Don't forget the dams! Dairy cows' responses to two separation methods after 3 months of cow-calf contact.

Weaning and separation remain among some of the biggest challenges for cow-calf contact systems, making the development of practical and low stress separation methods mandatory for future success of these systems. This study aimed to compare behavioral and physiological responses of dairy cows to separation from their calves after 3 mo of full-time contact with either the 2-step method (NF, 2 wks full-time contact while calves wore a nose flap, 1 wk fence-line contact before total separation, n = 18) or by gradual reduction of contact time between cow and calf (GR, 1 wk half day contact, 1 wk morning contact, 1 wk fence-line contact before total separation, n = 18). Vocalizations and searching behavior were observed on 4 d/wk from 1 wk before separation until 1 wk after total separation.

Effect of the daily duration of calf contact on the dam's ultradian and circadian activity rhythms.

Cow-calf contact systems are attracting increasing interest among farmers and some are already being implemented into dairy farms. However, a comprehensive assessment of animal welfare in these systems is lacking. One reason for this is the large amount of time required for behavioral observations.

Mapping lock-ins and enabling environments for agri-food sustainability transitions in Europe.

Unlabelled: European agri-food systems must overcome structural lock-ins to achieve more sustainable modes of production and consumption. Yet European regions are highly diverse, and we lack understanding of how different regional characteristics may enable or inhibit sustainability transitions. This hinders the development of context-tailored governance strategies.

Exploring agricultural landscape change from the second half of the twentieth century onwards: combining aerial imagery with farmer perspectives.

Context: Anthropogenic landscape change is an important driver shaping our environment. Historical landscape analysis contributes to the monitoring and understanding of these change processes. Such analyses are often focused on specific spatial scales and single research methods, thus covering only limited aspects of landscape change.

Mix it-cograzing with cattle reduces broiler losses and increases broiler range use.

Pasture access allows broilers to perform a wide range of behaviors and is a prerequisite in organic poultry production, but exposes broilers to various potential hazards including predators. Co-grazing broilers with cattle can reduce land use and could offer protection from avian predation. Thus, we aimed to assess the effects of co-grazing on broiler losses, range use, performance, contact dermatitis and broilers' manipulation of cow pats.

Can a gradual weaning and separation process reduce weaning distress in dam-reared dairy calves? A comparison with the 2-step method.

The weaning and separation phase remains one of the biggest challenges for cow-calf contact systems, but a gradual process that better mimics the naturally occurring reduction in milk intake has not yet been scientifically investigated. Therefore, the aim of our study was to compare behavioral and physiological indicators of distress in 3-mo-old dam-reared dairy calves (with previous full-time cow-calf contact) weaned and separated either via gradual reduction of contact time with the dam (GR; 1 wk of half-day contact, 1 wk of morning contact, and 1 wk of fence-line contact before complete separation, n = 18) or via 2-step weaning using a nose flap (NF, 2 wk of access to the dam with a nose flap, 1 wk of fence-line contact before complete separation, n = 18). Behavior was recorded 1 wk before (or for lying 3 wk before) weaning start and during the 3 wk weaning and separation period with direct observations on 4 d/wk or via accelerometers (locomotor play, lying behavior).

Incomplete milking before drying off does not impair the udder health of cows infected with minor pathogens.

When implementing the transition from regular milk production to the dry period, drying off is mostly conducted simply by abrupt cessation of milking. Efforts to reduce milk synthesis before cessation of milking aim to reduce stress in cows as well as to lower the risk of mastitis. A previous study demonstrated that incomplete milking during the last ten days of lactation gradually reduced the milk yield of healthy, high-yielding cows.

Pasture-based fattening does not cause severe nonperforating lesions in veal calves of dairy breeds.

Abomasal damage is a known health issue in intensive veal production and is associated with improper housing and feeding. Grass-based veal production could be an improvement, as access to pasture allows the expression of natural behaviors, such as species-specific foraging, and thus can contribute to calf welfare. However, data on the abomasal health of grazed calves have not yet been reported.

Why has farming in Europe changed? A farmers' perspective on the development since the 1960s.

Unlabelled: Farming in Europe has been the scene of several important socio-economic and environmental developments and crises throughout the last century. Therefore, an understanding of the historical driving forces of farm change helps identifying potentials for navigating future pathways of agricultural development. However, long-term driving forces have so far been studied, e.

International food trade contributes to dietary risks and mortality at global, regional and national levels.

Food trade is generally perceived to increase the availability and diversity of foods available to consumers, but there is little empirical evidence on its implications for human health. Here we show that a substantial proportion of dietary risks and diet-related mortality worldwide is attributable to international food trade and that whether the contributions of food trade are positive or negative depends on the types of food traded. Using bilateral trade data for 2019 and food-specific risk-disease relationships, we estimate that imports of fruits, vegetables, legumes and nuts improved dietary risks in the importing countries and were associated with a reduction in mortality from non-communicable diseases of ~1.

Estimates of Water Consumption of Growing Pigs under Practical Conditions Based on Climate and Performance Data.

The water consumption of fattening pigs was recorded under practical conditions and compared with calculated water consumption. The experiment was carried out in the summer of 2020 with 79 fattening pigs. Data loggers were used to record the climate data, such as temperature and relative humidity.

Factors influencing the downstream passage of European silver eels (Anguilla anguilla) through a tidal sluice.

Tidal sluices are a frequent element in the tidal regions of Europe's rivers and may hinder downstream migrating European eels Anguilla anguilla. Sea level rise will reduce the possibility for tidal sluices to freely discharge water, further compressing windows of opportunity for the passage of eels. Understanding how eels utilize the discharge events of tidal sluices and which conditions facilitate successful passage is pivotal for the design of effective fish migration measures.

Ecological effects of offshore wind farms on Atlantic cod (Gadus morhua) in the southern North Sea.

Evaluating the ecological effects of the rapid expansion of offshore renewables at local, regional and ecosystem-wide scales is essential to understand the overall socio-ecological trade-offs also for other sectors such as fisheries. Hence, little is known about the ecological impact on demersal fish. To shed light on this topic, we studied the effects of an offshore wind farm in the southern North Sea on different life stages of Atlantic cod (Gadus morhua) using a combination of sampling methods at varying spatial and temporal scales.

Tracing nitrogen transformations during spring development of winter wheat induced by N labeled cattle slurry applied with different techniques.

Slurry application is often associated with considerable nitrogen (N) losses: ammonia (NH), nitrous oxide (NO) and a mostly unknown contribution of dinitrogen (N) emission, as well as N leaching. Thus, an outdoor lysimeter experiment with growing winter wheat in undisturbed soil cores was set up to follow the transformation of cattle slurry NH and soil NO using a double labeling approach. Slurry treatments included the following application techniques: a trailing hose with/without acidification, and open slot injection with/without nitrification inhibitor.

Sources of nitrous oxide emissions from hydroponic tomato cultivation: Evidence from stable isotope analyses.

Introduction: Hydroponic vegetable cultivation is characterized by high intensity and frequent nitrogen fertilizer application, which is related to greenhouse gas emissions, especially in the form of nitrous oxide (NO). So far, there is little knowledge about the sources of NO emissions from hydroponic systems, with the few studies indicating that denitrification could play a major role.

Methods: Here, we use evidence from an experiment with tomato plants () grown in a hydroponic greenhouse setup to further shed light into the process of NO production based on the NO isotopocule method and the N tracing approach.

Does the Implementation of an Animal Welfare Programme on a Farm Yield a Demonstrable Improvement in Fattening Pig Welfare?

In the course of social criticism of fattening pig farming, an animal welfare programme called "Initiative Animal Welfare" (ITW) was founded to increase animal welfare in pig farming in Germany. Furthermore, there is a legal obligation to record animal welfare parameters as a self-monitoring measure. The "German Association for Technology and Structures in Agriculture" published a guideline on the applicable animal welfare criteria.