Sustainable transparent farm animal breeding and reproduction

Farm animal breeders are facing challenges. More and more powerful technologies are at their disposal for creating genetic change. At the same time, society is concerned about the impact of breeding practices and the use to which new technologies are being put. European breeders must compete in a global market. To meet these challenges, European farm animal breeders have conducted three projects to contribute to sustainable and transparent farm animal breeding and reproduction. In “Farm animal breeding and society”, an overview is presented of farm animal breeding in Europe and its technical, ethical, legal and consumer constraints and possibilities. In ‘SEFABAR’, European breeders, scientists and socio-economists have worked towards sustainable breeding and reproduction scenarios. In ‘CODE–EFABAR’, breeders aim to develop, with experts on ethics, communication and certification, and in close contact with NGOs, farmers' organisations and policy makers, a Code of Good Practice for farm animal breeding and reproduction organisations. Along this Code of Good Practice organisations will be able to explain their goals and practices to the public in a transparent way. This paper reviews these projects.     

Production Objectives and Management Strategies of Livestock Keepers in South-East Kenya: Implications for a Breeding Programme

A survey of pastoralist and agropastoralist households in south-east Kenya was conducted to determine their production objectives and management strategies in order to optimize and extend a breeding programme for indigenous small East African Shorthorn Zebu cattle. The reasons for keeping cattle and the breed/trait preferences identified reflect the multiple objectives of the livestock keepers, with both adaptive traits and productive/reproductive traits rated as important. Although the Maasai and Kamba zebu (M&KZ) breeds were ranked highly with regard to adaptive traits, the population is considered to have been in decline over recent years. In order to promote the conservation and sustainable use of the M&KZ cattle, the formation of an open nucleus breeding scheme is recommended. In particular, such a scheme would be able to address several existing constraints (e.g. individual herds are very small and communal use of pastures/water makes controlled mating difficult). Such interventions would require the full participation of the livestock keepers, as well as ensuring that a holistic approach to species and breed attributes is taken into account in setting breeding goals, such that the full array of contributions that livestock make to livelihoods and the genetic characteristics related to these contributions are fully incorporated into the programme.     

One Health,veterinarians and the nexus between disease and food security

Achieving ecologically sustainable food systems for people and animals is one of the greatest challenges facing our world today. Four interdisciplinary approaches that promote a holistic, systems approach to disease prevention and food security are introduced. Current domestic and international initiatives that link disease prevention with food and nutrition security are presented, with an emphasis on animal‐source food and examples from Australia, Tanzania and Timor‐Leste. Veterinarians are uniquely placed to use their training in comparative physiology in support of the production of sustainable, nutritious, ethical and safe food delivered with minimal waste to promote human, animal and environmental health.     

临夏州现代畜牧业发展及促进新农村建设探析

新农村建设的核心在于建设现代农业。当前,临夏州正处于农业生产结构优化、农业提质增效的关键时期,建设社会主义新农村的任务十分艰巨。促进临夏现代农业农村经济又好又快发展,走具有地方特色现代农业,临夏州应把促进现代畜牧业发展摆在更加重要的位置,认真研究解决好如何加快畜牧业科技进步,转变畜牧业饲养方式,健全完善畜禽良种繁育体系,建立饲草饲料生产体系,培育和扶持市场竞争主体,建立有效的防疫体系,是发展现代畜牧业循环经济,促进新农村建设,助推脱贫攻坚的全局性突出问题。     

Do traditional sheep breeders perform conscious selection? An example from a participatory breeding program of Morada Nova sheep

The implementation of sustainable breeding programs requires genetic breeding strategies that are appropriate for the reality production systems. It is also essential that the choice of animal selection criteria be based on breeders’ knowledge and objectives. This work is an ethno-zootechnical study of the Morada Nova sheep breed and its crossbreeds. The goals of this study were to register and analyze indigenous breeders’ knowledge and practices regarding animal selection criteria and to generate technical information to support a participatory breeding program of the breed. This study was conducted in the Morada Nova municipality in the state of Ceará, Brazil. Semi-structured interviews were evaluated using two groups of individuals, purebred Morada Nova sheep breeders (RMN, n = 13) and breeders of Morada Nova crossbreeds (MMN, n = 48). Interview questions were used to identify local selection criteria adopted by each group in the choice of animals for breeding. Data from the interviews were submitted to frequency distribution analysis and the Shapiro-Wilk test to verify their distribution. Later, the Kruskal-Wallis test was used to compare the two groups of farmers based on that information, in addition to multivariate statistical analysis and evaluation of Smith salience index. Breeders in the RMN group used selection criteria related to breed standards, such as pelage color. In contrast, breeders of the MMN group used criteria related to productivity, such as body conformation and milk production. Breeders should be engaged in the development of breeding programs, and it is important to consider their preferences and objectives when evaluating breeding animals.     

Perspectives for feed-efficient animal production

Modern animal breeding programs are largely based on biotechnological procedures, including AI and embryo transfer technology. Recent breakthroughs in reproductive technologies, such as somatic cell nuclear transfer and in vitro embryo production, and their combination with the emerging molecular genetic tools, will further advance progress and provide new opportunities for livestock breeding. This is urgently needed in light of the global challenges such as the ever-increasing human population, the limited resources of arable land, and the urgent environmental problems associated with farm animal production. Here, we focus on genomic breeding strategies and transgenic approaches for making farm animals more feed efficient. Based on studies in the mouse and rat model, we have identified a panel of genes that are critically involved in the regulation of feed uptake and that could contribute toward future breeding of farm animals with reduced environmental impact. We anticipate that genetically modified animals will play a significant role in shaping the future of feed-efficient and thus sustainable animal production, but will develop more slowly than the biomedical applications because of the complexity of the regulation of feed intake and metabolism.     

三江平原湿地畜牧业可持续发展研究

三江平原地区作为黑龙江省重要畜牧产业生产基地,急需在现有的畜牧资源基础上迅速发展,并在满足市场需求、改善人民生活、调整农业产业结构等方面发挥重要的作用,其畜牧业存在的可持续发展问题直接关系着全省农业的兴衰。对三江平原湿地及畜牧业发展现状进行了分析,并对畜牧业发展中所面临的问题进行了分析和阐述,最后提出了促进三江地区畜牧业可持续发展的对策。     

Bioethics Symposium: The ethical food movement: What does it mean for the role of science and scientists in current debates about animal agriculture?

Contemporary animal agriculture is increasingly criticized on ethical grounds. Consequently, current policy and legislative discussions have become highly controversial as decision makers attempt to reconcile concerns about the impacts of animal production on animal welfare, the environment, and on the efficacy of antibiotics required to ensure human health with demands for abundant, affordable, safe food. Clearly, the broad implications for US animal agriculture of what appears to be a burgeoning movement relative to ethical food production must be understood by animal agriculture stakeholders. The potential effects of such developments on animal agricultural practices, corporate marketing strategies, and public perceptions of the ethics of animal production must also be clarified. To that end, it is essential to acknowledge that people's beliefs about which food production practices are appropriate are tied to diverse, latent value systems. Thus, relying solely on scientific information as a means to resolve current debates about animal agriculture is unlikely to be effective. The problem is compounded when scientific information is used inappropriately or strategically to advance a political agenda. Examples of the interface between science and ethics in regards to addressing currently contentious aspects of food animal production (animal welfare, antimicrobial use, and impacts of animal production practices on the environment) are reviewed. The roles of scientists and science in public debates about animal agricultural practices are also examined. It is suggested that scientists have a duty to contribute to the development of sound policy by providing clear and objectively presented information, by clarifying misinterpretations of science, and by recognizing the differences between presenting data vs. promoting their own value judgments in regard to how and which data should be used to establish policy. Finally, the role of the media in shaping public opinions on key issues pertaining to animal agriculture is also discussed.     

“敏盖”白绒山羊高效生态养殖模式探究

＂敏盖＂白绒山羊以优质高效畜种为产业化依托,以养殖园区建设为载体,紧扣布局、品种、生产管理、销售4个环节,形成了养殖园区建设＋饲草料基地＋科学养殖技术＋品牌化发展的＂敏盖＂高效生态养殖模式,实现了农牧业增效、农村牧区增绿和农牧民增收。     

Research opportunities in the field of animal genetic resources

Animal genetic resources are those animal species that are used, or may be used, for the production of food and agriculture, and the populations within each of them. The working unit of a database for farm animal genetic resources is the breed, a term taken in its widest possible sense to mean a population within the species, possessing a number of particular traits that permit the grouping of these animals under a common label and are associated to geographical areas and human groups. Research opportunities cover a wide range of thematic areas. The biggest gap in knowledge is animal breeding for local populations in harsh environments. There is also a lack of research in functional genetics and genomics of adaptation and disease resistance traits. By comparison, breed characterization, in particular molecular characterization, has been a more popular research subject. The same can be said for conservation, although some fundamental questions on genetic diversity and risk of its loss are still unanswered. Research is required to understand the socio-economic, infrastructural, technical and formal constraints that limit the operation of sustainable conservation programs in less developed countries. Information systems on animal genetic resources need input from research and data capture networks, in order to achieve a reasonable degree of completeness. Economic analysis and issues related to gene flow and access and benefit sharing should also profit from more research.     

The relativity of ethical issues in animal agriculture related to different cultures and production conditions

Initiatives to incorporate European animal welfare standards in international trade agreements raise issues of ethical relativism: (1) in the Fulani pastoral system the harsh environmental conditions result in a strong mutual dependency of pastoralists and their animals. Thus, animal ethics is vital to ensure the survival of the pastoral family, framed as ethic of securing survival; (2) the magnitude of human intervention, investigated in the Indian smallholder crop-livestock production system keeping oxen for work, determines the farmer's responsibility for adequate handling of animals. The apt anticruelty ethic prohibits deliberate cruelty to animals and neglect; (3) in intensive animal agriculture, such as intensive poultry and pig production in Thailand, the traditional ethical concept is no longer applicable and a new ethic encoded in law that respects the animals' natures is needed; (4) local moralities, as illustrated with the case of the llama system in the Andean highlands, deserve adequate attention independent of the production system. Therefore, the issue of animal welfare should be regarded relative in the global context and a dialogue between the cultures is encouraged to advance ethical concerns in animal agriculture.     

Wildlife or livestock? New directions for developing communal rangelands in South Africa

The paper agrees with three fundamental points raised by Vetter (in this issue), whilst highlighting an emerging trend in wildlife land use, which should be considered in policy making. Firstly, the paper supports the argument that communal rangelands are important as objects of biodiversity conservation and, secondly, the argument that livestock production alone is not sufficient as a mechanism for alleviating poverty, but rather livelihoods diversification and multisectoral strategies are required for this purpose. Lastly, the paper supports the need for mechanisms to ensure tenure security for sustainable use of communal rangelands. I argue that the historical shift to wildlife land use previously observed on private farms in South Africa is now inevitable on communal rangelands and will require explicit consideration in the policy on communal rangelands. Although such development in the communal rangelands has potential to meet the important goals of livelihoods diversification as indicated by Vetter, it also has potential to threaten existing rural livelihoods. The paper suggests several issues to be considered as wildlife becomes part of the rural landscape in some areas, in addition to issues raised by Vetter relevant to policy making.     

我国豌豆生产和育种的现状与问题

豌豆是经济和粮菜饲兼用作物,在我国农业可持续发展中发挥着重要作用.对我国豌豆生产概况、育种历程、育种目标、分子育种等方面进行概述,分析当前我国豌豆生产和育种中存在的问题并提出相应对策,以期为我国豌豆生产和育种提供有益参考.     

中国牧草育种中的若干科学问题

高产、优质、多抗牧草新品种是我国畜牧业生产的基石，也是我国退化草地补播改良的物质基础，影响国家的食品安全和生态安全。我国牧草育种工作进展缓慢、国际依存度高，已成为农业领域的“卡脖子”问题。近十年，在组学技术和生物技术等的推动下，牧草育种进入快速发展时期，但与主要农作物相比仍有很大差距。本研究综述了未来我国牧草育种发展的3个关键瓶颈：1）种质资源大规模收集、高精细评价与充分利用，包括构建高饱和度突变体库、各类遗传群体等；2）牧草高效再生、遗传转化和基因编辑体系的建立与优化；3）牧草基因组高精度组装与利用，包括基因芯片、全基因组选择等。依据学科前沿和国家需求，笔者展望了今后5~10年我国牧草育种应重点关注的10个科学问题：乡土草资源挖掘与利用、落粒与休眠、雄性不育、倍性育种、生物互作、节水耐旱、从头驯化、营养优质、表型自动化检测、快速育种等，以期为今后的牧草育种相关研究提供参考。这些科学问题的解决，有助于我国尽早培育出一批有自主知识产权的、市场竞争力强的牧草新品种，攻克农业领域的“卡脖子”问题，保障国家的食物安全和生态安全。     

ASAS Centennial Paper: Developments and future outlook for preharvest food safety

The last century of food animal agriculture is a remarkable triumph of scientific research. Knowledge derived through research has resulted in the development and use of new technologies that have increased the efficiency of food production and created a huge animal production and food manufacturing industry capable of feeding the US population while also providing significant quantities of high-quality food for export to other countries. Although the US food supply is among the safest in the world, the US Center for Disease Prevention and Control estimates that 76 million people get sick, more than 300,000 are hospitalized, and 5,000 die each year from foodborne illness. Consequently, preventing foodborne illness and death remains a major public health concern. Challenges to providing a safe, abundant, and nutritious food supply are complex because all aspects of food production, from farm to fork, must be considered. Given the national and international demand and expectations for food safety as well as the formidable challenges of producing and maintaining a safe food supply, food safety research and educational programs have taken on a new urgency. Remarkable progress has been made during the last century. Wisdom from a century of animal agriculture research now includes the realization that on-farm pathogens are intricately associated with animal health and well-being, the production of high-quality food, and profitability. In this review, some of the developments that have occurred over the last few decades are summarized, including types, sources, and concentrations of disease-causing pathogens encountered in food-producing animal environments and their association with food safety; current and future methods to control or reduce foodborne pathogens on the farm; and present and future preharvest food safety research directions. Future scientific breakthroughs will no doubt have a profound impact on animal agriculture and the production of high-quality food, but we will also be faced with moral, ethical, and societal dilemmas that must be reconciled. A strong, science-based approach that addresses all the complex issues involved in continuing to improve food safety and public health is necessary to prevent foodborne illnesses. Not only must research be conducted to solve complex food safety issues, but results of that research must also be communicated effectively to producers and consumers.     

Breeding for societally important traits in pigs

Pig breeding programs traditionally focus on the genetic improvement of production and reproduction traits that have a clear economic value. Because citizens and consumers increasingly attach value to traits that have little or no direct relationship to production costs or to the price of a product, pig breeding organizations want to pay more attention to societally important traits, such as the welfare and health of pigs, the ecological effects of pork production, and the healthiness and sensory quality of pork. Most societally important traits have an economic and a noneconomic value and are sufficiently heritable for effective genetic selection, although many genetic and phenotypic (co)-variances still have to be estimated. However, it often is not clear to a pig breeding organization how it may deal with the noneconomic value of breeding-goal traits. In this study, a retrospective selection-index method is proposed to obtain the proper weights for societally important traits in the breeding goal. First, the genetic-progress space for each breeding-goal trait is explored by increasing the weights, in a stepwise manner, to each societally important trait in the breeding goal, starting from zero. Subsequently, a pig breeding organization can adopt the resulting genetic-progress scenario that it considers most sustainable or most acceptable. The weights underlying the adopted scenario are considered to be the proper breeding-goal weights. The noneconomic value of each societally important breeding-goal trait is found by deducting its economic value from its obtained weight and is thereby expressed in monetary units. In addition to obtaining weights for societally important breeding-goal traits, the proposed method offers the possibility to estimate the societal costs of selecting for economic traits only, as well as the societal benefits and the economic costs of selecting for traits with a noneconomic value. The method is therefore a useful tool for the development of sustainable breeding goals. An example has been worked out for a sow-line breeding program.     

Dairy goat production systems

Goat production concentrated in developing countries (tropics, dry areas), contributes largely to the livelihoods of low and medium income farmers. Farming systems in these areas have evolved to cope with the formidable constraints imposed by harsh natural and economic conditions by adapting integrated crop/livestock production strategies. In Asia, Africa and Latin America, due to its almost exclusive extensive nature, goat production relies mainly on grazing on communal lands that hardly provide the minimum nutrient requirements due to overstocking and degradation. While some of these production systems are becoming semi-intensive, appropriate breeding strategies should be designed to promote conservation and improvement of their unique attributes, such as adaptability, water use efficiency and suitability under harsh climatic conditions. In Europe, dairy goat production is more common around the Mediterranean basin, where it is important from an economic, environmental and sociological perspective to the Mediterranean countries: Spain, France, Italy and Greece. Europe owns only 5.1 % of the world’s dairy goat herds, but produces 15.6 % of the world’s goat milk; this is the only continent where goat milk has such an economic importance and organization. In developing countries the dairy goat sector requires a systemic approach, whereby nutrition, animal health, breeding, know-how, inputs and technologies must be assembled. This would allow the optimization of natural and local resources and would promote the transition from a risk reduction strategy towards an increased productivity strategy. Such an increase would privilege production efficiency based on clean, green and ethical practices for responsible innovation.     

绿色养殖技术在优质奶牛养殖中的应用

优质奶牛的绿色养殖技术是一种先进的新型养殖技术,是我国奶牛养殖行业实现现代化、科学化的必经之路,也是我国农业先进程度的重要标志。绿色养殖技术能够在帮助农牧民增产增收的同时更好的保护周围的生态环境,使畜牧业发展和生态环境保护相得益彰。本文介绍了绿色养殖技术的内涵,阐述了绿色养殖技术的具体要求和在优质奶牛养殖中的应用,以期帮助广大奶牛养殖人员正确的认识绿色养殖技术,能够熟练的将这一技术应用于优质奶牛的养殖环节中,从而促进奶牛产业的持续健康发展。