Rearing hogs on pasture minimally impacts pork composition.

Managing swine on pasture is increasing in popularity for both the consumer and producer. This interest appears to be driven by an effort to create an improved perception of environmentally sustainable practices and increased animal welfare, while keeping start-up costs low. However, evidence-based guidance on pasture management practices that support quality pork production and environmentally sustainable procedures is lacking.

The LTAR Common Experiment at Upper Chesapeake Bay: Integrated.

Corn (Zea mays) crops harvested as grain in autumn do not provide opportunity for cover crop establishment, which may be remedied by interseeding cover crops into growing corn. Grazing cover crops after corn grain harvest could provide added revenues and increase nutrient cycling in the system while providing additional ecosystem services. However, tradeoffs between cash crop productivity and cover crop inclusion, and use as grazed forage, are not fully understood.

Enteric methane emissions in grazing dairy systems.

Approximately 80% of agricultural CH comes from livestock systems, with 90% of that derived from enteric CH production by ruminants. Grazing systems are used worldwide to feed dairy cattle. Although quantifying enteric CH emissions in grazing systems has unique challenges, emerging technologies have made gaseous data collection more feasible and less laborious.

Maine organic dairy producers' receptiveness to seaweed supplementation and effect of on enteric methane emissions in lactating cows.

Introduction: There is a growing interest in utilizing seaweed in ruminant diets for mitigating enteric methane (CH) emissions while improving animal health. is a red seaweed that grows in the Gulf of Maine (United States) and has shown to suppress CH production . Organic dairy producers in Maine are currently feeding seaweed due to herd health promoting benefits.

Feeding incremental amounts of ground flaxseed: effects on diversity and relative abundance of ruminal microbiota and enteric methane emissions in lactating dairy cows.

We evaluated the effects of incremental amounts of ground flaxseed () on diversity and relative abundance of ruminal microbiota taxa, enteric methane () emissions, and urinary excretion of purine derivatives () in lactating dairy cows in a replicated 4 × 4 Latin square design. Twenty mid-lactation Jersey cows were used in the study. Of these 20 cows, 12 were used for ruminal sampling, 16 for enteric CH measurements, and all for spot urine collection.

Spatiotemporal patterns of PFAS in water and crop tissue at a beneficial wastewater reuse site in central Pennsylvania.

Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are a collective name for thousands of synthetic compounds produced to enhance consumer and industrial products since the 1940s. They do not easily degrade, and some are known to pose serious ecological and human health concerns at trace concentrations (ng L levels). Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances persist in treated wastewater and are inadvertently introduced into the environment when treated wastewater is reused as an irrigation source.

Building comprehensive glucosinolate profiles for brassica varieties.

Brassica plants play an important role in common agricultural practices, such as livestock feed or biofumigation, due to the bioactivity of the natural degradation products of glucosinolate metabolites. Therefore, the ability to survey comprehensive glucosinolate profiles for individual brassicas is essential for informing proper species selection for the intended application. Current methods for glucosinolate identification and quantification involve complex or unconventional procedures, and proper reference materials are not readily available.

Ruminal fermentation and enteric methane production of legumes containing condensed tannins fed in continuous culture.

A continuous-culture fermentor study was conducted to assess nutrient digestibilities, volatile fatty acid (VFA) concentrations, microbial protein synthesis, bacterial nitrogen (N) efficiency, and enteric methane (CH) production of four 50:50 grass-legume diets, randomly assigned in a 4 × 4 Latin square design. Four legumes with different concentrations of condensed tannins (CT) were tested: alfalfa [ALF; Medicago sativa L., non-CT legume]; birdsfoot trefoil [BFT; Lotus corniculatus L.

Evaluation of a single-flow continuous culture fermenter system for determination of ruminal fermentation and enteric methane production.

A 4-unit, single-flow continuous culture fermenter system was developed to assess in vitro nutrient digestibility, volatile fatty acid (VFA) concentration and daily enteric methane (CH ) production of ruminant diets. The objective was to develop a closed-vessel system that maintained protozoal populations and provided accurate predictions of total CH production. A diet of 50% orchardgrass (Dactylis glomerata L.

Projected heat stress challenges and abatement opportunities for U.S. milk production.

Cost-effective heat mitigation strategies are imperative for maintaining milk production and dairy farm profitability in the U.S. with projected climate change.

Animal performance and environmental efficiency of cool- and warm-season annual grazing systems.

Annual forage crops can provide short-term grazing between crop rotations or can be interseeded into perennial pastures to increase forage quality and productivity. They also provide an opportunity to increase the economic and environmental sustainability of grazing systems. Cool-season annual forage crops provide high-quality, abundant forage biomass when forage availability from perennial forage species is lacking, reducing the need for stored feeds during the winter months.

Enteric methane production and ruminal fermentation of forage brassica diets fed in continuous culture.

The aim of the current study was to determine nutrient digestibility, VFA production, N metabolism, and CH4 production of canola (Brassica napus L.), rapeseed (B. napus L.