Using benchmarking to improve the financial and social sustainability of commercial goat meat, cashmere and mohair farms in Australia

Production and financial benchmarking was undertaken with commercially motivated mohair, cashmere and goat meat farmers in Australia. There were large differences in animal and fleece production and financial returns between the best and worst performing farms. Farmers and industry groups reported that the process and results were helpful and resulted in them changing management practices. Benchmarking demonstrated that there is substantial scope to increase productivity and profitability through improved genetic selection and improved management of pastures, breeding flocks and in kid survival and growth.

Arterial compliance, blood pressure, plasma leptin, and plasma lipids in women are improved with weight reduction equally with a meat-based diet and a plant-based diet

Obesity, strongly associated with the risk for coronary heart disease (CHD), is becoming increasingly prevalent. This study was designed to establish first whether systemic arterial compliance (SAC), an index of arterial function, is improved with weight loss and second, whether cardiovascular risk factors that improve with weight loss are reduced equally with lean meat or with an equivalent amount of plant protein in the diet. Thirty-six women, mostly overweight or obess, aged 40 ± 9 years, were allocated nonrandomly to a 16-week parallel-design trial of two equienergetic diets designed to lead to weight loss, with one arm of the study emphasizing red meat and the other soybeans as the major protein source. Body weight, waist and hip circumference, and plasma lipids, glucose, insulin, and leptin levels were measured, and SAC was calculated from ultrasound measurement of aortic flow velocity and aortic root driving pressure. Subjects lost weight (9% of body weight in 16 weeks) and showed decreased plasma total and low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol (12% and 14%, P < .0001, respectively), triacylglycerol (17%, P < .05), and leptin (24%, P < .01) concentrations. However, lipoprotein(a) [Lp(a)] levels did not change significantly. Mean arterial pressure (MAP) decreased 7% and SAC increased 28% (P < .001 for both). However, only the decrease in arterial pressure correlated significantly with the reduction in the waist to hip ratio (WHR), and the improvement in SAC correlated inversely with the blood pressure reduction (P < .001 for both). Further, weight loss and the metabolic benefits of weight loss occurred equally with the meat-based and plant-based diets. We conclude that moderate weight loss in women leads to a substantial reduction in the cardiovascular risk, including SAC.

Influence of stocking rate and mixed grazing of Angora goats and Merino sheep on animal and pasture production in southern Australia : 1 : botanical composition, sward characteristics and availability of components of annual temperate pastures

The effects of animal species (AS; Angora goats, Merino sheep or goats and sheep mixed grazed together at ratio 1:1) and stocking rate (SR; 7.5, 10 and 12.5 animals/ha) on the availability, botanical composition and sward characteristics of annual temperate pastures under continuous grazing were determined in a replicated experiment from 1981 to 1984. AS and SR had significant effects on pasture availability and composition and many AS SR interactions were detected. The pastures grazed by sheep had significantly reduced content and proportion of subterranean clover and more undesirable grasses compared with those grazed by goats. There were no differences in dry matter availabilities between goat- and sheep-grazed pastures at 7.5/ha, but at 10 and 12.5/ha goat pastures had significantly increased availabilities of green grass, dead and green clover and less weeds compared with sheep pastures. There was a significant AS SR interaction for the density of seedlings in May following pasture germination. Between July and January, the height of pastures was greater under goats than sheep but from January to March pasture height declined more on goat-grazed than on sheep-grazed pastures. There was an AS SR interaction for incidence of bare ground. Increasing the SR increased bare ground in pastures grazed by sheep but no change occurred on pastures grazed by goats. Changes in pasture characteristics due to increased SR were minimised on pastures grazed by goats but the grazing of sheep caused larger and faster changes and the pastures were damaged at the highest SR. Goats did not always select the same herbage material as sheep, changed their selection between seasons and were not less selective than sheep. Angora goats were flexible grazers and continually adapted their grazing behaviour to changing herbage conditions. Goat grazing led to an increase in subterranean clover, an accumulation of dead herbage at the base of the sward, reduced bare ground, taller pastures in spring and a more stable botanical composition. Mixed-grazed pasture characteristics were altered with SR. With careful management Angora goats on sheep farms may be used to manipulate pasture composition, to speed up establishment of subterranean clover, to decrease soil erosion and to reduce weed invasion.

Influence of stocking rate and mixed grazing of Angora goats and Merino sheep on animal and pasture production in southern Australia : 2 : liveweight, body condition score, carcass yield and mortality

The effects of animal species (AS; Angora goats, Merino sheep, mixed-grazed goats and sheep at the ratio of 1:1) and stocking rate (SR; 7.5, 10 and 12.5 animals/ha) on the liveweight, body condition score, carcass yield and mortality of goats and sheep were determined in a replicated experiment on improved annual temperate pastures in southern Australia from 1981 to 1984. The pattern of liveweight change was similar for both species with growth from pasture germination in autumn until maturation in late spring followed by weight loss. In winter, sheep grew faster than goats (65 versus 10 g/day, P < 0.05). In mixed-grazed treatments between November and December goats either grew when sheep were losing weight or goats lost less weight than sheep (P < 0.01). Both AS (P < 0.001) and SR (P < 0.001) affected liveweight of sheep and an AS SR interaction (P <  0.05) affected liveweight of goats. Mixed-grazed sheep were heavier than separately grazed sheep at all SR with a mean difference at 10 and 12.5/ha of 4.6 kg. Mixed-grazed goats at 10/ha were heavier than separately grazed goats from the end of the second year of the experiment, but at 12.5/ha, separately grazed goats maintained an advantage over mixed-grazed goats, with a 9.4-kg mean difference in December (P < 0.05). Body condition scores of goats and sheep declined with increasing SR; they were highest in late spring and were highly correlated with liveweight (r² > 0.8). Both AS and SR affected (P < 0.001) carcass weight and GR tissue depth as a direct result of differences in liveweight. Adjusting for differences in carcass weight negated AS effects on GR tissue depth. The carcass weights of sheep and goats increased by similar amounts for each 1-kg increase in liveweight. Mortality of sheep (3.1% p.a.) was unaffected by AS or SR. An AS SR interaction indicated mortality of separately grazed goats at 12.5/ha and mixed-grazed goats at 10 and 12.5/ha were higher (P < 0.05) than all other goat (29 versus 9%) and sheep treatments, primarily because of increased susceptibility to cold stress. Disease prevalence differed between sheep and goats. Mixed grazing of Merino sheep and Angora goats produced complementary and competitive effects depending upon the SR. Goats used summer pasture better but winter pasture less well for liveweight gain than sheep. Angora goats should not be grazed alone or mixed grazed with sheep on annual temperate pastures at SR greater than that recommended for Merino sheep and the evidence indicates a lower SR will reduce risks associated with mortality.

Influence of stocking rate and mixed grazing of Angora goats and Merino sheep on animal and pasture production in southern Australia : 3 : mohair and wool production and quality

The effects of animal species (AS; Angora goats, Merino sheep, mixed-grazed goats and sheep at the ratio of 1:1) and stocking rate (SR; 7.5, 10 and 12.5 animals/ha) on fibre production and quality were determined in a replicated experiment on improved annual temperate pastures in southern Australia from 1981 to 1984. Separately grazed sheep produced the most total clean fibre/ha at each SR. Mixed-grazed treatments produced amounts of clean fibre/ha similar to the arithmetic mean of sheep and goat treatments at 7.5/ha (21.9 versus 21.3 kg/ha), 10% more at 10/ha (28.3 versus 25.3 kg/ha, P < 0.05) and 7% more at 12.5/ha (31.6 versus 29.6 kg/ha, P < 0.10). Clean wool production/head was affected by AS and SR but not year. Clean mohair production was affected by SR and year but not AS. Variation in mean fibre diameter (MFD) accounted for 67 and 71%, respectively, of the variation in clean wool and clean mohair production/head. There was an AS SR interaction for clean fibre production/t pasture. Growth rate of mohair was highest in autumn and least in summer. In each season, an increase in the SR reduced the clean mohair growth rate. Growth rate of wool was highest in spring and least in summer. Wool and mohair MFD were affected by an AS SR interaction. Mohair MFD was also affected by year and season. At 10/ha, wool from mixed-grazed sheep had a greater MFD than wool from separately grazed sheep (20.2 versus 18.9 μm) and mixed-grazed goats grew mohair 1 μm coarser than separately grazed goats. At 12.5/ha mixed-grazed goats grew mohair 1.9 μm finer than separately grazed goats. Mohair MFD was predicted by a multiple regression that included average liveweight for the period of fleece growth, season of growth (summer 1 μm finer than winter) and year (range 1.27 μm). Mohair MFD increased 4.7 μm/10 kg increase in average fleece-free liveweight (P = 6.4 10-14). Fleece-free liveweight alone accounted for 76.4% of the variation in mohair MFD. There was an AS SR interaction for the incidence of kemp and medullated fibres; under severe grazing pressure their incidence was suppressed. This experiment indicated that the principles associated with the effects of SR on wool production on annual temperate pastures apply to mohair production. Mixed grazing of Merino sheep and Angora goats produced complementary and competitive effects depending on the SR. Angora goats should not be grazed alone or mixed-grazed with sheep on annual temperate pastures at SR greater than that recommended for Merino sheep.

Comparison of lipid content and fatty acid composition in the edible meat of wild and cultured freshwater and marine fish and shrimps from China

The lipid content and fatty acid composition in the edible meat of twenty-nine species of wild and cultured freshwater and marine fish and shrimps were investigated. Both the lipid content and fatty acid composition of the species were specified due to their unique food habits and trophic levels. Most of the marine fish demonstrated higher lipid content than the freshwater fish, whereas shrimps had the lowest lipid content. All the marine fish and shrimps had much higher total n-3 PUFA than n-6 PUFA, while most of the freshwater fish and shrimps demonstrated much lower total n-3 PUFA than n-6 PUFA. This may be the biggest difference in fatty acid composition between marine and freshwater species. The cultured freshwater fish demonstrated higher percentages of total PUFA, total n-3 PUFA, and EPA + DHA than the wild freshwater fish. Two freshwater fish, including bighead carp and silver carp, are comparable to the marine fish as sources of n-3 PUFA.