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Sustainable whole-tree harvesting practice requires that nutrient removal from the forest is compensated. Wood ashes contain all the nutrients, except for nitrogen, that are found in unburned fuel and can also increase soil pH, which makes ash recycling a natural way to stabilize the nutrient balance and counteract the acidification of forest soils that occurs due to intensive forest management. Several methods for processing ashes into spreadable products have been developed. The aim of this paper is to compare these methods. The study mainly focused on an economic evaluation of production, transportation and the spreading of self-hardened ash, ash pellets and ash granules. Self-hardened ash is generally considered to be the cheapest alternative to manufactured ash products, but these results imply that the most cost effective alternative is ash pellets. Around 27% of total costs could be earned from recycling the ash by producing pellets and 8% if granules are produced instead of self-hardened ash. This partly depends on the higher density of the pellets and granules and a significant reduction in the number of transportation operations. The reduction in transportation operations and diesel consumption also has major environmental benefits. Furthermore, it is more efficient to produce granules and pellets than it is to produce self-hardened ash and it is also easier to produce a reliable product of an appropriate size, shape and texture for a market that has well defined requirements.

Antimicrobial resistance is threatening humans and animals worldwide. Biosecurity and 1-year usage of antibiotics on a dairy concentrated animal feeding operation (CAFO) in NY State, USA, were mapped: how much antibiotics were used, for what purpose, and whether any decrease could be warranted. Approximately 493 kg antibiotics was used, of which 376 kg was ionophores (monensin and lasalocides), 79 kg penicillin, 16.5 kg lincosamides, 8.0 kg aminoglycosides, 7.7 kg sulfamides, 3.4 kg cephalosporin, 2 kg macrolides, 0.7 kg amphenicols, and 0.1 kg fluoroquinolones. Usage reduction by 84% was realistic without compromising the animal welfare. Further reduction could be possible by improving the biosecurity and by utilizing antibiotic sensitivity testing.Keywords: antibiotic usage; dairy CAFO; biosecurity; ionophores; mastitis(Published: 23 May 2014)Citation: Infection Ecology and Epidemiology 2014, 4: 24259 - http://dx.doi.org/10.3402/iee.v4.24259

The World Organization for Animal Health (OIE) allows rope casting and the tying of legs for nonhuman animal slaughter without stunning. The handling and welfare of bovine livestock (Bos indicus and Bubalus bubalis) were studied in 8 local abattoirs in 5 districts of Bangladesh. A total of 302 animals were evaluated. At the local abattoirs, approximately 1/3 of the cattle and water buffalo were either emaciated or injured/sick. The size and vigor of the animals determined the casting method. Small and weak animals were cast on concrete floors by lifting a foreleg followed by pushing, or simply by twisting the head of the animal and then binding the legs with rope. Vigorous animals such as buffalo were cast using ropes and human force. Bleeding was slow and flaying was sometimes initiated before the animals were unconscious. Pulling and tearing of the trachea and pouring of water into the exposed trachea shortly after cutting were also observed in some cases. The overall animal handling was unnecessarily rough and the OIE standards were not implemented. Animals are subjected to considerable mistreatment, and there is an urgent need for the training and education of the staff in abattoirs concerning humane slaughtering practices as well as a need to build modern slaughtering plants in Bangladesh.

Formalin footbaths are commonly used in the dairy industry to prevent cattle hoof diseases. Although formalin is a well-documented disinfectant, it is also a carcinogen and irritant. The aim of this study was to estimate the exposure of farm workers and dairy cattle to formaldehyde from footbaths located in a milking facility and a heifer facility at a dairy farm in western New York, USA. The dairy farm included approximately 3900 dairy cattle including young stock; of these, 1670 cows were milked three times per day in a 60-stall carousel milking parlor, and approximately 800 heifers were located at the heifer facility where footbaths with formalin were in use. The formaldehyde concentration of the air was measured using a Formaldemeter™ htV approximately 50cm above the 3% formalin footbaths in the milking (one footbath location) and heifer (three footbath locations) facilities on three consecutive days. The measured formaldehyde concentrations varied between 0.00 and 2.28ppm, falling within the safety guidelines established by the Occupation Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) of the United States. Significant differences were found in the formaldehyde concentrations at the different footbath locations in the heifer facility, potentially due to the varying levels of ventilation at each location. Changes in the ambient temperature during the 3-day sampling period did not significantly affect the concentrations. We believe that the substantial ventilation at both the heifer and milking facilities ensured that the formaldehyde concentrations did not exceed OSHA guidelines, thus permitting the safe use of formalin footbaths in this farm.