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Animals
Special Issues
Dietary Strategies to Enhance Environmental Sustainability of Livestock Systems
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Dietary Strategies to Enhance Environmental Sustainability of Livestock Systems

A special issue of Animals (ISSN 2076-2615). This special issue belongs to the section "Animal Nutrition".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 May 2021) | Viewed by 8652

Special Issue Editors

Prof. Dr. Matteo Crovetto

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Guest Editor
Department of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, Università degli Studi di Milano, Milan, Italy
Interests: forage evaluation; methane emission; N excretion; energy balance; dairy cows; pigs
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Dr. Stefania Colombini

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, Università degli Studi di Milano, Milan, Italy
Interests: nutrition and feeding of ruminant and monogastric animals; study of energy and protein metabolism in farm animals; feeding evaluation by in vitro, situ and in vivo methods of forages; - environmental impact of livestock farms

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Environmental sustainability is more and more a fundamental aspect of human activities, including crop and livestock systems. Particularly, animal production is often believed by media and public opinion to be responsible for a significant share of air, water, and soil pollution. This is only partially true, since other human activities are more impacting than agriculture and animal husbandry. In addition, it has to be underlined that animals have a positive role in utilizing fibrous feeds and byproducts otherwise of no use and source of environmental impacts; therefore, they are an important factor in the circular economy. Moreover, in recent years, an important reduction in the excretion and the emission of environmental pollutants has been attained. Among the factors contributing more to this decrease in pollutants release is nutrition and feeding.

Many dietary strategies have been investigated to reduce the excretion of nitrogen, phosphorus, zinc, copper, and other elements by farm animals and fish, and to minimize methane emission by dairy and meat ruminants, and ammonia emission from animal slurries.

A precision feeding approach in formulating diets for farm animals, both monogastrics and ruminants, is able to enhance feed efficiency, meat and milk production, and the environmental sustainability per unit of product (milk, meat, eggs).

For this Special Issue, we are interested in research papers or reviews aimed at evaluating the positive effects of different nutritional/feeding strategies for livestock in increasing the environmental sustainability of animal productions.

Prof. Matteo Crovetto
Dr. Stefania Colombini
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Animals is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • dietary strategies
  • environmental impact
  • livestock
  • precision feeding
  • sustainability

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Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

19 pages, 337 KiB  
Article
Effect of Linseeds and Hemp Seeds on Milk Production, Energy and Nitrogen Balance, and Methane Emissions in the Dairy Goat
by Luca Rapetti, Stefania Colombini, Giovanna Battelli, Bianca Castiglioni, Federica Turri, Gianluca Galassi, Marco Battelli and Gianni Matteo Crovetto
Animals 2021, 11(9), 2717; https://doi.org/10.3390/ani11092717 - 17 Sep 2021
Cited by 12 | Viewed by 3189
Abstract
The effect of whole linseeds or hemp seeds on milk production, energy and nitrogen balance, and methane emission was studied in 12 Alpine goats using respiration chambers. Diets tested were a control diet (C) and two diets supplemented with whole linseeds (L) or [...] Read more.
The effect of whole linseeds or hemp seeds on milk production, energy and nitrogen balance, and methane emission was studied in 12 Alpine goats using respiration chambers. Diets tested were a control diet (C) and two diets supplemented with whole linseeds (L) or hemp seeds (H) at 9.3% on a dry matter (DM) basis. DM intake was similar among treatments, whereas DM and organic matter digestibility were lower for L compared to C. Milk yield (2.30 kg/d on average) and rumen fermentation profile were not affected by treatments. Treatment also did not affect the milk composition, with the exception of fat, which was higher in H and L compared to C (4.21, 3.94, and 3.20%, respectively). Oilseed supplementation caused a reduction in the concentration of de novo fatty acids (FA) (41.1, 48.8, and 64.1% of FA, for L, H, and C, respectively). Moreover, L and H diets reduced the sum of saturated FA, and increased monounsaturated FA, whereas only the L diet increased the concentration of polyunsaturated FA. Regarding methane production, and nitrogen and energy balances, no differences were registered among the diets. Our research indicates that including whole linseeds and hemp seeds in the dairy goat diet is an effective strategy for increasing milk fat content and positively modifying the milk FA composition, without a change in nitrogen and energy balances, but also without a reduction in enteric methane emission. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Dietary Strategies to Enhance Environmental Sustainability of Livestock Systems)
17 pages, 1613 KiB  
Article
In Vitro Assessment of Enteric Methane Emission Potential of Whole-Plant Barley, Oat, Triticale and Wheat
by Isaac A. Aboagye, Christine L. Rosser, Vern S. Baron and Karen A. Beauchemin
Animals 2021, 11(2), 450; https://doi.org/10.3390/ani11020450 - 9 Feb 2021
Cited by 6 | Viewed by 2373
Abstract
The study determined in vitro enteric methane (CH4) emission potential of whole-plant cereal (WPC) forages in relationship to nutrient composition, degradability, and rumen fermentation. Two varieties of each WPC (barley, oat, triticale, and wheat) were harvested from two field replications in [...] Read more.
The study determined in vitro enteric methane (CH4) emission potential of whole-plant cereal (WPC) forages in relationship to nutrient composition, degradability, and rumen fermentation. Two varieties of each WPC (barley, oat, triticale, and wheat) were harvested from two field replications in each of two locations in central Alberta, Canada, and an in vitro batch culture technique was used to characterize gas production (GP), fermentation, and degradability. Starch concentration (g/kg dry matter (DM)) was least (p < 0.001) for oat (147), greatest for wheat (274) and barley (229), and intermediate for triticale (194). The aNDF concentration was greater for oat versus the other cereals (531 vs. 421 g/kg DM, p < 0.01). The 48 h DM and aNDF degradabilities (DMD and aNDFD) differed (p < 0.001) among the WPCs. The DMD was greatest for barley, intermediate for wheat and triticale, and least for oat (719, 677, 663, and 566 g/kg DM, respectively). Cumulative CH4 production (MP; mL) from 12 h to 48 h of incubation was less (p < 0.001) for oat than the other cereals, reflecting its lower DMD. However, CH4 yield (MY; mg of CH4/g DM degraded) of barley and oat grown at one location was less than that of wheat and triticale (28 vs. 31 mg CH4/g DM degraded). Chemical composition failed to explain variation in MY (p = 0.35), but it explained 45% of the variation in MP (p = 0.02). Variation in the CH4 emission potential of WPC was attributed to differences in DMD, aNDFD, and fermentation end-products (R2 ≥ 0.88; p < 001). The results indicate that feeding whole-plant oat forage to ruminants may decrease CH4 emissions, but animal performance may also be negatively affected due to lower degradability, whereas barley forage may ameliorate emissions without negative effects on animal performance. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Dietary Strategies to Enhance Environmental Sustainability of Livestock Systems)
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16 pages, 786 KiB  
Article
Effect of the Inclusion of Different Levels of Dietary Cactus (Opuntia ficus-indica) on Gilts’ Biochemical Parameters and Feed Intake during Lactation
by Ruy Ortiz, Manuel López, Rosa E. Pérez, Paola de la Paz Ramírez and Gerardo Ordaz
Animals 2020, 10(10), 1881; https://doi.org/10.3390/ani10101881 - 15 Oct 2020
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 2338
Abstract
The regulation of sows’ metabolic state during the gestation-lactation transition is a requirement for a higher feed intake in lactation, an important aspect in improving animal welfare in current swine production systems. The present study aimed to evaluate the effects of the inclusion [...] Read more.
The regulation of sows’ metabolic state during the gestation-lactation transition is a requirement for a higher feed intake in lactation, an important aspect in improving animal welfare in current swine production systems. The present study aimed to evaluate the effects of the inclusion of different cactus (Opuntia ficus-indica L.) levels in the diet of gilts during late gestation and lactation on their biochemical parameters and voluntary feed intake during lactation. From day 85 of gestation until weaning, 40 gilts were divided into four groups: GNC (group with no cactus) with a basal diet (BD) only, G1C; group with 1% inclusion of cactus plus BD, G2C; group with 1.5% inclusion of cactus plus BD, and G3C; group with 2% inclusion of cactus plus BD. The dietary cactus supplementation increased the gilts’ feed intake (by 1.04 kg/day on average) during lactation and reduced their weight loss (4.3%) at weaning. The glucose concentrations were higher (range 73.0–83.9 mg/dL) in the GNC. The GNC had the highest triglyceride and cholesterol concentrations at day 100 of gestation. G3C had the highest osteocalcin concentration at day 100 of gestation. The highest feed intake and lowest glucose concentration were achieved with a cactus consumption of 1.04% in lactating gilts. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Dietary Strategies to Enhance Environmental Sustainability of Livestock Systems)
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