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From Farm to Table: Sustainable Management in Animal Husbandry

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A special issue of Sustainability (ISSN 2071-1050). This special issue belongs to the section "Sustainable Agriculture".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (26 March 2023) | Viewed by 19648

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Special Issue Editors

Dr. Ana Kaić

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Guest Editor

Faculty of Agriculture, University of Zagreb, Svetošimunska Cesta 25, 10000 Zagreb, Croatia
Interests: meat production and quality; meat processing technology; sensory analysis; food safety
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Dr. Nikolina Kelava Ugarković

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor

Faculty of Agriculture, University of Zagreb, Svetošimunska Cesta 25, 10000 Zagreb, Croatia
Interests: meat production and quality; game meat quality; production systems; milk production
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

For decades, applied practices and technologies in animal husbandry were aimed to increase productivity with no or minor concerns of the effects of this drive, either locally or globally. However, with time, various issues of such production practices have been detected, and a need for solutions has emerged. Sustainable animal husbandry balances between the growing demand for animal-derived products and the need to reduce negative side-effects. In order to preserve ecological processes, biodiversity, and productivity into the future, sustainable animal husbandry integrates environmental, social, and economic aspects of food production. Principles of sustainability in animal husbandry can be applied through the entire process of production (i.e., from farm to table).

Animal husbandry production is perceived as one of the major global environmental issues. It has been argued that a well-organized, highly efficient animal husbandry management system provides the best opportunities for sustainability. Namely, domestic animals—especially cattle (beef and dairy)—are considered to be one of the major contributors of global methane emissions from animal husbandry. On the other hand, deforestation and the use of forest soils to cultivate feed for domestic animals presents a second environment-related issue. Another environmental issue arising from animal husbandry is associated with manure management and the need to properly store and apply manure to minimize nitrate pollution from agriculture. Socio-economic aspects of sustainable animal husbandry are oriented towards animal-welfare-related issues, food quality, and safety. The welfare of animals used for food production has become an important parameter in purchasing and in perceived food quality. Protocols to assess the welfare of different domestic animal species have been developed to control and minimize the deprivation of animals’ basic needs (food, water, and expression of normal behavior, and freedom from discomfort, pain, injury, disease, fear, or distress). Additionally, alternative animal husbandry systems have been developed to meet animal welfare standards and to offer value-added products to the market. Maintaining biodiversity as part of sustainable animal husbandry can be achieved through the use of indigenous breeds of cattle, sheep, goats, swine, horse, and poultry. Local breeds and specific food products obtained from them also contribute to the socio-economic aspect of sustainable animal husbandry. The use of local or alternative feed sources has the potential to improve the quality of food produced either from indigenous or selected breeds. Animal-derived foods obtained from sustainable animal husbandry systems, in addition to the required quality parameters, need to be properly handled, processed, and stored in order to prevent possible foodborne illness and negative effects on human health.

This Special Issue will offer findings that address the challenge of sustainable food management in animal husbandry. Manuscripts describing new approaches, new syntheses, and new theories are welcome.

Therefore, we encourage you to submit articles covering the following issues:

Local livestock breeds;
Local and alternative feed resources;
Alternative animal husbandry systems;
Animal nutrition;
Animal welfare;
Animal health;
Manure management;
Environmental footprints;
Socio-economic approaches;
Food quality;
Food safety.

Dr. Ana Kaić
Dr. Nikolina Kelava Ugarković
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Sustainability is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

animal husbandry
sustainability
food safety
animal welfare
food management systems
innovative systems

Published Papers (9 papers)

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Research

17 pages, 4323 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Wolf (Canis lupus) Predation in Pastoral Livestock Systems: Case Study in Croatia

by Nikolina Kelava Ugarković, Zvonimir Prpić, Ana Kaić, Maja Vidić, Ante Ivanković and Miljenko Konjačić

Sustainability 2023, 15(14), 10888; https://doi.org/10.3390/su151410888 - 11 Jul 2023

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1031

Abstract

The predation of livestock by gray wolf (Canis lupus; hereafter, wolf) is a problem throughout eastern Europe and poses a threat to sustainable pasture-based livestock production in some areas. In Croatia, farmers have alarmed the public with news of frequent wolf attacks in the last decade, and wolves, as protected animals, are perceived as a pest and a threat. The aim of this study was to analyze and present the frequency of attacks and killed/injured domestic animals in Croatia. During the ten-year period (2010–2020), 13,359 attack events were reported, where it was determined, with certainty, that the attack was by the wolf. In these attacks, 19,111 domestic animals were killed and 4634 were injured. Predation events occurred predominantly (92.71%) in three counties located in southern Croatia (sub-Mediterranean Croatia), whose total area is 11,170 km² (19.74% of the total area of Croatia). The most frequently killed species were sheep (64.78% of all killed animals), which was followed by goats (19.28%) and cattle (9.59%). The highest frequency of attacks and animals killed was recorded in the summer followed by spring and autumn, and the lowest was in winter. The majority of attacks (79.57%) occurred in the morning and during the day. The animal with the highest average number killed per attack was sheep (1.64), which was followed by goats (1.38), cattle (0.99), horses (0.94), donkeys (0.95), and guardian dogs (0.92). During the studied period, in the three counties with the most frequent attacks, 11.72% of the average goat population, 6.34% of the cattle population, and 5.61% of the sheep population were killed. Wolf predation in sub-Mediterranean Croatia presents a threat to the population of domestic ruminants dominantly kept in pastoral livestock systems, and additional efforts need to be made to achieve co-existence between the wolf population and farmers. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue From Farm to Table: Sustainable Management in Animal Husbandry)

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12 pages, 277 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Prospects for Sustainable Production of the Banija Spotted Pig in Relation to Fattening, Carcass, and Meat Quality Traits: A Preliminary Study

by Zoran Luković, Dubravko Škorput, Danijel Karolyi and Ana Kaić

Sustainability 2023, 15(4), 3288; https://doi.org/10.3390/su15043288 - 10 Feb 2023

Viewed by 922

Abstract

The Banija spotted pig (BS) is a Croatian autochthonous breed that was officially recognised in 2018. The breed remains threatened with extinction and is on its way to establishing a production cycle that will ensure long-term conservation and sustainability. However, there is a general lack of data on the production traits of BS pigs. The aim of this work was therefore to identify the main fattening, carcass and meat quality traits of the BS pig and to assess the suitability of the breed for sustainable pork production. A total of ten pigs were fattened in a semi-free-range production system up to the average final body weight of 162 ± 17.3 kg. At the end of fattening, the growth, carcass and meat quality traits (pH, meat colour and water holding capacity) of the BS pig were determined and the gross margin based on the production of value-added meat products was calculated and compared with other Croatian local pig breeds. The results, which are to be considered preliminary due to the small data set, show that the fattening and slaughter characteristics of the BS pig are satisfactory and consistent with the characteristics of the breed and the husbandry practices adapted to semi-free-range farming. Furthermore, the meat quality showed suitability for processing for most traits, while the calculation of gross profit confirms the advantage of this breed for a well-rounded production cycle compared with related local pig breeds. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue From Farm to Table: Sustainable Management in Animal Husbandry)

19 pages, 810 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Measurement and Influencing Factors of Carbon Emissions of China’s Livestock Husbandry in the Post-COVID-19 Era—Based on the Supply-Side Perspective

by Guoming Hao, Honghui Zhu and Yechen Cui

Sustainability 2023, 15(2), 913; https://doi.org/10.3390/su15020913 - 4 Jan 2023

Cited by 5 | Viewed by 1335

Abstract

The strategy of “carbon peaking and carbon neutrality” and the COVID-19 pandemic have become dual challenges for the high-quality development of livestock husbandry. This paper takes the carbon emissions in China’s livestock husbandry as the research object and uses the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Tier 2 coefficient to measure the total carbon emissions and carbon intensity of the industry in 2008–2019. Taking the above two elements as explained variables respectively and using the two-way fixed effects model (FE-TW) that controls time and space effects, this paper specifically examines the effects of various factors in the supply side of livestock husbandry on the explained variables, and further examines the role of technology structure and scale structure. According to our measurement, total carbon emissions showed an inverted U-shaped change and carbon intensity declines in an M-shaped curve during the study period. Both total carbon emissions and carbon intensity are composed mainly of CH₄ that is primarily generated by grass-fed livestock industries with spatial distribution patterns of “hill” and “cliff”, respectively, while the spatial expression of these two factors is related to the distribution of grain areas. As the test on supply side factors shows, the carbon emissions of livestock husbandry are apparently affected by its land structure, breeding structure, technical level and scale level, but the impact of the level of human capital and mechanization is not as significant as that of technological structure and scale structure. Combining the empirical results and the special background of the COVID-19 pandemic, this paper aims to provide more targeted suggestions for livestock husbandry development and carbon reduction during the COVID-19 pandemic period. It also aims to offer a reference for the promotion of green and high-quality development of livestock husbandry and the completion of the task of “carbon peaking and carbon neutrality”. This study will help policy makers to clarify the goal of reducing carbon emissions in animal husbandry and optimize and improve the corresponding industrial and technological policies. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue From Farm to Table: Sustainable Management in Animal Husbandry)

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16 pages, 681 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Participatory Identification of Breeding Objectives and Selection Criteria for Begaria Cattle Breed

by Tesfalem Aseged, Tesfaye Getachew and Sandip Banerjee

Sustainability 2022, 14(19), 12766; https://doi.org/10.3390/su141912766 - 7 Oct 2022

Cited by 3 | Viewed by 1457

Abstract

The objectives of this study were to identify the breeding objectives of Begaria cattle keepers. A semi-structured questionnaire, live animal ranking, and focus group discussions were employed to identify the breeding objectives of the farmers. The study was conducted on a total of 75 conveniently sampled households. Among the total cattle population of the sampled households, 506 heads of cattle (252 male and 254 female animals) were ranked as first best, second best, third best, and/or the worst animals. Owners were asked to choose the first best, second best, third best, and worst animals from their herd for both sexes. Reasons for ranking, important morphometric measurements, and (re)production performance of the ranked animal were taken. The R Commander package version 2.6-0 was used to analyze qualitative data and analysis of variance in R software was used to analyze quantitative data. Reasons for ranking of cows in the study area were milk yield (39.14%), calving interval (15.14), temperament (12), and body size (10.86), whereas for bulls, reasons were body size (30.39%), growth (30.66), body condition score (16.85), and color (15.19). Survival rate (Sur), calving interval (CI), milk yield (MY), and lactation milk yield (LMY) for the cows and body condition score (BCS), weaning age (WA), yearling weight (YW), and weaning weight (WW) for the bulls were significantly different (p < 0.05) mainly between the first- and last-ranked animals. Farmers were willing to pay up to Ethiopian birr (ETB) 11,500, 10,700, 10,400, and 9500 on average for first-, second-, and third-ranked breeding females and up to ETB 6300, 5800, 5200, and 4500 for breeding males. Lactation milk yield, calving interval, mothering ability, growth rate, and age at first calving were determined as breeding objective traits of the community. with suggested selection criteria of lactation milk yield, calving interval, survival rate, yearling weight, and age at first calving, respectively. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue From Farm to Table: Sustainable Management in Animal Husbandry)

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12 pages, 528 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Machine Learning-Based Live Weight Estimation for Hanwoo Cow

by Changgwon Dang, Taejeong Choi, Seungsoo Lee, Soohyun Lee, Mahboob Alam, Mina Park, Seungkyu Han, Jaegu Lee and Duytang Hoang

Sustainability 2022, 14(19), 12661; https://doi.org/10.3390/su141912661 - 5 Oct 2022

Cited by 10 | Viewed by 2443

Abstract

Live weight monitoring is an important step in Hanwoo (Korean cow) livestock farming. Direct and indirect methods are two available approaches for measuring live weight of cows in husbandry. Recently, thanks to the advances of sensor technology, data processing, and Machine Learning algorithms, the indirect weight measurement has been become more popular. This study was conducted to explore and evaluate the feasibility of machine learning algorithms in estimating the body live weight of Hanwoo cow using ten body measurements as input features. Various supervised Machine Learning algorithms, including Multilayer Perceptron, k-Nearest Neighbor, Light Gradient Boosting Machine, TabNet, and FT-Transformer, are employed to develop the models that estimate the body live weight using body measurement data. Data analysis is exploited to explore the correlation between the body size measurements (the features) and the weights (target values that need to be estimated) of cows. Data analysis results show that ten body measurements have a high correlation with the body live weight. High performance of all applied Machine Learning models was obtained. It can be concluded that estimating the body live weight of Hanwoo cow is feasible by utilizing Machine Learning algorithms. Among all of the tested algorithms, LightGBM regression demonstrates not only the best model in terms of performance, model complexity and development time. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue From Farm to Table: Sustainable Management in Animal Husbandry)

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14 pages, 3268 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Ultrasound as a Potential Technology to Improve the Quality of Meat Produced from a Mexican Autochthonous Bovine Breed

by Reyes Omaro Caraveo-Suarez, Iván Adrián Garcia-Galicia, Eduardo Santellano-Estrada, Luis Manuel Carrillo-Lopez, Mariana Huerta-Jimenez, Simon Morales-Rodriguez, Einar Vargas-Bello-Pérez and Alma Delia Alarcon-Rojo

Sustainability 2022, 14(7), 3886; https://doi.org/10.3390/su14073886 - 25 Mar 2022

Cited by 4 | Viewed by 1922

Abstract

The objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of high-intensity ultrasound (HIU) on the physicochemical and textural properties of meat from Rararumi Criollo, a Mexican autochthonous bovine breed. After slaughter, Longissimus dorsi and Triceps brachii muscles were separated from carcasses, cut into 2.5 cm slices and treated with HIU, except the control group, which was not sonicated. After treatment, samples were vacuum-sealed and stored at 4 °C for 0, 3, 6, 9, 12 and 15 d. HIU increased (p < 0.05) the luminosity and yellowness (b*) of meat. Higher b* (p < 0.05) was observed in L. dorsi than in T. brachii muscles. No effect (p > 0.05) of HIU was detected on drip loss, pH, the water holding capacity and the total collagen of meat. The shear force of HIU-treated meat was lower (p < 0.05) than control samples, indicating a tenderizing effect. There were differences between muscles. L. dorsi was more tender (p < 0.05), and it had higher pH and WHC values than T. brachii. Overall, HIU is a potential method for tenderizing Raramuri Criollo cattle meat without negative impacts on other quality characteristics. HIU is an emerging technology that could add value to indigenous breeds and provide a new opportunity for the growing meat market. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue From Farm to Table: Sustainable Management in Animal Husbandry)

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19 pages, 56727 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Long-Term Climatic Changes in Small Ruminant Farms in Greece and Potential Associations with Animal Health

by Eleni I. Katsarou, Daphne T. Lianou, Elias Papadopoulos and George C. Fthenakis

Sustainability 2022, 14(3), 1673; https://doi.org/10.3390/su14031673 - 31 Jan 2022

Cited by 5 | Viewed by 2354

Abstract

The objectives of this work were (a) to present the changes in climatic parameters from 1989 to 2019, in 444 locations throughout Greece, where small ruminant farms have been based and (b) to present associations of the changes in the climatic parameters with clinical data related to small ruminant health. Climatic variables (1989–2019) were obtained for 444 locations with small ruminant farms throughout Greece. During this period, significant increases were noted in temperature-related parameters (annually 0.05 °C for average temperature and 0.14 °C for temperature range) and precipitation (annually 0.03 mm). There were significant differences in climatic conditions between locations of farms in accord with the management system applied therein, as well as in accord with the breed of animals on the farms (e.g., higher average temperature in locations with Greek breeds, higher temperature range in locations with imported breeds). There were significant associations of temperature-related parameters with the annual frequency of cases of neonatal hypothermia seen at a veterinary teaching hospital, as well as with the average proportion of Haemonchus contortus larvae in faecal samples and the frequency of cases of H. contortus resistance reported by a veterinary parasitology laboratory. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue From Farm to Table: Sustainable Management in Animal Husbandry)

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9 pages, 552 KiB

Open AccessCommunication

Efficacy of Hormonal Growth Promoter Implants on the Performance of Grazing Steers of Different Breeds in Southern Chile

by M. Jordana Rivero, Luis Araya, Marcelo Oyarzo, Andrew S. Cooke, Sarah A. Morgan and Veronica M. Merino

Sustainability 2021, 13(16), 9135; https://doi.org/10.3390/su13169135 - 15 Aug 2021

Cited by 2 | Viewed by 2708

Abstract

Increasing demands for land is necessitating the optimisation of grazing land used for livestock production. Hormonal growth promoter implants (HGPI) are widely used to improve cattle performance and thus land-use efficiency. However, there is limited information on their efficacy in grazing systems. Forty grazing steers, 10 of each breed (Angus, Hereford, Holstein, Overo Colorado), had growth rates monitored for 85 days after which half received HGPI and half continued as a control. Growth rates were monitored for an additional 61 days and performance between the groups compared. Implants had a significant impact on liveweight gain (LWG; p = 0.013), and whilst breed did not (p = 0.65), there was an interaction effect of breed × treatment (p = 0.029). For three of the four breeds, the LWG was greater in the implant group (mean +14.3%). The exception was for Holstein steers which did not respond to the implant. In general, HGPI were found to be effective in increasing LWG of grazing cattle and thus has the potential to increase yield densities and relieve pressures of land use and competition. The efficacy may be affected by breed and other extraneous factors not covered in this study. Furthermore, the use of HGPI must be carefully considered in a wider context since its use might have secondary impacts. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue From Farm to Table: Sustainable Management in Animal Husbandry)

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17 pages, 3494 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Alterations in the Rumen Particle-Associated Microbiota of Goats in Response to Dietary Supplementation Levels of Schizochytrium spp.

by Alexandros Mavrommatis, Dimitrios Skliros, Marica Simoni, Federico Righi, Emmanouil Flemetakis and Eleni Tsiplakou

Sustainability 2021, 13(2), 607; https://doi.org/10.3390/su13020607 - 10 Jan 2021

Cited by 16 | Viewed by 2670

Abstract

Fat rich microorganisms, such as microalgae Schizochytrium spp., are potential biotechnological tools in the modulation of rumen microbiome towards ecofriendly and high nutritional value end-products. However, limited in vivo trials have been reported on the topic. The aim of this study was to contribute to the knowledge on the effect of fat rich microalgae on the methanogenic and feed degrading particle-associated microbes in goats’ rumen content. For the trial, twenty-four goats were divided into four homogenous clusters (six goats/treatment) according to their fat corrected (4%) milk yield, body weight and age and individually were fed with alfalfa hay and concentrate feeds (F/C = 50/50). The concentrate of the control group (CON) contained no microalgae, while those of the treated groups were supplemented daily with 20 (ALG20), 40 (ALG40), and 60 (ALG60) g of Schizochytrium spp./goat. The relative abundances of total Archaea, methanogens, Methanomassiliicoccales, Methanobrevibacter spp., Methanosphaera stadmanae and Methanobacterium formicicum were significantly (p < 0.05) decreased in microalgae-fed goats compared to the CON ones. Moreover, a significant decline in the relative abundances of Firmicutes, Ruminococcus flavefaciens, Butyrivibrio fibrosolvents, and Neocallimastigales in the rumen particle-associated microbiota of microalgae supplemented goats were observed. In conclusion, goats’ diets supplementation with Schizochytrium spp., could be considered a sustainable nutritional strategy for methanogens inhibition in their rumen particle-associated microbiota. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue From Farm to Table: Sustainable Management in Animal Husbandry)

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