This ethnographic research examines how farmers survive agricultural crises by exploring reactions of Saskatchewan beef and dairy farmers to the Canadian BSE crisis. As this study unfolded it became clear that the BSE crisis is only one of many recent crises that have been changing the face of Saskatchewan rural communities and family farms. Producers see a crisis in their inability to achieve their own measures of success in both the life and business of farming. This includes a greater need for off-farm work, a decline in rural community life and values, and a shift away from farming as a desirable livelihood.<p> The BSE crisis has highlighted the risky nature of the contemporary agriculture industry, both for farmers' livelihoods and for food safety. Farmers' initial strategies to address the BSE crisis were precautionary and conservative in nature: minimal enterprise adaptation while waiting out markets. As the crisis continued, producers worked to bring their experience and understanding to bear on changing the structure of the agricultural system. Attempts at change were not often successful. This was attributed to a lack of initiative by government and powerful players, such as the multi-national packing industry that profited from the crisis situation and used the crisis to consolidate power within the value chain. Producers felt that they were paying too much for risks that were beyond their control. The government support they needed was not in line with their structural concerns; risky pre-BSE structures have not been appreciably changed. Uncertainty and risk remain high for the average farmer.<p> There appears to be a growing distrust in powerful institutions that farmers depend on, and a consequent disengagement from government surveillance and regulatory policies. This foreshadows possible serious repercussions in food security and food safety, issues that are still unsettled regarding BSE in Canada. This research indicates a need for greater transparency and public knowledge pathways to reduce uncertainty and allow individuals to better understand and manage emerging risk complexes. Increased democratic space within food and agricultural systems for participation by producer and rural publics would help to balance out government rationalities that may not fully account for culturally mediated understandings of risk and action at the farm level.

Lung dysfunction due to exposure to air in high intensity livestock barn operations is a common problem for workers in these facilities. Exposure to this air has been linked to disorders such as chronic bronchitis, occupational asthma, organic dust toxic syndrome, and chronic cough and phlegm. These symptoms have been linked to higher levels of endotoxins in air in chicken and swine barns. However, there are many other toxic molecules such as bacterial DNA and gases capable of inducing respiratory inflammation. Bacterial molecules are recognized through highly conserved pattern recognition molecules called Toll-like receptors (TLR). While lipopolysaccharides are recognized by TLR4, bacterial unmethylated DNA binds to and signals through TLR9. As a prelude to understanding the biology of TLR9 in lung inflammation, it is important to precisely clarify their in situ expression in the lung. I determined expression of TLR9 in intact lungs from cattle, pigs, dogs, horses, mice, and humans. Two samples from normal lungs of cattle, pigs, dogs, three from horses, and two from inflamed calf lungs were tested. Five normal mouse and three normal human lungs were similarly tested as well as 5 human lungs with diagnosis of asthma. The expression was determined with multiple methods such as Western blots, immunohistology, immunogold electron microscopy and in situ hybridization. Lungs from all the species showed TLR9 expression in the bronchial epithelium, vascular endothelium, alveolar septa, alveolar macrophages, and type-II alveolar epithelial cells. Immuno-electron microscopy detected TLR9 on the plasma membrane, cytoplasm and the nucleus of various cells including macrophages. In situ hybridization demonstrated TLR9 mRNA in the bronchial epithelium, vascular endothelium, alveolar septa, alveolar macrophages, and type-II alveolar epithelial cells of mouse and human. Asthmatic human lungs showed many more inflammatory cells expressing TLR9 compared to healthy lungs. In cattle and horses, pulmonary intravascular macrophages showed robust expression of TLR9. Depletion of pulmonary intravascular macrophages in horses resulted in significant reduction in total TLR9 mRNA in the lungs. Having determined that TLR9 expression is similarly expressed on many lung cell types in mice and humans, I determined the role of TLR9 in barn air induced lung inflammation by exposing TLR9-/- and wild-type mice (6 per group) to single or multiple days (5 and 20) in a chicken barn. Each exposure was of 8 hours/day duration. The TLR9-/- mice exposed 5 and 20 times showed significant reductions in TNF-alpha and IFN-gamma expression in lung lavages as well as cellular changes consistent with reduced lung inflammation such as reductions in the number of lung neutrophils. This suggests that barn dust DNA, acting through TLR9, contributes to lung inflammation seen in response to exposure to chicken barn air. These fundamental data advance our knowledge on the cell-specific expression of TLR9 across a range of species including the humans and demonstrate that TLR9-/- partially regulates lung inflammation induced following exposure to chicken barn air.

Lung dysfunction due to exposure to air in high intensity livestock barn operations is a common problem for workers in these facilities. Exposure to this air has been linked to disorders such as chronic bronchitis, occupational asthma, organic dust toxic syndrome, and chronic cough and phlegm. These symptoms have been linked to higher levels of endotoxins in air in chicken and swine barns. However, there are many other toxic molecules such as bacterial DNA and gases capable of inducing respiratory inflammation. Bacterial molecules are recognized through highly conserved pattern recognition molecules called Toll-like receptors (TLR). While lipopolysaccharides are recognized by TLR4, bacterial unmethylated DNA binds to and signals through TLR9. As a prelude to understanding the biology of TLR9 in lung inflammation, it is important to precisely clarify their in situ expression in the lung. I determined expression of TLR9 in intact lungs from cattle, pigs, dogs, horses, mice, and humans. Two samples from normal lungs of cattle, pigs, dogs, three from horses, and two from inflamed calf lungs were tested. Five normal mouse and three normal human lungs were similarly tested as well as 5 human lungs with diagnosis of asthma. The expression was determined with multiple methods such as Western blots, immunohistology, immunogold electron microscopy and in situ hybridization. Lungs from all the species showed TLR9 expression in the bronchial epithelium, vascular endothelium, alveolar septa, alveolar macrophages, and type-II alveolar epithelial cells. Immuno-electron microscopy detected TLR9 on the plasma membrane, cytoplasm and the nucleus of various cells including macrophages. In situ hybridization demonstrated TLR9 mRNA in the bronchial epithelium, vascular endothelium, alveolar septa, alveolar macrophages, and type-II alveolar epithelial cells of mouse and human. Asthmatic human lungs showed many more inflammatory cells expressing TLR9 compared to healthy lungs. In cattle and horses, pulmonary intravascular macrophages showed robust expression of TLR9. Depletion of pulmonary intravascular macrophages in horses resulted in significant reduction in total TLR9 mRNA in the lungs. Having determined that TLR9 expression is similarly expressed on many lung cell types in mice and humans, I determined the role of TLR9 in barn air induced lung inflammation by exposing TLR9-/- and wild-type mice (6 per group) to single or multiple days (5 and 20) in a chicken barn. Each exposure was of 8 hours/day duration. The TLR9-/- mice exposed 5 and 20 times showed significant reductions in TNF-alpha and IFN-gamma expression in lung lavages as well as cellular changes consistent with reduced lung inflammation such as reductions in the number of lung neutrophils. This suggests that barn dust DNA, acting through TLR9, contributes to lung inflammation seen in response to exposure to chicken barn air. These fundamental data advance our knowledge on the cell-specific expression of TLR9 across a range of species including the humans and demonstrate that TLR9-/- partially regulates lung inflammation induced following exposure to chicken barn air.

Milk allergens were digested by allowing them to flow through a chromatography column, where pepsin was conjugated to the stationary phase of the column. The allergen fragments were then characterized both biochemically, by using SDS-PAGE and gel permeation chromatography, and immunologically, by examining their reactivity to IgE and monoclonal antibodies.

This ethnographic research examines how farmers survive agricultural crises by exploring reactions of Saskatchewan beef and dairy farmers to the Canadian BSE crisis. As this study unfolded it became clear that the BSE crisis is only one of many recent crises that have been changing the face of Saskatchewan rural communities and family farms. Producers see a crisis in their inability to achieve their own measures of success in both the life and business of farming. This includes a greater need for off-farm work, a decline in rural community life and values, and a shift away from farming as a desirable livelihood.<p> The BSE crisis has highlighted the risky nature of the contemporary agriculture industry, both for farmers' livelihoods and for food safety. Farmers' initial strategies to address the BSE crisis were precautionary and conservative in nature: minimal enterprise adaptation while waiting out markets. As the crisis continued, producers worked to bring their experience and understanding to bear on changing the structure of the agricultural system. Attempts at change were not often successful. This was attributed to a lack of initiative by government and powerful players, such as the multi-national packing industry that profited from the crisis situation and used the crisis to consolidate power within the value chain. Producers felt that they were paying too much for risks that were beyond their control. The government support they needed was not in line with their structural concerns; risky pre-BSE structures have not been appreciably changed. Uncertainty and risk remain high for the average farmer.<p> There appears to be a growing distrust in powerful institutions that farmers depend on, and a consequent disengagement from government surveillance and regulatory policies. This foreshadows possible serious repercussions in food security and food safety, issues that are still unsettled regarding BSE in Canada. This research indicates a need for greater transparency and public knowledge pathways to reduce uncertainty and allow individuals to better understand and manage emerging risk complexes. Increased democratic space within food and agricultural systems for participation by producer and rural publics would help to balance out government rationalities that may not fully account for culturally mediated understandings of risk and action at the farm level.

Cattle are vitally important to American agriculture industry, generating over 24.6 billion pounds of beef (by carcass weight), and 79.5 billion dollars in 2005, and over 27 billion dollars in milk sales in 2004. As of July 2006, the U.S. beef and dairy industry is comprised of 104.5 million head of cattle, 32.4 million of which were processed in 2005. The health of the animals has always been an important concern for breeders, as healthy animals grow faster and are more likely to reach market weight. Animals that exhibit natural resistance to disease do not require chemicals to stimulate normal weight gain, and are less prone to disease related wasting. The major histocompatibility complex (MHC) is a collection of genes, many of which function in antigen processing and presentation. The bovine MHC (BoLA) differs from typical mammalian MHCs in that the class II region was disrupted by a chromosomal inversion into two subregions, designated BoLA IIa and BoLA IIb. BoLA IIb was transposed to a position near the centromere on bovine chromosome 23,while BoLA IIa retains its position in BoLA. Comparative sequence analysis of BoLA IIb with the human MHC revealed the location of the region containing the proximal inversion breakpoint. Gene content, order and orientation of BoLA IIb are consistent with the single inversion hypothesis when compared to the corresponding region of the human class II MHC (HLA class II). BoLA IIb spans approximately 450 kb. The genomic sequence of BoLA IIb was used to detect sequence variation through comparison to other bovine sequences, including data from the bovine genome project, and two regions in the BAC scaffold used to develop the BoLA IIb sequence. Analysis of the bovine genome project sequence revealed a total of 10,408 mismatching bases, 30 out of 231 polymorphic microsatellites, and 15 sequences corresponding to the validated SNP panel generated by the bovine genome sequencing project. The two overlapping regions in the BoLA IIb BAC scaffold were found to have 888 polymorphisms, including a total of 6 out of 42 polymorphic microsatellites indicating that each BAC derived from a different chromosome.

The aim of the present study was to investigate, firstly, whether the substitution of dietary starch by rumen-protected fat results in visible changes in the protein metabolism by increasing the urea flux and decreasing of AA levels in blood plasma as indicators for a change of AA oxidation, secondly, whether the fat-fed cows use predominantly long chain FA in the processes of milk fat synthesis or as an energy source in oxidation processes, and thirdly, whether the ratio of glucogenic to lipogenic nutrients could affect the supply of glucose in the metabolism of dairy cows. Two experiments were conducted. In either experiments, about 1.8 kg of starch in the ration of the control group were substituted by about 0.7 kg fat as protected fat (Ca salts of palm, soybean and sunflower oils in addition to protected soybeans) in the ration of the fat group. The first experiment was carried out on 32 multiparous high yielding dairy cows (16 Holstein-Friesian cows in each group) during the first 100 d of lactation. The second experiment was carried out in four periods in a cross-over design. Two cows were used in each period during the 6th to the 10th lactation weeks. The cows were infused intravenously with D-[U-13C6]-Glucose. The substitution of starch by protected fat tended to increase the milk production and milk lactose output and to decrease the microbial protein synthesis in the rumen and plasma glucose level. Also, the levels of ß-HBA and NEFA in plasma, the milk urea content and the total urea-flux were increased (P<0.05). Milk protein content but not yield and plasma levels of insulin, Met, Ser and His decreased (P<0.05) but the branched chain amino acids in plasma increased (P<0.05). The oxidation rate of FA was lower in comparison to other sub`strates. In the second experiment, the enrichment of milk fat and blood CO2 by 13C decreased but the recovery of 13C in milk lactose increased (P<0.065) due to high fat intake. The results indicate that the substitution of starch by protected fat can save glucose in the intermediary metabolism for lactose synthesis in the mammary gland and the cows used fatty acids predominantly for milk fat synthesis and not for oxidation.

There is sparse research literature in agricultural economics regarding early weaning as a potential alternative production/marketing strategy. The objective of this research is to estimate and analyze the impacts on net returns of alternative weaning dates for Tennessee cow-calf operations including alternative post-weaning treatments for calves.The Decision Evaluator for the Cattle Industry (DECI) simulation program was used for this study to produce outputs such as calf numbers, gender, and weights, other output including cow weights and body condition score, both at calving and at weaning, and pregnancy percentages. Forty-two simulations were run for average and summer drought weather, weaning at an average age of 135, 165, 195, 225, 255, and 285 days and selling at weaning or after a 60 or 90-day drylot backgrounding period. Prices for steers, heifers, and culled cows from 1995-2008 were taken from market reports. Costs were derived from University of Tennessee Extension Beef and Forage Budgets and USDA-NASS. The outputs from DECI were combined with prices to result in total revenues. Subtracting the costs of feed, interest, veterinary and medical, and marketing resulted in return to land, labor, management, and risk to the enterprise. The results of this study revealed that under average weather conditions in East Tennessee, marketing at weaning in November yielded the highest net return. Weaning in August and backgrounding for 60 days yielded the lowest net return with the base 90-cow herd.Under summer drought conditions, marketing at weaning in August resulted in the highest net return. Weaning in November and marketing after a 90-day backgrounding period yielded the lowest net return.Under the conditions used in this study, the only time early weaning makes economic sense is when herd size is increased for June or July weaning or under drought conditions when August (195 days) weaning and sale is optimal. Several limitations of this study imply that additional research is required on this topic before definite conclusions can be drawn.

Problemstellung: Die frühzeitige Erkennung von Störungen vor ihrer klinischen Manifestation ist das Grundanliegen der Prophylaxe. Da besonders die Krankheiten des Fettmobilisationsyndroms fütterungs- und damit stoffwechselbedingt sind, besitzt deren frühzeitige Feststellung durch Stoffwechselkontrollen im peripartalen Zeitraum herausragende Bedeutung. Ziel dieser Analyse war es, Erfahrungen für Indikationen, Durchführung und Ergebnisse mehrjähriger Stoffwechselkontrollen in kleinen und mittelgroßen Betrieben auszuwerten und zu dokumentieren. Dazu wurden die von einer tierärztlichen Gemeinschaftspraxis im Emsland betreuten Betriebe anamnestisch charakterisiert, die Indikationen für Untersuchungen, die Kontrollzeiträume in Laktations- und Jahreszeitverlauf sowie in der jährlichen Abfolge erfasst, die Art und Häufigkeit der untersuchten Parameter sowie ihre klinische Bedeutung insgesamt, betriebsweise sowie z.T. für einzelne Kühe bei Mehrfachkontrollen analysiert. Erfasst wurden auch die von den Landwirten eingeleiteten Maßnahmen sowie die Ergebnisse bezüglich des Gesundheitszustands der Kühe. Versuchsanordnung: Die Anamnesen von 53 Betrieben wurden per Fragebögen erhoben. Aus 60 Betrieben flossen 840 Proben aus 122 Einsendungen mit 793 Blutserumproben und 47 Harnproben von Oktober 2006 bis März 2011 in diese Untersuchung ein. Die Kühe wurden nach Laktationsstadium in die Gruppen ante partum (a. p.), 1. Woche (Wo) post partum (p. p.), 2 - 8 Wo p. p, 9 - 14 Wo p. p, mehr als 100 Tage p. p. und Färsen eingeteilt. Die Parameterauswahl trafen die behandelnden Hoftierärzte mit den Landwirten. Untersucht wurden im Blutserum in absteigender Zahl: Freie Fettsäuren (FFS), ß-Hydroxybutyrat (BHB), Se, Harnstoff, Cu, Ca, anorganisches Phosphat (Pi), Bilirubin, CK, Cholesterol, GLDH, GGT, ß-Carotin, Fe, AST, Total-Protein, Albumin, Na, K, Cl, Mg, Glucose, Gallensäuren, Zn, AP, Kreatinin, Mn, Coeruloplasmin sowie die Trolox Äquivalente Antioxidative Kapazität (TEAC). Harnparameter sind selten untersucht worden. Die Betriebe sind fast ausschließlich Milcherzeugerbetriebe und hatten zwischen 24 und 270 Kühe überwiegend der Rasse Deutsche Holsteins mit einer mittleren Milchleistung von 8718 kg pro Jahr. Ergebnisse: Die häufigsten Merzungsgründe waren schlechte Fruchtbarkeit, Klauen- und Gliedmaßen- sowie Eutererkrankungen. Die Gründe für die Stoffwechselkontrollen waren die Abfrage des aktuellen Stoffwechselstatus sowie das vermehrte Auftreten von Fruchtbarkeitsproblemen, Festliegern, Ketosen und Euterproblemen. Maßnahmen nach der Stoffwechselauswertung waren überwiegend Futterumstellungen sowie die Substitution von Mineralstoffen. Die Einsendungsschwerpunkte lagen jeweils im ersten Jahresquartal. Die mittlere Probenan-zahl/Einsendung sank im Untersuchungszeitraum von 9,7 auf 5,1 ab. Im Durchschnitt wurden 9,9 Parameter/Einsendung untersucht. Bei annähernd 80 % der Einsendungen gaben 40 % bis 70 % der Parameter einen Hinweis auf eine Gesundheitsgefährdung des Bestandes. Im Laktationsverlauf hatten die FFS a. p. mit 56,7 % die häufigsten Abweichungen. Nach der Kalbung bis 8 Wo p. p. sanken sie auf 36 % bis 38 % und im weiteren Verlauf auf < 11 % ab. Die BHB-Abweichungen waren gegensätzlich und lagen in der gesamten Laktation über 68 %. Die FFS-, BHB- sowie Bilirubin-Medianwerte stiegen in der 1. Wo p. p auf 438 μmol/l, 0,86 mmol/l sowie 4,3 μmol/l und sanken dann kontinuierlich im Laktationsverlauf wieder ab. Die Cholesterol-Medianwerte sanken in der 1. Wo p. p. auf 2,16 mmol/l ab und stiegen im Laktationsverlauf bis auf 3,93 mmol/l an. 40 % bis 50 % der Kühe hatten in der Mittel- und Spätlaktation einen Harnstoffüberschuss. Ca und Pi hatten in der 1. Wo p. p. den typischen Konzentrationsabfall auf 2,27 bzw. 1,88 mmol/l, gefolgt von einem kontinuierlichem Anstieg in der Laktation. Hypocalzämien traten zu 13,2 % in der 1. Wo p. p. auf, Hyperphosphatämien überwiegen a. p. mit 24,9 % und in der 1. Wo p. p. mit 22,4 %. Die CK-Mediane betrugen in der 1. Wo p. p. 175,6 U/l; a.p. sowie ab 1. Wo p. p. waren sie > 100 U/I. Ähnlich verhielten sich die CK-Abweichungen mit 60,4 % a. p. und 73,6 % bis 90,9 % ab der 2. Wo p. p. Die CK-Aktivitäten der Färsen sind zu 100 % > 100 U/I. Cu-Mangelzustände wurden bei 12,5 % a. p. und 14,8 % der Kühe in der Spätlaktation beobachtet. Färsen zeigten mit 21,3 % am häufigsten Cu-Unterversorgungen. A. p. bestand zu 20,6 % Se-Unterversorgungen, p. p. hingegen zu 30,1 bis 37% eine Se-Überversorgung. ß-Carotin-Mangelzustände betrugen a. p. 50 % und p. p. 47,1 – 77,8 %. Die TEAC zeigte bei keinen Kontrollen einen Antioxidantienmangel an. Bei den meisten Parametern waren z.T. signifikante Unterschiede zwischen den einzelnen Untersuchungsjahren festzustellen. Bei den FFS und ß-Carotin bestand ein ansteigender Trend an Abweichungen, ein sinkender Trend bei Pi- Abweichungen. In den sechs Kontrolljahren konnte bei 80 % der Betriebe eine Verbesserung der Stoffwechselsituation dokumentiert werden. Bei den Parametern Ca, Pi, Harnstoff, Cholesterol, BHB, Bilirubin, CK und Cu stieg die Zahl physiologischer Werte im Einsendungsverlauf an; nur bei FFS und Se war eine Abnahme zu verzeichnen. Schlussfolgerungen: In kleinen und mittelgroßen Betrieben lieferten systematische Stoffwechselanalysen im peripartalen Zeitraum frühzeitig kausale Hinweise für die häufigsten Krankheiten und Merzungsursachen. Als informative Parameter bewährten sich Indikatoren des Energiestoffwechsels FSS, BHB und Bilirubin, weiterhin Harnstoff, das Se sowie das ß-Carotin. Die systematischen Analysen trugen im Analysenzeitraum zu Verbesserungen in den Betrieben bei. In kleineren Betrieben haben peripartale Einzeltieranalysen besonderen Informationswert über den Herdenzustand.

Inwieweit kann pflanzliches Futterfett als zusätzliche Energie oder anstelle anderer Energieträger zum Einsatz kommen? Die Energieversorgung der Wiederkäuer über Futterfett zu erhöhen, wird in jüngster Zeit in verschiedenen Ländern untersucht. Dabei zeigt sich, dass bei Fetteinsatz noch nicht alle Fragen der Stoffwechselbeeinflussung und Fütterungspraxis geklärt sind (MAHLKOW-NERGE, 2002). Aufgrund der z. T. noch offenen Fragen sollte in länderübergreifender Zusammenarbeit der Landesanstalten Sachsen (Köllitsch) und Sachsen-Anhalt (Iden) die Wirkung eines bereits vielerorts in der Milchkuhfütterung eingesetzten pansengeschützten Fettes charakterisiert werden. Es geht darum, die Kühe in der Hochleistungsphase (1. 150 Laktationstage) möglichst ausreichend mit Energie zu versorgen (Stoffwechselstabilisierung). Inwieweit dafür das pansengeschützte Pflanzenfett (Bergafat T 300) geeignet ist, wurde in Abstimmung mit der Sächsischen Landesanstalt für Landwirtschaft (LfL) in einem 140-tägigen Einzelfütterungsversuch der Landesanstalt für Landwirtschaft und Gartenbau Sachsen-Anhalt am Standort Iden untersucht.