Impacts of using a precision livestock system targeted approach in mountain sheep flocks

Morgan-Davies, C; Lambe, N. R.; Wishart, HM; Waterhouse, A.; Kenyon, Fiona; McBean, Dave; McCracken, David I.

doi:10.1016/j.livsci.2017.12.002

Cited by 43 publications

(28 citation statements)

References 47 publications

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“…The experiment was conducted at Scotland’s Rural College (SRUC) Hill and Mountain Research Centre, Crianlarich, Scotland (56°N, 4°W; elevation: 170 to 1025 m; mean annual rainfall: 3,000 mm) 24 . The study flock comprised approximately 200 genetically unimproved Scottish Blackface (UBF) ewes, 200 genetically improved Scottish Blackface (IBF) ewes and 200 Lleyn ewes.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Prior to blood sampling (in autumn 2015), the research flock was drawn equally from two ‘pre-study’ management system groups, one group having been managed conventionally (CON), and the other subjected to a Precision Livestock Farming (PLF) management protocol. Each system had different criteria for winter feeding, worming and culling 24,26 . Ewes in each system had shared the same pastures.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Investigation of relationship between vitamin D status and reproductive fitness in Scottish hill sheep

Zhou

McEvoy

Gill

et al. 2019

Sci Rep

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There is a growing interest in the influence of vitamin D on ovine non-skeletal health. The aim of this study was to explore the relationship between pre-mating vitamin D status, as assessed by serum concentrations of 25-Hydroxyvitamin D [25(OH)D; comprising D2 and D3] and subsequent reproductive performance of genetically unimproved Scottish Blackface (UBF), genetically improved Scottish Blackface (IBF) and Lleyn ewes kept under Scottish hill conditions. 25-Hydroxyvitamin D2 (25(OH)D2) and 25-Hydroxyvitamin D3 (25(OH)D3) concentrations were determined in serum samples harvested in November from ewes grazed outdoors. There were no significant differences in 25(OH)D2concentrations amongst the 3 genotypes. Lleyn ewes had significantly higher 25(OH)D3 and 25(OH)D concentrations than both Scottish Blackface ewe genotypes, whereas these vitamin D parameters did not differ significantly between the UBF and IBF ewes. Concentrations of 25(OH)D3 and 25(OH)D were positively associated with subsequent birth weights of singleton and of twin lamb litters. No significant associations between vitamin D status and number of lambs born or weaned per ewe were found. This study demonstrates that concentrations of cutaneously-derived 25(OH)D3, but not of orally consumed 25(OH)D2, differed between breeds. The positive association between ewe vitamin D status and offspring birth weight highlights the need for further investigations.

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Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Investigation of relationship between vitamin D status and reproductive fitness in Scottish hill sheep

Zhou

McEvoy

Gill

et al. 2019

Sci Rep

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“…Some of the case studies have sought to quantify RW by main task category (milking, feeding, etc. ), thereby coming closer to the more analytical studies of work time, in which work is timed (Ferris et al 2006;Morgan-Davies et al 2018). This refinement of the analysis is possible for certain categories of tasks for which it is easy to identify a beginning and an end.…”

Section: Taking Into Account Tasksmentioning

confidence: 99%

Analyzing work organization on livestock farm by the Work Assessment Method

Cournut

Chauvat

Correa

et al. 2018

Agron. Sustain. Dev.

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All over the world, farmers have to face up to increasing uncertainties (market and climate). They have to adapt their activity to the new contexts and challenges of livestock farming (producing more and better, and satisfying the expectations of society, consumers, and of downstream operators), while at the same time responding to their own expectations in terms of income, quality of life, and working conditions. In order to understand these changes and consider the future, work organization must be taken into account. The Work Assessment Method, developed by French livestock researchers, provides a framework able to capture work organization, taking into account the specifics of the livestock activity. Based on a comparative analysis of nine case studies that used the Work Assessment Method from six contrasted countries, this review (1) gives generic ideas on work organization indicators and their variation; (2) identifies four generic patterns of work organization which are not linked to the local context but marked by the workforce composition; (3) demonstrates that the relevance of the Work Assessment Method to tackle work issues, and its capacities to be adapted to a variety of livestock farming contexts throughout the world, is linked to the properties of its framework, which was developed by combining different disciplinary approaches; (4) highlights the principal limits of the method: lack of coordination with other dimensions of work (labor productivity; sense of the job), and limited characterization of the work organization flexibility; and (5) proposes some possibilities of change to better respond to the diversity of work situations and questions about work, and take better into account the evolutions of livestock farming systems.

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“…However, extensive livestock systems have not seen the rapid adoption of precision farming technologies that has characterized intensive production [ 63 ] for a number of complex structural, environmental and technological reasons [ 64 ]. Nevertheless, while, we note a growing research interest in extending PLF to extensively raised animals through such approaches as group or herd monitoring, GPS and RFID technologies [ 65 , 66 , 67 ], such approaches, like their equivalent in intensive systems, have tended to date to focus predominantly upon productivity and health rather than welfare.…”

Section: Perspectives To Improve Animal Welfare In a Digital Worldmentioning

confidence: 99%

Animal Welfare Management in a Digital World

Buller

Blokhuis

Lokhorst

et al. 2020

Animals

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Although there now exists a wide range of policies, instruments and regulations, in Europe and increasingly beyond, to improve and safeguard the welfare of farmed animals, there remain persistent and significant welfare issues in virtually all types of animal production systems ranging from high prevalence of lameness to limited possibilities to express natural behaviours. Protocols and indicators, such as those provided by Welfare Quality, mean that animal welfare can nowadays be regularly measured and surveyed at the farm level. However, the digital revolution in agriculture opens possibilities to quantify animal welfare using multiple sensors and data analytics. This allows daily monitoring of animal welfare at the group and individual animal level, for example, by measuring changes in behaviour patterns or physiological parameters. The present paper explores the potential for developing innovations in digital technologies to improve the management of animal welfare at the farm, during transport or at slaughter. We conclude that the innovations in Precision Livestock Farming (PLF) offer significant opportunities for a more holistic, evidence-based approach to the monitoring and surveillance of farmed animal welfare. To date, the emphasis in much PLF technologies has been on animal health and productivity. This paper argues that this emphasis should not come to define welfare. What is now needed is a coming together of industry, scientists, food chain actors, policy-makers and NGOs to develop and use the promise of PLF for the creative and effective improvement of farmed animal welfare.

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Impacts of using a precision livestock system targeted approach in mountain sheep flocks

Cited by 43 publications

References 47 publications

Investigation of relationship between vitamin D status and reproductive fitness in Scottish hill sheep

Investigation of relationship between vitamin D status and reproductive fitness in Scottish hill sheep

Analyzing work organization on livestock farm by the Work Assessment Method

Animal Welfare Management in a Digital World

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