108 research outputs found
Nitrogen farm balance and efficiency in mountain dairy farms
No full textThe study showed poor sustainability characteristics of dairy farming systems in the considered Lombardy mountain area, particularly in terms of low feed self-sufficiency, high stocking density and, in a number of cases, high farm N balance
Milk quality and milking practices in dairy goat farms in Lombardy
No full textAim of this work was to study the relationship between goat milk quality and milking management practices. The study was conducted on 148 dairy goat farms in Lombardy (Italy), with particular focus on milk somatic cell count (SCC) and milk fat/protein reversion syndrome. Direct interviews to the farmers were collected. Monthly bulk milk analyses in 1 year (fat, protein, casein and lactose percentages, somatic cell and standard plate count) were used for quality evaluation of goat milk. Individual milk production was on average 1.26 ± 0.44 kg/d, collected during 1.94 ± 0.18 milkings a day. Average number of dairy goats was 74.3 ± 95.8; most of farms reared Alpine goats (38%), 36.5% Saanen, 16.3% Alpine and Saanen, and 9.2% local breeds. Milk quality was quite good (3.52 ± 0.73%
fat, 3.40 ± 0.46% protein, 2.62 ± 0.40% casein). Milking was performed on bedded area in 13.8% of farms, inside the barn in 53.6% and in a separate milking room in 32.6%. A multiple correspondence analysis was performed and high correlations were found (the first two dimensions explained 31.5% of variance) among farms characterized by local breeds, small size (70 dairy goats), presence of official milk recording, milking inside the barn (but out of bedded area) or in a separate room, udder cleaning before milking, forestripping, teat post-dipping and use of gloves by milkers. A second multiple correspondence analysis was performed and high correlations were found among farms characterized by local breeds, low milk fat (70 dairy goats), high milk fat content, no milk fat/protein reversion syndrome and milk delivered to dairies, probably due to a special care in ration formulation and attention to milk quality. The study demonstrates the importance of milking and farming strategies to improve goat milk quality
Effect of vacuum level on milk flow and vacuum stability in Alpine goat milking
No full textMilking routine and settings of milking machine are crucial factors in influencing milk production, milking labour and teat condition. The aim of the study was to evaluate if different vacuum levels applied during goat milking can affect milk emission, vacuum stability, and teat measurements. At the university experimental farm, 29 Alpine dairy goats were milked once a day testing three different milking vacuum levels (30, 36 and 42 kPa). The study was divided in 4 periods during lactation, 3 weeks each, changing milking vacuum every week. Milk flow measurements were performed using Lactocorder devices (about 700 observations), while, to verify vacuum stability, Vadia devices were used collecting a total of 220 vacuum curves. Teat dimensions before and after milking were measured once a week. Classification of teat shapes was based on the ratio between diameter and length before milking. Milk flow curves were influenced by milking vacuum level. The highest values of peak and average milk flow were recorded using the highest vacuum level. Vacuum level affected the percentage of milk emitted in the first three minutes of milking; in particular, using the highest milking vacuum level, 92.5% of milk was released in the first three minutes. No differences were found in total milk production and milk somatic cell count using different vacuum levels. Both vacuum level at the short milk tube and vacuum level at mouthpiece chamber were significantly influenced by system vacuum level: as the system vacuum level raised, the first parameter increased while the second decreased. The percentage of curves characterized by irregular vacuum fluctuations, calculated as difference between maximum and minimum vacuum level (kPa) measured in the short milk tube during the main milking phase, was not different among vacuum levels (P = 0.562). Milk flow decreased from the first to the last period of trial, as lactation advanced, by 36.8%; 22.7%; 17.3% for 30, 36 and 42 kPa, respectively; this result impacts on milking performances in terms of duration of milking time and of the time in which teat is under vacuum force. The highest and lowest vacuum levels tested (42 and 30 kPa) caused more evident changes in teat dimensions pre and post milking in comparison with medium vacuum (36 kPa). Moreover, teat shape significantly influenced vacuum at the teat-end. In conclusion, medium vacuum level of 36 kPa seems to be less stressful for teat tissue and more efficient in terms of milking performances than the extreme vacuum levels
Sostenibilità, produttività e benessere delle bovine da latte: il ruolo della tecnologia
No full textNegli allevamenti da latte italiani è in corso unna modernizzazione con l'introduzione di sensoristica e sistemi automatici
per la gestione del bestiame
Efficienza produttiva e qualità del latte bovino in fondovalle e in alpeggio di alta quota
No full textLa pratica dell’alpeggio estivo è importante per il mantenimento degli ecosistemi e delle tradizioni
culturali della montagna, ma presenta criticità sia dal punto di vista gestionale sia produttivo. Questo
studio ha analizzato l’impatto della monticazione sulla produzione e qualità del latte, la condizione
corporea (BCS) e il comportamento alimentare di una mandria di 27 bovine Brune. I tempi di
alimentazione e ruminazione sono stati monitorati tramite tecnologie di precisione utilizzando speciali
cavezze dotate di pressurimetro e accelerometro triassiale. I risultati hanno mostrato un calo
significativo della produzione di latte e delle percentuali di grasso e proteine durante l’alpeggio,
accompagnato da una riduzione progressiva del BCS, elementi indicativi di una probabile carenza
energetica. I tempi di alimentazione e ruminazione sono risultati fortemente influenzati dalle modalità
di gestione della mandria. L’analisi delle componenti principali ha evidenziato una diversa influenza
dei comportamenti alimentari sull’efficienza produttiva delle bovine nei periodi di fondovalle e
alpeggio: mentre in fondovalle la produzione è risultata correlata negativamente ai tempi di
alimentazione e ruminazione, in alpeggio tale associazione è risultata positiva. I risultati evidenziano
come le tecnologie di Precision Livestock Farming, attraverso il monitoraggio continuo di alcune
variabili chiave, possano supportare la gestione, per migliorare l’efficienza produttiva e il benessere
animale e favorire la sostenibilità della pratica dell’alpeggio.ummer
alpine grazing is extremely important for maintaining mountain ecosystems and cultural traditions,
although it presents challenges from both management and production perspective. This study
evaluated the impact of the summer alpine grazing on milk production and quality, body condition
score (BCS) and feeding behaviour on 27 Brown cows. Feeding and rumination times were monitored
using precision technologies with halters equipped with pressure sensors and 3-axis accelerometers.
The results showed a significant decline in milk production, milk fat and milk protein during the grazing
period, together with a reduction in BCS, probably due to energy deficit on pasture. Feeding and
rumination times were strongly influenced by herd management practices. The principal component
analysis showed that feeding behaviour differently affected milk production in the lowland compared
to the alpine period: while in the valley, milk production was negatively correlated with feeding and
rumination times, during alpine grazing this association was positive. These findings highlight how
Precision Livestock Farming technologies, through continuous monitoring of key variables, can
support herd management, improve productive efficiency and animal welfare, and enhance the
sustainability of alpine grazing practices
Bovine beta casein polymorphism and environmental sustainability of cheese production: The case of Grana Padano PDO and mozzarella cheese
No full textSeveral genetic variants of II-casein have been identified but A1 and A2 are the most common. Bovine II-casein variants may play an important role on cheese yield and quality, besides milk production and composition, and, thereby, affect environmental sustainability of cheese production processes. The aim of the study was to investigate the possible effect on environmental sustainability of cheese production, related to bovine II-casein polymorphism. A Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) was performed, considering Grana Padano PDO and mozzarella cheese, made with either A1A1, A1A2 or A2A2 II-casein milk and using economic and dry matter allocation methods for cheese and co-products. Additionally to characterization, normalization and weighting (endpoints method), were also performed. Results on the environmental impact of 1 kg of pack-aged cheese showed that, among the II-casein genetic variants, A1A1 seemed to be the most impactful, only due to the lower individual daily milk production of cows belonging to A1A1 group, compared to the cows belonging to A1A2 and A2A2 groups, i.e. 29.6, 37.1 and 34.6 kg of fat and protein corrected milk (FPCM) day cow-1, respec-tively. Allocation method strongly affected the impacts per kg of cheese product and, consequently, of co -products. The normalization allowed to understand the relative importance of different impact categories and the result obtained indicated that the notable impact categories of the cheese industry were natural land transformation, aquatic eutrophication and terrestrial acidification. Results of the weighting highlighted that greater damage was given to the ecosystem quality, followed by human health and, finally, resource scarcity. Overall, biggest dif-ferences were detected for the two cheeses, rather than for the II-casein genetic variants and the differences in environmental sustainability of cheese made with A1A1, A1A2 and A2A2 milk were mainly due to the different cow milk production, rather than cheese yield. Therefore considering only the technological properties useful for cheese making the selection of milk with A2A2 II-casein may be not so convenient. Normalization and weighting results allow to identify the most impactful categories and so can help decision-makers to determine where to prioritize efforts aimed at reducing cheese environmental impact
Unlocking insights: text mining analysis on the health, welfare, and behavior of cows in automated milking systems
No full textAutomated Milking Systems (AMS) have undergone significant evolution over the past 30 yr, and their adoption continues to increase, as evidenced by the growing scientific literature. These systems offer advantages such as a reduced milking workload and increased milk yield per cow. However, given concerns about the welfare of farmed animals, studying the effects of AMS on the health and welfare of animals becomes crucial for the overall sustainability of the dairy sector. In the last few years, some analysis conducted through text mining (TM) and topic analysis (TA) approaches have become increasingly widespread in the livestock sector. The aim of the study was to analyze the scientific literature on the impact of AMS on dairy cow health, welfare, and behavior: the paper aimed to produce a comprehensive analysis on this topic using TM and TA approaches. After a preprocessing phase, a dataset of 427 documents was analyzed. The abstracts of the selected papers were analyzed by TM and a TA using Software R 4.3.1. A Term Frequency-Inverse Document Frequency (TFIDF) technique was used to assign a relative weight to each term. According to the results of the TM, the ten most important terms, both words and roots, were feed, farm, teat, concentr, mastiti, group, SCC (somatic cell count), herd, lame and pasture. The 10 most important terms showed TFIDF values greater than 3.5, with feed showing a value of TFIDF of 5.43 and pasture of 3.66. Eight topics were selected with TA, namely: 1) Cow traffic and time budget, 2) Farm management, 3) Udder health, 4) Comparison with conventional milking, 5) Milk production, 6) Analysis of AMS data, 7) Disease detection, 8) Feeding management. Over the years, the focus of documents has shifted from cow traffic, udder health and cow feeding to the analysis of data recorded by the robot to monitor animal conditions and welfare and promptly identify the onset of stress or diseases. The analysis reveals the complex nature of the relationship between AMS and animal welfare, health, and behavior: on one hand, the robot offers interesting opportunities to safeguard animal welfare and health, especially for the possibility of early identification of anomalous conditions using sensors and data; on the other hand, it poses potential risks, which requires further investigations. TM offers an alternative approach to information retrieval in livestock science, especially when dealing with a substantial volume of documents. Lay Summary Milking robots have revolutionized the cow milking, reducing dependence on human labor and increasing milk yield per cow. However, addressing concerns about farmed animal welfare and overall sustainability is crucial. This paper presents a text-mining analysis of the scientific literature to explore the effects of robotic milking on cow health, welfare, and behavior. The analysis revealed a growing body of research studies on these subjects, highlighting the complex nature of the relationship between automated milking, welfare, health, and cow behavior. Robotic milking has the potential to enhance animal health and living conditions, but the associated risks require further investigation
Management practices and milk quality in dairy goat farms in Northern Italy
No full textA large-scale survey was conducted on 173 dairy goat farms in Northern Italy to provide an updated view on farm management practices and to investigate relations among management factors, herd traits and milk yield and quality with particular focus on milk somatic cell count (SCC) and milk fat/protein reversion syndrome. Monthly individual milk analyses (fat, protein and lactose percentages, SCC) and bulk tank milk analyses (fat, protein and lactose percentages, standard plate count (SPC), urea and casein) from 91 farms out of the 173 farms were collected for a year. Farming systems showed wide variability and were characterised by the coexistence of intensive farms adopting advanced technologies and extensive traditional ones. Average milk production was 1.25 kg/milking with high variability, significantly influenced by days in milk, month of kidding, herd size and parity. Out-of-season breeding was predicted to cause a slight reduction of milk production. The reversion syndrome between milk fat and protein contents affected more than half of samples. It worsened after 100 d of lactation and occurred earlier during lactation when kidding was in the late season (April–June) compared to kidding in the first months of the year. The defect was associated with high SCC in milk. The yearly average milk SCC was 5.8 log10 cells/mL; it was higher at the end of lactation and in goats kidding in the late season. A negative relationship between SCC and milk yield was found with an estimated loss of 0.23 kg per milking for each additional point of log10 SCC
Analysis of Thermal-Hydraulic Gravity/ Buoyancy Effects in the Testing of the ITER Poloidal Field Full Size Joint Sample (PF-FSJS)
No full textThe PF-FSJS is a full-size joint sample, based on the NbTi dual-channel cable-in-conduit conductor (CICC) design currently foreseen for the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER) Poloidal Field coil system. It was tested during the summer of 2002 in the Sultan facility of CRPP at a background peak magnetic field of typically 6 T. It includes about 3 m of two jointed conductor sections, using different strands but with identical layout. The sample was cooled by supercritical helium at nominal 4.5-5.0 K and 0.9-1.0 MPa, in forced convection from the top to the bottom of the vertical configuration. A pulsed coil was used to test AC losses in the two legs resulting, above a certain input power threshold, in bundle helium backflow from the heated region. Here we study the thermal-hydraulics of the phenomenon with the M&M code, with particular emphasis on the effects of buoyancy on the helium dynamics, as well as on the thermal-hydraulic coupling between the wrapped bundles of strands in the annular cable region and the central cooling channel. Both issues are ITER relevant, as they affect the more general question of the heat removal capability of the helium in this type of conductors
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