Thesis (M.Sc. Agriculture (Animal Production)) -- University of Limpopo, 2022 / Refer to document / National Research Foundation (NRF)

Only part of the abstract could be included due to the rest having renderable text / The abiotic environment plays an important role in cattle production. Key abiotic elements evaluated in this study are rainfall and temperature. This study was carried out to assess the effect and contribution of rainfall and temperature, amid other factors, on pre- and post-weaning growth traits of Afrikaner cattle at Matopos Research Institute from 1958 to 1997. Historical data generated from a genotype x environment interaction study at Matopos Research Institute was used to identify factors associated with the average daily weight gain of calves of Afrikaner cattle breed. A total of 10 700 records were retrieved comprising of birth weight (BW), 90 day weight, 205 day weight and early post-weaning weight as well as additional corresponding rainfall and temperature data from 1958 to 1997. The rainfall and temperature data was computed asrainfall and temperature variability. The data was corrected for heteroscedasticity using the generalized least squares approach (GLS) before running an ordinary least square regression (OLS) analysis to determine the association between growth rate and potential explanatory factors for average daily weight gain, pre-weaning weight gain and early post-weaning weight gain. / Agriculture and  Animal Health / M. Sc. (Agriculture)

Auf den Grünlandstandorten ist die Mutterkuh- und Schafhaltung sowie die Futterproduktion von Anwelksilage und Heu verbreitet. Weitere Grünlandflächen sind aber vorhanden, eine alternative Nutzungsform stellt die Jungrinder- und Färsenaufzucht dar. Im Rahmen dieser Arbeit wurde untersucht, inwieweit sich die Stall- bzw. Weidehaltung vom 15. bis zum 21.Lebensmonat von weiblichen Jungrindern auf das spätere Wachstum bis zum 100.Laktationstag der 1.Laktation, die Fruchtbarkeit, die Erkrankungen und Abgänge während der Aufzuchtphase, der 1.und 2.Laktation sowie die Milchleistung in den ersten beiden Laktationen auswirkt. Bis zum 14. und ab dem 22.Lebensmonat wurden beide Versuchsgruppen unter einheitlichen Stallbedingungen gehalten. In dem von Mai 2000 bis Dezember 2002 dauernden Versuch wurden zu Beginn nach zufäll-iger Auswahl jeweils 74 Jungrinder der Rasse Deutsche Holstein in die Stall- und Weide-gruppe eingeteilt. Die Untersuchungsergebnisse zeigen, dass im Vergleich zur Stallhaltung eine begrenzte Weidehaltung von Jungrindern zu einer deutlich geringeren Lebendmasseentwicklung a.p. Fruchtbarkeitsproblemen und größeren gesundheitlichen Risiken in der 1.Laktation führen. Mit der 2.Laktation konnten sich die Milchkühe aus der Weidegruppe stabilisieren und erreichten eine höhere Milchleistung, bessere Fruchtbarkeitsparameter und ein geringeres Abgangsgeschehen im Vergleich zu den Kühen aus der Stallgruppe. Die Weidenutzung kann das tierische Leistungspotential gut ausschöpfen, wenn eine ord-nungsgemäße Vorbereitung der Tiere an die Weidebedingungen erfolgt und ein zu hohes kompensatorisches Wachstum der Färsen nach der Weideperiode vermieden wird, um Probleme bei der Abkalbung und Spätfolgen in der Laktation zu verhindern. Folgende Optimierungsmaßnahmen der produktionstechnischen Bedingungen der Weidehalt-ung sind erforderlich: * Kontinuierliche Kontrolle der Lebendmasse und des Exterieurs der Weidetiere und gegebenenfalls Rückführung in die Stallhaltung * Verbesserung der Pflanzenstruktur des Grünlandes * Durchführung von regelmäßigen Pflegemaßnahmen auf dem Grünland / In the meadow land sites mother cow and sheep keeping as well as food production of wilted silage and hay is spread. Further pasture land areas are existing, an alternative form of use is the raising of young cattle and heifers. In the context of this dissertation is was examined to what extent there are effects of the cowshed and meadow keeping from the 15th up to the 21st month of life of female young cattle on the later growth up to the 100th day of the first lactation, the fertility, the illnesses and deaths during the period of raising, the first and second lactation as well as the milk results within the first two lactations. Up to the 14th and from the 22nd month of life both test groups were kept under the same cowshed conditions. At the beginning of the test from May 2000 up to December 2002 74 young cattle of the breed "Deutsche Holstein" were divided up into the cowshed as well as the pasture keeping by an accidental choice. The test results show that, in comparison to cowshed keeping, a limited pasture keeping of young cattle leads to a clearly lower liveweight development a.p., fertility problems and bigger health risks in the first lactation. With the second lactation the dairy cows could stabilize and reached a higher milk result, better fertility parameter and a lower death rate in comparison to the cows of the cowshed group. The use of the meadows can exhaust the animal potential well, if there is a proper preparation of the animals for the meadow conditions and if a compensatory growth of the heifers, that is too high, is avoided after the meadow period to prevent problems with the calving in the lactation. The following optimization measures of the production methods of the meadow keeping are necessary: * continuous checks of the liveweight and the appearance of the animals and if necessary return to the cowshed keeping * improvement of the plant structure of the pasture land * implementation of regular care measures on the pasture land

A bovinocultura brasileira possui grande ênfase no mercado nacional. Doenças que acometem rebanhos comprometem o mercado além de gerarem grandes prejuízos econômicos. O Clostridium novyi tipo B provoca necrose hepática em bovinos através da produção da alfa toxina, uma potente exotoxina que reduz a produtividade através de alterações como hemoglobinúria, redução do apetite, febre, letargia, diminuição da produção de leite e sangue nas fezes. Conter o microrganismo causador torna-se uma busca necessária tanto do ponto de vista econômico quanto social. Entretanto, o controle da doença ainda é realizado por vacinas formuladas com múltiplos antígenos. A emulsão pode ser uma alternativa promissora para a melhoria da adsorção de antígenos nas formulações vacinais. Camundongos da linhagem Swiss foram utilizados a fim de se avaliar aspectos clínicos e validar resultados referentes a composição de uma nova formulação vacinal contendo adjuvante Montanide ISA 61 VG e antígeno inativado de C. novyi. Os testes de caracterização e antigenicidade indicaram a presença da proteína alfa toxina na composição avaliada. A imunogenicidade do antígeno inativado em emulsão W/O (água/óleo) foi verificada e a proporção empregada (40/60) mostrou ser ideal no uso de múltiplos antígenos, apresentando inocuidade, estabilidade do produto, liberação controlada e estímulo da resposta imune. A determinação da concentração de antígeno foi averiguada pela relação antígeno ativo e inativado com soros de animais doentes, visto a eficácia vacinal de 40%. A adequação da concentração de alfa toxina inativada na emulsão mostrou ser necessária para atingir melhores valores de proteção animal. Análises de hemograma, bioquímicas e morfologia de fígado, baço e coxa contribuíram para elucidar os efeitos da emulsão e comprovar necrose hepática nos grupos não imunizados, além de sugerir avanços na adsorção de vacinas. Os resultados possibilitaram o estabelecimento de um modelo murino de infecção de C. novyi com futuras aplicações relacionadas à produção vacinal com múltiplos antígenos emulsificados para controle das clostridioses. / Brazilian cattle breeding has great emphasis on the national market. Diseases that affect herds compromise the market as well as generate great economic losses. Clostridium novyi type B causes hepatic necrosis in cattle through the production of alpha toxin, a potent exotoxin that reduces productivity through changes such as hemoglobinuria, reduced appetite, fever, lethargy, decreased milk and stool production. Containing the causative micro-organism becomes a necessary quest both economically and socially. However, control of the disease is still performed by vaccines formulated with multiple antigens. The emulsion may be a promising alternative for the improvement of antigen adsorption in vaccine formulations. Swiss strain mice were used to evaluate clinical aspects and validate results regarding the composition of a new vaccine formulation containing Montanide ISA 61 VG adjuvant and C. novyi inactivated antigen. Characterization and antigenicity tests indicated the presence of the alpha toxin protein in the evaluated composition. The immunogenicity of antigen inactivated in W / O emulsion (water / oil) was verified and the ratio employed (40/60) showed to be ideal in the use of multiple antigens, presenting innocuousness, product stability, controlled release and stimulation of the immune response. The determination of the antigen concentration was investigated by the active antigen ratio and inactivated with sera from sick animals, since the vaccine efficacy was 40%. The suitability of the inactivated alpha toxin concentration in the emulsion was shown to be necessary to achieve better animal protection values. Hemogram, biochemical and liver, spleen and thigh morphology contributed to elucidate the effects of the emulsion and to verify hepatic necrosis in the nonimmunized groups, in addition to suggesting advances in the adsorption of vaccines. The results allowed the establishment of a murine model of C. novyi infection with future applications related to the vaccine production with multiple emulsified antigens to control clostridia.

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A research journey involving people, cattle, and the landscape in rural Okhombe in the western part of the province of KwaZulu-Natal and lying at the foot of the uKhahlamba Drakensberg Mountain Range, South Africa, is the focus of this work. Using action research involving community members as co-researchers, it investigates why a rotational resting system for communal cattle grazing collapsed within six months of its launch. Despite having been designed in a participatory manner, the rotational resting system was not applied by cattle keepers. As a backdrop to the concern around the rotational resting system, it is necessary to understand how the current landscape of Okhombe was shaped. The history of the uKhahlamba Drakensberg Region over the past two hundred years was, therefore, explored. Four historical episodes were distinguished: economic expansion, nature conservation efforts, colonial and apartheid legislation, and encounters between people all left their imprint on the landscape. Digitized maps of aerial photographs of Okhombe, taken between 1945 and 2004, showed how Government intervention changed people’s multifunctional use of the landscape to concentrated settlements and cropping fields in the valley and cattle grazing on the mountain slopes. A survey in Enhlanokhombe, one of the sub-wards of Okhombe, further investigates how cattle keepers use the rangeland commons, and what determines these practices. People are keeping fewer cattle than in the past. A 24% decrease in cattle numbers was recorded between 2001 and 2008. Cattle keepers perceive stock theft as the most important threat. Yet, figures of stock losses showed that cattle disease resulting in death is an equally pressing problem. The decline in authority of traditional leaders and the view that herding is a family task have compounded the dominant management practice of continuous grazing by cattle. Rotational resting was found to be unsuited to the majority of cattle keepers who want to keep a close watch on their herds as they graze on the lower hill slopes. People in Okhombe disagreed about the condition of the range and what comprised appropriate grazing management. A community initiative has emerged to form cattle patrols to address stock theft. If successful, it may further enhance collective action. The concern with communal grazing management investigated in this research and in the Okhombe Landcare project, of which it was part, aimed to reverse land degradation and overgrazing. An analysis of digitized maps of Okhombe taken in the period between 1945 and 2004, however, showed that soil erosion did not increase rapidly as is commonly assumed by conventional rangeland scientists and extension staff. Rather, an increase in bare soil coincided with a period of drought. The focus of the Okhombe Landcare project on combatting soil erosion and rehabilitate degraded lands was underpinned by a particular interest in and need to conserve the uKhahlamba Drakensberg as a near-pristine wilderness landscape which provides marketable ecosystem goods and services. As such, cattle keeping in Okhombe can be described as being embedded in a social-ecological system comprising a series of nested, self-organizing subsystems which are interconnected. Sub-systems include the cattle production system, cattle grazing management practices, the wider ecosystem, and government policies and regulations. A spatial-temporal and systemic approach is proposed to make meaningful, policy-related decisions regarding communal rangeland management in the future. Such an approach would enable cattle keepers, other rangeland users, and outside stakeholders, such as extension workers and policy makers, to respond effectively to changes in the landscape by taking into consideration and balancing a complex set of biophysical, socio-political, and economic variables. / Thesis (Ph.D.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2011.

The aim of the thesis was to document abidance by rules in cattle breeding in an ecological agriculture system. Above all the work is concentred on a cow breeding without commercial milk production on a farm in the Novohradske mountains. A part of the work is a brief survey of legislature and rules in ecological agriculture which is concentred on animal production. In the next part the work is paid to a system of support and dotations from national and European sources in ecological agriculture. The proper work is concentred on the farm characterization, checking system and the survey of dotations in this farming area. Checking and rule observance in ecological agriculture is processed according to protocols about carried checking and the rules are further consulted with appropriate authorities and external employees of the farm. The system of support and dotations in ecological agriculture was consulted with the company owner. According to the finding of facts about provided dotations this system of support was worked up into diagrams and the transparent table for the 2010 2014 period. In the final part there is a discussion about rule observance of ecological farming and a description of contemporary system of dotations including references which should evolve and improve further function of ecological farming in the area of rule observance and dotation providing.

Made available in DSpace on 2016-06-02T19:50:00Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 TeseJGCFM.pdf: 1381165 bytes, checksum: b306b0c402f6673a8ea64e2f8db0bd1c (MD5) Previous issue date: 2007-05-10 / Information Technology (IT) starts to play an important role in the day-by-day, changing the way the cattlemen manage their properties. IT affects business management as it allows for search, access, storage and dissemination of information, improving the decision-making process. Besides softwares and agribusiness websites, IT includes electronic devices for storage of sanitary, nutricional and genetic information; television channels and telecommunications structure. This research aimed to study the use and the diffusion of IT in the beef cattle breeding, from the analysis of the factors that have influenced its adoption; to describe resources, procedures and necessary actions for IT operation; to segment (classify) rural enterprises by their technological level; and to elaborate suggestions to intensify the IT uses in the cattle breeding business. The research was performed in two stages, quantitative and qualitative. In the first stage, a survey with producers was performed. Information concerning the different technologies adopted and the attitudes taken with IT, enabled to identify the level of innovativeness of producers. It was possible to classify them by the similarities of the technological position. The second stage analyzed experiences, opinions and perspectives regarding the technology integrated to the productive system. Two properties were analyzed by each category, totalizing ten case studies, by personal interviews. The results indicated the reasons of the adoption or rejection of a certain IT by the producers, allowing for the identification of the reasons why some producers have adopted it more quickly than others. It was possible to understand the modifications in the rural organization due to IT adoption, as, for example, improvement in managerial skills. Altogether, the processes have been improved and became easier, with positive consequences in several areas, including human resources and the enterprise s image in the market. / A Tecnologia da informação (TI) começa a ganhar espaço no dia-a-dia do produtor, mudando a maneira como os pecuaristas administram suas propriedades. A TI afeta a gestão do negócio, ao facilitar a busca, o acesso, o armazenamento e a disseminação de informações, favorecendo a tomada de decisão. Além dos softwares e portais sobre o agronegócio, a TI inclui dispositivos eletrônicos para armazenamento de informações sanitárias, nutricionais e genéticas; canais de televisão e estrutura de telecomunicações. O objetivo desse trabalho foi estudar o uso e a difusão da TI na pecuária de corte, a partir de fatores que influenciaram a adoção; descrever recursos, procedimentos e ações necessárias para o funcionamento da mesma; segmentar os empreendimentos rurais a partir do nível tecnológico; e elaborar propostas para intensificar o uso da TI na atividade pecuária. A pesquisa foi realizada em duas fases: uma quantitativa e outra qualitativa. Na primeira, foi realizado um levantamento do tipo survey com produtores, buscando informações acerca das diferentes tecnologias adotadas e das atitudes em relação às mesmas, possibilitando identificar o grau de inovatividade dos produtores e agrupá-los pela semelhança da postura tecnológica. A segunda analisou experiências, opiniões e perspectivas a respeito da tecnologia integrada ao sistema produtivo de duas propriedades em cada categoria, totalizando dez estudos de caso, a partir de entrevistas pessoais. Os resultados proporcionaram entendimento sobre os motivos da adoção ou rejeição de uma determinada TI pelos produtores, permitindo identificar as razões para alguns produtores adotarem mais rapidamente que outros. Foi possível entender as alterações ocorridas na organização rural por ocasião da implantação dessas tecnologias, observando-se, por exemplo, um avanço nas práticas gerenciais a partir da adoção e uso da TI. De um modo geral, os processos foram aprimorados e facilitados, com reflexos positivos em várias áreas da propriedade, incluindo recursos humanos e a imagem do empreendimento no mercado.

L’histoire sociale du commerce du bétail et de ses acteurs en Brionnais-Charolais, de la fin du XIXe siècle à nos jours, se confond avec celle de la construction de la filière bovine qui se structure autour de trois spécialités : le naissage, l’embouche et le négoce. Plusieurs étapes, mises en évidence dans la thèse, l’ont jalonnée : développement de l’embouche dans la seconde moitié du XIXe siècle, accès progressif des cultivateurs-éleveurs à l’aisance au cours du XXe siècle, remise en cause des pratiques à partir des années 1960 au profit de l’élevage allaitant. Les apports de cette thèse – réalisée à partir de sources très fragmentaires dans un assemblage qui a nécessité quelque inventivité – à l’histoire rurale, sociale et économique sont multiples. Une mise en perspective des adaptations successives d’un monde agricole en profonde mutation est proposée. L’analyse des changements à l’échelle de la famille, de l’exploitation ou du commerce fait de cette thèse un travail pionnier. Les acteurs de la spécialisation sortent de l’ombre grâce à l’étude, selon une approche prosopographique, d’un corpus d’emboucheurs et de marchands de bestiaux. De même, sont mis en évidence des flux et des réseaux au sein desquels circulent le bétail et l’argent et qui contribuent au désenclavement du territoire observé. Jusqu’au milieu du XXe siècle, la société rurale brionnaise repose sur un équilibre patiemment acquis, bientôt ébranlé par la modernisation de l’agriculture et la Politique agricole commune. La filière s’organise progressivement dans la seconde moitié du XXe siècle. La professionnalisation du négoce de bétail passe par la fin des maquignons et la mise en place de structures coopératives. Au début du XXIe siècle, la question se pose du devenir des commerçants en bestiaux et de l’élevage dans le berceau de la charolaise. / The social history of cattle trade and its actors in Brionnais-Charolais, from the late 19th century up to nowadays merges into the history of the setting up of the cattle industry which has built itself around three fields : breeding, feeding and trade. My thesis reveals the different stages which have marked it up : from the development of cattle feeding in the second half of the 19th century, then the gradual access to wealth by farmers-breeders during the 20th century, to a questioning of old practices since the 1960s, replaced by brood cows breeding. I have carried out my thesis from very fragmentary sources into an assembly of facts (which had required great inventiveness) and shown how much contribution it could bring to the knowledge of rural, social and economical history. I propose a new perspective on the successive adaptations to a profoundly changing agricultural society. I have analyzed in a pioneering way the changes in the family as well as the farm or the trade fields. Thanks to a prosopographical approach, from a corpus of feeders and cattle dealers, this study brings the actors of specialization to light. In the same way, I have revealed the methods and the networks in which cattle and money circulate and which have contributed to opening up the studied area. Until the mid-20th century, the rural Brionnais society had rested on a patiently acquired equilibrium, soon shaken by a modernized agriculture and the Common Agricultural Policy. In the second half of the 20th century, the industry got itself organized gradually. The professionalization of cattle trade goes through the end of cattle dealers and the setting up of cooperatives. In the early 21st century, one has to wonder about the evolution of cattle traders and of breeding itself in the birthplace of Charolais cattle.