The objective of this study was to determine the effects of feeding synthetic zeolite A for 3 wk before expected calving on peripartal serum mineral concentrations, hypocalcemia, oxidant status, and performance. Holstein cows (n = 55) entering their second or greater lactations were assigned randomly to 1 of 2 dietary treatments starting 21 d before expected calving: control (CON: 40% corn silage, 33% wheat straw, and 27% concentrate; n = 29) or experimental [EXP: CON plus zeolite A (X-Zelit, Protekta Inc., Lucknow, ON, Canada/Vilofoss, Graasten, Denmark; n = 26) at an inclusion rate of 3.3% of dry matter, targeting 500 g/d as-fed]. Cows were fed the same postpartum diet and housed in individual tiestalls through 28 d in milk. Cows fed EXP had higher serum Ca concentrations as parturition approached and during the immediate postpartum period. Serum P concentrations were lower for the EXP-fed cows during the prepartum period and the first 2 d of lactation, whereas serum Mg concentrations were lower than those of the CON-fed cows only during the immediate periparturient period. Cows fed EXP had decreased prevalence of subclinical hypocalcemia (SCH) from d −1 through 3 relative to day of parturition, with the largest difference occurring within the first day postpartum. Prepartum dry matter intake tended to be decreased and rumination was decreased in cows fed EXP; however; postpartum dry matter intake, rumination, milk yield, milk component yield, and colostrum measurements did not differ between treatments. Cows fed EXP tended to have increased hazard of pregnancy by 150 d in milk when controlling for parity compared with CON-fed cows; potential reproductive benefits merit further study. This study demonstrated that zeolite A supplementation during the prepartum period results in markedly improved serum Ca concentrations around parturition and similar postpartum performance compared with controls and is effective at decreasing hypocalcemia in multiparous Holstein cows.

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In organic pig production one of the major challenges is to be able to fulfil amino acid requirements based on organic and locally grown protein feed crops. The pig is an opportunistic omnivore with a unique capacity for foraging above and below the soil surface. It is hypothesized that direct foraging in the range area can pose an important contribution in terms of fulfilling nutrient requirements of growing pigs. Foraging activity, lucerne nutrient intake and pig performance were investigated in 36 growing pigs, foraging on lucerne or grass and fed either a standard organic pelleted feed mixture (HP: high protein) or a grain mixture containing 48% less CP (LP: low protein) compared with the high protein feed mixture, from an average live weight of 58 kg to 90 kg in a complete block design in three replicates. The pigs were fed 80% of energy recommendations and had access to 4 m 2 of pasture/pig per day during the 40 days experimental period from September to October 2013. Behavioural observations were carried out 12 times over the entire experimental period. For both crops, LP pigs rooted significantly more compared with HP pigs but the effect of CP level was more pronounced in grass (44% v. 19% of all observations) compared with lucerne (28% v. 16% of all observations). Feed protein level turned out not to have any significant effect on grazing behaviour but pigs foraging on lucerne grazed significantly more than pigs foraging on grass (10% v. 4% of all observations). Daily weight gain and feed conversion ratio were significantly affected by feed protein and forage crop interactions. Compared to HP pigs, LP treated pigs had 33% lower daily weight gain (589 v. 878 g) and 31% poorer feed conversion ratio (3.75 v. 2.59 kg feed/kg weight gain) in grass paddocks, whereas in lucerne paddocks LP pigs only had 18% lower daily weight gain (741 v. 900 g) and a 14% poorer feed conversion ratio (2.95 v. 2.54 kg feed/kg weight gain) compared with HP pigs. LP pigs foraging on lucerne used 169 g less concentrate CP/kg weight gain, compared with HP pigs, indicating the nitrogen efficiency of the system. The results indicate that direct foraging of lucerne may be a valuable strategy in terms of accommodating CP and lysine requirements of organic growing pigs.

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Consumers’ motivations for buying organic products include a wish of acquiring healthy, environmentally friendly products from production systems that also ensure a high level of animal welfare. However, the current Danish organic pig production faces important challenges regarding environmental impact of the system. High ammonia emissions arise from outdoor concrete areas with growing-finishing pigs and sows on pasture possess an increased risk of nitrogen (N) leaching. Direct foraging in the range area is suggested as a way to improve the nutrient efficiency at farm level and to support a more natural behavior of the pig. Thus, by modeling, we investigated the environmental consequences of two alternative scenarios with growing-finishing pigs foraging in the range area and different levels of crops available for foraging; grass-clover (lowest integration of forage) or a combination of lucerne, grass-clover and Jerusalem artichokes (highest integration of forage). It was possible to have growing-finishing pigs on free-range without increasing N leaching compared to the current practice. The alternative system with lucerne, grass-clover and Jerusalem artichokes showed the lowest carbon footprint with 3.12 CO2 eq kg−1 live weight pig compared to the current Danish pasture based system with 3.69 kg CO2 eq kg−1 live weight pig. Due to positive impact on soil carbon sequestration, the second alternative system based on grass-clover  showed a similar carbon foot print compared to current practice with 3.68 kg CO2 eq kg−1 live weight pig. It is concluded that in practice there is room for development of organic pig production systems where direct foraging plays a central role.

Nitrate leaching from outdoor pig production is a long-standing environmental problem for surface and groundwater pollution. In this study, the effects of inclusion of poplar trees in paddocks for lactating sows on nitrogen (N) balances were studied for an organic pig farm in Denmark. Vegetation conditions, soil water and nitrate dynamics were measured in poplar and grass zones of paddocks belonging to main treatments: access to trees (AT), no access to trees (NAT) and a control without trees (NT), during the hydrological year April 2015 to April 2016. Soil water drainage for each zone, simulated by two simulation models (CoupModel and Daisy), was used to estimate nitrate leaching from the zones in each paddock. N balances (input minus output) for the treatments were computed and compared. The results showed that, in terms of annual water balance and regardless of treatment, simulated evapotranspiration of poplar was 560-569 and 489-498 mm for CoupModel and Daisy, respectively, and corresponding evapotranspiration of grass-clover was 250 and 400 mm, against precipitation of 1076 mm. Simulated drainage below the root zone varied as 620-723 mm for Daisy and 568-958 mm for CoupModel, the higher end of the latter being probably overestimated. Annual nitrate leaching ranged from 32 kg N ha in the poplar zone of NAT up to 289 kg N ha in the control grass zone of NT. The poplar zone showed significantly lower nitrate leaching, by 75-80%, compared to the grass zone. For the control NT treatment, nitrate leaching was approximately 50% higher in the grass zone closest to the hut compared to the grass zone further away. NT treatment also had the largest surface N balance of 468 kg N ha compared to 436 and 397 kg N ha for AT and NAT, respectively. When N losses by leaching and volatilisation were included, soil N balances were 118, 157 and 113 kg N ha for AT, NAT and NT, respectively. Overall, the two simulation models were found useful tools for analyses of water balance for complex agroforestry systems. The findings collectively suggest that it is possible to decrease nitrate leaching from outdoor pig production on sandy soils by inclusion of poplar trees. Additional measures are nevertheless needed to reduce N losses on a mean area basis in paddocks with 20% tree cover.

Purpose To examine whether the amplitude of accommodation, the accommodative response, and the accommodative facility is affected and correlated with changes in higher-order aberrations for patients with high myopia surgically treated with small-incision lenticule extraction (SMILE). Methods 35 highly myopic eyes (myopic spherical equivalent of at least 6 diopters) of 35 patients treated with SMILE were included. Assessments were made before and 3 months after surgery. Donders push-up-method was used to measure the amplitude of accommodation. The accommodative response was assessed using an open-field autorefractor”Grand Seiko WAM-5500” (Grand Seiko Co. Ltd., Hiroshima, Japan) in combination with a Badal optometer and stimuli of accommodation at 0.0, 0.5, 1.25, 2.0, 3.0, and 4.0 D, respectively. Accommodative facility was measured at 40 cm with ±2,00D flipper lenses. All measurements of accommodation were performed monocularly with the refractive error corrected with soft contact lenses. Results The amplitude of accommodation did not change statistically significantly (mean difference -0.24 D (SD 0.98), 95% CI of mean difference -0.58 D to 0.11 D, paired-sample t(34) = -1.39; P = 0.17). The accommodative responses at 0.0, 0.5, 1.25, 2.0, 3.0, and 4.0 D did not statistically significantly change either (F(6,29) = 1.15; P = .36). Finally, the accommodative facility was also unchanged with a mean difference of 1.11 cycles per minute (SD 5.11, 95% CI of mean difference -0.64 to 2.87, paired-sample t(34) = 1.29; P = 0.21). No clinically significant associations between changes in accommodation and higher-order aberrations were found. Conclusions SMILE does not alter the amplitude of accommodation, the accommodative response, nor the accommodative facility for highly myopic patients, and the surgically induced corneal higher-order aberrations do not affect the accommodative function.