiome in the health and performance of livestock. This started a chain reaction in technology evolution, and a decade later, we have developed a new appreciation of a healthy gut and the role of early colonisation and nutrition in developing the microbiome, and its subsequent impact on animal productivity. An abundance of new products flooded the livestock supplement market with the promise of improving the health of intestinal microbiota. However, the impact of these products and any potential gains they might provide have not always been quantified or validated. Further to this, the potential interactions with the microbial community naturally occurring in the feed-base have not commonly been considered. We have recently shown that animal feed carries a complex microbial community that can have various impacts, including negating farm biosecurity measures. The ruminant animal provides an even greater level of complexity where physiological drivers act to maintain ruminal homeostasis. Despite many advances, numerous knowledge gaps remain, and the methodologies are not without their challenges with almost constant evolution in analysing and interpreting data. In this paper, we will discuss the benefits, challenges and shortfalls of microbiome science, its interfaces with multi-omics research and the strategies of its contribution to animal production science. With advances in sequencing technology, research of microbial communities has become more accessible and affordable. In livestock research, the roles of microbiota are associated with animal performance and welfare. Although universally accepted, amplicon-sequencing methodology has several issues that need to be considered in data interpretation. Here we review the main shortfalls, benefits and uses of the methodology in livestock research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper reviews the small but growing literature on the water footprint (WF) of livestock production and provides an analysis of the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats of this indicator. We identified 42 papers published in peer-reviewed international journals between 2000 and 2017, which covered the WF of dairy, meat and egg production using life-cycle assessment and WF network methodologies. The WF of livestock products decreases with the level of intensification of the farming system. In addition, the WF of meat is higher than that of either milk or eggs. The WF of beef is much larger than the WFs from sheep, goat, pork and chicken. The WF variation among different animal products is explained by the difference of the feed conversion ratio. Ruminants (cattle, sheep and goat) have a poor feed conversion ratio compared with monogastric animals (poultry and swine). Estimating the WF of livestock production and economic analysis of water use at different stages of production will help farmers and other stakeholders to identify the most demanding activities in term of water use, and implement strategies to improve water-use efficiency. Thus, feed production was identified as the largest contributor of the WF of livestock production. Options to reduce the WF of livestock production include the use of low-WF feeds, more efficient irrigation of crops used for livestock feed, and reduced consumption of animal-sourced protein in human diets through substitution with plant proteins. The strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats analysis highlighted the importance of combining WF with other environmental-footprint and sustainability indicators to provide more reliable information for decision makers. Water scarcity is one of the main challenges threatening the sustainability of livestock production systems. The present review describes approaches used to quantify water use in livestock production, and the water footprint of the main animal products. The review also highlights possible strategies to reduce water use in livestock sector and reduce the global water shortage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Southeast Asia's human population is expected to rise by 100 million between 2023 and 2050, with an associated rise in animal-product output in the region's low- to middle-income countries. Countries with the largest population are forecast to continue their increasing poultry consumption, with regional pig meat consumption also to rise, but much less than in China to the north, and much less in Muslim-dominant countries. The forecast growth in the regional ruminant population is more modest and the farm-gate greenhouse gas (GHG) cost per unit of human food protein generated is much higher for ruminant meat (203–584 kg carbon dioxide equivalents (CO2e)/kg protein) than for pig meat (18 kg/kg) or poultry (4 kg/kg). Changing human diets away from ruminant or any animal-sourced protein, is being explored to increase the human food supply at a lower GHG cost. However, with small-holder livestock production systems dominant across many regional countries, the social, land-use and broader economic roles of ruminants need consideration. Strategies to expand ruminant production but with a reduced GHG unit cost (emission intensity) are being pursued. Increasing individual animal-product output, largely through simple animal health and nutritional management decisions, can allow future food targets to be met at a lower GHG emission than if this additional food was produced by business-as-usual livestock production systems. Because the Paris Agreement recognises the priority of food provision over emission abatement, it seems reasonable that much of Southeast Asia should pursue emission intensity targets more than absolute emission targets, and reflect this in their nationally determined contributions (NDCs). Emission-intensity intentions are already apparent not just in NDCs but in emerging carbon markets. Southeast Asia's forecast rise in human population and demand for animal-sourced food is likely to increase absolute greenhouse-gas emissions from the region's livestock sector. There are substantial animal and feed management opportunities to suppress the increase in these emissions by improving animal productivity. Targeting a regional reduction in emissions per unit animal product (emission intensity) instead of absolute emissions offers a means to support food security, while controlling emission of livestock derived greenhouse gases. This article belongs to the collection: SAADC 2023. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Concerns about livestock animal welfare are well documented worldwide. Public attitudes are often studied as indicators of risk for the livestock industries, but are less often studied in relation to behaviours that may affect the livestock industries. The present paper examines the relationships between public attitudes, opinion leadership and self-reported pork consumption and community behaviours that may have a negative impact on livestock industries by promulgating views that farming engages in unacceptable practices. To the extent that these attitudes and behaviours are based on a lack of knowledge or a lack of understanding about the actual relationship between current practices and animal welfare and farm productivity, care needs to be exercised to determine what industry practice change should occur or what should be done to inform the public. The results showed that in regard to consumption, being male and holding positive attitudes towards eating meat and livestock welfare explained 11% of the variance in pork consumption. Notably, however, information seeking and trust in information, attitudes related to animal welfare and the livestock industries, and membership to an animal-welfare group, accounted for 44% of the variance in community behaviours that express dissatisfaction with the livestock industries. Opinion leaders, that is, people in the community who indicate that they are used by others as a source of information about livestock animal welfare, tended to eat less pork and engaged in many more community behaviours, such as calling talkback radio or writing to politicians. Together, these results suggest that more needs to be done to identify the population segment of opinion leaders and to engage them in dialogue about pork production. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Context: The livestock sector is undergoing rapid changes, and governments are designing sector development plans to account for this transition. However, the fundamental assumptions behind the medium- to long-term growth strategies of the sector should be looked at from the perspective of the dynamics in the domestic and global economy, and uncertainties around the driving forces of the transition. Aims: This study used the case of Ethiopia to provide a scenario-based analysis of alternative national development trajectories, focusing on the prospects of growth performance, urbanisation, and their potential implications on the cattle system within the country. Methods: We employed a newly developed linked economic and animal systems (LEAS) model where the livestock, economy-wide, and microsimulation subsystems are linked either way through flows of information. Key results: Our findings suggested that demand for animal-source food (ASF) is highly dependent on economic-demographic changes and that income growth is the primary driver of overall livestock-system expansion. Additionally, urbanisation shifts the outputs of the livestock systems towards processed ASF products. Conclusion: The analysis showed that livestock development plans should reflect the economic reality and potential risks facing the economic system. Herd offtake and livestock sector output vary considerably with assumptions about future growth and urbanisation trajectories. Implications: In addition to relevant findings about the implications of the interplays between the economic and demographic variables, the study generated insights into the role of integrating economy-wide and livestock-system models to provide a risk-based approach to the prospects of the livestock sector. Livestock sector growth assumptions should be looked at from the perspective of the dynamics in the domestic and global economy, and uncertainties around the driving forces of the transition. This study used the case of Ethiopia to provide an analysis of alternative national development trajectories relating to the prospects of growth performance and urbanisation. It generates insights into the importance of integrating economy-wide and livestock-system models to provide a risk-based approach to the prospects of the livestock sector. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The global demand for protein in the form of red meat is growing, especially in Southeast Asia, with income and population growth driving an increase in global beef consumption projected to continue from 2023 to 2032. This provides incentive for smallholder large-ruminant producers to build on production improvements obtained over the past decade to ensure long-term profitability and sustainability. This review aims to provide an update on advances in smallholder large-ruminant production and profitability in Southeast Asia over the past decade, as well as highlight ongoing challenges that require further investment from governments and the private sector to meet the growing regional and global demand for protein that is safe for human consumption. Improvements are discussed in detail across the areas of health, production and welfare, using outputs from research for development projects across Southeast Asia, specifically Cambodia and Laos which have high proportions of population living below the national poverty line. Areas covered include nutrition, disease control, diversification and farmer engagement. Ongoing challenges and opportunities are also considered. Key improvements in smallholder large-ruminant production, health and welfare in Southeast Asia over the past decade include the introduction of strategies to improve nutrition through forage utilisation and disease control through vaccination and biosecurity as well as farmer engagement and diversification. However, major challenges continue in the areas of disease control and eradication, training, climate variability, gender empowerment and policy. Increasing global demand for red meat places smallholder large-ruminant producers throughout Cambodia and Laos in an ideal position to capitalise. To do this and gain improved regional food security requires ongoing investment in stakeholder training and adoption of appropriate strategies to ensure greater productivity from existing numbers and resisting increasing numbers in an environment with limited resources. Although the challenges for large-ruminant smallholders are substantial, the rewards for continual investment to improve health and production include increased household incomes and profitability as well as greater regional food security. Global demand for protein in the form of red meat is growing, especially in Southeast Asia, with income and population growth driving an increase in beef consumption. To meet this demand advances in smallholder large-ruminant production and profitability have been achieved. However, to achieve regional food security ongoing challenges and opportunities need to be addressed. This article belongs to the Collection Sustainable Animal Agriculture for Developing Countries 2023. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Goats are the fastest increasing livestock population on earth, growing by 29% in the past decade. In Vietnam, goat numbers grew remarkably faster at 103% in the same period. To understand the reasons for this rapid growth and implications, we explored the characteristics of Vietnamese goat supply and demand and identified risks and opportunities for smallholder goat producers. Our analysis finds that the continued growth of goat consumption in Vietnam is driven by Vietnam's: (1) large and growing population (97.3 million) and economy; (2) high meat consumption relative to Gross Domestic Product; (3) high social value placed on goat consumption; (4) increasing popularity of meat consumption; (5) established socio-cultural goat consumption practices; (6) increasing preference for grass-fed meat; and (7) increasing supply from neighbouring countries. As a result, growth in Vietnamese goat meat prices has continually outperformed growth in goat supply over the past decade. Supply is mainly produced by thousands of smallholder farmers in Vietnam and neighbouring Laos. Hence, there are important livelihood and rural development opportunities for producers to increase and diversify into goats. In Laos, each additional goat sold represents a 4.75% increase in smallholder household income per year. To reduce risks to goat producers, research is needed to: (1) forecast the current and future demand for goats in Vietnam to prevent oversupply leading to price collapse; (2) understand how premiums are awarded for goat characteristics; (3) investigate pathways for formalising trade and its impacts on smallholders; and (4) establish strategies for producers to improve supply without degrading natural resources, or increase disease outbreak risk. Goats are a resilient animal that can thrive in areas where cattle and sheep can't, making them an ideal species for rural communities. Our analysis of goats in Vietnam found that there are cultural and economic drivers that promise continued growth in demand, creating plentiful opportunity for rural communities to continue developing goat production to improve their living standards. These trends justify increased action on marketing, biosecurity and environmental impacts, to ensure the sustainability of goat production. This article belongs to the Collection Sustainable Animal Agriculture for Developing Countries 2023. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The intensification of livestock production has highlighted the importance of balancing production and the environmental impact in grazing systems. With the advent of more distributed computing power we have seen more complex models being developed, capable of simulating most aspects of a livestock production system. Where the modelling objective includes prediction of both productivity and environmental impacts, it is imperative to include appropriate consideration of the grazing animal in the simulation. This raises numerous challenges with respect to environmental impact modelling, including explicit treatment of nutrients in dung and urine, the prediction of grazing behaviour, dry matter intake and associated enteric methane loss. This paper discusses these challenges and opportunities when integrating animal models into grazing system models for evaluating productivity and environmental impact. Whole-farm systems modelling of livestock production systems should include appropriate consideration of the grazing animal. This raises challenges with modelling nutrients in dung and urine, grazing behaviour, dry matter intake and enteric methane loss, as examples. This paper discusses these challenges and opportunities when integrating animal models into grazing system models for evaluating productivity and environmental impact. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While water requirement for livestock is widely perceived as daily drinking water consumption, ~100 times more water is required for daily feed production than for drinking water. Increasing livestock water productivity can be achieved through increasing the water-use efficiency (WUE) of feed production and utilisation. The current paper briefly reviews water requirements for meat and milk production and the extent of, and reason for, variations therein. Life-cycle analysis (LCA) can reveal these variations in WUE but LCA are not tools that can be employed routinely in designing and implementing water-use-efficient feed resourcing and feeding strategies. This can be achieved by (1) choosing agricultural by-products and crop residues where water applications are partitioned over several products for example grain and straw (or food and fodder) contrary to planted forage production where water and land have to be exclusively allocated to fodder production, (2) select and breed WUE crops and forages and exploit cultivar variations, (3) increase crop productivity by closing yield gaps; and (4) increase per animal productivity to reduce the proportion of feed (and therefore water) allocated for maintenance requirement rather than productive purposes. Feed-mediated WUE of dairy buffalo production on almost completely (94%) by-product-based feeding systems could be reduced from 2350 to 548 L of water per kg of milk by the combined effect of increasing basal ration quality in a total mixed ration, which resulted in increased milk yield of ~30%, and by increasing crop productivity from 1 t (actual crop yield) to 3 t (potential crop yield). Exemplary, multi-dimensional sorghum improvement using staygreen quantitative trait loci (QTL) introgression for concomitant improvement of WUE of grain and stover production and stover fodder quality showed opportunities for further linked improvement in WUE of crop and livestock production. Metabolisable energy (ME) yield under water stress conditions measured in lysimeters, (which measure crop water transpired) ranged QTL dependent from 16.47 to 23.93 MJ ME per m³ H2O. This can be extrapolated to 8.23-11.97 MJ ME per m³ H2O evapotranspired under field conditions. To mainstream improvement in WUE of feed resourcing and feeding, the paper suggests the combination of feed resource databases with crop-soil-meteorological data to calculate how much water is required to produce the feed at the available smallest spatial scale of crop-soil-meteorological data available. A framework is presented of how such a tool can be constructed from secondary datasets on land use, cropping patterns and spatially explicit crop-soil-meteorological datasets. On a daily basis, about 100 times more water is required for livestock feed production than for drinking water. Water requirement for feed production can be reduced four-fold by choosing agricultural byproducts, breeding water-use efficient crops and forages and by closing yield gasp in crop and livestock production. Since feed production results in substantial demand for water it should be linked with water demand estimates. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The global population is predicted to grow to over 9 billion by the middle of 21st century, with 70% of people living in urban areas, and food demand is projected to grow by 70% by 2050. Climate change presents a series of challenges for global animal agriculture. As a result of thermal challenges associated with climate variability, availability of quality pasture, animal behaviour, physiological and immunological functions are potentially impacted. Oxidative status plays an important role in the regulation and maintenance of several physiological and immunological functions of the body. Ruminants are exposed to several environmental and metabolic challenges that can trigger oxidative stress. In this scenario, it is possible for an increase in free radical production and a depletion of antioxidant reserves, resulting in damage to lipids, proteins and DNA. Since oxidative stress can affect animal health and the quality of their products (meat/milk), antioxidant supplementation of ruminant diets represents a useful tool to sustain redox homeostasis when the ruminants are exposed to oxidative stress. This paper will examine the roles that oxidative stress plays in some physiological functions, and it will discuss the implications of antioxidant supplementation on ruminant health and production. Physiological levels of dietary antioxidants underpin efficient energy utilisation, optimal antioxidant potential, and balanced mitochondrial function to enhance protein deposition without impacting animal health. The research conducted over the last decade has improved the understanding of physiological functions of antioxidants, with selenium and vitamin E receiving particular attention. There is evidence that the functions of selenium and vitamin E extend beyond the classical antioxidant properties to immunomodulation especially when administered at higher doses than recommended. Improving the oxidative status of ruminants will play an important role in delivering high-quality milk and meat products to consumers. Considering the growing awareness among consumers of the benefits of antioxidant-rich food, there is a great opportunity for the livestock industries to focus on producing antioxidant-enriched milk and meat products or functional foods. Therefore, the premise of this paper is to review the recent developments in understanding antioxidant dynamics in ruminants and their role in reducing the impact of environmental stress and metabolic diseases. In addition, the paper will explore the putative implications that antioxidant supplementation has on the quality animal products and how the improved understanding can be best utilised to achieve efficient and sustainable animal production systems to ensure quality animal products for human consumption. Antioxidant dynamics in live animal has implications on ruminant health and product quality. This review article presents the recent developments in understanding the changing dynamics of vitamin E and selenium and their role to improve ruminant production under various metabolic and environmental challenges.The evidence suggest that their role extend beyond the antioxidant functions, when given on higher levels than recommended. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The major economic costs to ruminant livestock producers of meat are associated with the breeding herd, which is an important target for improving productivity and efficiency at pasture. There is increasing interest in how to manage breeding females and their offspring to either minimise the consequences of adverse environmental effects or to enhance productivity and efficiency of offspring. This paper briefly reviews influences on fetal growth including the placenta, and reports results of our studies on factors including chronic, severe nutritional restriction during pregnancy and/or lactation within pasture-based systems on postnatal productivity of beef cattle. Cattle severely growth restricted early in life can have reduced weight for age to market weight, but with little or no alteration to normal allometric growth patterns of carcass tissues or beef quality, at least within pasture-based systems. The extent to which Bill McClymont's vision of improving productivity and efficiency through improved understanding of the interactions between livestock, plants and soils can be realised is limited by our capacity to generate, in a timely manner, objective data on animal performance including intake and feed use efficiency within pastoral ecosystems. The capacity to improve productivity and efficiency, most notably for the breeding herd, within pastoral ecosystems will be enhanced by the development of wireless sensor networks and methods to manage and develop applications from 'big data'. These applications of wireless sensor networks will include measurement of pasture intake, which is the input trait that underpins livestock production efficiency. Consistent with Bill McClymont's vision, consumption of pasture by ruminants represents the point in the grazing ecosystem where livestock interface with plants and soils, and thus measurement of pasture intake should be a high priority for future research on productivity and efficiency. This paper reviews influences including nutrition during pregnancy and/or lactation within pasture-based systems on postnatal productivity of beef cattle, within the economic context of maternal productivity and efficiency. Applications of wireless sensor networks including measurement of pasture intake, the input trait that underpins livestock production efficiency, are also discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Cicerone Project began as a producer-led partnership that sought, over a period of 8 years, to enhance the profitability and sustainability of livestock enterprises by improving the connection between those producers, research and extension. Following a detailed survey, the research and extension needs of livestock producers were identified and several applied investigations were conducted to meet those needs and delivered through a range of extension activities. This final paper of the Cicerone Special Issue reflects on the entire Project from a wide array of perspectives, including livestock producers, researchers, extension specialists and staff employed by the Project, all of whom are authors of this paper. A notable early successful outcome of the Project was the improved precision of footrot diagnosis, which has been of value to the entire sheep industry, and that flowed from a field investigation of benign and virulent footrot combined with detailed genetic investigations, which led to an improved testing regime. This paper also reflects on the findings of an unreplicated agricultural ecosystem research trial, which measured the impact of pasture renovation, increased soil fertility and grazing management on the profitability and sustainability of three different 53-ha farmlets. Valuable findings from this whole-farmlet trial included the need for a high quality feed supply for increasing stocking rate and animal liveweights; the ability and utility of satellite imagery to detect changes in pasture growth, composition and recent grazing pressure; the value of short grazing and long rest periods for controlling Barber's pole worms of sheep; the impact of increased stocking rates on whole-farm profitability and risk; methods of optimising decisions relating to pasture renovation, fertiliser applications and grazing management; and an integrated analysis of all key measured components of the farmlet management systems. Collectively, these findings were powerful as they were demonstrated at a scale credible to livestock producers using the 'compare - measure - learn - adopt' approach, which was the key philosophy adopted by the Cicerone Project. By comparing and measuring different whole-farm systems, and by ensuring that producers had ownership of the trial process, the Project successfully delivered objective findings that producers trusted and which increased our understanding of important drivers of complex grazing enterprises under variable climatic conditions. Some of these drivers included: the influence of soil phosphorus on botanical composition and subsequent livestock production, the role of pasture renovation and soil fertility on herbage supply, herbage quality and stocking rate, and the improved gastrointestinal nematode control delivered by intensive rotational grazing. The beneficiaries of the Project included the 180 farmer members who participated in some 61 field days and workshops; the research and extension collaborators including four postgraduates who completed their research investigations in conjunction with the Project; and some 500 undergraduate and 300 technical students who benefited from coming to understand the applied field comparisons of the three whole-farmlet systems. Having livestock producers play a significant leadership role led to valuable outcomes achieved with research collaborators; this should encourage the development of other learning partnerships which aim to explore complex farming system issues. The Cicerone Project was a unique learning partnership that aimed to improve the sustainability and profitability of grazing enterprises through practical and scientifically valid research. Through producer leadership and collaboration with research and extension specialists, it achieved success in solving problems relating to animal health and understanding complex grazed farming systems by using whole farmlets. The success of this learning partnership, which enhanced the trust between all participants, provides a valuable example to others. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Cicerone Project was a collaborative effort by livestock producers, researchers and extension specialists, which aimed to explore the profitability and sustainability of grazing enterprises on the Northern Tablelands of New South Wales, Australia. A major part of the Project was the creation of a moderate scale, unreplicated farmlet experiment. The process of selecting the farmlet treatments and the design of the experiment involved considerable negotiation over an extended period in order to achieve 'ownership' by all those involved. The farmlets were designed to compare a typical farmlet (B) as the control with a second farmlet (A), which received higher levels of pasture renovation and soil fertility, and a third (C), which employed intensive rotational grazing management with short graze and long rest periods. Management guidelines were developed for all soil, pasture, livestock and grazing management decisions on the three farmlets. Whole-farmlet data are presented for the pastures sown, fertiliser applied, supplement fed, the stocking rates attained and the pattern of graze and rest periods over the experimental period from July 2000 to December 2006. Over the first 4 years of the trial, pastures were renovated on 71% of farmlet A while 8% of each of farmlets B and C were renovated. The rates of fertiliser applied to the three farmlets varied according to soil test values and the different target values for soil phosphorus and sulfur. In the first year of the trial (2000-01), the annual average stocking rates on farmlets A, B and C were 9.5, 7.9 and 9.1 dry sheep eqivalents/ha, respectively, whereas by the fifth year (2005), the stocking rates were 11.2, 7.8 and 7.4 dry sheep equivalents/ha, respectively. This paper provides details of the general methods used in the farmlet trial, of relevance to a series of related papers which explore all aspects of the farmlet experiment and its findings. It also reports on the selection and definition of the farmlet treatments and describes how the guidelines evolved over the duration of the trial in response to the practical realities of conducting this complex, agroecosystem experiment. The Cicerone Project was a collaborative effort by livestock producers, researchers and extension specialists, which aimed to explore the profitability and sustainability of grazing enterprises on the Northern Tablelands of New South Wales, Australia.This paper provides details of the general methods used in the farmlet trial, of relevance to a series of related papers which explore all aspects of the farmlet experiment and its findings. It also reports on the selection and definition of the farmlet treatments and describes how the guidelines evolved over the duration of the trial in response to the practical realities of conducting this complex, agroecosystem experiment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Cicerone Project was a partnership between livestock producers, researchers and extension specialists on the Northern Tablelands of New South Wales, Australia that investigated several complex grazing enterprise issues between 1998 and 2006. It was conducted as a Participatory Action Research project, which first surveyed livestock producers to learn of their problems and then carried out investigations according to the Project's chosen motto of 'compare - measure - learn - adopt'. The Project included research into footrot diagnosis and an investigation of whole-farmlet livestock and pasture management systems complemented by a multi-faceted extension and education component, which delivered findings to a wide array of stakeholders across the Northern Tablelands and adjacent regions. This paper describes the extension and education methods and outcomes and reflects on how successful the engagement of livestock producers was through a partnership, which focussed on co-learning by all participants. Several different communication approaches were used including the production of 40 newsletters and the delivery of 61 field days. Collaborators also held two symposia, which presented comprehensive overviews of the research results. In the final year of the Project, a roadshow was held to communicate results to a wider audience in neighbouring districts. The results of the two footrot trials, which were conducted as Participatory Action Research projects, led to rapid and substantial changes in the testing regime for virulent footrot, resulting in large savings for livestock producers through more accurate detection of the disease. Other valued extension and industry outcomes were the ability to compare the biophysical and economic performance of different whole farmlets, an appreciation of the value of the whole-farm system approach, the trustworthiness of the results and the stimulation of livestock producers to think more deeply about their management systems, stocking rate and risk. The Project benefited from the research efforts of four postgraduate students and was of benefit to ~300 high school and technical college students and also some 500 university undergraduate students who undertook learning projects in conjunction with Project members and collaborators. This Special Issue of 24 journal papers represents a substantial delivery of the findings from this complex agroecosystem Project, which broke new ground in terms of securing much closer working relationships between livestock producers, scientists and extension specialists. Ultimately, this volume will allow extension of the results of the Cicerone Project to reach a wider audience than has typically been achieved through other Participatory Action Research projects. The Cicerone Project was a partnership between livestock producers, researchers and extension specialists on the Northern Tablelands of New South Wales, Australia that investigated several complex grazing enterprise issues between 1998 and 2006. It was conducted as a Participatory Action Research project, which first surveyed livestock producers to learn of their problems and then carried out investigations according to the Project's chosen motto of 'compare - measure - learn - adopt'. The Project included research into footrot diagnosis and an investigation of whole-farmlet livestock and pasture management systems complemented by a multi-faceted extension and education component, which delivered findings to a wide array of stakeholders across the Northern Tablelands and adjacent regions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A unique project led by livestock producers, called the Cicerone Project, was undertaken on the Northern Tablelands region of New South Wales, Australia, following acknowledgement by those producers of a widening gap between them and research and extension information. The overall aim of the project was to co-learn, through a partnership between livestock producers, research, extension and other specialists, how to improve the profitability and sustainability of grazing enterprises in that region. It was hypothesised that closer engagement would help to guide relevant research efforts and also enhance the adoption of research findings. With the support of industry funding and the collaboration of key research, education and extension partners, the inaugural steering committee of the Cicerone Project commissioned a survey of over 300 land managers in the region to explore their research and adoption needs. The survey identified the most important issues and found a high level of commitment to the formation of this producer-led project. Negotiations between all collaborators led to the creation of a Business Plan prepared as the basis for an initial funding period of 5 years. Subsequent reviews of the project allowed for extensions with associated activities over an additional 4 years. In order to study the key farm management alternatives identified from the producer survey, the Cicerone Project Board decided to adopt an agricultural ecosystem approach which conducted studies using three whole-farmlet systems. The farmlet experiment compared three contiguous farmlets by measuring as many aspects of the farm systems as possible using an approach summarised in the motto adopted by the Cicerone Project of 'compare-measure-learn-adopt'. A wide range of field days and seminars were held over the duration of the project to deliver the results to the producer members. This paper provides an introduction to a Special Issue containing 24 papers which report on the entirety of the project from planning, to execution, results, and reflections on the value obtained from the many research and extension activities, with particular emphasis on the farming systems trial conducted between 2000 and 2006. How can we better bridge the gap between research and livestock producers? With this in mind, a group of livestock producers, research, extension and other specialists in northern NSW established the Cicerone Project to identify and resolve the important issues. This paper describes the background and design of the project as well as providing the context for the 24 related papers which report the project's findings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In Somalia, located in the horn of Africa and one of the world's poorest countries, livestock are the mainstay of the economy. While strengthening the livestock sector is considered key to reduced poverty and increased food security, few studies have reported the livestock management practices of Somali pastoralists, including on breeding issues. Here, we present the final of a series of papers documenting the breeding practices of women and men Somali pastoralists for goat, sheep, camel and cattle. Data for the study were obtained by surveying 200 livestock-keeping households located within the Tog-Dheer region of Somaliland. The most important livestock species kept, in terms of contribution to household livelihood, were goats and sheep, followed by camel, then cattle. Migration with livestock was practiced by two-thirds of the households for some or all of the year, whereas other households were settled with their livestock. On breeding practices, the main means of acquiring breeding animals was by the animal being born into the herd, and varied means were used to control mating, including castration, culling, separation of male and female animals, purposeful mating of best males to best females, and controlling the size of mating groups. On beliefs on breeding issues, the pastoralists had a varied understanding of whether specific livestock traits were influenced by genetics, environment, or a combination of both, and most could not articulate the basis of inheritance. Knowledge of inbreeding was poor, with almost all respondents indicating they did not consider the mating of related animals to be problematic. Additionally, some pastoralists tried to influence the sex of the livestock progeny born through various practices. Overall, the finding presented here and in the companion studies (Marshall et al. 2014, 2016) indicated that the women and men Somali pastoralists generally employ sound breeding practices, although there is room for capacity building such as on inbreeding. Livestock are the mainstay of the economy in Somalia, one of the world's poorest countries. Here we document the breeding practices of women and men Somali pastoralists, for the main livestock species kept (goat, sheep, camel and cattle). Overall the pastoralists were found to employ sound breeding practices, although there is room for capacity building such as on inbreeding. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The proximity of rail corridors to livestock production enterprises poses potential risks to welfare and production. The association between these factors and production have been extensively investigated. This review aims to assess the potential impact on the basis of existing data in a livestock production context. Due to expansion of freight rail networks through agricultural land, there is a need to investigate potential impacts of rail (including train and track) noise, vibration and visual disturbance on the physiology and behaviour of the livestock and subsequent production traits. Additionally, the factors influencing the impact on animals were characterised broadly as noise, vibration, and visual and spatial disturbance. This information was used to develop conceptual frameworks around the contribution of rail impact on allostatic load, animal welfare and production. Placing rail noise in the context of other, known, noise impacts showed that proximity to the rail line will determine the impact of noise on the behaviour and physiology of the animal. Thresholds for noise levels should be determined on the basis of known noise thresholds, taking into account the impact of noise on allostatic load. Further research is recommended to investigate the behavioural, physiological and production impacts on livestock from proximity to rail corridors. Current literature suggests that the allostatic load will vary depending on the proximity of the animal to the source of stimulus, the type, size or level of stimuli, habituation and the individual animal variation in response to the stimuli. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recognition is increasingly given to the need of improving agricultural production and efficiency to meet growing global food demand, while minimising environmental impacts. Livestock forms an important component of global food production and is a significant contributor to anthropogenic greenhouse-gas (GHG) emissions. As such, livestock production systems (LPS) are coming under increasing pressure to lower their emissions. In developed countries, LPS have been gradually reducing their emissions per unit of product (emissions intensity; EI) over time through improvements in production efficiency. However, the global challenge of reducing net emissions (NE) from livestock requires that the rate of decline in EI surpasses the productivity increases required to satisfy global food demand. Mechanistic and dynamic whole farm-system models can be used to estimate farm-gate GHG emissions and to quantify the likely changes in farm NE, EI, farm productivity and farm profitability as a result of applying various mitigation strategies. Such models are also used to understand the complex interactions at the farm-system level and to account for how component mitigation strategies perform within the complexity of these interactions, which is often overlooked when GHG mitigation research is performed only at the component level. The results of such analyses can be used in extension activities and to encourage adoption, increase awareness and in assisting policy makers. The present paper reviews how whole farm-system modelling has been used to assess GHG mitigation strategies, and the importance of understanding metrics and allocation approaches when assessing GHG emissions from LPS. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Context. Intensive livestock production is challenged by frequent occurrence of contagious livestock diseases. Advanced diagnostic tools, such as quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR), have been found to improve the precision and speed of veterinary diagnostics. Aims. This study develops and applies an analytical quantitative framework to investigate the potential farm economic benefits of introducing an advanced and rapid diagnostic tool that allows veterinarians accurately and fast to detect the load and composition of pathogens in production animals, compared with a scenario where decision-making is based on aggregate prevalence data. Methods. A probabilistic budget simulation model for livestock production was developed, on the basis of farm-accounts data, epidemiological prevalence, mortality and morbidity data from official statistics, veterinary practice and literature findings, as well as experimental data regarding sensitivity and specificity of the specific diagnostic tool. Key results. The framework was used to assessthe expected economic gains of qPCR diagnostics for calf pneumonia and weaner pig diarrhoea. In both cases, positive economic gains were found, namely, 7.8%and 3.1%of gross margin in Danish calf production and weaner production respectively. Conclusions and Implications. Use of rapid advanced diagnostic tools to diagnose calf pneumonia or weaner pig diarrhoea can lead to economic gains for farmers and improve the efficiency in use of resources in livestock production. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The affective states of animals comprise a key aspect of welfare that can be difficult to assess. An attention-bias test was developed for sheep, which assessed allocation of attention between a predator threat and a food reward, as a potential measure of affective state. The method was pharmacologically validated as a measure of anxiety-like states, finding that 'anxious' sheep were more vigilant, less likely to feed and spent more time looking towards the previous location of a dog than did 'calm' sheep. Across six further validation studies, the method was modified and explored as a measure of other types of affective states. This perspective article aims to provide guidance on what the method can tell us about affective state and make recommendations for further research by using this approach. Evidence was strongest across the studies for the test as a measure of anxiety-like states, but it is clear that there are other factors affecting animal behaviour during testing that need to be further investigated. One study showed potential for a modified method to assess depression-like states in sheep, while the impact of chronic stress on affect and attention bias remains unclear. It is likely that the test cannot be used to measure positive affect in sheep without further modification, due to the fear-eliciting nature of the test. Versions of the method using food as a positive stimulus allow for a clearer interpretation of attention than do versions using a conspecific photograph, and are recommended for use in future studies where appetite is not expected to be a confounding factor. In this context, vigilance behaviour may indicate trait anxiety or fearfulness, while other measures of attention may be more sensitive to transient changes in affect. Modifications to the method are suggested to allow for a clearer characterisation of attention in livestock species and to improve the practical application of the test. Overall, the attention-bias test shows promise as a measure of negative affective states, but the method is still very new and further research is needed to better determine its potential use as a welfare-assessment tool. Tools that consider the emotional states of livestock are needed for comprehensive welfare assessment. We examined a relatively new method called the attention-bias test, finding that it may provide a practical measure of negative emotional states and trait fearfulness in sheep and other livestock species. The attention-bias test can potentially be used in further research to better understand how management practices and environments affect livestock welfare, with an ultimate aim to improve welfare outcomes on-farm. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Monitoring and management of grazing livestock production systems can be enhanced with remote monitoring technologies collecting information with high temporal and spatial detail. However, the potential benefits of such technologies have yet to be realised and challenges still exist with hardware, and data analysis and interpretation. The objective of this paper was to propose analytical methods and demonstrate the value of remotely collected liveweight (LW) and behaviour of beef cattle grazing tropical pastures. Three remote weighing systems were set up at the water troughs to capture LW of three groups of 20 animals for 341 days. LW data reflected short-term effects following the first rain event (>50 mm) at the end of the dry season, which resulted in LW losses of 22 ± 8.8 kg of LW at a rate of -1.54 ± 0.46 kg/day (n = 60). This period was followed by a peak daily LW change (LWC) of +2 kg/day. The remote weighing system also captured longer environmental effects related to seasonal changes in forage quality and quantity with highest LWC during the wet season and weight loss during the dry season. Effects of management on LW and LWC were observed as a result of moving animals to paddocks with more edible forage during the dry season when the negative trend in LWC was reversed after rotating animals. Behavioural monitoring indicated that resting and ruminating took place at camping sites, and foraging resulted in grazing hotspots. Remotely collected LW data captured both short- and long-term temporal changes associated with environmental and management factors, whereas remote monitoring collars captured the spatial distribution of behaviours in the landscape. Wireless sensor networks have the ability to provide data with sufficient detail in real-time making it possible for increased understanding of animal biology and early management interventions that should result in increased production, animal welfare and environmental stewardship. Remote monitoring can enable precise management of livestock production systems to improve productivity and sustainability. The aim of this study was to explore the value of frequently collected live weight, and animal location and behaviour. These new technologies captured changes in live weight and performance, and landscape utilisation by animals reflecting the effects of environmental and management factors in near real-time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cost is important when determining preventative treatment for flystrike. This paper presents modelled output comparing two common treatment alternatives; either a fixed annual application date or waiting until a set proportion of the flock is struck. The Inverell, Gunning and Flinders Island regions of Australia, which provide differing strike conditions, were used for analysis. Where the period of annual strike risk was longer than the period of protection provided by chemical treatment, it was economically favourable (by 1-3%) to wait until a pre-determined proportion of the flock were struck before applying preventive treatment, rather than always treating on a fixed date. However, with spring or autumn shearing, where the season of strike risk was a similar length to the protective period, it was preferable to treat on a fixed date. For Flinders Island, with a shorter flystrike season than Inverell or Gunning, there were small benefits in treating at a pre-determined threshold, but selection of the correct intervention point was critical. In areas with lower levels of risk, where treatment may not be required every year, it appeared beneficial to set a threshold at a sufficiently high level to eliminate most treatment intervention except for years with high rainfall and humidity. For the treatment of flystrike, the use of a threshold method where a certain percentage of the flock are struck before treatment occurs was compared with the use of a fixed application date. Modelling showed that using a threshold method could improve savings for regions with a longer strike period, and indicate whether to treat or not in regions of low strike risk [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Reductionist approaches to food focus on isolated nutritional criteria, ignoring the broader physiological and societal benefits and trade-offs involved. They can lead to the inadvertent or, potentially, intentional labelling of foods as good or bad. Both can be considered worrisome. Among our present-day array of issues is the disproportionate stigmatisation of animal-source foods as harmful for human and planetary health. The case for a protein transition reinforces this trend, overemphasising one particular nutritional constituent (even if an important one). In its strongest formulation, animal-source foods (reduced to the notion of 'animal protein') are represented as an intrinsically harmful food category that needs to be minimised, thereby falsely assuming that 'proteins' are nutritionally interchangeable. We caution against using the word 'protein' in food policy-making to describe a heterogenous set of foods. Rather, we suggest referring to said foods as 'protein-rich foods', while acknowledging the expanded pool of non-protein nutrients that they provide and their unique capabilities to support a much broader range of bodily functions. Several essential or otherwise beneficial nutrients are generally more bioavailable in animal-source foods than in plant-source foods. A similar complementarity exists in reverse. Nutritional and environmental metrics should be carefully interpreted, as considerable contextuality is involved. This needs to be undertaken, for instance, with respect to the biochemistry of food and in light of individual and genetically inherited human physiology. Also, the assessments of the environmental impact need a fine-grained approach, especially when examining a product at the system scale. Harms and benefits are multiple, multi-dimensional, and difficult to measure on the basis of the narrow sets of descriptive metrics that are often used (e.g. CO2-eq/kg). A more appropriate way forward would consist of combining and integrating the best of animal and plant solutions to reconnect with wholesome and nourishing diets that are rooted in undervalued benefits such as conviviality and shared traditions, thus steering away from a nutrient-centric dogma. Humans do not consume isolated nutrients, they consume foods, and they do so as part of culturally complex dietary patterns that, despite their complexity, need to be carefully considered in food policy making. Excessive projection of dietary challenges on the notion of a 'protein transition' is counterproductive. It suggests a need to move away from animal-source foods toward plants in an undifferentiated manner and leads to a reductionist view on diets, which offer more than single nutrients. It also creates an unhelpful binary contrast between foods from animal and plant origin, often with moral overtones. A more integrated and contextual evaluation of the benefits and harms of animal agriculture is needed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Context: Circular economy principles are being adopted to design out waste, use resources more efficiently and maintain ecosystem health. Aims: This study developed a framework to assess the 'circularity' of pastoral farms, using a New Zealand dairy farm as a case study. Methods: Key resource inputs and environmental impacts to assess for the farming system were determined. Nitrogen and phosphorus flows were assessed using the OVERSEER® model, to then determine their circularity on the basis of the material circularity indicator. Life-cycle assessment was used to determine the carbon footprint and fossil fuel depletion associated with the farm. Single-use plastic disposal was calculated on the basis of farm purchases and end-points of packaging. Key results: MCI circularity scores were 0.46 for nitrogen, 0.48 for phosphorus and total circularity 0.46, which could be improved by focusing on reducing the high rates of mineral fertiliser use and large losses of nitrogen to water and the atmosphere. Although the farm's cradle-to-farm-gate fossil fuel resource depletion footprint (1.16 MJ/kg fat- and protein-corrected milk) was low compared with other New Zealand and European dairy farms, its carbon footprint of 0.85 kg carbon dioxide-equivalent/kg fat and protein corrected milk was high for New Zealand, with enteric methane emissions and inputs of supplementary feeds being the major sources. Plastic waste was a minor source of waste compared with nutrients, but the key sources were identified. Conclusions and implications: This framework could be used and adapted to assess the circularity of nutrients in pastoral farming systems and help identify key areas to reduce the depletion of critical resources and negative environmental impacts. Further development and testing are required for a range of farming systems. Circular economy principles are being adopted to design out waste, use resources more efficiently and maintain ecosystem health. A framework was developed to assess the degree that individual pastoral farms adhere to these principles and that was adaptable to a range of farming systems. Further development and testing of this framework will provide a tool to benchmark farms and identify areas where they could improve sustainability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Animal welfare is an important social construct showing that humans recognise the sentient nature of animals and manage them accordingly; however, because the concept differs depending on individual perceptions of the acceptability of different practices and appropriate endpoint measurements, objective evaluation of an animal's welfare state is challenging. A good level of welfare, however, is not achieved merely by the absence of difficulties (e.g. pain, injury, disease, distress) but by the animal's capacity to overcome them. Production-oriented (utilitarian) opinions contend that high production indicates good welfare, as an animal must be healthy and well nourished to achieve it. Although there is truth in this premise, high production can, in itself, result in stresses, with no obvious signs that potentially predispose animals to ill health. The focus of the present paper is on peripartal dairy cattle as it relates to development of better measures for an objective evaluation of welfare state. Advances in high-throughput metabolite (metabolomics) and gene expression (transcriptomics) analysis techniques have enabled the rapid identification of multiple biomarkers that, in combination, reflect the metabolic and immunocompetence functional capacity of the animal. With this knowledge, the effects of management, nutrition, physiological state, and their interactions can be evaluated for their effect on functional capacity. As the links between metabolism, immunology (immunometabolism) and mental state are elucidated, these techniques also offer a means to assess whether the animal also experiences feelings of malaise. Collectively, these measurements, thus, can indicate 'functional welfare', which encompasses biological function, physical state, and some components of mental state as part of animal welfare. Adaptations in metabolism and immune function around parturition are important determinants of dairy cattle functional capacity. Those adaptations are affected by management, nutrition, and their interactions. Through the application of metabolomics and transcriptomics technologies there is potential for developing objective indexes of the functional welfare state of peripartal dairy cattle. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A farmlet experiment was conducted between July 2000 and December 2006 as part of the Cicerone Project, which sought to enhance the profitability and sustainability of grazing enterprises on the Northern Tablelands of New South Wales, Australia. A self-replacing Merino enterprise was grazed as the dominant livestock enterprise, together with ~20% of the carrying capacity as cattle, on each of three farmlet treatments: higher levels of soil fertility and pasture renovation with flexible rotational grazing over eight paddocks (farmlet A), moderate soil fertility and pasture renovation with flexible rotational grazing over eight paddocks (farmlet B) and moderate soil fertility and pasture renovation with intensive rotational grazing over 37 paddocks (farmlet C). Prior to commencement of the trial, the three 53-ha farmlets were allocated equivalent areas of land based on soil type, slope and recent fertiliser history. This paper describes the effects of the three pasture and grazing management strategies on the production, quality and value of the wool produced per head, per ha and per farmlet. Up until 2001 there were no differences in wool production between farmlets. Thereafter, significant differences between farmlets emerged in greasy fleece weight per head and price received per kg of fleece wool. For example, the clean fleece value averaged over the 2003-05 shearings for all hoggets, ewes and wethers was 1531, 1584 and 1713 cents/kg for farmlets A, B and C, respectively. There were small but significant differences, which varied between sheep class and year, between the farmlets in average fibre diameter and staple length but less so with staple strength. In general, while the differences between farmlets in staple strength varied over time, farmlets A and B tended to have wool with longer staple length and broader fibre diameter than farmlet C and this affected wool value per kg. Differences in wool income per ha between farmlets grew in later years as the farmlet treatments took effect. In spite of farmlet A having a slightly lower wool value per kg, after taking into account its greater fleece weight per head and its higher stocking rate, the total wool income per ha was higher than on either farmlets B or C. The average gross wool income per ha from 2003 to 2005 was $303, $215 and $180 for farmlets A, B and C, respectively. The highest amount of greasy wool produced was in 2004 when 38.2, 26.5 and 21.5 kg/ha was harvested from farmlets A, B and C, respectively. The fibre diameter profiles of 2-year-old ewes showed similar profiles for farmlets A and B but a significantly finer fibre diameter profile for farmlet C ewes due to intensive rotational grazing. However, sheep on all three farmlets produced wool with high staple strength. Multivariate analyses revealed that greasy fleece weight, staple length and staple strength were significantly positively correlated with the proportion of the farm grazed at any one time, and with soil phosphorus, legume herbage and green digestible herbage thus highlighting the significant influence of pasture and soil inputs and of grazing management on wool production and quality. The effects of higher pasture inputs and intensive rotational grazing on superfine wool quality and income were compared with typical management at a farmlet scale over 6.5 years on the Northern Tablelands of NSW. The three management strategies significantly affected wool production, quality and value per head, per hectare and per farmlet. Wool income per hectare was most affected by stocking rate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper reports changes in livestock weights recorded in a whole-farmlet experiment, which aimed to examine the profitability and sustainability of three different pasture and grazing management strategies. The assessment of liveweights was considered a key component of measuring the integrated effects of the farmlet-scale treatments. The three farmlets comprised a typical management regime, which employed flexible rotational grazing over eight paddocks with moderate soil fertility (farmlet B), a system based on the same grazing management and paddock number but with higher levels of sown pasture and soil fertility (farmlet A) and a farmlet with moderate soil fertility and intensive rotational grazing over 37 paddocks (farmlet C). Early in the experimental period, there were no significant differences between farmlets in the liveweight of any class of livestock. However, from the second year onwards, as the pasture renovation, soil fertility and grazing management treatments took effect, differences in liveweight between farmlets became more apparent and significant. The stocking rate, which was treated as an emergent property of each farmlet, reached a maximum annual average value after 5 years of 12.6, 8.5 and 7.7 dry sheep equivalents (dse)/ha on farmlets A, B and C representing 84, 113 and 51% of their respective target stocking rates which were 15, 7.5 and 15 dse/ha. The liveweights of ewes, both before joining and during pregnancy, varied with year and farmlet with those on farmlets A and B tending to be significantly heavier than those on farmlet C. From 2003 to 2006, liveweights were significantly (P < 0.001) affected by a wide array of factors and their interactions including: date, ewe age, green digestible herbage, legume herbage mass, proportion of farmlet grazed, stocking rate and level of supplementary feeding. The weights of lambs/weaners/hoggets, both pre- and post-weaning, were at times also higher on farmlets A and B compared with those on farmlet C and were affected by a similar range of factors to those which affected ewe weights. Similar relative differences also applied to the liveweights of the other livestock run on the farmlets, namely wethers and non-reproductive cattle. The results suggest that stocking rate was able to be increased towards the higher target of farmlet A due to the higher level of pasture renovation and soil fertility on that farmlet, which led to high liveweights per head as well as the higher stocking rate. However, as the stocking rate increased on farmlet A, the differences between farmlets in liveweight per head diminished and the need for supplementary feeding increased. In contrast, the intensive rotational grazing practised on farmlet C did not allow the farmlet to increase its stocking rate towards its higher target. It appears that the higher proportion of each of farmlets A and B grazed at any one time allowed all classes of livestock to reach higher liveweights per head than on farmlet C, due presumably to the greater proportion of those two farmlets grazed at any one time. This experiment aimed to describe changes in livestock weights that influence profitability and sustainability of different grazing and pasture management systems. Liveweights of most animal classes varied with year and were generally heavier on the farmlets that used flexible rotational grazing with moderate soil fertility or higher sown pasture and soil fertility inputs than those with moderate soil fertility and intensive rotational grazing management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A software model has been developed to estimate greenhouse gas emissions of pasture-fed ruminant farming systems. The model estimates on-farm emissions associated with livestock (sheep and beef), fertiliser, petrol, diesel and electricity. Carbon sequestration from native and exotic forestry is then included to produce an on-farm carbon footprint, in the form of carbon dioxide equivalents. This paper describes the livestock model, which has been designed to record the movement of animals within individual farm units according to defined livestock classes. Allowances are made for unrecorded deaths, by estimating the number of animals missing within a defined time period and spreading the deaths according to expected seasonal variation in mortality. The enteric methane and nitrous oxide emissions are predicted using a combination of customised growth and lactation curves, and internationally recognised formulae to predict nutrient energy requirements. Customised growth and lactation curves allow estimation of liveweights and energy requirements associated with maintenance, growth, pregnancy and lactation on a daily basis. Daily estimation of emissions reduces errors introduced by monthly or seasonal averaging of livestock numbers and liveweights. The model has been developed into a commercial application (Alliance Group hoofprint) for use by New Zealand sheep and beef farmers, and could be adapted for other international livestock farming operations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Probiotics and enzymes are important components of the global livestock feed supplement market, which is expected to be approximately US$56 billion by 2027. They make essential contributions to animal health and productivity and are very important for on-farm economics, as well as feed supplement and bulk feed businesses. Despite the variety of on-market products, there remains a strong drive to develop new function or more effective enzymes (e.g. more active or stable) and probiotics (e.g. for specific health or nutrition requirements) that can be produced economically and commercialised to gain market share. Various large and established supplement development, manufacture and supply companies with highly refined, efficient and vertically integrated processes dominate the market. In contrast, many challenges exist for less established players, such as feed companies, large farming corporations, start-up companies and the research community, to develop and commercialise improved feed supplements. These less established players may have niche markets or needs or may have identified highly novel candidate products through basic or collaborative academia-industry applied research. In these situations, the path from discovery and development to a commercial product is unclear and likely to be very challenging. However, the risk of not progressing is that the value of research investments is not realised, or the needs of specific niche markets are not met. For these situations, new pathways to market based on rapid discovery, production (at various scales), and testing feedback loops, along with appropriate intellectual property management and clear regulatory strategies need to be established. To deliver these new pathways, it is essential to define key performance, production and economic criteria, have a rapid route from laboratory to pilot-scale manufacture and livestock feeding trials, and include all the necessary participants in the value chain from research development, manufacturing, distribution, and regulatory management to the end user. These issues are discussed with reference to the current state-of-the-art and our development of new pathways for a specific enzyme and probiotic based on efficient laboratory-to-market platforms. Although new supplements have been brought closer to market, challenges remain regarding scaling to commercial manufacture for new products without an established market. Livestock probiotic and enzyme supplements are essential parts of diets globally, leading to important health and productivity benefits. Despite the wealth of new research discoveries and niche markets and needs, the development, manufacture and commercialisation of new probiotics and enzymes remains a major challenge for non-established companies and consortia. Here, these challenges are discussed along with the need to develop efficient laboratory-to-market platforms to deliver new and improved feed supplements. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sub-Saharan African (SSA) countries consist of ~200 million livestock owners who utilise marginal rangelands as a feed resource base for their animals. These rangelands offer various resources to the communities and are in-turn vulnerable to climate change related challenges. Currently, information on greenhouse gases (GHG) emission from SSA rangelands is heavily dependent on the generic values generated by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Tier I trajectories on various aspects of the environment. There is, therefore, a need to identify research gaps between the dynamics and influences of environmental components, highlight their magnitude and potential aggregate contribution towards GHG emission in an SSA context. Rangeland sustainability, weather patterns, soils, plant biodiversity, and current methods used to measure GHG emission from rangelands are influenced by institutional, community, and national policy frameworks. Various intertwined environmental components exist within the SSA rangeland ecosystems and research has not extensively covered such interactions. It is crucial to generate a database that includes information of in-situ trajectories on GHG emission from soil properties, vegetation image maps using remote sensing and geographic information system, plant biodiversity indices, climatology, and animal husbandry aspects. The current greenhouse gas emission (GHG) indicators in sub-Saharan African are discussed are worrisome, yet sub-Saharan African governments are facing challenges that range from lack of funding, community complexities, and research tools needed to create a database of GHG emission values based on direct measurements. These governments view and rank adaptation and/mitigation strategies of GHG as priority and there is need to evaluate anthropogenic and environmental components that influence ecosystem functions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Context: Strategies for achieving greater ruminant livestock productivity are essential to meet the food demands of growing populations, but sustainable changes are difficult to identify given the inherent complexity of such systems. Systems models can address this issue by allowing the impact of potential changes to be explored. Aims: To develop a holistic systems model for goat production in an extensive Mediterranean environment which could allow changes in key management factors influencing the system to be investigated. Methods: Initially, a conceptual comprehensive stock-and-flow model of a representative Mediterranean goat production system was constructed. This was used to identify informative indicators that would represent the overall technical and economic performance of the system. Sub-models were then assembled to build the full systems model. The model was parameterised with data collected over 3 years for goat holdings in northern Morocco. Scenario analysis techniques are used to explore the strategies that optimise performance under climate and feed price challenges. Key results: Meat production is particularly important during periods of drought when increased meat yields can counteract the expected reduction in milk yields, to protect human food security, prevent excessive rangeland degradation and preserve natural nutritional resources. Feed price shocks during drought can have significant negative impacts on the system and zero feed input is shown to be a more sustainable strategy than reliance on high price feed during drought. Any alternative feed sources need to have a high forage component to reduce grazing periods significantly and promote rangeland preservation. Implications: A diverse management strategy with a mixed meat and dairy semi-intensive production is more stable than specialised dairy systems and allows goat production and financial viability of intensification to be maintained under climatic stress; maintaining meat production was necessary to optimise performance. Conclusions: The model allows improved insight into management strategies which could optimise animal husbandry performance in goat subsistence systems. However, the work also demonstrates the difficulty of constructing a truly holistic model since, to be practical, such constructs must necessarily be bounded; parameter selection and the limits to the boundaries imposed are inevitably critical. Growing global populations require more efficient and secure food production systems, resilient to the impacts of climate change and which minimise environmental damage. Here, a systems model is used to explore strategies for achieving greater ruminant livestock productivity in an extensive Mediterranean environment, using data collected over 3 years for goat holdings in northern Morocco, and shows that maintaining meat production is necessary to optimise performance. The model demonstrates that a diverse management strategy with a mixed meat and dairy semi-intensive production is more stable than specialised dairy systems and allows goat production and the financial viability of intensification to be maintained under climatic stress. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Context: Antimicrobial resistant bacteria (AMRB) are transmitted from animals to humans and vice versa through many pathways, and AMRB has been an issue on farms and in food production systems. Aims: The aim of this exploratory study was to understand what preventative measures farmers may or may not be using to decrease human and animal exposure to AMRB in Central Michigan, and develop a set of measures for biosecurity behaviours. Methods: Participants selected for the study were involved in commercial animal husbandry in central Michigan. Data from farmers were collected via a mixed methods approach. Semistructured interviews and a structured questionnaire were administered, based on the theory of planned behaviour. Data were analysed using Spearman's rank correlation and thematic analyses. Key results: There were no associations between sex, level of education or personal income with biosecurity beliefs or behaviours. There was a positive correlation between farm revenue and the presence of pests in animal holding areas, and how often farmers quarantine new animals before adding them to their herd or flock. The farmers interviewed had increased perceived control over implementing biosecurity measures that are perceived as simple and fast to implement. Conclusions: Generally, the farmers believed they could affect AMRB on their farms, but were not always engaging in biosecurity behaviours. Implications: Understanding farmers' perceptions and beliefs of biosecurity practices may help develop efficient and effective outreach, education and extension services. An increasing number of bacteria on farms are resistant to treatment, with devastating effects on human health. Farmers' behaviours play a significant role in preventing the spread of these resistant bacteria, and this study found that farmers tend to react to problems rather than proactively preventing them. Understanding how farmers behave will help policy and outreach to make livestock production systems cleaner and safer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Social media sites have become common sources of information about current affairs, and animal-activist organisations, such as People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA), use these networks as campaign tools to raise awareness against animal agriculture. The aim of the present study was to understand how an animal-welfare issue was discussed in Twitter, in Australia. Twitter Application Programing Interface data featuring keywords and hashtags were initially collected between April and May 2014 to examine tweets on animal-welfare issues in the absence of a triggering event. In July 2014, PETA released footage portraying ill-treatment of sheep in Australian shearing sheds, generating 9610 tweets in 7 days, including themes such as disgust, condemnation of the cruelty, and calls to boycott the wool industry. PETA's social-media campaign began 24 h before comment in conventional news media online, highlighting the role of social media in leading conventional media campaigning. Associated Twitter activity from the wool industry was limited. It is concluded that Twitter is not currently an effective medium for conversations between producers and the community about farm-animal welfare, despite encouragement from industry. While there are positives for producers and industry to be on Twitter, including the promotion of their business and communication within their micro-publics, Twitter as a platform may not be ideal for generating a dialogue between producers and the community. Further research into how people engage with the content, not just through the study of retweets and amount of traffic, is required to understand whether social media has potential to change attitudes towards animal production. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

On the basis of published reports, the daily intake of the alkaloid ergovaline from the consumption of endophyte-containing ryegrass in New Zealand ranges from 0.008 to 0.287 mg ergovaline/kg LW0.75.day. Most of the reports are based on the use of standard endophyte-containing ryegrass and, thus, it is difficult to disassociate the impact of ergovaline consumption from that of lolitrem B. However, physiological effects of ergovaline consumption, such as reduced circulating prolactin concentration, vasoconstriction and elevated core temperature, have been detected at fairly low ergovaline intake, whereas decreased feed intake, liveweight gain and milk production have not generally been observed in animals at an intake below 0.07 mg ergovaline/kg LW0.75.day. Intakes above this value represent only 17% of published values. There are insufficient data to suggest a threshold ergovaline intake associated with heat stress with animal-welfare implications. The relationship between published ergovaline intake and the corresponding ergovaline concentration in pasture is poor (R² = 0.48), but on average an intake of 0.07 ergovaline/kg LW0.75.day is associated with an ergovaline concentration in ryegrass of 0.70 mg/kg DM. About 16-18% of published ergovaline concentrations in ryegrass pasture exceed this value. The ergovaline concentration in ryegrass is greater in the basal parts of the plant than in the leaf and during the late summer-autumn than in spring. Animals grazing in the lower sward horizons (horizontal grazing plane) are more at risk of high ergovaline intake, although the reduction in grazing intake induced by grazing at low pasture height aids in limiting ergovaline intake. As pasture growth rates decline in late summer, supplementary feed may be used to maintain stocking rate and, if such feeds have zero ergovaline concentration, they serve to dilute the mean dietary ergovaline intake. Ergovaline-containing ryegrass pastures are widely used in New Zealand. It appears that farmers consider the risks of depressed animal production on these pastures to be less than the benefits ergovaline bestows through its deterrent effect of specific insect attack and thus greater survival and pasture persistence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ergovaline is an ergot alkaloid found in some endophyte-infected ryegrasses and it has been implicated in the expression of ergotism-like symptoms of grazing livestock, as well as in the protection of the plant against invertebrate predation and abiotic stresses. These selection pressures have resulted in a conflict between the needs of the pasture for persistence and the needs of the animal for production. Ergovaline has not been well studied in terms of animal physiology until recently. There are several putative mechanisms that limit the bioavailability of ergovaline, ranging from microbial biotransformation to post-absorptive hepatic detoxification. Although there are mechanisms that protect the animal from ergovaline exposure, tissues are very sensitive to ergovaline, indicating that ergovaline is very potent and that small quantities have the potential to cause noticeable physiological effects. The range of physiological effects, including decreased circulating prolactin, vasoconstriction and increased susceptibility to heat stress are all linked to the interaction of ergovaline with biogenic amine receptors found throughout the body. This review will focus on understanding the variation of ergovaline concentration in terms of bioavailability, the myriad of hurdles a molecule of ergovaline must overcome to cause an effect, what the ergovaline-induced effects are in New Zealand livestock and how this relates to the potency of ergovaline. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Methane measurements from cattle would benefit from an improved capability to measure a larger number of animals, with a lower requirement for specialist technical knowledge, and minimal human interference. The GreenFeed (GF) system (C-Lock Inc., Rapid City, SD, USA) estimates daily methane production (DMP, g/day) by measuring gas concentrations and airflow over 3-7 min from cattle when they visit a GF unit. Although few data are collected per animal per day, over many days of GF visitation estimates of DMP can be established. Published GF estimates of DMP are in agreement with DMP measured by respiration chambers, but there are inconsistencies in comparisons based on estimates using the sulfur hexafluoride tracer method. Circadian patterns of methane emission from cattle suggest spot-sampling of emissions by GF should be distributed over 24 h, or weighted to avoid bias associated with clustering of GF visits at specific times. Up to half of cattle grazing temperate pastures choose not to use GF on a daily basis, so consideration must be given to the number of animals and duration of sampling as well as the proportion and representation of animals using GF for estimating DMP, especially for ranking individuals. All systems for determining DMP from animals constrain the data in some way, and the suitability of the GF system will be affected by the experimental objectives and design. For example, compared with the respiration chamber and sulfur hexafluoride tracer techniques, it takes more time and animals to undertake a treatment comparison of DMP using GF due to higher within-day and within-animal variance, especially if some avoid GF or do not visit each day. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The objective of the present study was to develop a model-data fusion approach using remotely collected liveweight (LW) data from individual animals (weighing station placed at the water trough) and evaluate the potential for these data from frequent weighing to increase the accuracy of estimates of methane emissions from beef cattle grazing tropical pastures. Remotely collected LW data were used to calculate daily LW change (LWC), i.e. growth rate on a daily basis, and then to predict feed intake throughout a 342-day grazing period. Feed intake and diet dry matter digestibility (DMD) from faecal near-infrared spectroscopy analysis were used to predict methane emissions using methods for both tropical and temperate cattle as used in the Australian national inventory (Commonwealth of Australia 2014). The remote weighing system captured both short- and long-term environmental (e.g. dry and wet season, and rainfall events) and management effects on LW changes, which were then reflected in estimated feed intake and methane emissions. Large variations in all variables, measured and predicted, were found both across animals and throughout the year. Methane predictions using the official national inventory model for tropical cattle resulted in 20% higher emissions than those for temperate cattle. Predicted methane emissions based on a simulation using only initial and final LW and assuming a linear change in LW between these two points were 7.5% and 5.8% lower than those using daily information on LW from the remote weighing stations for tropical and temperate cattle, respectively. Methane emissions and feed intake can be predicted from remotely collected LW data in near real-time on a daily basis to account for short- and long-term variations in forage quality and intake. This approach has the potential to provide accurate estimates of methane emissions at the individual animal level, making the approach suitable for grazing livestock enterprises wishing to participate in carbon markets and accounting schemes. Understanding the rate and variation in growth of beef cattle in extensive tropical regions is needed to improve management and monitor environmental impacts including methane emissions. This study combined frequent liveweight measurements, collected remotely, with novel data-model techniques to estimate feed intake and methane emissions for individual animals. The approach provides information with potential for increasing productivity and decreasing methane emissions in extensive grazing operations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ewes with the fecundity Booroola (FecB) gene produce more lambs per ewe on average than ewes without the gene and offers a potential way to decrease greenhouse gas emissions (net and per unit animal product) without reducing lamb production if the lambs can be reared to market weights. Using a case study farm in south-west Victoria, a biophysical modelling study has previously showed that increased ewe fecundity from 1 to 1.5 lambs per ewe increased production by 27% and reduced net farm emissions by 21% for the same long-term stocking rate. In this study, a whole-farm economic analysis was used to investigate the relative merit of the same case study farm, with high-fecundity ewes, compared with a baseline system that represented a typical prime lamb enterprise in the region. An additional system comprising ewes with high fecundity at a lower stocking rate than the case study farm was also examined. The analysis was undertaken to establish which farm systems represented the most economically efficient use of all the resources that are employed over a run of years, and involved estimating the net present value of annual profits earned by the farm in each scenario, taking into account the total value of capital used. The potential revenue from the sale of carbon credits through the Carbon Farming Initiative was also investigated. After accounting for the additional costs involved, increasing ewe fecundity resulted in an increase in annual whole-farm profit compared with the baseline system, but risk, considered as the variability in farm profit, also increased. Decreasing stocking rate for the high-fecundity system reduced annual operating profit and net present value at a 5% discount rate, but had less risk compared with the higher stocking rate system. While both systems that incorporated high-fecundity ewes reduced greenhouse gas emissions, revenue from the sale of carbon credits was small compared with revenue from the sale of lambs, wool and culled ewes. Despite this, and assuming the required increases in fertility and weaning rates could be achieved consistently on-farm, ewes with high fecundity may offer producers the opportunity to increase production and profit as well as decrease greenhouse gas emissions. Previous modelling has shown that ewes with increased fecundity can increase production and reduce net farm greenhouse gas emissions. This study showed that a prime lamb enterprise incorporating high-fecundity ewes can also increase annual whole-farm profit compared with a baseline system typical of those in south-western Victoria. However, risk, or variability in farm profit, increased. Assuming higher fertility and weaning rates could be achieved consistently, ewes with high-fecundity offer producers the potential to increase profit with decreased emissions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]