Vpliv sezone na in vitro razgradljivost in fermentabilnost krmil v vampovem soku navadnega jelena (Cervus elaphus L.)

Transition from summer to winter changes red deer digestive tract physiology and digestive processes. The objective of the trial was to determine the effects of season on in vitro apparent (<em>iv</em>ADMD) and true dry matter (<em>iv</em>TDMD) digestibility, in vitro gas production parameters and short-chain fatty acid synthesis (SCFA) in red deer hinds of eleven substrates naturally occurring in Slovenia (chestnut fruits, acorns of common and sessile oak, two fresh grasses) and those frequently used in supplemental red deer feeding (two grass hays and two grass silages, apple pomace and sugar beet roots). There were no differences in <em>iv</em>ADMD, <em>iv</em>TDMD, determined by incubation of feeds in buffered rumen fluid, as there were no differences in majority of gas production parameters between autumn and winter season. Only the parameter “C” (specific gas production rate) was frequently higher (<em>p</em> &lt; 0.05) in winter season than in autumn season. The amounts of SCFA were similar between two seasons. However, the proportion of acetic acid tended to be higher in winter, while the proportions of propionic and butyric acid tended to be higher in autumn than in winter especially in high fibre feeds. On contrary, in high starch feeds such as oak acorns and chestnut fruits, the proportion of propionic acid was higher (<em>p</em> &lt; 0.05) in winter, while of butyric acid in autumn (<em>p</em> &lt; 0.05). Despite the fact that the number of used substrates (n = 11) and animal rumen fluid donors (n = 6) were small, these results indicate a shift in rumen microbial metabolism between autumn and winter season.

Short-Term Adaptation of Dairy Cattle Production Parameters to Individualized Changes in Dietary Top Dress

Immediate and short-term changes in diet composition can support individualized, real-time interventions in precision dairy production systems, and might increase feed efficiency (FE) of dairy cattle in the short-term. The objective of this study was to determine immediate and short-term effects of changes in diet composition on production parameters of dairy cattle fed varying amounts of top dressed commodities. A 4 × 4 replicated Latin square design was used to evaluate responses of twenty-four Holstein cows fed either no top dress (Control) or increasing amounts of: corn grain (CG), soybean meal (SBM), or chopped mixed grass hay (GH) top dressed on a total mixed ration (TMR) over four, 9-day periods. Throughout each period, top dressed commodities were incrementally increased, providing 0% to 20% of calculated net energy of lactation (NEL) intake. Measured production responses were analyzed for each 9-d period using a mixed-effects model considering two different time ranges. Samples collected from d 3 and 4 and from d 7 and 8 of each period were averaged and used to reflect “immediate” vs. “short-term” responses, respectively. In the immediate response time frame, control fed cows had lower milk yield, milk fat yield, and milk true protein yield than CG and SBM supplemented animals but similar responses to GH supplemented animals. Milk fat and protein percentages were not affected by top dress type in the immediate term. In the short-term response time-frame, GH supplemented animals had lower DMI and milk fat yield than all other groups. Control and GH supplemented cows had lower milk yield than CG and SBM fed cows. In the immediate response time frame, FE of SBM supplemented cows was superior to other groups. In the short-term time frame, FE of GH and SBM groups was improved over the control group. Results suggest that lactating dairy cows show rapid performance responses to small (<20% NEL) changes in dietary composition, which may be leveraged within automated precision feeding systems to optimize efficiency of production. Before this potential can be realized, further research is needed to examine integration of such strategies into automatic feeding systems and downstream impacts on individual animal FE and farm profitability.

Performance and Blood Metabolites of Growing Pigs Fed Paniculum Miliaceum Diet

During 30 days, the effects of millet grain regimen on performance indicators and blood metabolites in growing pigs were studied. A total of 40 Topigs pigs with similar age (81±3d) and weight (13.58±0.36 kg) were divided into two groups: control (C), based on the corn-triticale (25%)-soybean meal and experimental (M, where the millet replaces triticale). The production parameters and plasma samples were evaluated at the end of the experiment. Spotchem EZ SP-4430 analyzer from Arkray-Japan was used to assess the blood lipid, protein, enzyme, and mineral profiles. We noticed that the M diet maintains appropriate performance (33.22 vs. 31.30 final BW; 0.646 vs. 0.608 average daily gain; 1.39 vs. 1.29 average daily feed intake and, respectively 0.46 vs. 0.47 Gain: Feed ratio) and plasma metabolic profile with the C diet (P>0.05). In conclusion, the 25% millet added to the growing pigs' diet did not affect the performance indicators or body health.

Machine-Learning-Based Carbon Footprint Management in the Frozen Vegetable Processing Industry

In the paper, we present a method of automatic evaluation and optimization of production processes towards low-carbon-emissions products. The method supports the management of production lines and is based on unsupervised machine learning methods, i.e., canopy, k-means, and expectation-maximization clusterization algorithms. For different production processes, a different clustering method may be optimal. Hence, they are validated by classification methods (k-nearest neighbors (kNN), multilayer perceptron (MLP), binary tree C4.5, random forest (RF), and support vector machine (SVM)) that identify the optimal clusterization method. Using the proposed method with real-time production parameters for a given process, we can classify the process as optimal or non-optimal on an ongoing basis. The production manager can react appropriately to sub-optimal production processes. If the process is not optimal, then during the process the manager or production technologist may change the production parameters, e.g., speed up or slow down certain batches, so that the process returns to the optimal path. This path is determined by a model trained via the proposed method based on the selected clustering method. The method is verified on an onion production line with more than a hundred processes and then applied to production lines with a smaller number of cases. We use data from real-world measurements from a frozen food production plant. Our research demonstrates that proper process management using machine learning can result in a lower carbon footprint per ton of the final product.

Metabolic and production parameters of dairy cows with different dry period lengths and parities

To assess the effects of dry period (DP) length on metabolic, reproductive, and productive parameters, second- (SP) and third- (TP) parity cows were assigned to a traditional (9 weeks, T) or short (5 weeks, S) DP, obtaining four subgroups: second-parity cows with traditional (SPT = 8) and short (SPS = 8) DP, third-parity cows with traditional (TPT = 8) and short (TPS = 10) DP. Plasma insulin-like growth factor-I (IGF-I) and non-esterified fatty acid (NEFA) levels were assessed from 5 weeks before to 14 weeks after parturition. IGF-I concentrations were affected by parity (P < 0.05) and by the interaction of time and DP length (P < 0.01). NEFA levels were affected only by time (P < 0.01). S DP cows showed a shorter interval between calving and ovarian cyclicity resumption (P < 0.01) and a higher milk yield (P < 0.01) and fat and protein corrected milk (P < 0.01) compared with T DP cows. Decreased milk protein content was found in the SPS group compared to the SPT (P < 0.05) and the TPS (P < 0.05) group. In conclusion, a short DP length does not affect reproductive performances, except for hastening the resumption of ovarian cyclicity. A short DP appears to increase milk production and is associated with higher IGF-I levels both in the prepartum and the postpartum period.