GPS tracking technology to ensure animal welfare.

GPS tracking technology to ensure animal welfare,because animal welfare on huge range-lands is a challenge. Researchers are now collaborating to find ways to help ranchers better manage livestock and improve animal welfare. Researchers in Australia are very close to having real-time or near real-time GPS tracking of livestock. Derek Bailey, professor in the New Mexico State University Department of Animal and Range Sciences, is working to find ways to help such ranchers better manage their livestock and improve animal welfare.His efforts include collaborating with researchers in Australia, where the rangeland is similar to that in New Mexico and other western states. On rangelands in New Mexico, in the western United States and in most of Australia, ranchers have extensive pastures on which they can't see the livestock all the time, the cows have to free -roam out in the range, so you can't watch them. The GPS device would be affixed to a collar that would send a signal to a nearby tower, potentially up to 10 miles away from the animal. That data would be collected and transferred to the ranch headquarters. Ideally, the information would be sent via the internet to a smartphone application.

Nordic countries and an energy transition.

Nordic countries are bringing about an energy transition worth copying. A new study by Professor Benjamin Sovacool at the University of Sussex offers some important lessons.The Trump administration's "First energy plan" criticizes the "burdensome" regulations on the energy industry and aims to eliminate "harmful and unnecessary policies such as the Climate Action Plan" which was introduced by President Barack Obama. It has also deleted all mentions of climate change and global warming from the White House website. Given the American leadership vacuum on energy and climate change, national and local planners looking to bring about energy transitions will need to look elsewhere. Five Nordic countries -- Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden -- could hold answers for how to make the transition to a more energy efficient society generating energy through renewables. About 83% of electricity generation in Nordic countries is low-carbon, of which 63% comes entirely from renewable sources. The Nordic countries are also facilitating other low-carbon transitions across other sectors including heat, buildings, industry, and transport. A new study outlines broad lessons for how this transition could be replicated elsewhere. The energy transition pays for itself (if you factor in the costs of air pollution) The total estimated cost of the Nordic energy transition is roughly $357 billion more than business as usual, which comes to a total of less than 1 percent of cumulative GDP between now and 2050. Almost all of these costs will be offset by fuel savings. Even the external costs associated with the health impacts of air pollution alone in the Nordic countries (about $9 to $14 billion annually) are roughly equal to the additional investment needed to achieve a carbon neutral scenario. Trade and interconnection with other countries are key for reaching energy targets Trade and interconnection with Europe are instrumental to the Nordic countries reaching their carbon and energy targets. Nordic electricity trade must expand considerably -- underscoring the need for paralleled, coordinated grid development and interconnections with Great Britain, the Netherlands, Germany, Poland, Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia. "It's as much a regional governance or European challenge as it is a national priority for individual Nordic states," says Sovacool, a Professor of Energy Policy at the University of Sussex's Science Policy Research Unit and Director of the Centre on Innovation and Energy Demand. Continue

Nanoparticle fertilizer could contribute to new 'green revolution'.

The 'Green Revolution' of the '60s and '70s has been credited with helping to feed billions around the world, with fertilizers being one of the key drivers spurring the agricultural boom. But in developing countries, the cost of fertilizer remains relatively high and can limit food production. Now researchers report a simple way to make a benign, more efficient fertilizer that could contribute to a second food revolution. Farmers often use urea, a rich source of nitrogen, as fertilizer. Its flaw, however, is that it breaks down quickly in wet soil and forms ammonia. The ammonia is washed away, creating a major environmental issue as it leads to eutrophication of water ways and ultimately enters the atmosphere as nitrogen dioxide, the main greenhouse gas associated with agriculture. This fast decomposition also limits the amount of nitrogen that can get absorbed by crop roots and requires farmers to apply more fertilizer to boost production. However, in low-income regions where populations continue to grow and the food supply is unstable, the cost of fertilizer can hinder additional applications and cripple crop yields. The researchers developed a simple and scalable method for coating hydroxyapatite (HA) nanoparticles with urea molecules. HA is a mineral found in human and animal tissues and is considered to be environmentally friendly. In water, the hybridization of the HA nanoparticles and urea slowly released nitrogen, 12 times slower than urea by itself. Initial field tests on rice farms showed that the HA-urea nanohybrid lowered the need for fertilizer by one-half.

Dog Rescued From Meat Farm sleeps standing up.

Harriet arrived at the shelter scared, sad and exhausted. After what she'd been through, it was completely understandable.A little over two weeks ago, the three-year-old Korean Jindo had been stuck in a cramped cage at a dog meat farm in Wonju, South Korea, with about 200 other dogs. Like most dog meat farms in South Korea, the conditions were deplorable. If Harriet had stayed there, she and the other dogs would have been killed for their meat, and probably in a horrible, painful way. They're tortured, and they aren't always dead when they skin them. Harriet was now thousands of miles away from the horrors at the meat farm, but she was still traumatized.Harriet continued to sleep standing up until she was assisted to lie down on the fuzzy blanket, which acted as Harriet's very first dog bed. see

New NAFTA could be good for agriculture in Mexico.

Renegotiating the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) could be an opportunity to extricate Mexican agriculture from rules that have harmed farming in Mexico. Sergio Barrales Domínguez, president of the Autonomous University of Chapingo (UACh) in Puebla, said threats by U.S. President Donald Trump to reopen NAFTA represent an opportunity to “make do without North American food” and fuel the domestic market and national food production. The university president referred to 56 programs the school has already created, which include rainwater collection systems for farming and human consumption, and its biofertilizer and gasoline saving programs. Pedro Ponce Javana, deputy director of the institution, backed the president’s stance and issued the admonishment that the government vision that agriculture is “only a business” should shift to one in which it is considered a strategic sector for the country instead. The statement pointed out that Mexico imports 30% of the beans it consumes, 50% of the wheat, 80% of the rice and over 17 million tonnes of yellow corn, as well as other vegetables, fruits, oilseeds and processed foods. continue

From Farm to Fork – Developing New Technologies to Analyze Veterinary Medicines in the Agri-Food Supply Chain.

Stuart Adams, Ph.D, a Senior Analytical Chemist at Fera Science Limited, UK, gave an informative presentation on targeted and non-targeted analyses of residues of veterinary medicines at the 130th AOAC meeting, 2016, Dallas, Texas. He discussed the development of a new LC-MS/MS multi-residue method based on high resolution accurate mass (HRAM) mass spectrometry (MS). Dr Adams began by noting that the EU guidelines for validation of methods for the analysis of veterinary medicines in food of animal origin and animal products were currently under review to include high resolution mass spectrometry. He is part of a team evaluating the Thermo Scientific™ Q Exactive™ Focus Hybrid Quadrupole-Orbitrap™ Mass Spectrometer for the screening of 167 veterinary medicines in a single multi-residue method. - continue

The veterinary medicine daily .

The veterinary medicine daily is a compilation of veterinary and medical news from around the world. Pet health and safety is top priority,learn how to deal with emergency situations and how to prevent occurrence. The one health initiative is an important learning curve that demonstrates the relationship between animals and man and how to deal with emerging diseases. The war against abuse of antimicrobial s in food animals is on and steps and control measures are outlined to stop this practice to ensure food safety. continue.