Agriculture vulnerable to climate change
Agriculture both affects and is affected by climate change due to the increase in greenhouse gas, speakers said at a lively debate at the World Agricultural Forum in St. Louis. Speakers debated how, or even if, agriculture can be part of the solution to global warming in a session called “Climate Change: Impacts on Food Security.”
“Agriculture is not at the table (at the global debate on climate change that will occur this fall in Copenhagen),” said moderator Carole Brookins, former U.S. representative to the World Bank. “How do we make agriculture part of the solution?”
Livestock is very vulnerable to climate change, said Dr. Frank M. Mitloehner, air quality extension specialist at the University of California-Davis. During a recent hot summer, 30,000 dairy cows died in California in one week, and one of the state’s largest dairy herds saw productivity fall by one third. California is the largest U.S. milk producing state. Livestock is affected by the variability in climate, he said.
Livestock contribution debated
Mitloehner added that the recently published figure which stated that livestock is responsible for 18% of global warming is “very controversial and cannot be applied regionally.” For example, he said, the bulk of the 18% is due to deforestation in developing countries, while livestock in developed countries are only a small contributor to global warming. He noted that in the United States forested land has actually increased in recent years. Furthermore, he said that methane production from cows has decreased dramatically since the 1940s due to increases in productivity.
Mitloehner is critical of consumers who want safe technologies banned that increase livestock efficiency, such as rBST for cows. In addition, organic systems may contribute more to global warming, Mitloehner said. He continued saying that through the increasing use of methane digesters, methane can be captured and used to make electricity and natural gas.
Professor Alan Buckwell, director of the Land and Business Association of the United Kingdom, said that agriculture is hurt by climate change. Specifically, he said, climate change above 2% creates heat stress for plants and animals and spreads diseases for both. He also said that it’s a “gigantic challenge,” but agriculture has to learn how to reduce its production of methane and nitrous oxide, which contribute to greenhouse gases. It’s a very complex issue, he said, and “we do not have good measurement tools.”
In addition, Buckwell and other panel members said, it’s very difficult to control the behavior of millions of independent farmers. Right now, he said, “Agriculture is not part of the solution, and we better face that.”
Poor most affected
One piece of the solution is to boost efficiency of plants, which results in fewer emissions, said Dr. Jerry Hatfield, director of the USDA-ARS National Soil Tilth Laboratory in Ames, Iowa. He added, however, that making plants more resistant to climate change “doesn’t get quite the press.”
Particularly affected by climate change will be the world’s poor, which are disproportionately concentrated in Africa. “By 2080 it’s a terrible picture for the world’s poor,” said Frank Tugwell, president and CEO of Winrock International. Many areas of Africa will “not be very inhabitable,” he said, which presents “a catastrophic picture.” One of the major problems in reversing climate change trends, he said, is that democratic societies are not very good at dealing with long-term problems.
Michael Walsh, executive vice president, the Chicago Climate Exchange (CCX), said that despite a dire picture, positive developments are taking place within agriculture. For example, 20 million acres in the U.S. and Canada have enrolled in the CCX, in which farmers agree to management practices that sequester carbon in the soil in exchange for payments. “There is reason for optimism,” he stated. Walsh added that in time, it may be possible that agriculture may be 5% part of the solution, and that as much as 20% of net ag income may come from programs such as those offered by the CCX. Livestock producers may also participate in CCX programs by reducing methane output.
Disagreement over no-till
“We won’t take ag emissions to zero, but we can improve,” Hatfield said. Farmers can “drastically change” nitrogen emissions, he added. Some panelists were concerned, however, that at the same time farmers in developed nations reduce their emissions, farmers in developing nations may increase them by adopting more efficient production practices with more fertilizer and other inputs. Some said that through proper development, farmers in developing nations may be able to concentrate production on the highest-producing soils, thus reducing their carbon footprint. The panelists also debated whether or not reduced tillage and no-till actually reduces or increases carbon emissions. Europe does not allow farmers to receive credit for carbon sequestration for no-till because of the view that it may increase carbon emissions. Some panelists, however, took the strong view that no-till reduces a farmer’s carbon footprint.
Panelists also debated whether incentives will be enough to change the behavior of millions of farmers or whether mandatory incentives will be necessary. “It’s better to produce incentives,” Tugwell said, while Buckwell countered with: “I don’t think we know enough about incentives.”
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USDA releases 2009 Prospective Plantings report
U.S. producers intend to plant less in 2009 than in 2008, says University of Illinois Extension Economist Darrel Good and according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Prospective Plantings report released March 31. Planting intentions for all crops included in the survey are 7.8 million acres less than acreage seeded to those crops in 2008. Including acreage of hay intended for harvest, the decline is about 7.6 million.
Declines total as follows:
- 4.5 million for wheat
- 1.3 million for sorghum
- 1 million for corn
- 658,000 for cotton
- 446,000 for sunflowers
- 410,000 for peanuts
- 154,000 for canola
For wheat, 75% of the acreage reduction is for winter wheat, even though winter wheat seedings are 791,000 acres larger than reported in January. Intended acreage of soybeans included in the report is 306,000 more than planted in 2008. Intended acreage of all oilseed crops is 672,500 less and acreage of feed grains (corn, sorghum, barley, and oats) is 2.4 million less than planted in 2008.
The complete USDA report can be accessed here.
To read more about feed prices, please go to WATT.
China approves Lallemand products
Lallemand Animal Nutrition announced that the company has successfully completed the registration process of two of its key microbial based feed additives in the People’s Republic of China.
Alkosel, the company’s premium source of bioavailable selenium, has been recognized safe and effective, and thereby registered for use as a mineral feed supplement. Monogastric specific probiotic bacteria Bactocell (Pediococcus acidilactici CNCM MA 18/5M) has been registered as a microbial biotic feed additive.
| To read more about the feed industry, please go to WATT. |
Piglet feed supplements support immune systems
As feed costs rise and the production of ethanol from corn grain increases, swine producers have ramped up their search for new feed supplements for younger swine. According to studies by Agricultural Research Service (ARS) scientists, feeding dried distiller’s grains (DDGS) to piglets can give their immune systems an extra boost.
The U.S. ethanol industry generates an estimated 10-14 million metric tons of DDGS annually from the milling of corn grain that yields fermentable sugars for conversion into fuel alcohol. The majority of DDGS are fed to beef and dairy cattle.
But livestock producers also use DDGS to supplement the diet of older pigs. So Tom Weber, a physiologist at the ARS Swine Odor and Manure Management Research Unit in Ames, Iowa, partnered with research leader Brian Kerr and microbiologist Cherie Ziemer to study the effects of feeding DDGS to young pigs.
For their research on piglets, the team divided weanling pigs into four groups and fed them either a standard control diet or diets supplemented with DDGS, soybean hulls or citrus pulp. After one week, the researchers observed an increase in cytokine expression in the pigs’ small intestine, which they linked to DDGS consumption. Cytokines are chemical messengers that are essential for proper immune function.
This response reinforced findings of previous DDGS studies showing that pigs consuming diets supplemented with DDGS exhibited reduced levels of ileitis, a common inflammation of the small intestine.
Kerr and others have found that adult pigs can be fed with a corn and soy-meal feed that is up to 40% DDGS. However, piglets are given feed with a maximum DDG content of 7.5%, because their growth may be reduced when they consume too much fiber.
Read more about this research in the February 2009 issue of Agricultural Research magazine.
US swine inventories in decline
US swine inventories in nearly all classifications are on the decline, the US Department of Agriculture’s December Hogs and Pigs report shows, say Iowa State University economists John Lawrence and Shane Ellis.
Total hog and pig numbers declined 2.2% to 66.7 million head. The inventory of breeding swine declined 2.4% to 6.1 million head, while market hog numbers were down 2.1% from last year at 60.6 million head.
In Iowa, market hog numbers were up 2.2% at 18.7 million head while sow numbers declined a percent to 1.1 million head. The decreased pig crop in the fourth quarter of 2008 and reduced imports from Canada have driven feeder pig inventories down more than 5%. With farrowing intentions down in the next six months, the retraction of the industry continues, say Lawrence and Ellis.
USDA lowers corn price estimate
The US Department of Agriculture lowered its 2008-09 average corn price estimate to a range of $3.55 to $4.25/bushel in a 12 January report, 10 cents below the previous month’s estimate. The World Agricultural Supply and Demand Estimates (WASDE) place this year’s soybean prices at $8.50 to $9.50 per bushel compared with an estimate of $8.25 to $9.75/bushel last month. Soybean meal prices are projected at $250 to $310 per short ton, up $10 on both ends of the range. On wheat, the projected season-average farm price is narrowed 10 cents on both ends of the range to a projection of of $6.50 to $6.90/bushel.
On coarse grains, USDA reduced feed and residual use by 50 million bushels, reflecting lower animal numbers and September-November disappearance as indicated by 1 December stocks. In addition, the department lowered ethanol use by 100 million bushels as sustained negative ethanol production margins have reduced incentives for ethanol output.
Looking at other crops, the sorghum season average farm price is lowered 10 cents to $2.90 to $3.50/bushel; barley narrowed 10 cents to $4.95 to $5.35/bushel; and the estimate for oats was raised 10 cents to $2.90 to $3.10.
The WASDE report reflects a lower meat production estimate from the previous month, with reduced 2009 broiler and pork production. Beef production forecasts for 2009 are unchanged.
Mong Reththy Group pork project to include feedmill
| The Mong Reththy Group in Cambodia has plans for a pork project that also includes adding a feedmill with a projected output of 330,000 metric tons per year.
In addition to boosting local pork production, the project would increase the incomes of corn, cassava and soybean farmers, while creating employment and new opportunities for production, says Kao Phal, director of the Animal Health and Production Department at the Ministry of Agriculture. Mong Reththy has set up a new company called M’s Pig ACMC in association with UK breeder ACMC, with which it has agreed a 20-year franchise deal. ACMC will deliver 600 breeding pigs for a new unit on a five-hectare site in the Prey Nop district of Sihanoukville, Cambodia, which will house a nucleus herd. Eventually this unit will supply enough commercial AC1 sows to produce 1.1 million slaughter pigs per year by 2015. The project also involves a slaughter/process plant for the pigs. |
IGC projects feed grain increase
More grains will be used in animal feeds in the 2008/2009 harvest year with production climbing to a record 1,769 million metric tons following a 12% rise in wheat output, says the International Grains Council (IGC).
Because the overall rise in production would exceed the forecast increase in total use, world carry-over stocks in 2008/2009 are projected to recover 24 million metric tons to a level of 307 million metric tons. Approximately 230 million metric tons of grains will be traded worldwide in 2008/2009, representing a decrease of 8 million metric tons. While there will be a marked upturn in wheat trading, this is predicted to be offset by sharp falls in trade in maize and sorghum, says the IGC.
Ethanol producers are forecast to increase their grain consumption to a total of 126 million metric tons, 29 million metric tons more than in 2007/2008. The total for conversion to biofuel is forecast to include 117 million metric tons of maize (corn).
A decline in planting and reduced yields will likely lead to a smaller wheat crop in 2009/2010, despite generally favorable northern hemisphere conditions, says the IGC, but with no significant fall in stocks.
Agromek reports lower attendance
Agromek, the international exhibition of agricultural machinery in Herning, Denmark, was held during the last week of November 2008 and attained a total attendance of 51,601 visitors, including 7,660 foreign guests from 66 countries.
This number is 13,396 lower than Agromek in January 2008.
“Until this year, the exhibition has always been held in January. It is thus only 10 months since we last held Agromek. It is difficult to draw conclusions as to whether this is the reason for the lower attendance or if it is the current situation in the agricultural sector, or perhaps the financial crisis,” states the Chairman of Agromek, Managing Director Peter Hansen, Cormall Agro Holding A/S.
Pig Feeds to Use Against Molds
Feed strategies against molds
Possible pig feeding actions to deal with the mycotoxins in feed grains that are now suspected of damaging pigs’ immune systems as well as causing problems of low feed intake and retarded growth.
Clinical signs of mycotoxicosis in pigs and other farm animals represent only the tip of the iceberg regarding pig health and performance effects due to mycotoxins, warned Professor Johanna Fink-Gremmels from the veterinary faculty at Utrecht University, Netherlands.
Veterinary problems in a 250-sow Norwegian herd have demonstrated the destructive power of toxins from mouldy feed grains. In this case the answer took the form of a dietary treatment. Other possible solutions for pig units to deal with feed contamination issues were outlined recently to an international gathering of scientists specialised in mycotoxin control.
For a variety of reasons, the meeting heard, moulds and their toxic products are affecting an increasing quantity of feed ingredients worldwide. An assessment 2 years ago that mycotoxins could be found in at least 25% of all grains harvested seems now to be an under-estimate. Climate is thought to be one of the factors responsible, along with changes in farming practices and the growing of susceptible crops.
Pig producers in particular should be wary of a possible contamination in the feed diets they use. Speakers at the 3rd World Mycotoxin Forum, which took place at the end of last year in the Netherlands, were agreed that pigs are the most sensitive of the farm animal species in this respect. Five out of the 300 or more known types of mould toxin are regarded as most relevant to agriculture; the pig is rated first on sensitivity for each of them.
That view has been reinforced by scientific advice given to the European Union’s administrators by independent food safety agency EFSA, the forum was told. Referring to major toxins from the globally important fungal genus called Fusarium, it advised that pigs were significantly more sensitive than poultry or cattle to the effects of deoxynivalenol (usually abbreviated as DON) and zearalenone (ZON). Much the same was true for other Fusarium toxins known as fumonisins, for ochratoxin A (OTA) from an Aspergillus fungus and for alkaloids from ergot.
Clinical signs of illness are observed whenever any of these exceeds a threshold level in the pig’s diet. For example, the vomiting caused by DON has given it the common name of vomitoxin, but pigswill start to refuse feed and show retarded growth once its presence goes above 5-10 parts per million. ZON was described to the forum as the classic textbook model of how oestrogen receptors work. It has oestrogenic (hormonal) effects on puberty and fertility when present at more than 1-3ppm. OTA can give rise to kidney damage with a dietary level of just 200 parts per billion. Typically a European problem from contaminated wheat or barley, at higher concentrations this ochratoxin is blamed for a so-called porcine nephropathy in which the kidneys become shrunken and discoloured as well as losing their function.
One difficulty with any discussion of clinical signs and threshold levels, however, is that both sensitivity and effect are influenced by the age or production stage of the pig. Nursery pigs will be far more sensitive than a gestating or lactating sow for the impact of a Fusarium mycotoxin on their appetite, possibly because the sows have an instinctive drive to keep eating in order to fuel the development of their unborn piglets or their milk production after farrowing. Effects can also be delayed, such as the subsequent stillbirths from sows consuming moldy feed in pregnancy or the disrupted endocrine balance in gilts around puberty due to their consumption of zearalenone at an earlier stage.
