Vaccine success sees Moredun head to market

It may have a somewhat exotic name but the Barber Pole worm was this week called a “nasty blood-sucking piece of work” by the scientist charged with finding a way to eliminating it.

The work of Dr David Smith and his team at the Moredun Research Institute could make a dramatic difference for sheep and goat keepers all around the world. The scientists have now produced a vaccine that can massively reduce the infestation levels of this parasite.

Read more … (The Scotsman)

 

Livestock, food and climate change

Carlos Seré

The 800 million livestock keepers of the developing world are among those communities at greatest risk of climate change. They need technological and policy support to produce the greater amounts of milk, meat and eggs needed to feed the world – and to do so more efficiently with less environmental cost.

Read more… (Issues Volume 89)

 

Eat less meat and dairy: official recipe to help health of consumers – and the planet

he first official recommendations for a diet that is both healthy and good for the environment are published today, and they are likely to be seen as an assault on the UK’s current food system.

To fight climate change and tackle the growing crisis of diet-related diseases such as diabetes, heart disease and cancer, British consumers must cut down on meat and dairy produce, reduce their intake of processed foods and curb waste.

Read more … (The Guardian)

 

World faces epidemiological transition: Emerging and re-emerging animal diseases a growing problem for public health

The number of animal diseases affecting humans is set to escalate as the world undergoes a new epidemiological transition, say researchers this month in BioScience. Experts say that “dramatic” changes to the environment have sparked lasting alterations to human disease patterns.

“We appear to be undergoing a distinct change in global disease ecology,” write Montira Pongsiri, of the US Environmental Protection Agency in Washington, DC, and colleagues. “The recent emergence of infectious diseases appears to be driven by globalization and ecological disruption.”

Read more … (Emerging Health Threats Forum)

 

Australia – Cloned cattle the way of the future

IF YOU thought the cattle business had reached its technical zenith with artificial insemination and embryo transfer systems, then hold on to your hats, because long term, it’s going to get a whole lot more technical in the name of improving genetics, efficiencies and profitability.

Late last month, a gathering of beef producers and industry experts heard just what technologies Australian scientists are working on to help cattle producers, when Queensland Primary Industries and Fisheries hosted a forum “Delivery of Genetics to the Northern Australia Beef Industry” in Rockhampton.

Read more (Meat Trade News – Daily, Australia)

 

Soggy Pork … and Other Climate Change Choices

The world faces some interesting choices in the next few years. As illustrated by the ongoing Copenhagen negotiations, we have to decide whether and how to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in a wide range of sectors, from energy generation to transportation and beyond.

The livestock industry faces particular uncertainty in this environment. According to various studies, livestock accounts for somewhere between 18 percent and 51 percent [PDF] of global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from human activity—primarily from cows burping methane. Meat production is expected to double by 2050, at the same time that the world attempts to drastically reduce overall GHG emissions. Meanwhile, the U.S. Congress recently prevented the Environmental Protection Agency from regulating livestock GHG emissions.

Read more (GreenBiz – Business voice of the Green Economy)

 

CGIAR unveils agricultural research ‘masterplan’

A “masterplan” for agricultural research and technology transfer was unveiled at the UN Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen today by the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR), the world’s largest alliance of agricultural scientists.

The 45-page strategy calls for, on the one hand, action that harnesses multiple advances that the group says are waiting to be rolled out. The second strand is to boost research into longer-term solutions.

Read more … (SciDev.net)

 

Pastoralism Unraveling in Mongolia

A pungent odor like turpentine wafts over the hillsides north of the Mongolian capital. It comes from the sharilj, a wild plant that has taken over the scalloped landscape, a telltale sign of overgrazing since the plant is inedible for sheep and goats.

Sukhtseren Sharav has a herd of 150 goats and 100 sheep, and as they chew their way through everything else, and the sharilj spreads, he must shepherd them ever higher into the mountains to find fresh grazing land.

Read more (The New York Times)

 

Key to Brazil’s deforestation may be in its cows, pastures

At an experimental government farm in the western Amazon’s Rondonia state, researchers analyze grass seeds under microscopes, shake soil samples in test tubes, and measure the milk production of a new breed of cows.

While high-profile police raids targeting illegal ranchers and loggers in the Amazon grab more headlines, these scientists may produce a more important solution in the long fight to save the greatest rainforest.

Read more (China Daily)

 

New initiative to prevent ‘next global pandemic’: DFID targets hotspots for spread of animal-to-human diseases

On 11 December, the Department for International Development (DFID) brought together vets, virologists, academics and other experts in animal-to-human diseases in order to identify hotspots where the next global pandemic is most likely to come from and how best to prevent it emerging or spreading.

Read more … (DFID)