Nitrogen (N) is essential for agricultural production, but excess quantities can be detrimental to both water and air quality. The increase in dairy cattle populations in the Magic Valley of southern Idaho has lead to concerns over the impact of N losses to the environment and the impact on both water and air in the region. This work examines the N flows and balances at the production facility,...

Most analyses of technical efficiency and productivity focus on the activities of firms or institutions using inputs to produce outputs. In this paper, we report the results of an efficiency analysis that is couched in a different context. We analyse the efficiency with which physical characteristics of individual lot-fed Australian beef cattle are combined with conventional inputs to produce a...

The traditional diet in Greenland consists to a large extent of meat and organs of seal and other marine mammals, which is polluted by POPs and mercury. These substances are present in the blood of Greenlanders in concentrations well above international guidelines, and as these contaminants are suspected of having negative impacts on health, some action should be taken. On the other hand, tradi...

The prevalence of sarcocystosis in cattle and water buffaloes from peninsular Malaysia was investigated in abattoirs in Selangor state, February, 2011, to March, 2012. Fresh muscle samples were collected from the tongue, heart, oesophagus, diaphragm and skeletal muscles of 102 cattle and 18 water buffaloes. Each sample was initially screened by light microscopy and then fixed for further histop...

OBJECTIVES We characterized mechanisms of resistance to oxyimino-cephalosporins in Escherichia coli isolated from raw chicken meat imported into the UK from South America, to ascertain whether this foodstuff contributes to the dissemination in the UK of extended-spectrum β-lactamase (ESBL)-producing E. coli belonging to the international uropathogenic ST131 clone. METHODS Sampling and collect...

The studies were based on the RAPD fingerprinting for the species identification of animals. The genomic DNA samples of ostriches, Taiwan local chickens, Aboracres broilers, Leghorn chickens, quails, doves, emus, Beltville small white turkeys, pheasants, Chinese geese, mule ducks, Holstein cattle and Landrace pigs were amplified with random primers by RAPD-PCR for fingerprinting. The results sh...

This paper reviews current production trends for sheep and beef cattle production in New Zealand and gives some insight into the opportunities for improvement. The New Zealand climate favours pasture growth and this is the key to sheep and beef cattle production with over 95% of the diet being grazed pasture or crop. Exports are the focus of the industry with 92% of sheep meat and 82% of beef e...

The current review seeks to highlight the concerns that have been raised on pre-slaughter stress, contributing factors and its consequent effects on cattle behavioural responses and the quality of beef; inter-linking the activities involved from birth to slaughter. Such information is crucial in light of the consumer concerns on overall animal welfare, quality of meat and food security. Slaught...

Parasitic infections adopt a rather low profile in the highly urbanized setting in Singapore. Very few food-borne parasitic infections are encountered. Apart from a few reports of infections with Clonorchis/Opisthorchis, Taenia spp. and hydatid disease, there are no other citations of such helminthic infections. Seroprevalence surveys have shown the presence of toxoplasmosis in local meat anima...