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Antibiotic-resistant strains of staph bacteria may be spreading between pigs raised in factory farms
DNA sequencing of bacteria found in pigs and humans in rural eastern North Carolina, an area with concentrated industrial-scale pig-farming, suggests that multidrug-resistant Staphylococcus aureus strains are spreading between pigs, farmworkers, their families and community residents, and represe...Read more -
Pharmaceutical residues in sewage sludge and cattle manure do not have the feared effect
Pharmaceutical residues and chemicals from personal care products in sewage sludge and cattle manure do not have a detectable toxic effect on nematodes living in agricultural fields, according to 14-year-long experiments by the University of Copenhagen. At the same time, manure and sewage sludge ...Read more -
New study says dairy calves are social animals
A new study in JDS Communications® explores young calves’ motivation to seek companionship Most dairy calves are housed individually in the first weeks and sometimes months of their lives, a practice that has come under scrutiny for its effects on animal behavior, welfare and health. Despite grow...Read more -
Medical breakthrough could help produce more beef
A recent research breakthrough in human medicine could help a Texas A&M Department of Animal Science researcher find a way to increase beef production to help meet the demands of global population growth. Bos indicus cattle breeds are very important to global beef production due to their adap...Read more -
Harnessing Clinical Trial Capacity to Mitigate Zoonotic Diseases: The Role of Expert Scientists in Ethiopia
Background: The emergence and resurgence of zoonotic diseases have continued to be a major threat to global health and the economy. Developing countries are particularly vulnerable due to agricultural expansions and domestication of animals with humans. Scientifically sound clinical trials are im...Read more -
Fast food gobbling larvae could replace soy in livestock diet
Larvae such as those of the black soldier fly (BSF) can form an important new link in circular agriculture. They grow well on unused waste streams such as catering waste or pig manure, which are currently not yet permitted to be fed to insect larvae. This allows us in the future to utilize nutrie...Read more -
Complex Circulation of Foot-and-Mouth Disease Virus in Cattle in Nigeria
Nigeria is a large densely populated country in West Africa. Most of its livestock is raised in a pastoralist production system with typical long distance migration in search of water and feed. As the demand for animal products largely exceeds the domestic production, large numbers of livestock a...Read more -
Estimating and Supplying Equine Forage Requirements
During the winter, horse owners may wonder if they have enough forages to last their until warm-season pastures regrow. The best practice for determining forage needs over the winter is to calculate the horse’s body weight, estimate intake, and calculate how many months hay will be fed. These sim...Read more -
Embryo flushing Fast-tracking herd genetics is worth every cent’
Last year, the Stofbergs, who own the Platfdrif Sussex Stud and farm near Rawsonville in the Boland, became some of the first Sussex cattle breeders in South Africa to use embryo flushing. Owner Nollie Stofberg says the family took this step in memory of his second-eldest son, David, who died in ...Read more -
Common Diseases of Dairy Goats and Sheep
Abortion Many things, including toxic agents, congenital abnormalities, and infectious diseases, can cause abortions. The most common infectious microorganisms that cause abortions in goats and sheep are the following: chlamydiosis (Chlamydia psittaci) query or Queensland (Q) fever (Coxiella bur...Read more -
Botswana beef farmers ‘at the mercy’ of cattle buyers
That country’s cattle population had declined from around three million head in 2012 to one million in 2021, and 80% of its cattle were farmed by smallholders, according to recent statistics from Botswana’s agriculture ministry. In interviews with Farmer’s Weekly, smallholder beef farmers in Bots...Read more -
Beef Herd Management Strategies
Learn key management practices to improve sustainability in small herd operations. Cow-calf operation sustainability involves the efficient use of resources on-farm to improve herd profitability and farm productivity now and for future generations. For operations with less than fifty head of catt...Read more -
WHAT IS ANTHRAX AND WHAT CAUSES IT
Anthrax is a naturally occuring disease with worldwide distribution. It is caused by Bacillus anthracis, a spore-forming bacteria that can remain alive, but dormant in the soil for many years. The bacteria can “bloom” and contaminate surface soil and grass after periods of wet, cool w...Read more -
Understanding parturition a risk management tool for cow-calf operations
A review of the stages of parturition can help lessen anxieties of cow-calf operators and protect producer investment in their animals during the upcoming calving season, said Oklahoma State University Extension experts. There are three stages to parturition. It is not unusual for stage one – the...Read more -
Turning young bulls into productive herd sires
Environmental factors, of which herd management forms an integral part, exert a 70% influence on the performance of an adult bull, whereas genetics account for only 30%. This means that the nutrition of young bulls is crucial to ensuring a top-performing adult animal, according to Dr Francois van...Read more -
Tips for a Successful Dry-Off Using Selective Dry Cow Therapy (SDCT)
Why Selective Dry Cow Therapy (SDCT)? Keep Mastitis and Somatic Cell Count (SCC) Low Dairy farms around the world are shifting to selective dry cow therapy (SDCT) to improve the judicious use of antibiotics without compromising cow health or welfare. Mathijs Bakker, dairy veterinarian and consult...Read more -
Reducing beef cattle GHG emissions
Several scientists are exploring the various aspects of raising cattle with the overarching goals of quantifying greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) and identifying ways to reduce them. One study, conducted at USask’s Livestock and Forage Centre of Excellence’s (LFCE) Termuende Ranch near Lanigan, is ...Read more -
New study shows the toll industrial farming takes on bird diversity
A new UBC-led study looking into the impacts that large industrial farming has on biodiversity found that increased farm size causes a decline in bird diversity. “Wildlife is a good indicator of a healthy agroecosystem and one thing we wanted to understand was the link between farm size and...Read more -
Large Animal Models of Breast Cancer
In this mini review the status, advantages, and disadvantages of large animal modeling of breast cancer (BC) will be discussed. While most older studies of large animal BC models utilized canine and feline subjects, more recently there has been interest in development of porcine BC models, with s...Read more -
Listeriosis often found in silage fed in winter
Listeriosis is a bacterial disease caused by the bacteria Listeria monocytogenes. The bacteria is ubiquitous in the environment and survives well in moist soil for about 1 year. In domestic animals the disease is most important in ruminants and most commonly seen during winter months when animals...Read more -
Higher milk production, lower carbon footprint
The subject of methane emissions from dairy cattle has received increasing attention from environmental activists concerned about climate change. This has spilled over to consumers, many of whom are seeking milk alternatives to reduce their carbon footprints. To maintain market share and increase...Read more -
Cost of farming escalates for producers in Namibia
Performance testing of a beef cattle herd entails the weighing of animals at certain ages to determine their genetic value. Data obtained through such tests provide farmers with an objective selection aid to identify the best-performing animals in their herds to be used as parents for the next ge...Read more -
Can ‘machine learning’ help predict dairy cow intakes
This is a question that scientists at AFBI have been trying to answer within a project which is examining ‘precision feeding’ approaches for dairy cows. Being able to improve the accuracy with which we can predict the intakes of dairy cows, either for the whole herd, or for individual cows, has b...Read more -
Calf personality, feeding, and growth When one style doesn’t fit all
In a natural setting, cows and nursing calves together set the feeding schedule for the calf, and calves wean gradually, completing weaning at varying ages. By contrast, in artificial rearing systems with minimal cow-calf contact, the weaning schedule may be strictly determined, with reductions o...Read more
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