'Green'-feed: Industrial microbes could feed cattle, pigs, chicken.

'Green'-feed: Industrial microbes could feed cattle, pigs, chicken. Deforestation, greenhouse gas emissions, biodiversity loss and nitrogen pollution . Today's agricultural feed cultivation for cattle, pigs and chicken comes with tremendous impacts for the environment and climate. Cultivating feed in industrial facilities instead of on croplands might help to alleviate the critical implications in the agricultural food supply chain. Protein-rich microbes, produced in large-scale industrial facilities, are likely to increasingly replace traditional crop-based feed. A new study now published in the journal Environmental Science & Technology for the first time estimates the economic and environmental potential of feeding microbial protein to pigs, cattle and chicken on a global scale. The researchers find that by replacing only 2 percent of livestock feed by protein-rich microbes, more than 5 percent of agricultural greenhouse gas emissions, global cropland area and global nitrogen losses could each be decreased.

How to reduce sow culling due to lameness.

How to reduce sow culling due to lameness.Lameness is a growing problem on swine farms with sows being culled from the herd in the most severe cases. The causes of lameness can be reduced and eliminated by following these simple tips. Lameness and hoof quality issues are becoming an increasingly common problem on a greater number of swine farms, leading to more culling of sows. Health problems associated with limb injuries are most common in bedding-free systems where uneven, wet and slippery floors increase the risk of both limb injuries and infections.#sows Lameness reflects pain of an injury . For example, incorrect slat widths in slatted floors can cause inflammation if hooves get stuck between them, resulting in abrasions or injuries. Analysis of hoof and limb condition in the sow herd, and the level of sow culling due to hoof and limb issues, provides us with important feedback on the correct husbandry and management of a herd, which directly impacts production efficiency. #sow How to reduce sow culling due to lameness.