The crisis represents a disorder that in contemporary society increasingly occurs. Crises are often the result of some earlier solutions. The situation in agricultural production in Croatia has been negative for years. Inadequate tax and high administrative burdens act to discourage the production process and impede the competitiveness of farmers. Furthermore, the measures taken to create added value are not enough, they can even be said to be wrong. The current crisis Covide-19 caused a disturbance on the market in terms of trends of supply and demand. The crisis period will show whether the country has an adequate strategy to overcome all the economic problems ahead. The aim of this paper was to analyze the readiness of the Republic of Croatia for crisis periods in terms of food security by analyzing the volume of agricultural production, the balance of foreign trade of agri-food products as well as the structure of total agri-food product trade. The determined trend of increasing deficits in agri-food products in foreign trade balance, particularly with EU countries implies the state's unenviable position regarding the food security indicating the need for implementation of adequate measures in the direction of the market organization and to facilitate investment in sustainable agriculture production systems.
In order to estimate the variance components as well as the breeding value for daily milk production of Holstein cows in terms of heat stress defined as different THI threshold values (68, 70, and 72) 1,275,713 test-day records from 90,159 cows were used. Temperature-humidity index (THI) calculated from ambient temperature and relative humidity recorded in the barns on the milk recording day was used as the measure of heat stress. Daily milk production was analysed as a bivariate variable, in the normal conditions (under the set THIthreshold value), and in terms of heat stress (above the set THIthreshold value) using a model that accounted variances due to lactation stage, calving season, age at calving, breeding region, parity, permanent environment, interaction between hear and year, and individual animal. The estimated high genetic correlations between the daily milk production in normal and heat stress conditions, as well as high correlations among the EBVs in normal and heat stress conditions, point out that Holstein cows with high productivity in normal condition will sustain an alike level of production even in terms of heat stress. These results indicate that the Holstein cows are very well acclimatized to the environmental conditions at dairy farms in Croatia. However, these findings should be taken with caution, given that measurements of microclimate parameters were conducted only once at a milk recording day, so the reliability of such measurements could be questionable. In conclusion, in order to realize a completely unambiguous conclusion, further studies that include multiple daily measurements of microclimatic parameters in the farms facilities are necessary.
With the aim of determining the effect of response to heat stress, parity, breed and breeding region on somatic cell count (SCC) in dairy cattle, the individual test-day records of dairy cows collected from 2005 to 2012 in regular milk recording (AT4 / BT4 method) in Croatia were used. The proportional differences in log somatic cell count, and logSCC (in %) in subsequent milk recordings (1st, and 2nd) were determined in cows with a significant decrease in daily milk yield at a set temperature-humidity index, THI threshold (68, 72, and 76). The results indicate high variability in somatic cell count due to the animal’s response to heat stress (heat stressed at THI in 68, 72, and 76), parity (1, 2, and 3+), breed (Holstein, and Simmental) and breeding region (Central, and Eastern Croatia). Also, it could be pointed out that Holsteins, especially cows in higher parities (2, 3+) reared in Eastern Croatia were shown to be more sensitive to environmental stress, even in the period after heat stress (1st, and 2nd subsequent milk recording). Since SCC is not only an indicator for mastitis, but also reflects a cow’s immune response to general stress situations, the high variability determined may be explained by the individual adaptation capabilities of these two breeds to breeding conditions in the analysed regions.
Variance components for daily milk production as well as breeding value of dairy Simmentals for daily milk production in terms of heat stress defined as different values of THI threshold values (72, 74, and 76) were estimated using 1,636,192 test-day records provided by the Croatian Agricultural Agency. Temperature-humidity index (THI) calculated from ambient temperature and relative humidity recorded in the barns on the milk recording day was used as the measure of heat stress. Bivariate estimation model accounted variances due to lactation stage, calving season, age at calving, breeding region, parity, permanent environment, interaction between hear and year, and individual animal. Obtained high genetic correlations between the daily milk production in normal and condition characterized by heat stress, as well as very high correlations between the EBVs in normal and heat stress conditions indicate animals' high level of acclimatization to the environment on dairy cattle farms. Since microclimate measurements were carried out only once at a milk recording day, these results should be taken with caution. Generally, further research with multiple daily measurements of the microclimate parameters in the facilities is necessary to provide a fully unambiguous conclusion.
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