The importance of herbicides for weed control in wheat crop is extensively studied, but there is limited research about their impact on the chemical content of wheat grain. With the aim to analyse the effect of five commonly used herbicides on the chemical content of winter wheat crop (cv. Euclide) grown on Vertisol soil, field trial was carried out during 2012-13 in the central part of Kosovo. The five applied post-emergence herbicides were: Sekator WG (a.i. iodosulfuron-methyl-natrium + amidosulfuron + mefenpyr-diethyl-protectant), Lintur 70 WG (a.i. triasulfuron + dicamba), Granstar 75 WG (a.i. tribenuronmethyl), Mustang (a.i. florasulam + 2,4-D 2-EH) and a combination of Sekator WG (a.i. iodosulfuron-methyl-natrium + amidosulfuron + mefenpyr-diethylprotectant) + Furore super EW (a.i. fenoxaprop-P-ethyl). There were seven treatments: five herbicide treatments, mechanical control (hand check) and an untreated control. The field trial was set in a randomized block design with four replications and elementary plots of 9 m 2. The chemical content of wheat grain (crude proteins, crude fibre, fat, starch, ash and moisture) was analysed using NIRS technique. Milled samples of 20 g were placed in special boxes and sealed with a lid of cardboard and placed in the NIRS's apparatus for the analyses. Three replications for each treatment were used for the statistical analysis. There was significant effect of herbicides for crude proteins (F 2.21 = 5.10, p < 0.05), fat content (F 2.21 = 5.36, p < 0.05), crude fibre (F 2.21 = 13.0, p < 0.05) and ash (F 2.21 = 2.84, p < 0.05). However, no significant effect of the herbicides on starch content was observed. Based on our results we suggest to additionally consider the effects of herbicides on the chemical content of wheat grain in the process of choosing appropriate herbicides for weed control.

One-year investigation is carried out aimed at evaluating all incomes and costs with a specific focus on the impact of feeding factors in 12 Holstein dairy farms (in total 284 cows) in Kosovo. The cost of on-farm produced feeds; the price of purchased feeds and the price of milk were used for the analysis. All costs created during this period are duly registered and considered in the analysis. Economic analysis showed that prices of on-farm produced feed were much lower (30 €/ton for silages and for hay). Average daily feed cost was 2.33 €/cow/day, while milk income was only 4.9 €/d. Individual feed groups contributed to total milk cost as follows: silages with 0.04 €/kg, dry roughages with 0.02 €/kg, and concentrates with 0.10 €/kg, while all other factors taken 0.13 €/kg of milk price. This study showed that feed was the largest farm expense making 68% of total farm costs.

An 8-week experiment was conducted to study the effect of added Natuphos® 5000 phytase in corn–soybean meal-based diets on laying hens fed different levels of crude protein (CP) (14 and 17%). Two levels of phytase enzyme were used: 0 and 600 Phytase Units (FTU)/kg feed. The experiment used 144 Hisex Brown laying hens in a 2 × 2 factorial design. Four treatments and three replicates per treatment with 12 hens per replicate were used. Egg production was recorded daily while egg weight was assessed on 13th and 14th day of each two-week period to calculate total egg mass. Total excreta were collected and approximately 10% of the amount was used for analysis after drying in a forced draft oven. The results showed no significant effect of added phytase on excreta Calcium (Ca) content, but significantly lower Magnesium (Mg) content was observed with phytase (3.54, 2.48, 3.13 and 2.75 % for hens fed 14% CP no phytase, 14% CP + phytase, 17% CP no phytase, and 17% CP + phytase, respectively). Added phytase also significantly decreased Mg excretion measured as grams/kg of egg mass (21.43, 12.47, 16.76 and 14.75 g/kg egg mass for hens of respective dietary treatments. Phytase had a strong effect on Zink (Zn) levels with 438.96, 369.17, 434.38 and 374.58 mg Zn/kg dry excreta of hens. Similar results were observed with Cu. Added phytase significantly reduced the excreta content and the excretion of Cu. The results of this experiment indicate that adding 600 FTU to laying hen diets containing 14% CP decreases the excretion of Mg, Zn and Cu without any adverse effects on the egg mass produced of laying hens.