Herd and farm structure. Mean values, standard deviation and level of significance.
\\n\\n
Released this past November, the list is based on data collected from the Web of Science and highlights some of the world’s most influential scientific minds by naming the researchers whose publications over the previous decade have included a high number of Highly Cited Papers placing them among the top 1% most-cited.
\\n\\nWe wish to congratulate all of the researchers named and especially our authors on this amazing accomplishment! We are happy and proud to share in their success!
\\n"}]',published:!0,mainMedia:null},components:[{type:"htmlEditorComponent",content:'IntechOpen is proud to announce that 179 of our authors have made the Clarivate™ Highly Cited Researchers List for 2020, ranking them among the top 1% most-cited.
\n\nThroughout the years, the list has named a total of 252 IntechOpen authors as Highly Cited. Of those researchers, 69 have been featured on the list multiple times.
\n\n\n\nReleased this past November, the list is based on data collected from the Web of Science and highlights some of the world’s most influential scientific minds by naming the researchers whose publications over the previous decade have included a high number of Highly Cited Papers placing them among the top 1% most-cited.
\n\nWe wish to congratulate all of the researchers named and especially our authors on this amazing accomplishment! We are happy and proud to share in their success!
\n'}],latestNews:[{slug:"stanford-university-identifies-top-2-scientists-over-1-000-are-intechopen-authors-and-editors-20210122",title:"Stanford University Identifies Top 2% Scientists, Over 1,000 are IntechOpen Authors and Editors"},{slug:"intechopen-authors-included-in-the-highly-cited-researchers-list-for-2020-20210121",title:"IntechOpen Authors Included in the Highly Cited Researchers List for 2020"},{slug:"intechopen-maintains-position-as-the-world-s-largest-oa-book-publisher-20201218",title:"IntechOpen Maintains Position as the World’s Largest OA Book Publisher"},{slug:"all-intechopen-books-available-on-perlego-20201215",title:"All IntechOpen Books Available on Perlego"},{slug:"oiv-awards-recognizes-intechopen-s-editors-20201127",title:"OIV Awards Recognizes IntechOpen's Editors"},{slug:"intechopen-joins-crossref-s-initiative-for-open-abstracts-i4oa-to-boost-the-discovery-of-research-20201005",title:"IntechOpen joins Crossref's Initiative for Open Abstracts (I4OA) to Boost the Discovery of Research"},{slug:"intechopen-hits-milestone-5-000-open-access-books-published-20200908",title:"IntechOpen hits milestone: 5,000 Open Access books published!"},{slug:"intechopen-books-hosted-on-the-mathworks-book-program-20200819",title:"IntechOpen Books Hosted on the MathWorks Book Program"}]},book:{item:{type:"book",id:"8188",leadTitle:null,fullTitle:"Ion Beam Techniques and Applications",title:"Ion Beam Techniques and Applications",subtitle:null,reviewType:"peer-reviewed",abstract:"A wide variety of ion beam techniques are being used in several versatile applications ranging from environmental science, nuclear physics, microdevice fabrication to materials science. 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\r\n\r\n\tThe health effects of this consumption are significant. Recent evidence from Evelyne Battaglia Richi (2015) indicated that the long-term large consumption of red meat and particularly processed meat is associated with an increased risk of total mortality, cardiovascular disease, colorectal cancer and type 2 diabetes, in both men and women. The strongest evidence relates to the association between consumption of red and processed meats and colorectal cancer risk, which led to a classification of red meat by the World Cancer Research Fund as a class 2A carcinogen (probably carcinogenic to humans), and processed meat as class 1 (carcinogenic). This situation is especially occurring in high income countries. In developing countries there is still a prevalence of undernutrition. According to the World Health Organization, protein-calorie malnutrition is prevalent in children and pregnant women. Approximately, 43% of children (230 million) in developing countries suffer from stunted growth.
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Venkateswarlu",coverURL:"https://cdn.intechopen.com/books/images_new/371.jpg",editedByType:"Edited by",editors:[{id:"58592",title:"Dr.",name:"Arun",surname:"Shanker",slug:"arun-shanker",fullName:"Arun Shanker"}],productType:{id:"1",chapterContentType:"chapter",authoredCaption:"Edited by"}},{type:"book",id:"878",title:"Phytochemicals",subtitle:"A Global Perspective of Their Role in Nutrition and Health",isOpenForSubmission:!1,hash:"ec77671f63975ef2d16192897deb6835",slug:"phytochemicals-a-global-perspective-of-their-role-in-nutrition-and-health",bookSignature:"Venketeshwer Rao",coverURL:"https://cdn.intechopen.com/books/images_new/878.jpg",editedByType:"Edited by",editors:[{id:"82663",title:"Dr.",name:"Venketeshwer",surname:"Rao",slug:"venketeshwer-rao",fullName:"Venketeshwer Rao"}],productType:{id:"1",chapterContentType:"chapter",authoredCaption:"Edited by"}},{type:"book",id:"4816",title:"Face Recognition",subtitle:null,isOpenForSubmission:!1,hash:"146063b5359146b7718ea86bad47c8eb",slug:"face_recognition",bookSignature:"Kresimir Delac and Mislav Grgic",coverURL:"https://cdn.intechopen.com/books/images_new/4816.jpg",editedByType:"Edited by",editors:[{id:"528",title:"Dr.",name:"Kresimir",surname:"Delac",slug:"kresimir-delac",fullName:"Kresimir Delac"}],productType:{id:"1",chapterContentType:"chapter",authoredCaption:"Edited by"}}]},chapter:{item:{type:"chapter",id:"52328",title:"Do Organic Livestock Farms Differ from Low-Input Conventional Ones? Insights Based on Beef Cattle in Southern Europe",doi:"10.5772/65094",slug:"do-organic-livestock-farms-differ-from-low-input-conventional-ones-insights-based-on-beef-cattle-in-",body:'\nOrganic livestock farm numbers have sharply increased in recent years [1] as an adaptive response for increasing farm profitability (through subsidies and price premiums). However, before implementing any production systems, an analysis of the similarities and differences between both the current and the potential new farm configurations should be carried out, since it will provide a wider view of the chances of success after the change.
\nFor this purpose, the methodological process of farm characterisation is essential as it allows in-depth understanding of the operation of livestock production systems, which is key to improving their management, economic performance and overall sustainability. Thus, Rodríguez et al. [2] stated that farm viability relies on specific management practices that are suitable for the specific socioeconomic and environmental context of the farm, and this should be based on the knowledge of the characteristics and performance of the production systems.
\nSubsequently, several researchers have conducted studies for characterising farms according to various parameters. Some authors have focused on livestock species reared on the farms. Thus, different authors [3–10] have studied and characterised beef cattle farms by means of descriptive and/or cluster analysis on the basis of technical, structural, economic and/or social indicator. However, to our knowledge, there are no available studies that comparatively characterise organic and pasture-based or low-input conventional beef cattle farms, contextualizing such analysis within the evolution of the production systems under study. We therefore believe that this is a particularly appropriate time to conduct the present study. This would be of even more interest if the farms studied were located in complex agro-ecosystems with great value and externalities from the socio-economic and environmental points of view.
\nThe present study was carried out with the following aims: (i) to shed light on the gap of knowledge existing due to the lack of studies that compare the characteristics of conventional and organic beef cattle farms and (ii) to find similarities and differences between organic and low-input conventional beef cattle farms. For this purpose, a characterisation (technical management, structure and economic performance) of the farms located in the ‘dehesa’ was carried out.
\nThe study area was the dehesa located in the region of Extremadura (Southwest of Spain). From a climatic point of view, it enjoys annual average temperatures of 16–17°C, with mild winters (average temperature of 7.5°C) and hot and dry summers (the average mean temperature is greater than 26°C, exceeding 40°C in the hottest months, which correspond to a Mediterranean continental semiarid climate. Its rainfall pattern is irregular (300–800 mm). Soils are shallow, acidic and of low fertility. Due to these characteristics, the availability of grazing resources is reduced and unstable [11–13].
\nA sample of farms in the beef cattle sector located in the dehesa of Extremadura was selected. Due to a lack of official statistics on figures and locations of dehesa farms in Extremadura, the sampling was non-probabilistic by quotas. The number of farms surveyed was 63, in line with other studies analysing livestock production systems [4, 14–17]. Apart from the number of farms, various criteria (already explained by Escribano et al. [17, 18]) were used to select the farms with the aim of obtaining an indicative sample of the various beef cattle production systems located in dehesas. The criteria used are summarised below:\n
Predominant species and productive orientation: beef cattle.
Herd size: over 25 adult cows, in order to differentiate between small and commercial farms.
Geographical and forest-related aspects: the study includes farms located in different areas within the dehesa (geographical criteria) with different woodland densities (forest criteria similar to that followed in previous studies in the area [14]). Figure 1 shows farms’ spatial distribution and type of dehesa in which they were based on.
Organic farms: all organic farms had already finished their conversion period to the organic system.
Dehesa location and different land cover characteristics. Forest fractional cover (FFC): Fraction of the land covered by the vertical projection of the tops of trees.
Finally, 63 farms (30 Conventional and 33 Organic farms were selected, thus achieving: a sample size similar to that of other studies characterising livestock farms [4, 5, 10, 14]; similar sample sizes of organic and conventional farms, thus allowing an adequate comparative analysis of both sectors.
\nIn order to select the most appropriate indicators to analyse the farms under study, two main steps were followed. Firstly, the scientific literature addressing the structural and technical-economic points of view was reviewed. The selection of consistent and similar indicators allowed carrying out comparisons with studies on the topic. Moreover, economic parameters were created following the economic accounts for agriculture in the community [19] and the adaptation to dehesa livestock farms already carried out in previous studies [14, 15, 20]. As a consequence, the discussion of the results was consistent and the achievement of the aims of the present study was possible.
\nFinally, the selected set of indicators were confirmed to be in agreement with the recommendations of Lebacq et al. [21]: relevance, representativeness of the system, measurable, value to the end user, no ambiguity, no redundancy, and predictive.
\nData were collected from farms by means of a questionnaire in the year 2010. The questionnaire was developed according to selected indicators. These included information on structure (farms and herd characteristics: sizes, infrastructure, etc.), technical management, production results, economic data and social aspects. Subsequently, data were collected by the first author directly at the farms, followed by structured and semiclosed interviews with farm managers. Farmers’ answers were the sources of information for all indicators. All these processes were carried out in accordance with the methodology used by several authors who analysed similar aspects of livestock farms [2, 6, 8, 10, 14, 15, 17, 22–27].
\nThe statistical analyses included descriptive statistics for the full sample of farms. Subsequently, an ANOVA test was applied to all parameters, as all of them are quantitative ones. This allowed comparing all farms following two approaches. First, conventional farms were compared to organic farms in order to compare the two production systems as a whole (Conventional vs. All Organic). Secondly, farms were compared based on three classifications that are explained in the next section: (i) Conventional farms; (ii) Organic 1 farms; (iii) Organic 2 farms. This approach offered insight into each of them, so that more valuable and precise conclusions about the organic beef cattle sector could be made. Statistical analyses were performed using SPSS v. 20.
\nAfter collecting data and creating the database, it was noted that, based on the aspects studied, organic farms could clearly be subdivided into two production systems, so it was decided that a classification of the farms selected needed to be made, with the resulting following groups:\n
Conventional; found as “Conv.” in the tables (n = 30): This grouped conventional farms. With regards to the situation of the beef cattle sector in the dehesa, these farms were mostly focused on calf rearing (calf fattening was almost nonexistent, so these farms mainly sold their calves at weaning age (5–6 months old and 160–220 kg of live weight; see Table 1).
Organic 1; found as “Org. 1” in the tables (n = 22): These farms were producing under the organic system, but none of them fattened their calves. On the contrary, they were marketed with almost the same characteristics (age and live weight) and price as the conventional ones (check Table 1 to observe the similarity with conventional farms).
Organic 2; found as “Org. 2” in the tables (n = 11): Organic farms that fattened and sold their calves under the organic system.
Furthermore, organic farms were also analysed as a whole in a group called “All Organic” (n = 33).
\nParameters | \nConv. (n = 30) | \nOrg. 1 (n = 22) | \nOrg. 2 (n = 11) | \nSig. 14 | \nSample (n = 63) | \nSD | \nAll Organic (n = 33) | \nSig. 25 | \n
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
UAA1 | \n275.80 | \n223.72 | \n337.84 | \n0.378 | \n268.44 | \n223.34 | \n261.76 | \n0.806 | \n
Owned area/UAA | \n0.64 | \n0.54 | \n0.55 | \n0.541 | \n0.59 | \n0.44 | \n0.55 | \n0.390 | \n
Wooded land/UAA | \n0.46 | \n0.47 | \n0.77 | \n0.101 | \n0.52 | \n0.43 | \n0.57 | \n0.336 | \n
Crop area/UAA | \n0.00 | \n0.00 | \n0.00 | \n0.576 | \n0.00 | \n0.01 | \n0.00 | \n0.334 | \n
Bovine LU2 | \n104.92ab | \n74.33a | \n124.83b | \n0.016* | \n97.72 | \n52.14 | \n91.16 | \n0.299 | \n
Ovine LU | \n6.78 | \n5.36 | \n15.37 | \n0.496 | \n7.78 | \n30.38 | \n8.69 | \n0.805 | \n
Swine LU | \n0.00 | \n0.50 | \n0.77 | \n0.445 | \n0.31 | \n1.55 | \n0.58 | \n0.138 | \n
Total LU | \n111.70ab | \n80.18a | \n140.95b | \n0.024* | \n105.80 | \n63.33 | \n100.44 | \n0.485 | \n
Bovine LU/Total LU | \n0.98 | \n0.96 | \n0.92 | \n0.452 | \n0.96 | \n0.13 | \n0.85 | \n0.369 | \n
Total stocking rate3 | \n0.73 | \n0.50 | \n0.44 | \n0.312 | \n0.60 | \n0.64 | \n0.48 | \n0.131 | \n
Herd and farm structure. Mean values, standard deviation and level of significance.
a, b, c Mean values with different letters in the same row are significantly different. * p<0.05, ** p<0.01, *** p<0.001. SD: standard deviation. 1UAA: Utilized Agricultural Area. 2LU: Livestock Units. 1 cow = 1 LU; 1 sheep = 0.12 LU; 1 sow = 0.37 LU. 3Total Stocking rate = LU/ha UAA. 4Analysis of Variance of the groups Conventional, Organic 1 and Organic 2. 5Analysis of Variance of the groups Conventional vs. All Organic.
The average size of farms was 268.44 ha utilized agricultural area (UAA) (Table 2). Organic 2 farms were larger than ‘All Organic’, but the high variability within the sample did not allow identifying significant differences between this group and Organic 1. With regard to herd size, All Organic farms were also similar to Conventional farms, and an important variation within farms was identified in relation to the mean cattle herd size (140.95 livestock units (LU) in Organic 2 vs. 80.18 in Organic 1, p < 0.05).
\n\nParameters | Conv. (n = 30) | Org. 1 (n = 22) | \nOrg. 2 (n = 11) | Sig. 16 | \nSample (n = 63) | SD | \nAll Organic (n = 33) | Sig. 27 | \n
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Replacement rate (%)1 | \n11.98 | \n11.92 | \n13.29 | \n0.922 | \n12.19 | \n1.23 | \n12.38 | \n0.875 | \n
Cows/bull (N°) | \n31.01 | \n30.67 | \n28.29 | \n0.844 | \n30.42 | \n1.68 | \n29.88 | \n0.740 | \n
Estrous synchronisation (%)2 | \n6.70 | \n0.00 | \n0.00 | \n0.321 | \n3.20 | \n– | \n0.00 | \n0.132 | \n
Artificial insemination (%)3 | \n6.70 | \n4.50 | \n0.00 | \n0.592 | \n4.80 | \n– | \n3.00 | \n0.658 | \n
Length of mating period (months) | \n10.40 | \n10.70 | \n10.14 | \n0.922 | \n10.46 | \n0.29 | \n10.52 | \n0.846 | \n
Fertility rate (%)4 | \n85.15 | \n77.70 | \n81.49 | \n0.187 | \n81.91 | \n1.82 | \n78.97 | \n0.091 | \n
Age at first calving (month) | \n30.68 | \n33.45 | \n33.68 | \n0.197 | \n32.17 | \n0.79 | \n33.53 | \n0.074 | \n
Calving interval (days)5 | \n346.50 | \n33500 | \n343.64 | \n0.165 | \n341.98 | \n2.74 | \n337.88 | \n0.117 | \n
Calves born/cow/year (N°) | \n0.85 | \n0.78 | \n0.81 | \n0.187 | \n0.82 | \n0.02 | \n0.78 | \n0.091 | \n
Weaned calves/cow/year (N°) | \n0.81 | \n0.71 | \n0.65 | \n0.061 | \n0.75 | \n0.03 | \n0.69 | \n0.025* | \n
Age at weaning (months) | \n5.86 | \n5.82 | \n6.00 | \n0.886 | \n5.87 | \n0.13 | \n5.88 | \n0.944 | \n
Live weight at calving (kg) | \n202.33a | \n190.91b | \n193.18ab | \n0.037* | \n196.75 | \n2.12 | \n191.67 | \n0.011* | \n
Calves sold at weaning age/cow/year (N°) | \n0.63a | \n0.66a | \n0.27b | \n0.000*** | \n0.58 | \n0.03 | \n0.53 | \n0.000*** | \n
Fattened calves sold/cow/year (N°) | \n0.07a | \n0.00a | \n0.45b | \n0.000*** | \n0.11 | \n0.03 | \n0.15 | \n0.000*** | \n
Fattened calves/total calves sold | \n0.09a | \n0.00a | \n0.64b | \n0.000*** | \n0.15 | \n0.30 | \n0.21 | \n0.119 | \n
Reproductive management and performance, and productive orientation. Mean values, standard deviation and level of significance.
a, b, c Mean values with different letters in the same row are significantly different. * p<0.05, ** p<0.01, *** p<0.001. 1Calculated as the annual average proportion of heifers bred for reproduction/number adult. 2Annual average proportion of cows synchronized/total adult cows in the farm. 3Average annual proportion of inseminated cows/total adult serviced cows in the farm. 4Annual average proportion of: live births/serviced cows. 5Annual average number of days from calving to calving in the adult cows of the farms. 6Analysis of Variance of the groups Conventional, Organic 1 and Organic 2. 7Analysis of Variance of the groups Conventional vs. All Organic.
In relation to the various land uses and the type of ownership, it was seen that 59% of land was in property (owned area/UAA in percentages). Fifty-two percent of UAAs had tree presence. Moreover, crop areas were almost inexistent.
\nEstrous synchronisation was only carried out in the 3.20% of farms held. This practice was only observed in conventional farms, since it is not permitted in organic farming. Accordingly, only 4.80% of farms opted for artificial insemination, with all of them also carrying out natural mating, such that the use of either one or another technique was not exclusive. This scarce use of these reproductive techniques is typical in low-input beef cattle farms.
\nCalves weaned in All Organic had lower weights than those belonging to the conventional group, and Organic 2 farms sold less weaned calves per cow in total, thus showing a lower productivity in this regard. However, Organic 2 and All Organic sold more fattened calves per cow and also sold a higher proportion of fattened calves/total calves sold. These differences were due to the fact that the Organic 2 group was composed entirely of fattening farms, while all Organic 1 farms solely marketed calves at the age of weaning. Similarly to the Organic 1 group, 83.33% of the farms belonging to the conventional group did not carry out the fattening of any of the calves that they produced. These facts about the composition of the groups also influenced the differences between these indicators for yearlings sold per cow and calf weight at weaning.
\nThe breed distribution of organic farms is also an important issue, as autochthonous breeds are preferable for this production model, as indicated by Regulation 834/2007 [28]. Table 3 shows the composition by breed of the farms.
\nParameters | \nConv. (n = 30) | \nOrg. 1 (n = 22) | \nOrg. 2 (n = 11) | \nSig. 11 | \nSample (n = 63) | \nSD | \nAll Organic (n = 33) | \nSig. 22 | \n
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Purebred autochthonous cows (%) | \n20.11a | \n30.76ab | \n62.08b | \n0.015* | \n41.83 | \n31.16 | \n41.20 | \n0.045* | \n
Purebred foreign cows (%) | \n8.86 | \n11.25 | \n6.74 | \n0.854 | \n22.31 | \n9.33 | \n9.75 | \n0.877 | \n
Purebred cows (%) | \n28.97a | \n42.01ab | \n68.82b | \n0.027* | \n42.85 | \n40.48 | \n50.95 | \n0.041* | \n
Purebred autochthonous bulls (%) | \n13.02 | \n15.91 | \n31.36 | \n0.264 | \n32.06 | \n17.23 | \n21.06 | \n0.324 | \n
Purebred foreign bulls (%) | \n86.98 | \n76.82 | \n68.64 | \n0.254 | \n33.94 | \n80.23 | \n74.09 | \n0.133 | \n
Farm breed structure. Mean percentage values, standard deviation and level of significance.
a, b Mean values with different letters in the same row are significantly different. * p<0.05. 1Analysis of Variance of the groups Conventional, Organic 1 and Organic 2. 2Analysis of Variance of the groups Conventional vs. All Organic.
The percentage of purebred autochthonous cows reached 41.83%, with this percentage being higher in All Organic and Organic 2 than in the conventional group. Also, All Organic and Organic 2 showed a higher presence of these purebred cows; either autochthonous or foreign ones. The main reason for this is that Organic 2 farmers were market oriented (they had contracts with supermarkets) so that they knew that more productive breeds that allow them to produce carcass of better conformation, mainly Limousine.
\nParameters | \nConv. (n = 30) | \nOrg. 1 (n = 22) | \nOrg. 2 (n = 11) | \nSig. 15 | \nSample (n = 63) | \nSD | \nAll Organic (n = 33) | \nSig. 26 | \n
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Land fixed capital1 | \n5,630.07 | \n5,194.52 | \n5,695.62 | \n0.788 | \n5,489.42 | \n310.43 | \n5,361.56 | \n0.669 | \n
Buildings fixed capital2 | \n660.75 | \n606.48 | \n546.10 | \n0.935 | \n621.78 | \n114.32 | \n586.35 | \n0.748 | \n
Machinery fixed capital3 | \n215.51 | \n138.79 | \n107.77 | \n0.449 | \n169.91 | \n35.00 | \n128.45 | \n0.217 | \n
Livestock fixed capital4 | \n624.81 | \n416.66 | \n329.10 | \n0.217 | \n500.49 | \n69.69 | \n387.47 | \n0.089 | \n
Total fixed capital | \n7,131.14 | \n6,356.45 | \n6,678.59 | \n0.443 | \n6,781.59 | \n430.59 | \n6,463.83 | \n0.443 | \n
Fixed capital according to farm groups.
Note: all these indicators were measured in terms of €/ha. 1Value of the land at market prices. This depended on the quality of the plots (grazing resources, location and tree density, among other parameters). 2Value of infrastructure at market prices. Years of use and level of conservation/maintenance were taken into account. 3Value of machinery (cars, trucks, etc.) at market prices. Years of use and level of conservation/maintenance were taken into account. 4Value of all livestock present at market prices. 5Analysis of Variance of the groups Conventional, Organic 1 and Organic 2. 6Analysis of Variance of the groups Conventional vs. All Organic.
Parameters | \nConv. (n = 30) | \nOrg. 1 (n = 22) | \nOrg. 2 (n = 11) | \nSample (n = 63) | \nSD | \nSig. 113 | \nAll Organic (n = 33) | \nSig. 214 | \n
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Feed/ha UAA1 | \n109.69a | \n17.55b | \n96.63ab | \n75.24 | \n112.18 | \n0.009** | \n43.91 | \n0.019* | \n
Feed/LU2 | \n161.59a | \n38.27b | \n220.54a | \n128.82 | \n165.70 | \n0.003** | \n99.03 | \n0.136 | \n
Seeds and fertilisers3 | \n7.51 | \n3.10 | \n1.00 | \n4.84 | \n12.61 | \n0.252 | \n2.40 | \n0.108 | \n
Veterinary and medicines/ha UAA4 | \n17.87a | \n4.51b | \n4.84b | \n10.93 | \n21.16 | \n0.043* | \n4.62 | \n0.012* | \n
Veterinary and medicines /LU5 | \n20.32a | \n7.45b | \n11.64ab | \n14.31 | \n15.14 | \n0.006** | \n8.84 | \n0.002** | \n
Maintenance of fixed capital6 | \n15.74 | \n18.95 | \n22.60 | \n18.06 | \n22.68 | \n0.681. | \n20.17 | \n0.444 | \n
Energy7 | \n24.24 | \n22.44 | \n18.27 | \n22.57 | \n22.84 | \n0.765 | \n21.05 | \n0.584 | \n
Other expenditure8 | \n24.32 | \n20.87 | \n21.88 | \n22.69 | \n33.67 | \n0.934 | \n21.20 | \n0.717 | \n
Intermediate consumption9 | \n199.38 | \n87.42 | \n165.22 | \n154.32 | \n177.86 | \n0.077 | \n113.36 | \n0.054 | \n
Remuneration of employees10 | \n60.29 | \n42.48 | \n61.24 | \n54.24 | \n100.69 | \n0.799 | \n48.73 | \n0.653 | \n
Fixed capital consumption11 | \n54.59 | \n44.20 | \n38.08 | \n48.08 | \n66.62 | \n0.744 | \n42.16 | \n0.464 | \n
Land rented12 | \n30.56 | \n30.96 | \n23.25 | \n29.42 | \n38.47 | \n0.846 | \n28.39 | \n0.825 | \n
Intermediate consumption and other costs.
a, b Mean values with different letters in the same row are significantly different. * p<0.05, ** p<0.01. 1Expenditures (purchases) made in external feedstuffs/hectare of UAA (€/ha). 2Expenditures (purchases) made in external feedstuffs/LU (€/LU). 3Expenditure in seeds and fertilisers/hectare of UAA (€/ha). 4Expenditures made in veterinary and medicines/ha UAA (€/ha). 5Expenditures made in veterinary and medicines /LU (€/LU). 6Expenditures made in maintenance of fixed capital/ha of UAA (€/ha). 7Expenditures made in energy/ha UAA (petrol and electricity) (€/ha). 8Expenditures/ha UAA made in farmers’ associations, lawyers, etc. (€/ha). 9Sum of the following costs (€/ha of UAA: External feedstuffs + Veterinary services and medicines + Energy + Maintenance of machinery and infrastructure + Other goods and Services (lawyers, farmers’ associations, etc.). 10Expenditures made in salaries/ha of UAA (€/ha). 11Amortization of machinery and infrastructure = Sum of (((1/20 years amortization) × Value of infrastructures) + ((1/10 years) × Value of machinery)). 12Cost of the land rented (€/ha). 13Analysis of Variance of the groups Conventional, Organic 1 and Organic 2. 14Analysis of Variance of the groups Conventional vs. All Organic.
This analysis allowed identification of similarities between organic and conventional systems (Table 4), with regard to infrastructure, land and animals. It is worth highlighting the high average value of land fixed capital 5489.42 €/ha that accounted for the 81% of total fixed capital (Table 5).
\n\n\nParameters (€/ha) | \nConv. (n = 30) | \nOrg. 1 (n = 22) | \nOrg. 2 (n = 11) | \nSample (n = 63) | \nSD | \nSig.6 | \nAll Organic (n = 33) | \nSig.7 | \n
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Livestock sales | \n291.23 | \n151.90 | \n215.92 | \n229.43 | \n223.45 | \n0.081 | \n173.24 | \n0.035* | \n
Other sales | \n1.49 | \n11.34 | \n9.75 | \n6.37 | \n23.05 | \n0.276 | \n10.81 | \n0.110 | \n
Gross output1 | \n635.24 | \n464.09 | \n578.52 | \n565.57 | \n406.81 | \n0.328 | \n502.24 | \n0.197 | \n
Subsidies for livestock | \n158.54 | \n153.75 | \n185.72 | \n161.61 | \n118.93 | \n0.759 | \n164.41 | \n0.847 | \n
Total subsidies | \n165.70 | \n159.91 | \n193.85 | \n168.59 | \n123.39 | \n0.752 | \n171.22 | \n0.861 | \n
Total income | \n458.41 | \n323.15 | \n419.52 | \n404.39 | \n316.03 | \n0.313 | \n355.27 | \n0.198 | \n
Total subsidies/total income (%) | \n0.39 | \n0.45 | \n0.47 | \n0.42 | \n0.18 | \n0.353 | \n0.45 | \n0.160 | \n
Net value added2 | \n388.43 | \n338.63 | \n383.35 | \n370.15 | \n249.94 | \n0.769 | \n353.53 | \n0.584 | \n
Net operating surplus3 | \n320.98 | \n289.98 | \n313.99 | \n308.94 | \n223.74 | \n0.886 | \n297.98 | \n0.687 | \n
Net entrepreneurial income4 | \n290.43 | \n259.02 | \n290.74 | \n279.52 | \n214.31 | \n0.861 | \n269.60 | \n0.703 | \n
Profitability rate (%)5 | \n4.39 | \n4.18 | \n4.35 | \n4.31 | \n2.69 | \n0.961 | \n4.24 | \n0.819 | \n
Economic and productive performance and subsidies.
Note: Those parameters whose unit is not showed in the table are measured per ha of UAA ((€/ha). 1Value of all the products of agricultural activities. All agricultural output was recorded except that which was solely produced by units for their own consumption. 2It measures the value created by all agricultural output after the consumption of fixed capital. That output is valued at basic prices and intermediate consumption is valued at purchase prices. It was calculated as follows: (Gross output – Intermediate consumption – Amortisation) + (Those subsidies not related to livestock farming). 3It measures the yield from land, capital and unpaid labour. It is the balance of the generation of income account which indicates the distribution of income between the factors of production and the general government sector. 4Obtained by adding the interest received and then deducting rent (i.e., farm and land rents) and interest payments, measuring compensation of unpaid labour, remuneration from land belonging to units and the yield arising from the use of capital. 5Ratio between net surplus and average capital assets, estimated from the value of total fixed capital and the value of capital. 6Analysis of Variance of the groups Conventional, Organic 1 and Organic 2. 7Analysis of Variance of the groups Conventional vs. All Organic.
Table 6 shows the economic and productive performance of the farm groups, as well as aspects related to subsidies, where the Organic 1 group can be seen to have lower livestock sales per hectare of UAA and lower gross production.
\nConventional farms proved to sell more calves per hectare and year, which is due to their shorter productive cycle and the low productivity of Organic 1. No differences were found for the remaining indicators, but some interesting results were found and therefore comments are necessary. Organic farms (especially Organic 2) revealed higher numerical values for other sales, which reflect a higher level of business diversification, something that is key in the farms’ flexibility and adaptability to the changing market environment. Moreover, organic farms (especially Organic 2) tended to be more dependent on subsidies.
\nAll Organic farms were much smaller than the average farm size found by Perea et al. [10] in organic cattle farms located in seven regions of Spain (261.76 vs. 425 ha UAA). With regard to herd size, All Organic farms were also quite similar to Conventional farms and again smaller than the farms studied by [10], with 100.44 vs. 154 livestock units (LU).
\nThe scarce association between land and animals continues to be an unsolved concern [6, 10]. Similarly, the integration of different livestock species is beneficial. In the farms analyzed, the proportion of cattle has been really high – 96%, in line with the findings of Perea et al. [9, 10]. This situation responds to the trend of specialisation and intensification already described [15, 17, 18], with increasing total stocking rates in beef cattle farms from 0.40 to 0.43 LU/ha ([6]—conventional farms; and [9, 10]—organic farms) to the current 0.60 LU/ha. The higher mean values observed in this study came from conventional farms (0.70). Both Organic 1 and Organic 2 farms complied with the regional organic rules [29] setting a maximum stocking rate allowed of 0.5 LU/ha.
\nNo major differences were found between farm’s groups regarding the reproductive management among groups, since most of arms followed the typical technical reproductive management in extensive ruminants production systems located in semiarid areas, where the low fertility rates compared to other breeds and systems. This is due to the fact that heats are not detected by farmers, there is no heat synchronization, and natural service is the predominant technique used for conception. Only some organic farms showed to apply artificial insemination. Average replacement rate of the sample was close to 12%, similar to that found in dehesa beef cattle farms, either conventional: with values ranging from 10 to 12.4% in Extremadura [30–32] or organic: 10.65% in Andalusia [9]. However, values found in the study of Milán et al. [6] were higher: 19.2%. The number of cows per bull was 30.42, lower than the 38.4 found by Milán et al. [6] and similar to the 27 found by López de Torre et al. [31] in conventional cattle farms in the dehesas of Extremadura. The implementation of reproductive techniques, such as artificial insemination, was even lower than that found by Milán et al. [6]: 8.5 vs. 4.80%. This divergence in results is due to the fact that they analysed farms rearing autochthonous purebred beef cattle cows. In these cases, livestock is usually registered in the Stud Book of the breeds, and the use of artificial insemination is more widespread, with the aim of rearing offspring of more appreciated genetic potential, and thus obtaining higher incomes through both selling animals as breeding animals and public subsidies.
\nDespite the lack of significant differences among groups, it is necessary to discuss some topics such as the reproductive calendar due to its importance in the context of uncertain availability of pastures in pasture-based systems, such as those of the Mediterranean basin. In this sense, it is recommended to avoid continuous mating and make it coincide with spring and autumn, the seasons where the availability of local feed resources allows fulfilling an important percentage of animals’ nutritional needs at more affordable prices, due to a lower dependence on external feedstuff, whose prices are high and subjected to great volatility. However, also positive externalities can be found from this organization: reduced seasonality in marketing their products, thus obtaining better prices for them at certain times. Many of the farms analysed showed a distribution of mating throughout a year. Thus, the average duration of mating was 10.46 months.
\nCalves weaned in organic farms had lower weights than those belonging to the Conventional group. This could be due to the following aspects: Firstly, in some of the studies discussed, farms reared only local breeds, whose growing rates are lower. However, in the farms analysed in this study, many cows were either crossed or more efficient breeds, mainly the Limousine breed. Secondly, increased livestock pressure led to intensification and guidance to higher productivity which, among other adaptations, led to the inclusion of more efficient breeds. Thirdly, the rising prices of feed led to the weaning of animals at a younger age (therefore at lower weights), in order to use less feedstuff and thus reduce production costs. Finally, the next link in the food chain prefers younger animals because of their better conversion rates in feedlots. Moreover, less time grazing is usually associated with meat tenderness and lighter colour, which is in line with butchers\' preferences. Thus, Organic 2 farms were those that sold more fattened calves per cow, and the age of weaning of these was lower. The latter was due to the fact that calves in Organic 2 farms were weaned before starting the fattening period, which shortened the length of the production cycle at the farm level (period between weaning and sale).
\nThe results relating to calves weaned and sold per cow clearly show how the production of beef cattle in Southwest Europe and in semiarid areas, such as the Mediterranean basin, is mainly focused on the sale of calves at weaning. As a result, the percentage of fattened calves sold has been reduced. This is due to both the lack of infrastructure and the traditions of finishing and slaughtering animals in the Extremadura region [33]. Currently, this fact might have increased due to high feed prices and low farm profitability.
\nThe existence of organic farms without organic products (Organic 1 in the present study) has been reported for more authors in dairy cattle [34], in a mixture of livestock and crop farms [35] and beef cattle [10, 18]. Specifically, Perea et al. [10] reported that only 40.6% of the surveyed organic beef cattle farms marketed calves as organically certified, and to the organic market. Thus, they also noticed that in different areas of Europe (from Norway to the Mediterranean area) the marketing of organic livestock is focused on the sale to conventional feedlots, and their organic stamp does not have market implications (there is a scarce market for these weaned organic animals, and they are not sold at a higher price; see [27]).
\nThe use of autochthonous breeds is a contemporary issue and usually promoted in organic farming. However, the low productivity of the rustic local cows makes it necessary to make use of other breeds that, despite not being autochthonous, are both well adapted to the local conditions and more productive. Thus, in the case of males, the racial distribution was mainly based on Limousine and Charolais breeds. This is a growing trend that responds to the need for productivity and competitiveness that requires specialisation [36]. In the dehesas of Extremadura, there has also been a change from Charolais towards Limousine, probably aimed at avoiding problems related to dystocia and the ability of calves to suckle, since farmers perceive that these problems are more frequent when the Charolais breed of animals are reared.
\nNo significant differences were found between the groups of farms studied.
\nIt is important to note that expenditure on feedstuff was lower in Organic 1 than in Conventional group when studied per hectare, while differences were found between Organic 1 and the rest of groups when these expenditures were measured per livestock unit. The expenditure on veterinary services and veterinary drugs were also lower in Organic 1 group both per area of land and per livestock unit. However, these differences only were found between Organic 1 and the Conventional group. All Organic group showed to also rely less on these external resources (feedstuff, veterinary services and drugs). However, the expenditure on feed per livestock unit was not statistically different between All Organic and the Conventional group. In general terms, these higher reliance on external resources, and in particular feed and veterinary services and drugs, is consistent with the organic production method, since the use of inputs such as feed must come from the farm itself (or the immediate surroundings), and veterinary drugs are limited to two treatments per adult cow per year, according to [28] and subsequent amendments.
\nWhen comparing Conventional and All Organic farms, one can observe very low feed costs in Organic 1 and very high feed costs in Organic 2 farms. This is due to the fact that Organic 2 farms fattened all their calves, and Organic 1, none of theirs. This increases the organic feedstuff purchased, whose price is high: around 30% above the conventional one.
\nThe cost related to veterinary services and medicines shows that in extensive livestock systems of semiarid areas and conditions it is possible to reduce reliance on drugs with no major problems. In fact, conventional low-input farms in this area do not rely significantly on these products due to low stocking rates and dry climate. Also, as the prevalence of infectious diseases is low, it must be mentioned that the health management of organic beef cattle farms in this area is very similar to that carried out in Conventional farms, and it is not based on alternative medicine. In fact organic beef cattle farms also used some veterinary drugs as a preventive measure [17]. Organic 2 farms had higher veterinary costs than Organic 1 farms due to the fact that the transition to the fattening period usually provokes some respiratory and/or intestinal disorders.
\nRegarding incomes, it is necessary to increase the market orientation of Organic 1 farms, as they are not providing organic goods to the market, which influences their low economic results. Conversely, the longer productive cycle in Organic 2 farms did not allow them to clearly stand out in terms of income. Finally, the dependence on agricultural subsidies must be addressed as it is a key point for both the organic sector and the extensive beef cattle farms of Mediterranean Europe. The high dependence of this aspect makes it unstable and fragile. In the case of the organic sector, the contribution of the agro-environment subsidies makes them numerically more dependent, which is in contrast with other studies, regardless whether or not they were receiving agricultural subsidies [35, 37, 38].
\nThe lower livestock sales per hectare of UAA and lower gross production in the Organic 1 group can be due to the fact that farms belonging to this group only sold calves at weaning age, and their prices were lower than those of fattened calves. Despite the price of organic fattened calves (marketed by the Organic farms 2 group) being greater, income from the sale of livestock per hectare of UAA was higher in Conventional farms. This was probably due to an extension of the productive cycles in Organic 2 compared to Conventional farms which, in turn, led to a reduction in the number of calves sold per cow per year. On the other hand, organic farms (especially the Organic 1 group) had higher incomes in relation to other sales (those not related to livestock). This could be a consequence of the greater degree of diversification in organic farming over conventional.
\nIn addition, other aspects came up from the interviews with farmers during the farm visits which point to additional interesting aspects and open up perspectives which would be interesting to research. In this sense, Escribano et al. [17, 18] carried out a comparative sustainability assessment which showed that organic farms did not carry out so many agro-ecological practices as would be desirable to increase farm environmental protection, nutrient cycling and self-sufficiency. Moreover, these authors found that in terms of workforce both production systems are also very similar. Additionally, short marketing channels, which are commonly associated with organic production, were noted to also be very similar in various studies [17, 18, 27, 39, 40]. Profound discussion and review about these aspects can be found in other studies [40].
\nThe present study integrated structure, technical, productive and economic parameters that allowed for a deep understanding of the organic beef cattle farms of Southern Europe, as well as their similarities and differences with conventional ones. Organic farms have proved to be very similar to Conventional farms (but pasture-based or low-input). Accordingly, the differences were based on the structure of the farms, more than the condition of their being organic.
\nAccording to the results discussed, it is worth mentioning that there was little orientation towards a different concept of farming, namely, environmental sustainability and self-sufficiency. However, the organic farm has been defined as a production system based on the principles of Health, Ecology, Fairness and Care. In this sense, consumers expect organic products to be based on these principles, and citizens support this system through taxes. All these aforementioned aspects shape the necessity to increase the implementation of sustainable agricultural practices, self-sufficiency and sales of organic products. Otherwise, the current production systems will hinder their sustainability due to high global competition, the increasing cost of agricultural inputs and reduced grazing resources in the Mediterranean area due to global warming. To do so, the education level of farmers, public support and farmer cooperation are essential. Moreover, further research is needed to study different production systems and strategies in order to improve the situation of the sector and the differential externalities of the organic livestock sector above the conventional one.
\nResearch funded by project INIA-RTA2009-00122-C03-03 of the Spanish Ministry Economy and Competitiveness. The authors would also like to acknowledge the support provided by Junta de Extremadura and FEDER funds. Special thanks to the farmers, practitioners and experts that contributed to this research. The first author also acknowledges the pre-doctoral financial support of the Fundación Fernando Valhondo Calaff
\nPoultry production has occupied a leading role in the agriculture industry worldwide in recent years. The compound annual growth rate of poultry protein between 2015 and 2025 is estimated to be +2.4% [1]. Asia, South America and Africa characterized by rapid urbanization, poverty and hot climate recorded the highest growth increment in poultry production [1, 2]. The trend of continuous growth of poultry production in those regions is obvious because it remains the fastest route to bridging the protein demand-supply gap.
\nExtreme weather conditions in the tropical regions of the world have proven generally detrimental to livestock production and is particularly of interest in chicken because of the latter’s high sensitivity to temperature change [3, 4, 5, 6]. Just like mammals, the avian species have the ability to regulate their body temperatures by losing or generating heat in response to environmental temperature. If the body temperature of a bird, which normally runs between 39.4 and 40°C, is allowed to increase, the bird will not perform well. Heat stress in poultry production had resulted in under-nutrition, stunted growth, reduction in egg production and size, laying of premature eggs and even death [7, 8, 9, 10, 11]. This problem is further compounded by the high body heat generated by genetically improved laying birds with increased metabolic activity resulting from the high rate of egg production [12, 13, 14, 15].
\nPoultry housing design plays a vital role in the determination of the internal climatic conditions of the house for optimum health, growth and productive performance of the birds. Consequently, the type of poultry housing system employed by the proposed poultry farm is a function of the prevailing climatic conditions of the region where the farm is located. While open poultry house system has been adjudged a good method of housing in the tropical countries because of the simplicity of its construction, ease of heat management and minimal management cost, the controlled housing system is the most common in the temperate regions of the world [16, 17].
\nBirds are warm-blooded ‘homoeothermic’ flighty feathered oviparous vertebrates that possess a high metabolic rate, with a normal breathing rate of 40–50 breaths per minute [17]. On the average, birds maintain an internal body temperature of between 39 and 42.2°C [18, 19, 20]. During hot weather, poultry birds maintain thermo-neutral temperature by losing heat mainly through conduction, convection, radiation and evaporative cooling [2, 20, 21].
\nSensible heat loss through convection, radiation and conduction is only effective if the environmental temperature is below or within the bird’s thermoneutral zone. However, evaporative cooling accounts for about 60% of the heat dissipated during body temperature regulation within the thermoneutral zone [2]. Sensible heat loss includes heat loss through opened surfaces such as wattles, shanks and other featherless areas around the neck and wings [21]. Heat loss for body temperature regulation through this process does not alter the bird’s behavioral patterns, feed intake, or metabolism [22]. The effectiveness of sensible heat lost is a function of the temperature difference between the bird and its environment.
\nWhere the environmental temperature exceeds 24°C evaporative cooling (latent heat loss) becomes the major method of dissipating heat in birds regardless the age [21]. Loss of heat through evaporative cooling at temperatures beyond the thermoneutral zone requires the bird to re-direct energy required for growth and development to panting. However, panting can lead to dehydration and respiratory alkalosis because of inadequate water supply and drop in blood pH due to excessive ejection of carbon dioxide [21]. During panting, evaporative cooling occurs when water evaporates from the respiratory system of the bird. However, this can be hindered by high humidity. This is problematic in high humid environments where poultry farmers employ evaporation cooling as the primary method of air-temperature reduction during the hot periods of the year [2].
\nIncreasing the volume and velocity of air moving over birds enhances heat loss in birds due to convection, removal of heat trapped within the poultry house, and reduction of the effect of high humidity on evaporative cooling [2]. Simmons et al. [23], conducted a study that subjected 3 weeks old male broilers in a controlled environment for 4 weeks to a cyclic temperature of 25–30–25°C at varying wind speed of still air (<0.25 m/s), 2 m/s and 3 m/s. It was observed that the increased wind speed favored older birds in growth and development.
\nWater is an essential commodity in poultry production for the nutrients it possesses and its impact on feed consumption [24]. Nipple drinkers to provide cleaner water, reduce water spillage and labour for drinker cleaning has replaced the conventional open water system. May et al. [25], observed that chicken consumed more water when reared with conventional open water system in an experiment that compared the conventional open water system to nipple drinking. However, when these drinkers were used to rear chicken in a controlled room with air velocity of 0.25 and 2.1 m/s, birds in the higher air velocity with nipple drinkers did not differ from those on open water drinkers, but experienced increased weight gain and better feed conversion than birds at the lower air velocity [26]. Therefore, it is important to provide and maintain the required ventilation to ensure that the poultry house is conducive for the birds to regulate their body temperature by sensible heat loss.
\nHeat Stress is a general problem in the poultry industry, especially in the production of chicken meat and egg. Heat stress is experienced by chicken when the environmental temperature equals or rises above 26.7°C. At this temperature and beyond the birds begin to pant and can be detrimental to attaining the bird’s optimum growth rate, hatching ability, egg size, egg shell quality and egg production. The problem of heat stress can be further compounded in a hot environment when the humidity rises. Heat stress has been reported to have adverse effect on broilers comfort, growth rate, feed conversion, and live weight gain [21].
\nIn poultry production, the sudden exposure of birds to high temperature short periods is referred to as acute heat stress while exposure for extended periods is referred to as chronic stress. Chronic stress has deleterious effects on birds reared in open-sided houses, which is commonly used in the tropics. It has been reported to have adverse effect on growth and production efficiency, egg quality, meat quality, embryonic development, reproductive performance, immunity and disease incidence’s in broilers, laying hens and breeders [21, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31].
\nIt is important we understand the effect of internal climatic conditions of the poultry house on the birds, how the birds respond to them, and their implications on heat management for poultry production. The information will provide guidance on parameters for the open poultry house architectural design that will alleviate heat stress to ensure optimum poultry production in the tropics. The climatic factors of interest include temperature, relative humidity, air composition and velocity, and lighting condition.
\nThere is a huge debate on the ideal temperature range required for the various classes and age groups of chicken to attain optimum production. This could be because of other climatic factors such as humidity and wind velocity, which influence temperature change and previous adaptation of chicken to climatic change. Generally, chicken perform under a wide range of temperature regardless of its class (broiler, pullet or breeder) or age. However, exposure of chicken to high temperature has been reported to hinder the performance in chicken production [17]. It could also be further compounded by increased relative humidity for its negative effect on evaporative cooling [32].
\nKetelaars [16] recommended a temperature of 30–32°C at chicken height for day old chicks. Thereafter, the temperature should be decreased by 3–4°C till the chicks are 4 weeks old as shown in \nTable 1\n. Daghir [19] reported that a temperature range of 18–22°C is required for growing broilers. In other reviews done by Holik [15], it was concluded that birds are comfortable when environmental temperature is within the range of 18–24°C. However, it should be noted that the optimum performance of chicken is dependent on the market value of the product in relation to feeding cost.
\nAge of chicken (week) | \nTemperature range (°C) | \n
---|---|
1 | \n30–32 | \n
2 | \n30–26 | \n
3 | \n26–23 | \n
4 | \n23–20 | \n
≥5 | \n20 | \n
Recommended temperature schedule.
It is a challenge to maintain the optimum production temperature in the tropics therefore, it is important that the poultry house designer pay considerable attention to temperature change.
\nIn a review done by Oloyo [17], it was reported that internal temperature above 26.7°C combined with high relative humidity adversely affected the feed efficiency, feathering, pigmentation, and weight gain of chicken. Furthermore, at internal temperature range of 35–37.8°C the birds’ performances were poor regardless of the change in relative humidity. This means higher humidity can improve the performance of the birds at lower temperature. However, humidity must be controlled for it can provide habitat for microorganisms thus, exposing the birds to the threat of disease [18, 33].
\nRelative humidity has a strong relationship with temperature change. At the brooding stage, particularly in the earlier weeks the internal relative humidity may be low or too low because of the warming the chicken requires at that age or when the chicks are thirsty or hatched at higher temperature. Soon enough, the internal relative humidity increases because of the water vapor generated by the evaporative cooling act of chicken to regulate their body temperature as they grow [16]. Consequently, ages 3 weeks and above are very critical periods in chicken production regardless the class of chicken.
\nIn Oloyo [17], it was reported that laying birds during brooding and after brooding require a relative humidity range of 60–80 and 50–70% respectively for optimum performance.
\nThe decomposition of bird’s fecal material produces unpleasant and polluted gases, which include ammonia, carbon dioxide, methane and hydrogen sulphide. These gases are of particular interest because of their adverse effects on the performance of birds, cages, human poultry houses and the environment at large [16, 18, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38]. Consequently, for optimum production for chicken a concentration level of 25 ppm and not more than 2500 ppm for ammonia and carbon dioxide was recommended [18, 39]. It was recommended for good birds’ health management that removal of fecal material from the poultry house should be done frequently to reduce the volume of gas emission [17].
\nHigh internal temperature can be controlled to an extent by varying the air velocity within the poultry house. Also, Air velocity plays an important role in convectional cooling and the regulation of air quality [2, 18]. In hot climatic regions, it is recommended that the ventilation capacity should be at least “5m3 per chicken per hour, with inlets amounting to 1.5cm2 per m3 ventilation” [16]. Hulzebosch [18] reported that still air velocity (0.1–0.2 m/s) could be maintained if the temperature remains within 25–30°C. However, Lacy and Czarick [40], under the same temperature condition reported a better growth rate at 2 and 3 m/s air velocity respectively for broilers.
\nIn the quest to further understand the effect of air velocity on chicken, [23], factored the ages of chicken within the temperature range 25–30°C with varying air velocity. The study demonstrated that 6 weeks old broilers benefited from increased air velocity of 2 and 3 m/s than 4 weeks old broilers. This could be because of the high temperature required by younger birds at brooding stage.
\nLighting at early age in birds have little or no effect on hormonal system, it merely aids birds’ activeness including feed intake, growth, and physical and physiological activities [15, 41, 42]. Subsequently, increase in lighting periods and light intensity may cause tiredness, cannibalism, immune responses, leg abnormalities and even death [41, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47].
\nThe lighting program commonly used is the continuous lighting program of 16 hours light and 8 hours darkness and it has proven successful for overall chicken performance [15, 48, 49, 50]. However, it has been reported that alternating short light and dark period known as intermittent lighting enhances chicken performance [16, 51, 52, 53, 54]. The continuous lighting program with a minimum light intensity of 20 lux is recommended at post-hatch stage (1–7 days old) to help the chick adapt to their environment and aid feeding [41]. Consequently, the light intensity is reduced to about 3–5 lux and intermittent lighting system is introduced for easy control of the birds’ activeness for better performance and productivity [16, 41].
\nBirds reared under yellow, green, and blue light sources have been reported to have improved body weight compared to those reared under red and orange light sources [55, 56, 57]. Lewis and Morris [55] in a review concluded that the birds reared under blue light show docile trait while those reared under red light were more active and aggressive. In addition, it was noted that the red light improved sexual activities in birds.
\nThe importance of the type of poultry housing system employed for chicken production cannot be over emphasized. It protects the birds from the harsh environmental climatic conditions, which may have adverse effect on the chickens’ performance and productivity. In a poultry house, the overall heat generated is the sum of heat generated by the birds, the surrounding environment and biodegradation of fecal material [58, 59, 60]. Thus, the type of housing system to be used is a major determinant factor in the type of management to be adopted in the poultry farm. The housing systems used in the tropical region that is, naturally ventilated open housing system and mechanically ventilated open housing system are discussed here.
\nThe open poultry housing system has been identified with the tropical region for its simplicity, economic implications and ease of management of heat generation within the building through natural ventilation [2, 32, 61]. However, it is prone to the invasion of insect, rodents, birds and other small predators that can disturb the welfare, productivity and performance of chicken. In the quest to alleviate this problem, dwarf sidewalls are raised to the roof eaves with corrugated wire mesh to keep predators away. Also, gutter filled with insecticides to prevent the invasion of insects are built around the house. Discussed below are design considerations to be factored in when designing an open poultry house for optimum poultry performance and productivity.
\nIn order to reduce the exposure of sidewall to direct to direct sun radiation the poultry house should be orientated in the east-west direction [2, 60]. This is very vital, because heat stress in birds can be hastened when they are exposed to direct solar radiation. Deep litter rearing may allow the birds avoid direct sunlight but this may lead to clustering or overcrowding of birds in an area of the house. Consequently, make cooling difficult and in severe cases this leads to stampede and even death [2].
\nThe east-west orientation of a poultry house may reduce the benefit of prevailing winds blowing from east or west. Therefore, Daghir [2] recommended that the width of the building should not exceed 12 m to prevent this problem. In addition, the problem of uneven air exchange rate and temperature within the building is eradicated.
\nFurthermore, the design must factor in the activities and services rendered by poultry farmers and professionals within the building. These activities may include transfer of chicken, feeding, de-pecking, waste management, vaccination, and so on. Therefore, longer pen house could be strenuous to maintain especially when the activities are carried out manually. Doors can be placed at interval of 15–30 m to make for easy circulation and service delivery [2]. Qureshi [32] recommended that for battery cages, it is rather advisable to factor in the number of tiers to be used. Two–tier cage system facilitates easy air exchange within the building whereas, three and four tier cage system can be problematic for air exchange. Therefore, it is recommend that rows of cages should not exceed three with center aisles not less than 1.2 m and a minimum height difference of 1 m from the ceiling.
\nA roof slope of 45° was recommended because the angle reduces the heat gain of the roof from the direct solar radiation; maximizes the distance of the bird from the heat accumulated under the roof; quick escape of the heat accumulated under the roof through ridge opening, maximizes air space to improve air exchange rate; and open space above for installation of equipment [2, 60, 62]. On the other hand, the slope in the insulated roof is dependent on the quality of the insulation.
\nRoof overhang can be used to shade the sidewalls of a building from direct and indirect solar radiation. However, the length of the roof overhang is dependent on the height of the sidewalls [2]. Heat gain by the sidewall can be reduced to about 30% by roof overhang shading if properly applied at a roof slope of 45° [60].
\nNaturally, hot air rises above cooler air due to difference in air density. Introduction of ridge opening can aid ventilation through stack effect in the poultry house. Adequate setback between buildings is required to prevent inadequate airflow and circulation [2, 61]. However, ridge opening has been reported to be ineffective in insulated poultry houses because of temperature uniformity within the house [63].
\nThe sidewall consists of a dwarf wall built up to the roof eave with a permeable membrane such as a corrugated wire mesh and an adjustable curtain. A minimum height of 0.4 m is recommended to prevent the house from water seepage, direct and indirect solar radiation, pests and predators [2]. The corrugated wire mesh allows easy airflow within and outside the building, while the adjustable curtain is used to control the flow and air velocity. However, the curtain may be transparent or of varying colors to aid its use in managing intermittent lighting scheme [2, 15, 63].
\nAdequate setback between buildings is required to prevent inadequate air exchange rates in building. Factors such as wind speed, wind direction and topography are major determinants for consideration in defining the optimal house spacing. However, the spacing between buildings can be determined by the expression below [63].
\nwhere D, housing spacing (ridge of the closest wall of the next house); H, height of the adjacent building; L, length of the adjacent building.
\nVegetation should be kept as minimal as possible and at average height to reduce the nest of wild birds and invasion of rodents and other predators. Also, the branch of trees should be kept at eaves level to prevent obstruction of airflow across the house [2].
\nFarmers in the tropics have successfully used locally sourced materials such as thatched roof and bamboo as roofing materials for the construction of naturally ventilated poultry houses [32]. However, a minimum R-value of 1.25 m2 C/W was recommended for ceiling insulation in naturally ventilated poultry house. Environmental temperature higher than 40°C would require a minimum R-value of 2.25 m2 C/W [2]. The various methods of insulating poultry house ceiling include dropped ceiling, rigid board insulation, spray polyurethane insulation and reflective insulation [2].
\nRooftop sprinklers have proven to be efficient for substantially cooling the roof [2, 60]. However, material of choice in this situation must be able to withstand the constant exposure to water [2]. Evaporative cooling in birds in hot weather can be subdued by using fogging system. With high water pressure it generates mist, which aids cooling in birds. However, the level of humidity within the house must be monitored for it could be detrimental to the health of birds at high temperature [2, 60]. Circulation fan eases heat stress by providing increased air velocity to increase convection cooling. Generally, circulation fans generate air velocity of 0.5 m/s or more and cover an area 15 times its horizontal diameter by five times its vertical diameter [2]. Furthermore, for effective use of circulation fans it should be installed at the center 1–1.5 m above the floor and tilted downward at an angle 5o.
\nShrubs and grasses reduce reflective and direct solar radiation by shading and convection cooling [60]. Vegetation should be kept clean and trimmed to keep away predators and pests [2]. The planting of tall trees along the sidewalls can provide a form of canopy to shade the sidewalls from exposure to direct or reflective solar radiation during the hot periods of the day.
\nThe limitation of attaining adequate internal environmental conditions required for optimum birds’ performance under extreme weather conditions has led to the use of the mechanically ventilated housing system. Also, the mechanically ventilated house provides more control over air exchange, wind velocity and wind direction [2, 16]. Mechanically ventilated system entails the use of either positive or negative pressure system. The negative-pressure system which is the most commonly used in mechanical ventilated house, expels air out of the building by fans through an air inlet system to create low pressure within the house to allow fresh air to rush in through the same air inlet system [2].
\nThe negative-pressure systems can be achieved through inlet or tunnel ventilation. Inlet ventilation system uniformly distributes exhaust fans and air inlets across the house whereas, tunnel ventilation exhaust fans are located at one end and inlet pipes at the other end. This provides the tunnel ventilation with an advantage of greater air speed in turn creating more positive air exchange [2].
\nFor proper ventilation control, it is required that the house be highly insulated and tightly constructed [2]. However, the sidewall can be equipped with insulated adjustable curtains instead of solid wall for use in the cooler periods of the year or incase of power failure emergency. It is important to note that solid wall have higher insulation value that adjustable curtains.
\nHigh external temperature coupled with the heat generated from the activities within the poultry house increases the temperature of the internal air. An effective mechanical ventilation system has to exchange the air quickly to ensure the internal air temperature maintains not more than 2.8°C difference from the external air temperature. The expression below can be used to calculate the appropriate exhaust fan required for effective ventilation [2].
\nwhere, A, area of the building surface (m2); R, insulation value of the wall material (m2C/W); To, temperature outside (°C); Ti, temperature inside (°C).
\nThe value of To is the hottest external temperature that is excepted of the external environment. However, when calculating heat gain for roof in a house with attic space, the value To it is assumed to be 55°C whereas the To value for ceilings with insulation directly below the roof is assumed to be 65°C [2]. On the other hand, Ti is best assumed as 27°C to ensure comfort for birds. The value of R will be the overall sum of the insulation value of the wall section.
\nThe total heat produced (sensible and latent) in commercial broiler is 7.9 W/kg while broiler, pullets and broiler breeders is 5.1 W/kg [2, 64]. The heat generated by birds is expressed below [2].
\nwhere sensible heat, 50% of the total heat produced by birds.
\nHowever, the air movement capacity to maintain 2.8°C between intake and exhaust air is expressed below.
\nThere are a number of negative-pressure air inlet pipes used to control the internal climatic condition by controlling the entry location, speed and direction of fresh air. However, the exhaust fan determines how much air enters the house.
\nThe pressure difference between the internal and external environment determines the entry speed of fresh air [2]. However, the pressure is a function of the number and sizes of the air inlets. Therefore, the easy manipulation of differential pressure allows for possible control of airflow pattern within the building and of negative-pressure air inlet pipes used to control the internal climatic condition.
\nFor easy control and distribution of air within the poultry house, the exhaust fan must develop a static pressure of about 12–25 Pa [2].
\nAir inlet design should be located strategically as the direction of air depends on external climatic condition, age and class of the chicken. Normally, air inlets should be designed to direct air towards the ceiling at cooler time while another should be directed towards the floor during the hot periods of the year [2].
\nStatic pressure of about 12–25 Pa was recommended for easy control of the air inlet for a static pressure above or below that range can lead to supply of insufficient air velocity [2].
\nThe exhaust fans are installed on one side while the air inlet pipes are along the other side of the poultry house. It is best suited to narrow poultry houses (less than 10 m) because it leads to difference in environmental conditions in the house with larger width [2].
\nThe exhaust fans are placed below the air inlet pipes on both sides of the building walls [2]. However, a distance not less than twice the diameter of the fan should be between the exhaust fans and the air inlet pipes. Air movement is directed towards the center, and drawn through the floor by the exhaust fans. It is also best suited for narrow house with not more than 12 m width [2].
\nThe exhaust fans are placed on the lower sidewalls while, air inlets are placed in the ceiling. This kind of ventilation requires proper ceiling insulation and it best suitable for hot climate areas. The ventilation method is greatly recommended for rearing laying hen [2].
\nFresh air enters through the air inlet pipes at a velocity of 3.5–6 m/s, however this velocity is quickly dropped to about 1 m/s depending on the size and type of the house. Hence, circulation fans are used to boost the air speed to ensure air movement is sufficient in the building [2].
\nTunnel ventilation system is designed to meet the specified air velocity and air exchange rate. However, the required air velocity is dependent on the class of birds in question. \nTable 2\n shows the recommended air speed required for rearing various classes of poultry birds [2].
\nHouse type | \nAir speed (m/s) | \n
---|---|
Broilers | \n2.5–3 | \n
Pullets | \n1.75–2.25 | \n
Broiler breeders | \n2.25–3 | \n
Commercial layer | \n2.5–3 | \n
Recommended air velocities in tunnel-ventilated houses.
The tunnel fan capacity is determined by the same method used for inlet ventilation system. Unlike the inlet ventilation system where the adequate air velocity is propelled by circulation fan, the required average air velocity within tunnel house is calculated by the expression below [2].
\nwhere air velocity, m/s; tunnel fan capacity, m3/h; cross section area, m2.
\nHowever, it is important to note that the cross sectional area of the house adversely affect the air speed within the house. Therefore, it is advisable to design narrow and long house with lower ceilings [2]. Consequently the expression below can be used to design the desired air velocity.
\nwhere desired air velocity, m/s; tunnel fan capacity, m3/h; cross section area, m2.
\nIn cases where there is land constraints, air deflectors can be installed houses with large cross-sectional area to reduce the cross sectional area within the poultry house. Air deflectors are curtains that extend from the ceiling not more than 2.5–3 m from the ground. Air deflectors have been reported to increase air velocity for a distance approximately 1.2 and 6–9 m upward and downwind of the deflector respectively. However, it is important to ensure that the air deflector exceed 2.5 m from the ground to have it from disrupting the performance of fans and air exchange rate by increasing static pressure [2].
\nNormally, the air velocity in a tunnel house is assumed uniform across the house. However, it can vary slightly depending on the smoothness of the building surfaces, presence of poultry equipment and other obstructions that deflect air. The difference between the air velocity in the center and the side of the house can vary from 15 to 40% [2].
\nGenerally, it is best to install the fans on one end and the inlet in opposite end to ensure the maximum air speed is achieved in the tunnel house. However in cases where the poultry house is over 180 m long and the air velocity required for airflow in one direction exceeds 3.5 m/s it is advisable to apply the bi-directional tunnel house system. The fans are located at end-walls of the building and the tunnel inlet at the center of the house. The air velocity in both direction is reduce to half of the required velocity while retaining the same air exchange rate to ensure the temperature difference between the inlet and the fan remains the same [2].
\nThe fans can be installed at the end-walls or the sidewalls near the end, and this installation arrangement does not affect the performances of the fans. However, dead spot can be noticed when the fan is installed on the sidewalls as the width of the houses increase.
\nIn the absence of evaporative cooling pads, it is recommended that the inlet area should be at least 10% greater than the cross sectional area of the house. Meanwhile, the pad used determines inlet size for tunnel house with evaporative cooling pads. It is recommended that inlet opening on the sidewall should be installed as close as possible to the end wall. However, if the house width exceeds 15 m it is advisable to install the inlet openings on the end-wall [2].
\nIt has been recommended that tunnel ventilated system should be used in hot weather because cool weather reduce the air exchange rate. Consequently, it was recommended that a minimum of 60% of the tunnel fan capacity should be controlled by the traditional inlet system before upgrading to tunnel ventilation for easy switch during cooler weathers [2].
\nIt is the simplest type of exhaust fan. Its shutters are used to when the fan is not in use. However, the exterior shutter restricts airflow as air spins off its blades on contact. In the case of interior fan on the other hand, the shutters are on the intake side of the fan thus, lessening the restriction of airflow. It has bigger shutters, which allows for more air movement. Daghir [2] reported that airflow is increased by 5–10% compared to exterior shutter fan.
\nIt increases fan performance by 5–10% as it eases the transitioning of drawn towards the fans [2].
\nThe fans blades are driven by a simple pulley mechanism. It may be upgraded with an automatic belt tensioner to prevent belt slippage [2].
\nThe fan’s blades are attached directly to the motor shaft eliminating the use of belt. They are less energy efficient compared to belt-driven fans [2].
\nHeat loss in birds through convection, radiation and conduction is only effective if the environmental temperature is below or within the bird’s thermoneutral zone. Naturally ventilated open housing system has been explored in the tropics to improve the environment for optimum production in birds. Studies show that when the volume and velocity of air is increased heat loss is enhanced in birds through convection. Also, the proper consideration of architectural elements such as building orientation, roof slope, roof overhang, landscape, building height, building width, building length, etc. have been reported to enhance naturally ventilated buildings for optimum production in chicken. In addition, the incorporation of cooling systems such as fogging system, sprinkling system and circulation fan in naturally ventilated design house systems have proven positive in optimizing birds’ performances in general.
\nConsequently, in cases where the environmental temperature is severely high and unbearable for birds the mechanical ventilated open housing system have been introduced. The use of Tunnel and inlet ventilation system have been reported to sustain improved birds’ production in this regions regardless the extreme weather conditions. However, to design an effective, mechanically ventilated house due attention should be given when calculating the fan capacity of the house, heat generated by the birds, sizes of inlet, level of installation, positioning of inlet pipes and exhaust fan and finally the capacity of circulation fans required in inlet ventilated systems.
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