Formulation challenges of organic poultry diets with readily available ingredients and limited synthetic methionine

Organic agriculture has increased greatly over the past several years as consumer demand for these products has risen. Organic meat production, including poultry, has grown especially quickly, resulting in increasingly stringent guidelines being put in place to ensure safe, uniform, and ideal products for these consumers. Feed formulation and manufacturing for organic poultry in the United States are strictly regulated by the United States Department of Agriculture National Organic Program. Currently, no synthetic amino acids are allowed to be used in organic poultry diets in the United States except for limited quantities of synthetic methionine since it is typically considered the first or second limiting amino acid in corn and soybean meal based poultry diets and it is a critical nutrient for maintaining bird growth and productive performance, especially regarding egg size in laying hens. The aim of the review herein is to discuss the impacts that current organic regulations on synthetic methionine have on diet formulation when using readily available ingredients. High levels of crude protein must be used to meet bird methionine requirements with this restriction in place, which both increases feed costs and can have negative impacts on bird health and on air quality and the surrounding environment due to increased ammonia emissions. Atypical feed formulation strategies have been explored to address this issue, including such methods as feeding alternative ingredients and providing forage materials. Another possibility would be to use an average lifetime maximum inclusion rate for synthetic methionine, which may allow for better flexibility to provide sufficient methionine throughout various phases of growth and production since the requirements of the bird change with age.     

Effects of amino acids supplementation in low crude protein diets on growth performance,carcass traits and serum parameters in finishing gilts

This study investigated the effects of amino acids (AA) supplementation in low crude protein (CP) diets on growth performance and carcass characteristics in finishing gilts. One hundred and eighty gilts (59.1 ± 5.1 kg) were randomly allotted to one of five diets which consisted of a high CP (15.6%) diet or four low CP (11.6%) diets for 50 days. The low CP diets were supplemented with lysine + threonine + methionine (LCM), LCM + tryptophan (LCT), LCT + valine (LCV) or LCV + isoleucine (LCI), respectively. Gilts were housed at six pigs per pen with six pens per treatment. At the end of the 50‐day experiment, 30 gilts (one pig per pen) with average body weight (BW) of 98 kg were killed to evaluate carcass traits. The pigs fed the diet supplemented with LCV obtained the highest average daily gain (ADG), which was higher than those of pigs fed the diet supplemented with LCM (P < 0.05). Dietary supplementation with tryptophan, valine and isoleucine in low CP diets increased ADG (linear and quadratic effect, P < 0.05), serum levels of valine (quadratic effect, P < 0.05) and isoleucine (linear and quadratic effect, P < 0.05) and immunoglobulin G (IgG) and IgA (linear and quadratic effect, P < 0.05) in finishing gilts. © 2016 Japanese Society of Animal Science     

Rearing conditions affected responses of weaned pigs to organic acids showing a positive effect on digestibility,microflora and immunity

Three experiments were conducted to assess the response of weaned pigs to organic acid SF3, which contains 34% calcium formate, 16% calcium lactate, 7% citric acid and 13% medium chain fatty acids. Dietary treatments had no effect on growth performance of piglets (21‐day weaning) fed the commercial prestart diet for 1 week before receiving the experimental diets supplemented with SF3 at 0, 3 or 5 g/kg diet (Exp. 1), whereas diarrhea frequency averaged across a week was decreased by SF3 supplementation (5 g/kg diet) in piglets fed the experimental diets immediately after weaning (Exp. 2). In Exp. 3, piglets (28‐day weaning) were fed the control (containing pure colistin sulfate and enramycin, respectively, at 20 mg/kg diet) for 1 week and then were fed the control or SF3‐supplemented (5 g/kg diet) diet for 2 weeks. The SF3‐fed piglets had greater apparent ileal digestibility of calcium and dry matter, while also demonstrating greater overall gross energy, up‐regulated jejunal expression of sodium‐glucose cotransporter‐1 and transforming growth factor‐β, down‐regulated jejunal expression of tumor necrosis factor (TNF)‐α, higher ileal Lactobacillus, with lower total bacteria content, lower plasma TNF‐α but higher IgG levels than the control‐fed piglets. Collectively, SF3 consumption improved diarrhea resistance of weaned pigs by improving nutrient digestibility, piglet immunity and intestinal bacteria profile. © 2016 Japanese Society of Animal Science     

Herd characteristics influence farmers’ preferences for trait improvements in Danish Red and Danish Jersey cows

The aim of this study was to characterize preferences of farmers for breeding goal traits with Danish Red (DR) or Danish Jersey (DJ) cows. A breed-specific survey was established to characterize farmers’ preferences for improvements in 10 traits, by means of pairwise rankings using the online software 1000Minds. These pairwise rankings were based on equal economic worth of trait improvements. The DR survey was filled in by 87 farmers and the DJ survey by 76 farmers. Both DR and DJ farmers gave the highest preference to improvements in mastitis, and the lowest to calving difficulty. By means of a cluster analysis, three distinct clusters of farmers were identified per breed. Comparisons of herd characteristics between clusters suggest that farmers choose to improve traits that are problematic in their herds. This study shows that heterogeneity exists in farmers’ preferences for trait improvements and that herd characteristics influence these preferences in DR and DJ.     

Behaviour in one fast-growing and one slower-growing broiler (Gallus gallus domesticus) hybrid fed a high- or low-protein diet during a 10-week rearing period

This study compared behavioural time budgets, presence of comfort behaviours and social behaviours in two different broiler genotypes (the fast-growing Ross 308 (R) and the slower-growing Rowan Ranger (RR)) fed organic diets with high (17.0% crude protein (CP)) or low (14.5% CP) protein content during a 10-week rearing period. 429-day-old chicks (218 R and 211 RR, respectively) were included in the study and behaviour was recorded at 2, 6 and 9 weeks of age. The results showed no effect of diet treatments but that R broilers were less active and sat, ate and drank more frequently than RR broilers, which stood and perched more frequently. However, both hybrids showed decreasing activity and foraging behaviour with increasing age, while time spent eating and sleeping was approximately similar over the entire rearing period.     

Efficiency of inorganic fungicides against the formation of Erysiphe necator chasmothecia in vineyards

BACKGROUND

A reduction in chasmothecia, an important inoculum of grape powdery mildew (Erysiphe necator Schwein.), is essential for disease control in vineyards; the use of fungicides during the formation of chasmothecia on vine leaves, late in the growing season, may accomplish this. Inorganic fungicides, such as sulphur, copper, and potassium bicarbonate, are very useful for this purpose because of their multisite mode of action. The aim of this study was to evaluate chasmothecia reduction using different fungicide applications late in the growing season in commercially managed vineyards and in an exact application trial.

RESULTS

Chasmothecia on vine leaves were reduced in commercial vineyards by four copper (P = 0.01) and five potassium bicarbonate (P = 0.026) applications. The positive effect of potassium bicarbonate was also confirmed in the application trial, where two applications showed lower chasmothecia numbers than the control (P = 0.002).

CONCLUSION

The application of inorganic fungicides reduced the amount of chasmothecia as the primary inoculum source. Potassium bicarbonate and copper are of further interest for disease control as these fungicides can be used by organic and conventional wine growers. The application of these fungicides should be carried out as late as possible before harvest to reduce chasmothecia formation and, consequently, the potential for powdery mildew infestation in the subsequent season. © 2023 The Authors. Pest Management Science published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of Society of Chemical Industry.     

氮素营养水平对小麦后移栽棉氮代谢的影响

对不同氮素营养水平下的小麦后移栽棉叶片硝酸还原酶活性、棉株含氮量及叶片氨基酸含量等进行了测定。结果表明，除８月１９日外，叶片硝酸还原酶活性与施氮量呈极显著正相关（ｒ＝０．９６９３～０．９８８１）；地上部各器官的含氮率和绝对含氮量均随施氮量的增加而提高，且不同器官间呈同步增减的趋势，因而氮素分配比例的变化不大；提高氮素营养水平可显著增加小麦后移栽棉的叶片氨基酸总量和游离氨的含量（ｒ＝０．５３１６和０．５６０５），在１７种氨基酸中，谷氨酸、脯氨酸等７种氨基酸的含量与施氮量呈显著的正相关（ｒ＝０．５２５６～０．６０７４）。虽然施氮量越高，棉株的氮素代谢越旺盛，但小麦后移栽棉的适宜施氮量约为２０５ｋｇ／ｈｍ２。