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Author |
Vitali, A.; Lana, E.; Amadori, M.; Bernabucci, U.; Nardone, A.; Lacetera, N. |
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Title |
Analysis of factors associated with mortality of heavy slaughter pigs during transport and lairage |
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Journal Article |
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Year |
2014 |
Publication |
Journal of Animal Science |
Abbreviated Journal |
J. Anim. Sci. |
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Volume |
92 |
Issue |
11 |
Pages |
5134-5141 |
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Keywords |
Abattoirs/*statistics & numerical data; Animals; *Data Interpretation, Statistical; Humidity/adverse effects; Light/adverse effects; *Mortality; Retrospective Studies; Seasons; Swine/*physiology; Temperature; Time Factors; Transportation/*statistics & numerical data; lairage; mortality; pigs; temperature-humidity index; transport |
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Abstract |
The study was based on data collected during 5 yr (2003-2007) and was aimed at assessing the effects of the month, slaughter house of destination (differing for stocking density, openings, brightness, and cooling device types), length of the journey, and temperature-humidity index (THI) on mortality of heavy slaughter pigs (approximately 160 kg live weight) during transport and lairage. Data were obtained from 24,098 journeys and 3,676,153 pigs transported from 1,618 farms to 3 slaughter houses. Individual shipments were the unit of observation. The terms dead on arrival (DOA) and dead in pen (DIP) refer to pigs that died during transport and in lairage at the abattoir before slaughtering, respectively. These 2 variables were assessed as the dependent counts in separate univariate Poisson regressions. The independent variables assessed univariately in each set of regressions were month of shipment, slaughter house of destination, time traveled, and each combination of the month with the time traveled. Two separate piecewise regressions were done. One used DOA counts within THI levels over pigs transported as a dependent ratio and the second used DIP counts within THI levels over pigs from a transport kept in lairage as a dependent ratio. The THI was the sole independent variable in each case. The month with the greatest frequency of deaths was July with a risk ratio of 1.22 (confidence interval: 1.06-1.36; P < 0.05) and 1.27 (confidence interval: 1.06-1.51; P < 0.05) for DOA and DIP, respectively. The lower mortality risk ratios for DOA and DIP were recorded for January and March (P < 0.05). The aggregated data of the summer (June, July, and August) versus non-summer (January, March, September, and November) months showed a greater risk of pigs dying during the hot season when considering both transport and lairage (P < 0.05). The mortality risk ratio of DIP was lower at the slaughter house with the lowest stocking density (0.64 m(2)/100 kg live weight), large open windows on the roof and sidewalls, low brightness (40 lx) lights, and high-pressure sprinklers as cooling devices. The mortality risk ratio of DOA increased significantly for journeys longer than 2 h, whereas no relationship was found between length of transport and DIP. The piecewise analysis pointed out that 78.5 and 73.6 THI were the thresholds above which the mortality rate increased significantly for DOA and DIP, respectively. These results may help the pig industry to improve the welfare of heavy slaughter pigs during transport and lairage. |
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1525-3163 (Electronic) 0021-8812 (Linking) |
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LiveM, ft_macsur |
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MA @ admin @ |
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4641 |
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Author |
Perego, A.; Sanna, M.; Giussani, A.; Chiodini, M.E.; Fumagalli, M.; Pilu, S.R.; Bindi, M.; Moriondo, M.; Acutis, M. |
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Title |
Designing a high-yielding maize ideotype for a changing climate in Lombardy plain northern Italy |
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Journal Article |
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Year |
2014 |
Publication |
Science of the Total Environment |
Abbreviated Journal |
Science of the Total Environment |
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Volume |
499 |
Issue |
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Pages |
497-509 |
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Keywords |
Agriculture/*methods/standards; *Climate Change; Droughts; Italy; Nitrogen/analysis; Soil; Water Supply/statistics & numerical data; Zea mays/*growth & development/standards; Climate change; Crop model; Maize; Water use adaptation |
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• ARMOSA model simulated a maize ideotype with drought adaptation under climate change. • The ideotype needs less water for higher yield compared to current hybrids. • Higher production involves more crop residues that enhance soil C sequestration. • Soil organic C may generally decrease and N leaching will increase in sandy soil. The expected climate change will affect the maize yields in view of air temperature increase and scarce water availability. The application of biophysical models offers the chance to design a drought-resistant ideotype and to assist plant breeders and agronomists in the assessment of its suitability in future scenarios. The aim of the present work was to perform a model-based estimation of the yields of two hybrids, current vs ideotype, under future climate scenarios (2030–2060 and 2070–2100) in Lombardy (northern Italy), testing two options of irrigation (small amount at fixed dates vs optimal water supply), nitrogen (N) fertilization (300 vs 400 kg N ha− 1), and crop cycle durations (current vs extended). For the designing of the ideotype we set several parameters of the ARMOSA process-based crop model: the root elongation rate and maximum depth, stomatal resistance, four stage-specific crop coefficients for the actual transpiration estimation, and drought tolerance factor. The work findings indicated that the current hybrid ensures good production only with high irrigation amount (245–565 mm y− 1). With respect to the current hybrid, the ideotype will require less irrigation water (− 13%, p < 0.01) and it resulted in significantly higher yield under water stress condition (+ 15%, p < 0.01) and optimal water supply (+ 2%, p < 0.05). The elongated cycle has a positive effect on yield under any combination of options. Moreover, higher yields projected for the ideotype implicate more crop residues to be incorporated into the soil, which are positively correlated with the SOC sequestration and negatively with N leaching. The crop N uptake is expected to be adequate in view of higher rate of soil mineralization; the N fertilization rate of 400 kg N ha− 1 will involve significant increasing of grain yield, and it is expected to involve a higher rate of SOC sequestration. |
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0048-9697 |
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CropM |
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MA @ admin @ |
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4633 |
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Dumont, B.; Leemans, V.; Ferrandis, S.; Bodson, B.; Destain, J.-P.; Destain, M.-F. |
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Title |
Assessing the potential of an algorithm based on mean climatic data to predict wheat yield |
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Journal Article |
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Year |
2014 |
Publication |
Precision Agriculture |
Abbreviated Journal |
Precision Agric. |
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15 |
Issue |
3 |
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255-272 |
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Keywords |
stics model; yield prediction; real-time; proxy-sensing; stochastic weather generator; crop yield; mediterranean environment; simulation-model; variability; nitrogen; ensembles; forecasts; demeter; europe |
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The real-time non-invasive determination of crop biomass and yield prediction is one of the major challenges in agriculture. An interesting approach lies in using process-based crop yield models in combination with real-time monitoring of the input climatic data of these models, but unknown future weather remains the main obstacle to reliable yield prediction. Since accurate weather forecasts can be made only a short time in advance, much information can be derived from analyzing past weather data. This paper presents a methodology that addresses the problem of unknown future weather by using a daily mean climatic database, based exclusively on available past measurements. It involves building climate matrix ensembles, combining different time ranges of projected mean climate data and real measured weather data originating from the historical database or from real-time measurements performed in the field. Used as an input for the STICS crop model, the datasets thus computed were used to perform statistical within-season biomass and yield prediction. This work demonstrated that a reliable predictive delay of 3-4 weeks could be obtained. In combination with a local micrometeorological station that monitors climate data in real-time, the approach also enabled us to (i) predict potential yield at the local level, (ii) detect stress occurrence and (iii) quantify yield loss (or gain) drawing on real monitored climatic conditions of the previous few days. |
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1385-2256 1573-1618 |
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CropM |
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MA @ admin @ |
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4621 |
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Sollitto, D.; De Benedetto, D.; Castrignanò, A.; Crescimanno, G.; Provenzano, G.; Ventrella, D. |
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Spatial data fusion and analysis for soil characterization: a case study in a coastal basin of south-western Sicily (southern Italy) |
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Journal Article |
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2012 |
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Italian Journal of Agronomy |
Abbreviated Journal |
Ital. J. Agron. |
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7 |
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1 |
Pages |
4 |
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salinization risk; soil retention curve; geostatistics; factor Kriging; intrinsic random funciton |
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Salinization is one of the most serious problems confronting sustainable agriculture in semi-arid and arid regions. Accurate mapping of soil salinization and the associated risk represent a fundamental step in planning agricultural and remediation activities. Geostatistical analysis is very useful for soil quality assessment because it makes it possible to determine the spatial relationships between selected variables and to produce synthetic maps of spatial variation. The main objective of this paper was to map the soil salinization risk in the Delia-Nivolelli alluvial basin (south-western Sicily, southern Italy), using multivariate geostatistical techniques and a set of topographical, physical and soil hydraulic properties. Elevation data were collected from existing topographic maps and analysed preliminarily to improve the estimate precision of sparsely sampled primary variables. For interpolation multi-collocated cokriging was applied to the dataset, including textural and hydraulic properties and electrical conductivity measurements carried out on 128 collected soil samples, using elevation data as auxiliary variable. Spatial dependence among elevation and physical soil properties was explored with factorial kriging analysis (FKA) that could isolate and display the sources of variation acting at different spatial scales. FKA isolated significant regionalised factors which give a concise description of the complex soil physical variability at the different selected spatial scales. These factors mapped, allowed the delineation of zones at different salinisation risk to be managed separately to control and prevent salinization risk. The proposed methodology could be a valid support for land use and soil remediation planning at regional scale. |
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2039-6805 1125-4718 |
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CropM, ftnotmacsur |
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MA @ admin @ |
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4595 |
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Cantelaube, P.; Jayet, P. |
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Geographical downscaling of outputs provided by an economic farm model calibrated at the regional level |
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2012 |
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Land Use Policy |
Abbreviated Journal |
Land Use Policy |
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29 |
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35-44 |
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Downscaling; Land use; Spatial statistics; Farm-groups; Farm Accountancy Data Network; FADN |
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There is a strong need for accurate and spatially referenced information regarding policy making and model linkage. This need has been expressed by land users, and policy and decision makers in order to estimate both spatially and locally the impacts of European policy (like the Common Agricultural Policy) and/or global changes on farm-groups. These entities are defined according to variables such as altitude, economic size and type of farming (referring to land uses). European farm-groups are provided through the Farm Accountancy Data Network (FADN) as statistical information delivered at regional level. The aim of the study is to map locally farm-group probabilities within each region. The mapping of the farm-groups is done in two steps: (1) by mapping locally the co-variables associated to the farm-groups, i.e. altitude and land uses; (2) by using regional FADN data as a priori knowledge for transforming land uses and altitude information into farm-groups location probabilities within each region. The downscaling process focuses on the land use mapping since land use data are originally point information located every 18 km. Interpolation of land use data is done at 100 m by using co-variables like land cover, altitude, climate and soil data which are continuous layers usually provided at fine resolution. Once the farm-groups are mapped, European Policy and global changes scenarios are run through an agro-economic model for assessing environmental impacts locally. |
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TradeM, ftnotmacsur |
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MA @ admin @ |
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4582 |
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