The aim of the present work was to investigate the consumers’ willingness to pay (WTP) for dairy products obtained by grazing animals or fed with a high forage/concentrate ratio diet. To this aim, a survey was carried out on Italian consumers in the Campania Region and data collected were analyzed both by simple descriptive statistics and by an econometric model. Our results highlight that young age, knowledge of milk properties, and a healthy lifestyle are extremely important components in determining a higher WTP.
The determination of the ruminal degradability rate of feeds, mainly starch and crude protein, is one of the most common methods to evaluate the nutritional value of ruminant feed. The protein requirements for ruminants are met from microbial protein and undegraded dietary protein digested in the small intestine. In order to reach maximum productivity, high-quality proteins are needed, and the requirement for undegraded dietary protein increases with the performance of the animal. This protein can be supplied by reducing the ruminal degradation to increase the amount of protein digested post-rumen, but the form in which a feed is administered influences degradability, and grain processing, especially, is a common practice to improve feed efficiency. Despite these aspects, studies on the effects of feed processing methods on protein degradability are limited, even though more and more ruminants are fed with processed feeds. For these reasons, this review investigated the protein degradability of different processed cereals and legumes in ruminants based on the analysis of available literature in order to take stock of the state of the art on this topic. Results showed that: First, the majority of the papers are focused on the energy aspects mainly due to carbohydrate-rich feeds; second, the majority of the studies in the literature are quite old, probably because the changes occurred in the animal testing legislation that made in vivo studies more and more difficult in the last 20 years; third, as a consequence, the few data available in recent years concern in vitro experiments; fourth, we found a high variability of the experimental conditions thus affecting protein degradability and making it quite difficult to compare the different results.
In the internal areas of Cilento, province of Salerno (Campania), the Cilentana, a small native goat breed population, is reared quite widespread, due to its dual-purpose attitude and to its typical productions. The extensive livestock system adopted for this breed allows the use of otherwise abandoned territories and a sustainable farming capable of ensuring high-quality levels. In addition, Cilentana goat farming represents an important source of income for the local communities and also preserves the territory itself guaranteeing the protection of biodiversity and the conservation of local activities that have a historical tradition. The aim of this study is twofold: give an overview of Cilentana breed morphological and productive traits linked to the historical and gastronomic tradition of the area and emphasize the economic role of this breed in the perspective of the ongoing new Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) rules.
In this review, the composition, characteristics, and management of dairy buffalo calves were examined and compared with bovines. The neonatal period is critical for buffalo calves and is characterized by a high mortality rate (more than 40%). The early intake of high-quality colostrum (IgG > 50 mg/mL) is the one way to improve the immune system of calves (serum IgG > 10 mg/mL after 12 h), thus increasing their chances of survival. Mainly in intensive farms, the availability of high-quality colostrum is necessary; thus, good quality colostrum is often stored to provide newborn calves which cannot be fed by their mothers. Also, the manipulation of the immunological status of animals through vaccination has been depicted since the quality of colostrum tended to be influenced by vaccination against pathogens. Buffalo breeding is constantly expanding in Italy, mainly thanks to the Mozzarella cheese production that represents the excellence of the “Made in Italy” and is exported worldwide. Indeed, high calf mortality rates directly affect the profitability of the business. For these reasons, the aim of this review was to examine specific research on buffalo colostrum that, compared with other species, are scarce. Improving the knowledge of buffalo colostrum, in terms of characteristics and management, is critical to guarantee buffalo newborns’ health in order to reduce their mortality rate. Importantly, considering the knowledge on cattle valid also for buffalo is a widespread, and often erroneous, habit in several fields, including colostrum feeding. Therefore, the two species were compared in this review.
The nutritional peculiarities of dairy products made with milk from pasture-fed ruminants would require a rapid control to be authenticated and limit the risk of fraud. In the current study, ninety milk samples from two groups of goats were analysed by electronic nose, quantitative descriptive sensory (QDA) and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry analysis with the aim of discriminating between milk produced on grazing and on a confinement feeding system. The raw milk samples were taken at five different times over a period of three months (April, May and June 2021) from eighteen individual Saanen goats divided into two groups, one of which was fed outdoors on a highly biodiverse pasture. Linear discriminant analysis (LDA), carried out on electronic nose data, was able to classify the two types of milk in terms of an animal feeding system (88% correct classification). Pasture milk scored higher for sensory descriptors such as “Grassy” and “Sweet aromatic” odours. Terpene compounds were the chemical class that qualitatively differentiates the pasture milk while volatile fatty acids were the most present quantitatively. Electronic nose has proven to be a rapid, reproducible and simple method for authenticating pasture raw milk in routine control analyses.
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