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In today's world, emerging and re-emerging diseases have a significant impact on global economies and public health, and with bioterrorism a constant threat this has become a very topical subject in recent years. Bernard Vallat, director general of the OIE, made the statement, “As a result of globalisation and climate change we are currently facing an unprecedented worldwide impact of emerging and re-emerging animal diseases and zoonoses”. He is not alone in this thinking, but are we facing an unprecedented impact of diseases and are globalisation and climate change the main driving forces? This paper examines some historical disease outbreaks and the factors that played a role in their emergence and compares these with recent emerging diseases. In doing so it highlights certain challenges that face livestock producers and decision makers today as they grapple with emerging diseases. One of the driving forces for the emergence of diseases is translocation of people and their livestock and this has often been coupled with invading armies or peoples, political unrest and a concurrent environment of socio-economic upheaval. Contact between wild animals, domestic animals and people is another driving force involving the interaction between naive population groups that induces the emergence of new diseases. Pandemics are not new to human society and nor are many of the driving forces that caused them to occur in the past; what has changed is our increased knowledge and awareness of disease dynamics, allowing identification of challenges for the future and ways of addressing these. Modern farming practices often serve to amplify emerging infectious diseases and modern trade and transport mechanisms and routes have served to sometimes accelerate the spread of disease. How can we reduce the risks and should we only be worried about emerging infectious diseases or are emerging non-communicable diseases just as important in our modern society? This paper serves to explain some of the reasons for the emergence of diseases and to try and answer some of the pressing questions that confront livestock producers today.

Throughout human history, livestock producers have relied on a vibrant international exchange of genetic resources to achieve improvements in the quality and productivity of their animals. In recent years, however, some observers have argued that changes in the legal, technological, and economic environment now imply that international exchanges of animal genetic resources (AnGR) systematically benefit rich countries at the expense of poor countries. It is argued that international flows of AnGR are displacing the indigenous animal genetic resources of developing countries, and also that the genetic wealth of the developing world is being expropriated by rich countries. In reaction, there have been growing calls for limitations and/or barriers to the exchange of animal genetic resources. These discussions, however, seem to be based on limited information about the magnitude and direction of current trade flows in AnGR. This paper offers an analysis of AnGR trade flows from 1990 to 2005. The paper draws on national-level data from 150 countries that reported information to the United Nations Statistics Division. Three major trade categories were evaluated: live cattle and pigs for breeding, and cattle semen. Over the period studied, Europe and North America were the primary exporters of genetic resources for the species evaluated. OECD countries accounted for 98.7, 92.5, and 95% of cattle semen, live cattle, and swine exports in 2005, respectively. In evaluating the direction of trade between developed (North) and developing (South) countries, North–North trade had the largest magnitude, followed by North–South, South–South, and South–North. The data do not support the notion that Southern genetic resources are being used on a large scale in the North. We believe that importation from South to North is limited by the vast discrepancies in production efficiency and production systems between countries in the North and South. Given the low volume of South–North exchange, it seems doubtful that sufficient revenues could be acquired through a “benefit-sharing mechanism” to have any substantial impact on in situ or ex situ conservation efforts, or to generate benefits for poor livestock keepers in developing countries. We question whether global agreements or restrictions on trade will achieve the desired goal of conserving rare breeds and threatened genetic resources. We also doubt whether these agreements will succeed in improving the well-being of the poor. We suggest that resources instead be urgently employed for conservation and that more direct measures should be taken to aid poor farmers, ranchers, and herders in their efforts to conserve genetic resources.

This paper describes a choice experiment (CE) administered to explore farmer preferences for conservation agreements to conserve rare breeds among a sample of 174 respondents in Transylvania (Romania). The study site was chosen due to the prevalence of small-scale and extensive farm systems threatened by a changing policy environment that is increasing the scale and intensity of production units. Agreement attributes included length of conservation contract (5 or 10 years); scheme structure (community or individual managed conservation programme), and scheme support (application assistance or farm advisory support). A monetary attribute that reflects compensation for scheme participation allows the assessment of farmers’ willingness to accept (WTA) for different contracts. Results suggest 89% of respondents would be willing to farm with rare breeds; cattle and sheep being the most popular livestock option; 40% of farmers were reportedly farming with endangered breeds. However, only 8% were likely to qualify for funding support under current requirements. WTA estimates reveal minimum annual compensation values of €167 and €7 per year respectively, for bovine and ovine farmers to consider enrolling in a contract. These values are comparable to Romanian Rural Development Programme (RDP) support offered to farmers keeping rare breeds of €200 and €10 per year for bovine and ovine farmers respectively. Our estimates of scheme uptake, calculated with coefficient values derived from the CE, suggest rare breed conservation contracts are considered attractive by Romanian farmers. Analysis suggests meeting farmer preferences for non-monetary contractual factors will increase participation.

In this paper, we examine preferences for flooring properties that enhance animal welfare in dairy cattle barns among a sample of Swedish dairy farmers. The findings reveal that respondents differ in their choice of flooring properties that improve farm animal welfare. The findings also show that they consider low-slip risk and the softness of floors to be the most important properties. Findings from a latent variable model revealed that floor packaging and installation, workability and animal welfare are important factors that explain the respondents’ preferences for different types of floors. The findings demonstrate that dairy farmers who prefer soft, low-slip and less abrasive floors are influenced by the way the floors are incorporated and installed into the building design, the ease with which other tasks can be performed after installing the flooring and the welfare that the specific flooring provides for the animals. The findings contribute relevant insights that are needed for the promotion and adoption of farm management practices that improve animal welfare.

Herd health slaughter checks regularly identify enzootic pneumonia-like (EP-like) lesions and pleuritis. The aim of this paper is to determine the associations between these lesions and post-trimming carcass weight. Data were collected on the presence/ absence and severity of EP-like lesions and presence/ absence of pleuritis from pigs at the abattoir. Linear mixed models identified a significant association between an increase in EP-like lesion severity and a decrease in post-trimming carcass weight (P=0.006) at the individual level. Each categorical increase in EP-like lesion severity (5 points step) was associated with a 0.37 kg reduction in post-trimming carcass weight. The presence of EP-like lesions in individual pigs, irrespective of severity (P=0.034) and the presence of pleuritis (P=0.038) were significantly associated with a reduction in post-trimming carcass weight of 1.26 kg and 1.25 kg respectively. The results confirm that the presence of these lesions at slaughter are associated with a significant decrease in production performance which can result in substantial economic implications for producers.

Farmers’ poor levels of knowledge are related to low rates of efficiency and productivity in milk production in Brazil due to problems of information diffusion and innovation. This paper set out to evaluate to what extent efficiency in production and the position of dairy farmers in the social network, formed by the Program for the Development of Dairy Farming (PDPL), affect the diffusion of technical information and technologies in the production chain. The data used in the study were made available by the PDPL technical staff and refer to 31 dairy farmers, located in municipalities in the Zona da Mata micro region of the state of Minas Gerais, who participated in the Program in 2016. Through Social Network Analysis, Data Envelopment Analysis and Agent-Based Modeling, a diffusion model was structured into which information on the technical efficiency of the dairy farmers was incorporated, as well as information about their relationship pattern. The efficiency analysis showed benefits when inefficient farmers sought best practices and the optimal production scale. Through the model created, it was found that the selection of technically efficient dairy farmers for the diffusion process is a good policy, but when the adoption pay-off is low and resources are scarce, selecting central farmers would be the more appropriate policy. Additionally, it was shown that the choice of the initial adopters, adoption and non-adoption pay-off values, and the relationship pattern all influence the diffusion process. The study, thus, suggests a new way of choosing policies to accelerate the diffusion of information and technology in typical dairy systems in Brazil and other countries.

While genetic evaluation systems which combine performance records and pedigree data have been utilized in the beef industry for over four decades, the incorporation of genomic information into genetic evaluation, and the effective implementation of genomic tools within the industry is relatively novel. Genomic technologies have been effectively deployed in the dairy, swine, and poultry industries; however, the beef industry possesses unique challenges for technology transfer. In this paper, we discuss the current limitations of genomic technologies and hindrances to the transfer of these technologies to the beef industry, while also considering opportunities for improved genomic and epigenomic tools needed to surmount barriers to technology adoption.

[EN] The inclusion of genomic information on prediction of breeding values has been explored by the pig breeding industry as molecular techniques evolved. Except for a few successful cases, for example the HAL-1843 (R), the use of genomic information for pig breeding has been limited. The development of SNP chips with high density markers across the genome coupled with new statistical methods allowed genomic selection (GS) to become a common practice. GS application entailed important advantages for pig breeding as it increased the accuracy of the breeding values for selection candidates and offered an opportunity for the practice of new selection strategies. Nevertheless, the application of GS is not straightforward for every target trait and breeding scheme. Many efforts have been done to evaluate the new methods and strategies to efficiently implement GS in pig breeding. Several aspects of the population and breeding objectives must be considered before GS is applied. This paper reviews the current status and challenges faced by pig breeders in the implementation of GS and the future opportunities that may arise as molecular technologies advance. (C) 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved., This work was partially funded by the Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad, Spain (Project RTA2012-00054-C02-01).

Wolf, B. T., McLean, B. M. L., Davies, O. D., Griffith, J. B. (2014). Performance of purebred Welsh Mountain and cross bred ewes in a hill environment. Livestock Science, 165, 181-188 Paper submitted 9-8-13

This paper considers the application of genetic and genomic techniques to disease resistance, the interpretation of data arising from such studies and the utilisation of the research outcomes to breed animals for enhanced resistance. Resistance and tolerance are defined and contrasted, factors affecting the analysis and interpretation of field data presented, and appropriate experimental designs discussed. These general principles are then applied to two detailed case studies, infectious pancreatic necrosis in Atlantic salmon and bovine tuberculosis in dairy cattle, and the lessons learnt are considered in detail. It is concluded that the rate limiting step in disease genetic studies will generally be provision of adequate phenotypic data, and its interpretation, rather than the genomic resources. Lastly, the importance of cross-disciplinary dialogue between the animal health and animal genetics communities is stressed., Highlights • Factors influencing disease genetics studies are reviewed. • Results are presented in detail for a viral disease and a bacterial disease. • Breeding for resistance is often possible, but not always appropriate or necessary. • Effective studies combine disease biology, epidemiology and genetics. • Rate limiting step is likely to be provision of phenotypes rather than genotypes.

Brazil has various species of domestic animals, which developed from breeds brought by the Portuguese settlers soon after the discovery of the country. After being submitted to a long process of natural selection, these breeds present characteristics adapted to specific Brazilian environmental conditions, and are known as “criollo”, “local” or naturalized breeds. From the beginning of the 20th century, some exotic breeds, selected in temperate regions, have begun to be imported, and, although more productive, they do not have adaptive traits, such as resistance to disease and parasites found in the naturalized breeds. Even so, they gradually replaced the native breeds, to such an extent that the latter are in danger of extinction. To avoid further loss of this important genetic material, in 1983 the National Research Center for Genetic Resources and Biotechnology (Cenargen) of the Brazilian Agricultural Research Corporation (Embrapa) decided to include conservation of animal genetic resources among its priorities. The conservation activities have been conducted under the Brazilian Genetic Resources Network — Renargen, and is carried out by various research centres of Embrapa, universities and State research institutions, as well as by private farmers, with a single coordinator at national level, Cenargen. The in situ conservation of cattle, horses, buffaloes, donkeys, goats, sheep and pigs is being carried out by Conservation Nuclei, located in the animal's original habitat. Ex situ conservation is centred at the Brazilian Animal Germplasm Bank (AGB), kept at Cenargen. This is responsible for the storage of semen and embryos of various breeds of domestic animals threatened with extinction. Presently the AGB has almost 60,000 doses of semen and more than 250 embryos, as well as over 7000 DNA samples. An important challenge for this program is to increase awareness within the different segments of society in terms of the importance of the conservation of animal genetic resources. The development and evolution of Renargen and its efforts to facilitate the conservation of genetic resources of livestock in Brazil are described in this paper.