Adoption of a new feeding technology in Mediterranean sheep farming systems: Implications and economic evaluation

Influence of feeding system (concentrate and total mixed ration) on fatty acid profiles of beef from three lean cattle breeds

“…Traditionally, fattening young bulls for meat production has involved the combined use of concentrates (including cereal grains) and cereal straw or grass hay, while in young dairy bulls, a total mixed ration (TMR, unifeed system), consisting of mixed concentrate and fibre sources, has been widely used due to its favourable impact on economic traits (Olaizola et al, 2008) and animal health (Tafaj et al, 2007). Dairy cattle studies have confirmed that a diet based exclusively on green herbage or TMR, compared to a diet based on concentrate, reduces the presence of thrombogenic and atherogenic fatty acids (lauric, myristic and palmitic acids) and increases the amount of conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) and n-3 PUFA in milk fat (Dewhurst et al, 2006), although these differences in fatty acid composition often depend on other factors too, such as the breed of cow (White et al, 2001;Brugiapaglia et al, 2014).…”

Potential strategies of adaptation of mixed sheep-crop systems to changes in the economic environment in a Mediterranean mountain area

“…Those results were because of the higher GM in MSCS4 and MSCS3, which was because of the high prices of cereals and because livestock, in particular, sheep, are more intensive in the use of labour input than are crops (Bell and Moore, 2012). The labour factor is one of the critical issues for Spanish sheep farms, mainly, because of the associated social problems (Olaizola et al, 2008); thus, it has become a key factor in explaining their development (Riedel et al, 2007). In addition, the inherent difficulties of the labour factor on sheep farms have accentuated the reduction in the sheep census in France and elsewhere in Europe (Benoit and Laignel, 2011).…”

Heterogeneity of farms entering export supply chains: the case of fruit growers from central-south Chile

“…To the best of our knowledge, studies relating efficiency, productivity and GAP are scarce in the literature, and this could be a gap to be filled in the future. As well, the different types of farms can be a useful tool to complement research in the construction of models to represent agricultural decision-making (Köbrich et al, 2003), to design management strategies (Gaspar et al, 2008), to evaluate new technologies (Olaizola et al, 2008) or to evaluate the sustainability of farm production systems in the fruit sector (Nahed et al, 2006).…”