Suchergebnisse

Provision of nest-building material pre-partum is required by farm animal legislation in Norway, but as some farmers have problems with straw in the slurry system, alternative and finer-grained substrates could be of interest. The aim of the present study was to examine the effects of providing different nest-building materials before farrowing (peat and long-stemmed straw) on farrowing duration and piglet mortality. Sows of Norsvin Landrace x Swedish Yorkshire were loose-housed in individual farrowing pens with their litter throughout the entire lactation period, and provided with peat (n=18), long-stemmed straw (n=17), or controls (n=18), fromtwodaysbeforeexpectedfarrowing untilfarrowing. Parityrangedfrom1to 9(mean ± SE:2.9 ± 2.0),of which 16 were gilts. The farrowing was video recorded, and the farrowing duration registered from first to last piglet born. Dead piglets were subjected to a post mortem. Sows provided with long-stemmed straw pre-partum had shorter farrowing duration compared to sows provided with peat or controls (P < 0.001). The percentage of stillborn piglets was also lowest among sows in the straw group compared to the other two groups (P < 0.001). Sows of parity ≥4 had longer farrowing duration than gilts and sows of parity 2–3( P < 0.001). Farrowing duration (P < 0.001) and the percentage of stillbornpigletsincreased(P<0.001)withanincreasingnumberoftotalbornpiglets.Moreover,increasedlitter size resulted in a higher pre-weaning mortality (P=0.016). The present study shows that provision of nest-building material before farrowing is important for the birth process of the sow as it reduces farrowing duration and percentage of stillborn piglets compared to controls without relevant substrate. Although peat gave better results than the control treatment, our results suggest that long-stemmed straw is a more appropriate nest-building material. ; acceptedVersion

Evidence shows the importance of food systems for sustainable development: they are at the nexus that links food security, nutrition, and human health, the viability of ecosystems, climate change, and social justice. However, agricultural policies tend to focus on food supply, and sometimes, on mechanisms to address negative externalities. We propose an alternative. Our starting point is that agriculture and food systems' policies should be aligned to the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. This calls for deep changes in comparison with the paradigms that prevailed when steering the agricultural change in the XXth century. We identify the comprehensive food systems transformation that is needed. It has four parts: first, food systems should enable all people to benefit from nutritious and healthy food. Second, they should reflect sustainable agricultural production and food value chains. Third, they should mitigate climate change and build resilience. Fourth, they should encourage a renaissance of rural territories. The implementation of the transformation relies on (i) suitable metrics to aid decision-making, (ii) synergy of policies through convergence of local and global priorities, and (iii) enhancement of development approaches that focus on territories. We build on the work of the "Milano Group," an informal group of experts convened by the UN Secretary General in Milan in 2015. Backed by a literature review, what emerges is a strategic narrative linking climate, agriculture and food, and calling for a deep transformation of food systems at scale. This is critical for achieving the Sustainable Development Goals and the Paris Agreement. The narrative highlights the needed consistency between global actions for sustainable development and numerous local-level innovations. It emphasizes the challenge of designing differentiated paths for food systems transformation responding to local and national expectations. Scientific and operational challenges are associated with the alignment and arbitration of local action within the context of global priorities.