The objectives of this study were to assess and compare the environmental impacts of two types of dairy farming systems, one of which makes use of whole-crop rice silage and the other of which is ...conventional, using life cycle assessment (LCA). The functional unit was defined as 1 kg of 4% fat-corrected milk (FCM). The processes associated with the dairy farming life cycle, such as feed production, feed transport, animal management including biological activity of the animal, and waste treatment were included within the system's boundaries. Environmental impacts of the rice silage-using and conventional dairy farming systems were 987 and 972 g CO2 equivalents for global warming, 6.87 and 7.13 g SO2 equivalents for acidification, 1.19 and 1.23 g PO4 equivalents for eutrophication, and 5.53 and 5.81 MJ for energy consumption, respectively. Our results suggest that the dairy farming system using rice silage in Japan has smaller environmental impacts for acidification, eutrophication, and energy consumption, and a larger impact for global warming compared with conventional farming. Further interpretation integrating these impact categories suggested 1.1% lower environmental impact of the rice silage-using dairy farming system as a whole.
Abstract
Termite (Hodotermopsis sjostedti) meal was evaluated as a potential protein alternative for chicken feed. After chemical compositions, mineral and vitamin contents, and amino acid ...concentrations of termite meal were analyzed, 20-layer male chickens (8 d old and 78±0.9 g initial BW) were allocated into individual pens and randomly assigned one of the 4 diet treatments; a commercial diet (CON) and inclusion of freeze-dried ground termite meal of 3.3%, 6.7%, and 10.0% to monitor growth and feed intake. At 11 d old, chickens were slaughtered and meat and liver weight and blood plasma parameters were measured. Termite meal composited 61.5, 15.0, 7.8, and 4.9% of CP, crude fat, crude fiber, and ash, respectively. Mineral contents were 1.58, 8.25, 4.38, 13.1, 1.49, and 2.18 g/kg for Na, P, Ca, K, Mg, Cl, respectively, and 321, 108, and 0.38 mg/kg for Fe, Cu, and Se, respectively. Amino acid concentrations were 2.76, 1.35, 2.11, 3.52, 3.03, 0.72, 1.99, 2.20, 2.88, 3.70, 4.18, 0.50, 6.10, 3.25, 2.75, 2.30, 0.57, and 3.52% for arginine, histidine, isoleucine, leucine, lysine, methionine, phenylalanine, threonine, valine, alanine, aspartic acid, cystine, glutamic acid, glycine, proline, serine, tryptophan, and tyrosine. There were quadratic effects on final BW (P=0.09; 109, 110, 113, and 110 g for CON, 3.3%, 6.7%, and 10.0%, respectively; SE=1.42), ADG (P=0.09; 10.1, 10.7, 11.6, and 10.4 g for CON, 3.3%, 6.7%, and 10.0%, respectively; SE=0.47), intake (P=0.02; 23, 21, 24, and 20 g for CON, 3.3%, 6.7%, and 10.0%, respectively; SE=1.16), and plasma Ca concentration (P=0.02; 10.1, 10.5, 10.0, and 10.3 mg/dL for CON, 3.3%, 6.7%, and 10.0%, respectively; SE=0.13), whereas main effects of the treatment for all the items tested were not detected (P>0.05). In conclusion, termite meal can be used as an alternative protein source for chicken feed but could have an adverse effect at 10% inclusion.
Abstract
Effects of partial replacement of fishmeal with termite (Hodotermopsis sjostedti) meal in chicken diets on BW, ADG, intake, and organ and meat weight were tested with Chunky broiler female ...chickens in two experiments. In Exp.1, 20 chickens (8 d of age and 239 ± 3.0 g BW initially) were allocated in individual pens and assigned one of the four diet treatments; commercial diet with fishmeal supplement (0.0%) and replacement of fishmeal with freeze-dried ground termite meal of 0.5%, 2.5%, and 5.0%. In Exp.2, 18 chickens (9 d of age and 309 ± 3.8 g BW initially) were assigned one of the three diet treatments; commercial diet (COM), 2.5% fishmeal supplement (FM), and 2.5% termite meal supplement (TM). At 21 d old, chickens were slaughtered, and meat and organ weight were measured. Treatment diet CP concentrations resulted in 29.7 and 27.9% DM for Exp.1 and Exp.2, respectively. There was no treatment effect (P>0.05) on BW, ADG, intake, feed conversion rate, meat (i.e., thigh, breast fillet, and inner breast fillet) weights, or organ (i.e., liver, heart, spleen, gizzard, proventriculus, and intestine) weight in both experiments. In Exp.1, empty cecum weight was greater (P=0.03) when termite meal was not included (0.37, 0.33, 0.31, and 0.31 % per shrunk BW for 0.0%, 0.5%, 2.5%, and 5.0%, respectively; SE=0.022). Similarly, whole cecum weight (0.38, 0.54, and 0.40 % per shrunk BW for COM, FM, and TM, respectively; SE=0.043) and cecum fill (0.08, 0.21, and 0.09 % per shrunk BW for COM, FM, and TM, respectively; SE=0.037) were greater (P=0.05) for FM than COM and TM in Exp.2. In conclusion, termite meal supplements did not have either favorable or adverse effects on the growth or weight of meat and organs except cecum weight. Further investigation is needed for cecum function and meat quality.
The objectives of this study were to estimate genetic parameters for gestation length (GL), including estimation of maternal effects, and to investigate the genetic relationships of GL with birth ...weight and carcass traits in a Japanese Black cattle population. The original data comprised 34775 records of animals born from October 1999 to August 2003. Two different models were used to analyze the data for GL. The first model (M1) included direct genetic effect of the calf and maternal genetic effect as random effects. The second model (M2) treated GL as a trait of the dam and included direct genetic effects only. M1 was used in bi-variate analysis. The direct and maternal heritabilities for GL estimated from M1 were 0.53 and 0.14, respectively. This result shows that GL is moderately inherited and can be controlled genetically. The direct x maternal genetic correlation for GL was -0.73. Direct genetic correlations of GL with carcass traits were close to zero. However, genetic correlation of maternal GL with carcass weight was moderate (0.25).
This study aimed to determine the taxonomic and functional characteristics of the Japanese Black (JB) steer rumen microbiome. The rumen microbiomes of six JB steers (age 14.7 + or - 1.44 months) and ...six JB sires x Holstein dams crossbred (F1) steers (age 11.1 + or - 0.39 months), fed the same diet, were evaluated. Based on 16S rRNA gene sequencing, the beta diversity revealed differences in microbial community structures between the JB and Fl rumen. Shotgun sequencing showed that Fibrobacter succinogenes and two Ruminococcus spp., which are related to cellulose degradation were relatively more abundant in the JB steer rumen than in the Fl rumen. Furthermore, the 16S rRNA gene copy number of F. succinogenes was significantly higher in the JB steer rumen than in the Fl rumen according to quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction analysis. Genes encoding the enzymes that accelerate cellulose degradation and those associated with hemicellulose degradation were enriched in the JB steer rumen. Although Preuotelk spp. were predominant both in the JB and Fl rumen, the genes encoding carbohydrate-active enzymes of Preuotelk spp. may differ between JB and Fl. Keywords: carbohydrate-active enzyme; early fattening stage; fibrolytic bacteria; Japanese Black cattle; metagenomics; rumen microbiome
Genomic imprinting should be considered in animal breeding systems to avoid lead in bias in genetic parameter estimation. The objective of this study was to clarify the effects of pedigree ...information on imprinting variances for carcass traits and fatty acid composition in Japanese Black cattle. Carcass records carcass weight, rib eye area, rib thickness (RT), subcutaneous fat thickness and beef marbling score (BMS) and fatty acid composition were obtained for 11,855 Japanese Black feedlot cattle. To estimate and compare the imprinting variances for the traits, two imprinting models with different pedigree information the sire–dam gametic relationship matrix (Model 1) and the sire–maternal grandsire (MGS) numerator relationship matrix (Model 2) were fitted. The ratio of the imprinting variance to the total additive genetic variance for RT (6.33%) and BMS (19.00%) was significant in Model 1, but only that for BMS (21.09%) was significant in Model 2. This study revealed that fitting the sire–MGS model could be useful in estimating imprinting variance under certain conditions, such as when restricted pedigree information is available. Furthermore, the present result suggested that the maternal gametic effects on BMS should be included in breeding programmes for Japanese Black cattle to avoid selection bias caused by imprinting effects.
An experiment was conducted using 17 male buffalo calves to assess the effects of plane of nutrition on slaughtering traits and meat characteristics. To attain 250 kg body weight (BW), the calves ...were allocated into three groups: high (H), low‐high (L‐H) and low (L) corresponding to concentrate levels receiving the concentrate at 1.50% of BW, 0.75% of BW until 190 kg BW and 1.50% thereafter, and 0.75% of BW, respectively. The animals had ad libitum access to urea‐treated rice straw. No significant differences of hot carcass weight, dressing percentage and lean fat–bone yields were observed among the treatment groups. The L group had heavier brisket weight and lower percentage of round weight in the hot carcass than the H and L‐H groups (P < 0.05). The H group had heavier hearts than the L group, and the H and L‐H groups had heavier livers and kidneys than the L group (P < 0.05). There was no significant difference of rib eye area, pH and the contents of moisture, crude protein and fat in loin meat among the groups. The findings indicated that the effects of plane of nutrition affected the weight or percentages of some cut yields in the hot carcasses and internal organs.
Body condition score (BCS) is a proxy for evaluating body fat reserves. However, monitoring BCS is a time-consuming and subjective task. Thus, we aimed to develop a method for estimating the BCS of ...beef cows using three-dimensional (3D) body features of cows’ rump area derived from 3D camera data. Three-dimensional surface data of the rump area from 39 multiparous cows were obtained using a 3D camera, and four 3D body features were extracted. The BCSs of the cows were scored by experts, and models for predicting BCS by 3D features were developed using machine learning algorithms. The derived model yielded an overall accuracy, precision, sensitivity, and F-measure of 90%, 88%, 90%, and 88%, respectively. Additionally, we evaluated a simple practical method to estimate BCS using the difference between heart girth (HG) and tightened heart girth (THG) for 118 multiparous cows. A cumulative logistic regression model for estimating BCS by the difference was developed, and the derived generalized coefficient of determination was 0.81. These results suggest that 3D images are useful for estimating the BCS of beef cows and that the difference between HG and THG can be used to estimate BCS as a simple practical method.
It is well known that cattle is a large contributor to environmental impacts, especially enteric methane emissions. In this study, the impacts of enteric methane emissions from dairy and beef ...production (Japanese Black fattening) in Japan were analyzed based on the two metrics; (i) expressed as CO2-equivalents (CO2e) using 100 year Global Warming Potential (GWP100) and (ii) CO2 warming equivalent (CO2we) derived from GWP* which considers additional warming as a function of the time line of short lived methane emission. The later metric can be used to guide climate action aligned with temperature-based climate stabilization goals. Data of historical enteric methane emissions from dairy and beef cattle from 1990 to 2020 were used and the future methane emissions till 2050 were predicted based on the data by assuming than milk and beef production were maintained at the level in 2020. Two alternative scenarios (1% and 2% reductions per year of enteric methane emissions) were also evaluated in addition to the base scenario (no reduction). The continues reduction of enteric methane emission for commonly used metric (CO2e) from dairy production was resulted from decreasing animal numbers. The negative values for enteric methane emission by CO2we were obtained all over the years (including the future predictions) despite positive CO2e, this being because CO2we is related with the level of 20 years ago. In contrast, enteric methane emissions from beef cattle production were relatively stable compared with dairy cattle production. It was suggested that Japanese beef production would approach climate neutrality in the future if enteric methane emission can be reduced by more than 1% per year.
