Posts Tagged: Sustainable Food Systems

UC Global Food Systems Forum to address challenges of feeding the world

The University of California, through its Division of Agriculture and Natural Resources, will convene some of the world’s leading experts April 9 at the Global Food Systems Forum to address how to sustainably feed 8 billion people by 2025. The discussion will bring together people from a dynamic range of disciplines, including farmers, researchers, policymakers, economists, environmentalists and geopolitical experts. The general public can view the event live by webcast.

The daylong forum, part of ANR’s Statewide Conference in Ontario, Calif., will feature two moderated panels and keynote addresses by Mary Robinson, former president of Ireland and president of the Mary Robinson Foundation – Climate Justice, and Wes Jackson, founder and president of The Land Institute.

Michael Specter, global issues writer for The New Yorker magazine, will moderate the first panel, which will focus on the geopolitical, ethical, economic, environmental and technical challenges facing food systems from a global perspective. Award-winning author and journalist Mark Arax will moderate the second panel, which will address the implications, responsibilities and innovative opportunities from a California perspective.

The panelists will include a mix of UC and non-UC experts and thought leaders. View a list of speakers at http://food2025.ucanr.edu/Speakers.

“As a public research university, we’re a recognized leader in tackling the world’s toughest challenges,” said Barbara Allen-Diaz, UC vice president for agriculture and natural resources. “Building on our expertise in agriculture and finding practical, science-based solutions, it falls to us to convene these sorts of conversations and look far beyond the borders of our campuses. Only through discussions of this nature will people find the common ground to move the world forward on what is a compelling, complex and crucial issue.”
 
The general public is encouraged to view the live webcast and join the conversation on Twitter by following (hashtag)Food2025. To learn more about the UC Global Food Systems Forum and to sign up to view the webcast, visit http://food2025.ucanr.edu.

Food forum at a glance

• WHAT: Live webcast of UC Global Food Systems Forum at http://food2025.ucanr.edu
• WHO: World-renowned leaders in food systems dialogue. See a list at http://food2025.ucanr.edu/Speakers
• WHEN: April 9, 2013 (9 a.m.-5 p.m. PDT)
• WHERE: Register for the webcast at http://food2025.ucanr.edu/Webinar

Selective dairy breeding could help prevent lameness, boost productivity

Dairies could increase their efficiency, reduce their carbon footprints and improve the health of their herds if they considered foot warts and other hoof ailments when they develop breeding plans, suggests a new study led by UC Davis researchers.

"Most dairy breeding programs select for milk production but the results of this study indicate that the cow's conformation, particularly in terms of hoof health, also should be considered," said Anita Oberbauer, professor and chair of the UC Davis Department of Animal Science and lead author of the study. The study is published in the October issue of the Journal of Dairy Science.

By reducing hoof-health problems through selective breeding, dairy producers could increase herd longevity, improve milk yield and reduce economic inputs and environmental impacts related to raising replacement heifers, the study concludes.

Oberbauer noted that lameness and hoof health are also animal welfare issues that can cause dairy producers to cull, or retire, cows early from their milking herds. As of 2011, an average of more than 40 percent of California dairy cows were culled annually, and lameness was one of the top three reasons for culling.

The 29-month study, conducted on three California dairies, correlated milk-production records with weekly observations of hoof health problems for more than 5,000 cows, including those that were visibly lame and those that were "dry," or finishing their milking cycle.

Recorded lameness-related hoof conditions included white line disease, sole ulcer, other claw horn lesions, foot rot and foot warts.

Foot warts were the most prevalent of the ailments, occurring in more than 17 percent of the monitored cows. The research also demonstrated a sizable genetic component to sole ulcer and foot warts, indicating that a breeding program directed at reducing hoof disease will likely lead to measurable improvements.

The study concluded that a breeding program that considers hoof-health traits would be unlikely to jeopardize the cows' milk productivity.

Oberbauer said that further study is now needed to identify the specific genes or DNA regions that are responsible for hoof-health traits.

UC Davis has helped to make California the nation's largest dairy state, contributing to better sanitation procedures, improvements in raw milk handling and quality, and innovations that have reduced the environmental impact of livestock waste. The J-5 vaccine alone, developed in 1988 by veterinary medicine faculty to prevent mastitis in dairy cattle, saves producers $11 million annually. Faculty research carried out at UC Davis also helped eradicate bluetongue virus in parts of the United States and rinderpest in much of Africa. Both diseases affect livestock.

Collaborating researchers on this study included Steven Berry, a Cooperative Extension dairy management specialist, staff researcher Janelle Belanger, alumna Rachel Goldrick and Professor Thomas Famula, all of the UC Davis Department of Animal Science; and Juan Manuel Pinos-Rodriguez of Instituto de Investigacion de Zonas Deserticas, Mexico.

The W.K. Kellogg Endowment and the University of California's Agriculture and Natural Resources division funded the study.

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