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Effects of feeding substrate on greenhouse gas emissions during black soldier fly larval development

Genotype x environment interactions in black soldier fly larvae grown on different feed substrates.

Effect of riboflavin dosage and source on growth, slaughter traits and welfare of broilers.

Economic resilience and efficiency indicators of conventional and organic dairy farms across Europe.

Insects are considered as promising future dietary protein source for poultry and aquaculture feeding. The most wide-spread source are black soldier fly (BSF) larvae. Literature indicates that life history performance and body composition of BSF larvae are extremely variable. This restricts the prediction of the nutritional quality of insect-based feeds and economic performance in general. Feed substrate for BSF larvae is one major driver for the observed variation, as documented in a number of reports. Yet, pronounced differences were still found for comparable feed substrates across studies. These have mostly been attributed to different experimental settings whereas potential influences of BSF genetics have largely been neglected, also because appropriate monitoring tools were lacking. In a fully crossed factorial design we compared the performance of four genetically distinct BSF strains (inferred from newly developed polymorphic nuclear genetic markers) grown on three feed substrates with six replicates each. Various growth and compositional traits were determined. Both factors, feed substrate and BSF genetics, as well as the interaction between the two, were found to have a highly significant impact on virtually all investigated life history traits (mortality, growth dynamics, average larval weight) and body compositional characteristics (dry matter, organic matter, crude protein, ether extract) of harvested larvae. The same applied for feed conversion ratio, nitrogen efficiency, degradation of fibre in the digestive tract as well as nitrogen and carbon emissions. Frequently detected stronger differences between genotypes within feed substrates than within genotypes across feed substrates show that BSF genetics is key for interpreting and triggering outcomes. However, the findings also indicate that larvae of different genetic origin have different nutritional requirements, further suggesting that optimal feeds may vary across BSF strains, or vice versa, that based on the choice of the latter, different available rearing substrates may be exploited with different success. Our results imply that efficiency and sustainability of BSF productions may be substantially increased by considering BSF genetics and interactions with feed substrate composition. They provide ideas for targeted objectives to be implemented in efficient BSF larvae production. Ample indication for BSF genotypespecific effects also provides valuable insights for pinpointed BSF breeding strategies.

Organic farmers adhere to high standards in producing quality food while protecting the environment. However, organic farming needs to improve continuously to keep meeting its ambitious objectives. The project ‘Replacement of Contentious Inputs in Organic Farming Systems’ (RELACS) will foster the development and adoption of cost-efficient and environmentally safe tools and technologies to further reduce the use of external inputs on organic farms across Europe as well as in Non EU Mediterranean countries. Project partners will provide scientific support to develop fair and implementable EU rules to improve current practices in organic farming. Farm advisory networks in 11 European countries will reach out to farmers to ensure effective dissemination and adoption of the tools and techniques.

© 2015 Macmillan Publishers Limited. Ruminant livestock are important sources of human food and global greenhouse gas emissions. Feed degradation and methane formation by ruminants rely on metabolic interactions between rumen microbes and affect ruminant productivity. Rumen and camelid foregut microbial community composition was determined in 742 samples from 32 animal species and 35 countries, to estimate if this was influenced by diet, host species, or geography. Similar bacteria and archaea dominated in nearly all samples, while protozoal communities were more variable. The dominant bacteria are poorly characterised, but the methanogenic archaea are better known and highly conserved across the world. This universality and limited diversity could make it possible to mitigate methane emissions by developing strategies that target the few dominant methanogens. Differences in microbial community compositions were predominantly attributable to diet, with the host being less influential. There were few strong co-occurrence patterns between microbes, suggesting that major metabolic interactions are non-selective rather than specific., We thank Ron Ronimus, Paul Newton, and Christina Moon for reading and commenting on the manuscript. We thank all who provided assistance that allowed Global Rumen Census collaborators to supply samples and metadata (Supplemental Text 1). AgResearch was funded by the New Zealand Government as part of its support for the Global Research Alliance on Agricultural Greenhouse Gases. The following funding sources allowed Global Rumen Census collaborators to supply samples and metadata, listed with the primary contact(s) for each funding source: Agencia Nacional de Investigación e Innovación, Martín Fraga; Alberta Livestock and Meat Agency, Canada, Tim A. McAllister; Area de Ciencia y Técnica, Universidad Juan A Maza (Resolución Proy. N° 508/2012), Diego Javier Grilli; Canada British Columbia Ranching Task Force Funding Initiative, John Church; CNPq, Hilário Cuquetto Mantovani, Luiz Gustavo Ribeiro Pereira; FAPEMIG, Hilário Cuquetto Mantovani; FAPEMIG, PECUS RumenGases, Luiz Gustavo Ribeiro Pereira; Cooperative Research Program for Agriculture Science & Technology Development (project number PJ010906), Rural Development Administration, Republic of Korea, Sang-Suk Lee; Dutch Dairy Board & Product Board Animal Feed, André Bannink, Kasper Dieho, Jan Dijkstra; Ferdowsi University of Mashhad, Vahideh Heidarian Miri; Finnish Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, Ilma Tapio; Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria, Argentina (Project PNBIO1431044), Silvio Cravero, María Cerón Cucchi; Irish Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, Alexandre B. De Menezes; Meat & Livestock Australia; and Department of Agriculture, Fisheries & Forestry (Australian Government), Chris McSweeney; Ministerio de Agricultura y desarrollo sostenible (Colombia), Olga Lucía Mayorga; Montana Agricultural Experiment Station project (MONB00113), Carl Yeoman; Multistate project W-3177 Enhancing the competitiveness of US beef (MONB00195), Carl Yeoman; NSW Stud Merino Breeders’ Association, Alexandre Vieira Chaves; Queensland Enteric Methane Hub, Diane Ouwerkerk; RuminOmics, Jan Kopecny, Ilma Tapio; Rural and Environment Science and Analytical Services Division (RESAS) of the Scottish Government and the Technology Strategy Board, UK, R. John Wallace; Science Foundation Ireland (09/RFP/GEN2447), Sinead Waters; Secretaría de Agricultura, Ganadería, Desarrollo Rural, Pesca y Alimentación, Mario A. Cobos-Peralta; Slovenian Research Agency (project number J1-6732 and P4-0097), Blaz Stres; Strategic Priority Research Program, Climate Change: Carbon Budget and Relevant Issues (Grant No.XDA05020700), ZhiLiang Tan; The European Research Commission Starting Grant Fellowship (336355—MicroDE), Phil B. Pope; The Independent Danish Research Council (project number 4002-00036), Torsten Nygaard Kristensen; and The Independent Danish Research Council (Technology and Production, project number 11-105913), Jan Lassen. These funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.

Die Körperkonditionsbeurteilung, bei der die Menge der subkutanen Fettauflage im Lenden-, Becken- und Schwanzbereich beurteilt wird, ist beim Milchvieh ein wichtiges Beurteilungsinstrument, um Gesundheits- und Fruchtbarkeitsproblemen vorzubeugen. Häufig steht die Körperkonditionsbeurteilung jedoch in der Kritik, zu subjektiv zu sein und keine validen Ergebnisse zu liefern. Ziel der Studie war es daher zu untersuchen, ob sich die Berücksichtigung des Gesamteindrucks der Kuh, was als subjektive Herangehensweise verstanden werden kann, bei der Beurteilung negativ auf die Validität der Boniturnote auswirkt, und ob ein strikteres Vorgehen unter weitestgehender Ausschaltung des Gesamteindrucks bessere Ergebnisse erzielt. Zudem wurde untersucht, bei welchen Körperregionen die Fettauflage besonders schwierig zu beurteilen ist. Die Studie wurde an 1111 Milchkühen der Rasse Schweizer Braunvieh durchgeführt. Es wurden zwei unterschiedliche Methoden zur Körperkonditionsbeurteilung angewendet. Als Referenzmethode diente die Messung der Rückenfettdicke (RFD). Die bei der Körperkonditionsbeurteilung entstehenden Boniturnoten werden als „dependent BCS“ (dBCS; mit subjektivem Eindruck) und „independent BCS“ (iBCS; ohne subjektiven Eindruck) bezeichnet. Der dBCS erklärte 67.3 % der Varianz der RFD und lieferte damit bessere Ergebnisse als der iBCS, der nur 47.3 % der Varianz der RFD erklären konnte. Demnach wirkt sich die Berücksichtigung des Gesamteindrucks der Kuh positiv auf die Resultate aus. Auffallend grosse Abweichungen zwischen dBCS und iBCS wurden an den Sitzbeinhöckern festgestellt. 61.4% der Tiere wurden hier unterschiedlich bewertet, die Beurteilung dieser Körperregion scheint mithin besonders schwierig.

The paper highlights particular benefits and challenges coming along with ruminant production on permanent grasslands and rangelands. A threefold synergy is i) the utilisation of a nutrient source which is independent of arable land, ii) the ecological benefits of maintained permanent pastures and iii) the production of food with a high nutritional and sensory quality. However, a sustainable use of these pastures requires appropriate management, facing very different challenges depending on the regional conditions. Systemic management schemes based on specific characteristics of the pastures are required for their maintenance and/or development. A further challenge are pasture-bound gastro-intestinal parasites control, which are, however at least partly also an issue of grazing management. The particular nutritional properties of grassland-derived products are scientifically well established, although deeper understanding of specific underlying metabolic mechanisms is still an objective of ongoing manifold research. implementation of instruments for evaluation of these nutritional values in the market chain are lacking. Scientifically many options for the authentication of grassland-based products are under development, and a major task remains their implementation into practice. Decisive for all successful developments are the economic and political frameworks. A multi-perspective re-consideration of the concepts of efficiency for animal production seems to be required for a fair assessment of their services, grassland and rangeland systems bring to global food production, Cet article souligne les avantages du papier et des défis particuliers à venir avec la production de ruminants sur les prairies permanentes et les pâturages. Une synergie est triple i) l'utilisation d'une source d'éléments nutritifs qui est indépendant des terres arables, ii) les avantages écologiques des pâturages permanents entretenus et iii) la production d'aliments avec une haute qualité nutritionnelle et sensorielle. Cependant, une utilisation durable de ces pâturages nécessite une gestion appropriée, face à des défis très différents en fonction des conditions régionales. Systèmes de gestion systémiques fondées sur des caractéristiques spécifiques des pâturages sont nécessaires pour leur entretien et / ou de développement. Un autre défi est le contrôle des parasites gastro-intestinaux pâturage liée, qui sont toutefois au moins en partie aussi une question de gestion des pâturages. Les propriétés nutritionnelles particulières de produits dérivés prairies sont scientifiquement bien établis, bien meilleure compréhension des mécanismes sous-jacents métaboliques spécifiques est encore un objectif de la recherche de collecteur en cours. mise en œuvre des instruments d'évaluation de ces valeurs nutritionnelles de la chaîne du marché font défaut. Scientifiquement de nombreuses options pour l'authentification des produits basés sur les prairies sont en cours de développement, et une tâche majeure reste leur mise en œuvre en pratique. Décisif pour tous les développements réussis sont les cadres économiques et politiques. Un multi-perspective ré-examen des concepts d'efficacité pour la production animale semble être nécessaire pour une juste évaluation de leurs services, les systèmes de prairies et pâturages apporter à la production alimentaire mondiale

A total of 110 lambs of the breeds Engadine Sheep and Valaisian Black Nose Sheep were fattened on one lowland and three different alpine pasture types. The experiment was conducted in two consecutive years and lasted for 9 weeks of grazing in each year. Immediately afterwards, the lambs were slaughtered. Perirenal adipose tissue and the Longissimus dorsi muscle were analysed for fatty acid composition. The lambs on the lowland pasture had the lowest proportions of linoleic and α-linolenic acid in the lipid fraction of these tissues. Additionally, there was a clear differentiation in these proportions when lambs grazed different alpine vegetation types. This was related to the content of phenolic compounds rather than the fatty acid contents of the swards, and an increasing phenolic level probably resulted in a higher ruminal protection of the native plant fatty acids. Intermediates of biohydrogenation (vaccenic acid and conjugated linoleic acid) were highest in the lowland lambs. Animal breed effects were weak.

This study investigated the influence of alpine grazing on vitamin D (vitD) and bone metabolism in sheep and goats. Two groups of five adult lactating East Friesian milk sheep and Saanen dairy goats were kept on pastures at 2000 to 2600 m a.s.l. (SA: sheep alpine; GA: goats alpine) and 400 m a.s.l. (SL: sheep lowland; GL: goats lowland). The animals were milked twice daily and the milk yield was measured. Blood, milk, skin and forage samples were collected and the left metatarsi were measured with peripheral quantitative computed tomography. The relative humidity and air temperature were recorded and the ultraviolet B (UVB) radiation was measured with a solar meter at both research stations. In addition, animals from the alpine group were equipped with a global positioning system receiver. The UVB radiation was higher at the alpine station (P < 0.05) compared to the lowland station. In contrast, both the relative humidity and the air temperature were higher at the lowland station (P < 0.04). The group GA produced more milk than GL (P < 0.043). No differences in milk production between SA and SL were detected. Only minor differences between the alpine and lowland species groups were found in the total 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25(OH)D) and 1.25-dihydroxyvitamin D serum concentration and in the 25(OH)D milk concentration. 25-hydroxyvitamin D2 concentration in serum was higher in sheep compared to goats and the 25(OH)D3 concentration in serum increased in all four groups but was higher in the alpine groups during the experiment. In addition, no differences in 7-dehydrocholesterol (7-DHC) concentrations in the skin at high altitude and lowland groups were detectable. However the 7-DHC concentrations in the skin of sheep were less than a tenth of the concentrations in the skin of goats and were nearly not detectable. In both groups SA and SL bone strength index increased during the trial (P = 0.043). Bone strength index was lower in GA compared to GL at week 12 (P = 0.047). Mean serum Ca concentrations were higher and P concentrations were lower in the alpine groups than in the lowland groups (P = 0.047). In both groups SA and GA the distance travelled increased during the trial. In conclusion, no effect of altitude on vitD status, vitD milk concentration and bone strength could be detected. Both sheep and goats are able to produce vitD in the skin, but sheep depend more on vitD intake with feedstuff, whereas goats rely more on cutaneous vitD production.

Die vorliegende Studie untersuchte, ob ein positives Handling innerhalb der ersten Lebenstage bei Mutterkuhkälbern einen stressreduzierenden Effekt auf die Tiere bei der Schlachtung hat.

Buckwheat (Fagopyrum esculentum) has a high ecological value due to the long and intensive flowering as well as its favorable impact on soil fertility. In addition, as a typical catch crop, it provides the possibility of a second harvest on arable land in moderate European regions. However, in Europe demand for buckwheat kernels as food is low. Therefore, the question arises whether cultivation of this plant could be promoted by using it as animal feed. In the current experiment, the extent to which buckwheat is consumed by laying hens was tested in conjunction with potential effects on egg yield and quality. Three groups of laying hens (n=13 per group) were fed a layer diet containing either 40% wheat, 40% hulled buckwheat or 40% crude buckwheat. Feeds were offered ad libitum in form of groats. Feed intake was measured and eggs were sampled before and during the experiment. Feed intake was significantly increased with crude buckwheat, as also were egg weights. Egg number was not affected. The weight and stability of the eggshell were significantly higher with crude buckwheat. The color of the yolk was slightly altered with hulled buckwheat. The results demonstrate that buckwheat is an interesting option as an ecologically and economically valuable feed source for layers, which at least does not cause negative impacts on feed intake and egg yield, compared to wheat.