Evaluation of Inoculated Lablab Silage for Growing Dairy Heifers

A summer grown forage legume crop – Lablab (Lablab purpureus) harvested in autumn, was ensiled as plastic wrapped, large round bales. Of the 30 bales produced, 13 were inoculated with a bacterial inoculant containing Lactobacillus plantarum and Enterococcus faecium. Inoculant was premixed at 30 g/litre water, cultured overnight (18 hours) then sprayed onto cut forage during the baling and wrapping procedure at 1 litre per tonne of silage. A replicated feeding experiment was conducted in July - August 1998 (5 weeks), using 24 eight month old Holstein Friesian heifers group fed non-inoculated or inoculated silage to appetite plus 2 kg rolled sorghum grain/heifer.day. Chemical composition and nutritive value of well preserved bales of control and inoculated silages were similar (P>0.05) with 50% DM and 26 g N and 6.8 MJ ME per kg DM. Lactic acid and acetic acid concentrations were 11.4 v. 11.4 and 4.90 v. 3.75 g/kg DM for control and inoculated silages respectively (P>0.05). Heifers preferentially selected leaf from the silage offered and maintained liveweight gains of 0.70 and 0.61 kg/day respectively (P>0.05) during the silage feeding period. High DM and low WSC content of the parent forage may have reduced the opportunity for the bacterial inoculant to have effect. Animal production for a consuming world : proceedings of 9th Congress of the Asian-Australasian Association of Animal Production Societies [AAAP] and 23rd Biennial Conference of the Australian Society of Animal Production [ASAP] and 17th Annual Symposium of the University of Sydney, Dairy Research Foundation, [DRF]. 2-7 July 2000, Sydney, Australia.

Protein supplementation and growth enhancer strategies in successive years to maximise growth of Brahman cross steers grazing sown grass pastures on brigalow lands

A strategy comprising a winter/spring protein supplement, rumen modifier and hormonal growth promotant (Compudose 400) was used in either the first year (Tl), second year (T2), or in both years (T1+2) following weaning in Brahman cross steers as a means of increasing liveweight gain up to 2.5 years of age. T2 produced the heaviest final liveweight (544.7 kg) and highest overall liveweight gain (366.7 kg), but these were not significantly different from T1 (538.6 kg; 360.9 kg), or T1+2 (528.7 kg; 349.3 kg). However, final liveweight and overall liveweight gains of T1 and T2 but not T1+2 were significantly greater than for untreated (C) steers (504.9 kg; 325.2 kg, both P < 0.05). Regardless of the strategy imposed, liveweight and liveweight gain were enhanced, however final liveweights in each treatment were below the preferred minimum target liveweight (570-580 kg) for premium export markets. Treatment in both years gave no benefit over treatment in 1 year only. 19th Biennial Conference. 5-9 July 1992. LaTrobe University, Melbourne.

Childhood and adolescent antecedents of work stress and early atherosclerosis

Work stress is after musculoskeletal disorders the second most common work-related health problem in the European Union, affecting 28% of EU employees. Furthermore, a 50% excessive cardiovascular disease risk among employees with work stress is reported. High job demands combined with low job control according to the Job Demands-Job Control model, or high effort combined with low rewards according to Effort-Reward Imbalance model, are likely to produce work stress in the majority of employees. Atherosclerotic wall thickening is a validated marker of an increased risk of cardiovascular disease. This study examined the role of childhood and adolescent factors as antecedents of work stress and early atherosclerosis, and in the relationship between them. The Cardiovascular Risk in Young Finns Study, (the CRYF project) started in 1980 when the participants were at the age of three to 18 years. Follow-ups have been conducted every three years until 1992, after that in 1997 and 2001, and the latest is ongoing in 2008. The participants parents reported their socioeconomic position in 1980 and 1983, and their life satisfaction in 1983. Biological risk factors were measured in 1980 and 2001. Type A behaviour was reported in 1986, 1989 and 2001. In the 2001 follow-up when the participants were aged 24 to 39, work stress was assessed from responses to questionnaires on job demands-job control and effort-reward imbalance, and education. Ultrasound measurement of the carotid intima-media thickness (CIMT) was used to assess atherosclerosis. There were 755, 746, 1014 and 494 participants in studies I-IV, respectively. The results showed that low parental socioeconomic position and parental life dissatisfaction during childhood and adolescence predicted higher levels of job strain 18 years later, and that education mediated the relationship between parental socioeconomic position and job strain. Childhood and adolescent family factors were not related to the effort-reward imbalance. Parental life satisfaction was associated with high rewards at work among the men, and high parental socioeconomic position was associated with high reward among the women. Among the men, the eagerness-energy component of Type A behaviour across different developmental periods predicted increased CIMT. Among the women, hard-driving component of Type A behaviour predicted decreased CIMT. Low leadership characteristic in adolescence and early adulthood was associated with both high job strain and increased CIMT, and attenuated the relationship between job strain and CIMT to non-significance in men. The current findings add to the literature on the relationship between job strain and health literature in adopting a developmental perspective. The results imply that work stress does not completely originate from work. There are childhood and adolescent environmental and dispositional effects on work stress and CIMT several years later, and these partly seem to operate through educational attainment.

Quantitative and molecular genetics of juvenile wood traits in radiata and slash/Caribbean pines.

The Juvenile Wood Initiative (JWI) project has been running successfully since July 2003 under a Research Agreement with FWPA and Letters of Association with the consortium partners STBA (Southern Tree Breeding Association), ArborGen and FPQ (Forestry Plantations Queensland). Over the last five and half years, JWI scientists in CSIRO, FPQ, and STBA have completed all 12 major milestones and 28 component milestones according to the project schedule. We have made benchmark progress in understanding the genetic control of wood formation and interrelationships among wood traits. The project has made 15 primary scientific findings and several results have been adopted by industry as summarized below. This progress was detailed in 10 technical reports to funding organizations and industry clients. Team scientists produced 16 scientific manuscripts (8 published, 1 in press, 2 submitted, and several others in the process of submission) and 15 conference papers or presentations. Primary Scientific Findings. The 15 major scientific findings related to wood science, inheritance and the genetic basis of juvenile wood traits are: 1. An optimal method to predict stiffness of standing trees in slash/Caribbean pine is to combine gravimetric basic density from 12 mm increment cores with a standing tree prediction of MoE using a time of flight acoustic tool. This was the most accurate and cheapest way to rank trees for breeding selection for slash/Caribbean hybrid pine. This method was also recommended for radiata pine. 2. Wood density breeding values were predicted for the first time in the STBA breeding population using a large sample of 7,078 trees (increment cores) and it was estimated that selection of the best 250 trees for deployment will produce wood density gains of 12.4%. 3. Large genetic variation for a suite of wood quality traits including density, MFA, spiral grain, shrinkage, acoustic and non-acoustic stiffness (MoE) for clear wood and standing trees were observed. Genetic gains of between 8 and 49% were predicted for these wood quality traits with selection intensity between 1 to 10% for radiata pine. 4. Site had a major effect on juvenile-mature wood transition age and the effect of selective breeding for a shorter juvenile wood formation phase was only moderate (about 10% genetic gain with 10% selection intensity, equivalent to about 2 years reduction of juvenile wood). 5. The study found no usable site by genotype interactions for the wood quality traits of density, MFA and MoE for both radiata and slash/Caribbean pines, suggesting that assessment of wood properties on one or two sites will provide reliable estimates of the genetic worth of individuals for use in future breeding. 6. There were significant and sizable genotype by environment interactions between the mainland and Tasmanian regions and within Tasmania for DBH and branch size. 7. Strong genetic correlations between rings for density, MFA and MoE for both radiata and slash/Caribbean pines were observed. This suggests that selection for improved wood properties in the innermost rings would also result in improvement of wood properties in the subsequent rings, as well as improved average performance of the entire core. 8. Strong genetic correlations between pure species and hybrid performance for each of the wood quality traits were observed in the hybrid pines. Parental performance can be used to identify the hybrid families which are most likely to have superior juvenile wood properties of the slash/Caribbean F1 hybrid in southeast Queensland. 9. Large unfavourable genetic correlations between growth and wood quality traits were a prominent feature in radiata pine, indicating that overcoming this unfavourable genetic correlation will be a major technical issue in progressing radiata pine breeding. 10. The project created the first radiata pine 18 k cDNA microarray and generated 5,952 radiata pine xylogenesis expressed sequence tags (ESTs) which assembled into 3,304 unigenes. 11. A total of 348 genes were identified as preferentially expressed genes in earlywood or latewood while a total of 168 genes were identified as preferentially expressed genes in either juvenile or mature wood. 12. Juvenile earlywood has a distinct transcriptome relative to other stages of wood development. 13. Discovered rapid decay of linkage disequilibrium (LD) in radiata pine with LD decaying to approximately 50% within 1,700 base pairs (within a typical gene). A total of 913 SNPS from sequencing 177,380 base pairs were identified for association genetic studies. 14. 149 SNPs from 44 genes and 255 SNPs from a further 51 genes (total 95 genes) were selected for association analysis with 62 wood traits, and 30 SNPs were shortlisted for their significant association with variation of wood quality traits (density, MFA and MoE) with individual significant SNPs accounting for between 1.9 and 9.7% of the total genetic variation in traits. 15. Index selection using breeding objectives was the most profitable selection method for radiata pine, but in the long term it may not be the most effective in dealing with negative genetic correlations between wood volume and quality traits. A combination of economic and biological approaches may be needed to deal with the strong adverse correlation.

Pain among employees : risk factors and consequences

The overall objective of this study was to gain epidemiological knowledge about pain among employee populations. More specifically, the aims were to assess the prevalence of pain, to identify socio-economic risk groups and work-related psychosocial risk factors, and to assess the consequences in terms of health-related functioning and sickness absence. The study was carried out among the municipal employees of the City of Helsinki. Data comprised questionnaire survey conducted in years 2000-2002 and register data on sickness absence. Altogether 8960 40-60 year old employees participated to the survey (response rate 67%). Pain is common among ageing employees. Approximately 29 per cent of employees reported chronic pain and 15 per cent acute pain, and about seven per cent reported moderately or severely limiting disabling chronic pain. Pain was more common among those with lower level of education or in a low occupational class. -- Psychosocial work environment was associated with pain reports. Job strain, bullying at workplace, and problems in combining work and home duties were associated with pain among women. Among men combining work and home duties was not associated with pain, whereas organizational injustice showed associations. Pain affects functional capacity and predicts sickness absence. Those with pain reported lower level of both mental and physical functioning than those with no pain, physical functioning being more strongly affected than mental. Bodily location of pain or whether pain was acute or chronic had only minor impact on the variation in functioning, whereas the simple count of painful locations was associated with widest variation. Pain accounted for eight per cent of short term (1-3 day) sickness absence spells among men and 13 per cent among women. Of absence spells lasting between four and 14 days pain accounted for 23 per cent among women and 25 per cent among men, corresponding figures for over 14 day absence spells being 37 and 30 per cent. The association between pain and sickness absence was relatively independent of physical and psychosocial work factors, especially among women. The results of this study provide a picture of the epidemiology of pain among employees. Pain is a significant problem that seriously affects work ability. Information on risk groups can be utilized to make prevention measures more effective among those at high risk, and to decrease pain rates and thereby narrow the differences between socio-economic groups. Furthermore, the work-related psychosocial risk factors identified in this study are potentially modifiable, and it should be possible to target interventions on decreasing pain rates among employees.

Socioeconomic Status, Occupational Factors and Lifestyle as Predictors of Hospitalisation for Back Disorders

The aim of this dissertation was to examine the determinants of severe back disorders leading to hospital admission in Finland. First, back-related hospitalisations were considered from the perspective of socioeconomic status, occupation, and industry. Secondly, the significance of psychosocial factors at work, sleep disturbances, and such lifestyle factors as smoking and overweight was studied as predictors of hospitalisation due to back disorders. Two sets of data were used: 1) the population-based data comprised all occupationally active Finns aged 25-64, and included hospitalisations due to back disorders in 1996 and 2) a cohort of employees followed up from 1973 to 2000 having been hospitalised due to back disorders. The results of the population-based study showed that people in physically strenuous industries and occupations, such as agriculture and manufacturing, were at an increased risk of being hospitalised for back disorders. The lowest hospitalisation rates were found in sedentary occupations. Occupational class and the level of formal education were independently associated with hospitalisation for back disorders. This stratification was fairly consistent across age-groups and genders. Men had a slightly higher risk of becoming hospitalised compared with women, and the risk increased with age among both genders. The results of the prospective cohort study showed that psychosocial factors at work such as low job control and low supervisor support predicted subsequent hospitalisation for back disorders even when adjustments were made for occupational class and physical workload history. However, psychosocial factors did not predict hospital admissions due to intervertebral disc disorders; only admissions due to other back disorders. Smoking and overweight predicted, instead, only hospitalisation for intervertebral disc disorders. These results suggest that the etiological factors of disc disorders and other back disorders differ from each other. The study concerning the association of sleep disturbances and other distress symptoms with hospitalisation for back disorders revealed that sleep disturbances predicted subsequent hospitalisation for all back disorders after adjustment for chronic back disorders and recurrent back symptoms at baseline, as well as for work-related load and lifestyle factors. Other distress symptoms were not predictive of hospitalisation.

Multiple socioeconomic circumstances and health : associations and explanations among Finnish and British public sector employees

Socioeconomic health inequalities have been widely documented, with a lower social position being associated with poorer physical and general health and higher mortality. For mental health the results have been more varied. However, the mechanisms by which the various dimensions of socioeconomic circumstances are associated with different domains of health are not yet fully understood. This is related to a lack of studies tackling the interrelations and pathways between multiple dimensions of socioeconomic circumstances and domains of health. In particular, evidence from comparative studies of populations from different national contexts that consider the complexity of the causes of socioeconomic health inequalities is needed. The aim of this study was to examine the associations of multiple socioeconomic circumstances with physical and mental health, more specifically physical functioning and common mental disorders. This was done in a comparative setting of two cohorts of white-collar public sector employees, one from Finland and one from Britain. The study also sought to find explanations for the observed associations between economic difficulties and health by analysing the contribution of health behaviours, living arrangements and work-family conflicts. The survey data were derived from the Finnish Helsinki Health Study baseline surveys in 2000-2002 among the City of Helsinki employees aged 40-60 years, and from the fifth phase of the London-based Whitehall II study (1997-9) which is a prospective study of civil servants aged 35-55 years at the time of recruitment. The data collection in the two countries was harmonised to safeguard maximal comparability. Physical functioning was measured with the Short Form (SF-36) physical component summary and common mental disorders with the General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-12). Socioeconomic circumstances were parental education, childhood economic difficulties, own education, occupational class, household income, housing tenure, and current economic difficulties. Further explanatory factors were health behaviours, living arrangements and work-family conflicts. The main statistical method used was logistic regression analysis. Analyses were conducted separately for the two sexes and two cohorts. Childhood and current economic difficulties were associated with poorer physical functioning and common mental disorders generally in both cohorts and sexes. Conventional dimensions of socioeconomic circumstances i.e. education, occupational class and income were associated with physical functioning and mediated each other’s effects, but in different ways in the two cohorts: education was more important in Helsinki and occupational class in London. The associations of economic difficulties with health were partly explained by work-family conflicts and other socioeconomic circumstances in both cohorts and sexes. In conclusion, this study on two country-specific cohorts confirms that different dimensions of socioeconomic circumstances are related but not interchangeable. They are also somewhat differently associated with physical and mental domains of health. In addition to conventionally measured dimensions of past and present socioeconomic circumstances, economic difficulties should be taken into account in studies and attempts to reduce health inequalities. Further explanatory factors, particularly conflicts between work and family, should also be considered when aiming to reduce inequalities and maintain the health of employees.

Molecular Genetic Background of Tumours in Hereditary Leiomyomatosis and Renal Cell Cancer Syndrome

Hereditary Leiomyomatosis and Renal Cell Cancer (HLRCC) is a hereditary tumour predisposition syndrome. Its phenotype includes benign cutaneous and uterine leiomyomas (CLM, ULM) with high penetrance and rarer renal cell cancer (RCC), most commonly of papillary type 2 subtype. Over 130 HLRCC families have been identified world-wide but the RCC phenotype seems to concentrate in families from Finland and North America for unknown reasons. HLRCC is caused by heterozygous germline mutations in the fumarate hydratase (FH) gene. FH encodes the enzyme fumarase from mitochondrial citric acid cycle. Fumarase enzyme activity or type or site of the FH mutation are unassociated with disease phenotype. The strongest evidence for tumourigenesis mechanism in HLRCC supports a hypoxia inducible factor driven process called pseudohypoxia resulting from accumulation of the fumarase substrate fumarate. In this study, to assess the importance of gene- or exon-level deletions or amplifications of FH in patients with HLRCC-associated phenotypes, multiplex ligation-dependent probe amplification (MLPA) method was used. One novel FH mutation, deletion of exon 1, was found in a Swedish male patient with an evident HLRCC phenotype with CLM, RCC, and a family history of ULM and RCC. Six other patients with CLM and 12 patients with only RCC or uterine leiomyosarcoma (ULMS) remained FH mutation-negative. These results suggest that copy number aberrations of FH or its exons are an infrequent cause of HLRCC and that only co-occurrence of benign tumour types justifies FH-mutation screening in RCC or ULMS patients. Determination of the genomic profile of 11 HLRCC-associated RCCs from Finnish patients was performed by array comparative genomic hybridization. The most common copy number aberrations were gains of 2, 7, and 17 and losses of 13q12.3-q21.1, 14, 18, and X. When compared to aberrations of sporadic papillary RCCs, HLRCC-associated RCCs harboured a distinct DNA copy number profile and lacked many of the changes characterizing the sporadic RCCs. The findings suggest a divergent molecular pathway for tumourigenesis of papillary RCCs in HLRCC. In order to find a genetic modifier of RCC risk in HLRCC, genome-wide linkage and identical by descent (IBD) analysis studies were performed in Finnish HLRCC families with microsatellite marker mapping and SNP-array platforms. The linkage analysis identified only one locus of interest, the FH gene locus in 1q43, but no mutations were found in the genes of the region. IBD analysis yielded no convincing haplotypes shared by RCC patients. Although these results do not exclude the existence of a genetic modifier for RCC risk in HLRCC, they emphasize the role of FH mutations in the malignant tumourigenesis of HLRCC. To study the benign tumours in HLRCC, genome-wide DNA copy number and gene expression profiles of sporadic and HLRCC ULMs were defined with modern SNP- and gene-expression array platforms. The gene expression array suggests novel genes involved in FH-deficient ULM tumourigenesis and novel genes with putative roles in propagation of sporadic ULM. Both the gene expression and copy number profiles of HLRCC ULMs differed from those of sporadic ULMs indicating distinct molecular basis of the FH-deficient HLRCC tumours.

Was wollen jüngere und ältere Erwerbstätige erreichen? Altersbezogene Unterschiede in den Inhalten und Merkmalen beruflicher Ziele [What do younger and older workers want to accomplish? Age-related differences in content and characteristics of occupational goals ]

Demographic changes necessitate that companies commit younger workers and motivate older workers through work design. Age-related differences in occupational goals should be taken into account when accomplishing these challenges. In this study, we investigated goal contents and goal characteristics of employees from different age groups. We surveyed 150 employees working in the service sector (average age = 44 years, age range 19 to 60 years) on their most important occupational goals. Employees who stated goals from the area of organizational citizenship were significantly older than employees with other goals. Employees who stated goals from the areas of training and pay/career were significantly younger than employees with other goals. After controlling for gender, education, and work characteristics, no age-related differences were found in the goal areas teamwork, job security, working time, well-being, and new challenges. In addition, no relationships were found between age and the goal characteristics specificity, planning intensity, as well as positive and negative goal emotions. We recommend that companies provide older workers with more opportunities for organizational citizenship and commit younger workers by providing development opportunities and adequate pay

The importance of a precise definition, comprehensive model, and critical discussion of successful aging at work

It is crucial to advance understanding of the concept of successful aging at work to guide rigorous future research and effective practice. Drawing on the gerontology and life-span developmental literatures, I recently proposed a definition and theoretical framework of successful aging at work that revolve around employees increasingly deviating from average developmental trajectories across the working life span. Based on sustainability, person–job fit, and proactivity theories, Kooij suggested an alternative perspective that emphasizes the active role of employees for successful aging at work. In this article, I compare the 2 approaches and attempt a partial integration. I highlight the importance of a precise definition, comprehensive model, and critical discussion of successful aging at work. Furthermore, I suggest that person–environment fit variables other than person–job fit (e.g., person–organization fit) and adapting to person–environment misfit may also contribute to successful aging at work. Finally, I argue that proactive behaviors must have age-differential effects on work outcomes to be considered personal resources for successful aging at work.

Openness to experience as a predictor and outcome of upward job changes into managerial and professional positions

In industrial and organizational psychology, there is a long tradition of studying personality as an antecedent of work outcomes. Recently, however, scholars have suggested that personality characteristics may not only predict, but also change due to certain work experiences, a notion that is depicted in the dynamic developmental model (DDM) of personality and work. Upward job changes are an important part of employees’ careers and career success in particular, and we argue that these career transitions can shape personality over time. In this study, we investigate the Big Five personality characteristics as both predictors and outcomes of upward job changes into managerial and professional positions. We tested our hypotheses by applying event history analyses and propensity score matching to a longitudinal dataset collected over five years from employees in Australia. Results indicated that participants’ openness to experience not only predicted, but that changes in openness to experience also followed from upward job changes into managerial and professional positions. Our findings thus provide support for a dynamic perspective on personality characteristics in the context of work and careers.

Job performance ratings: The relative importance of mental ability, conscientiousness, and career adaptability

According to career construction theory, continuous adaptation to the work environment is crucial to achieve work and career success. In this study, we examined the relative importance of career adaptability for job performance ratings using an experimental policy-capturing design. Employees (N = 135) from different vocational backgrounds rated the overall job performance of fictitious employees in 40 scenarios based on information about their career adaptability, mental ability, conscientiousness, and job complexity. We used multilevel modeling to investigate the relative importance of each factor. Consistent with expectations, career adaptability positively predicted job performance ratings, and this effect was relatively smaller than the effects of conscientiousness and mental ability. Job complexity did not moderate the effect of career adaptability on job performance ratings, suggesting that career adaptability predicts job performance ratings in high-, medium-, and low-complexity jobs. Consistent with previous research, the effect of mental ability on job performance ratings was stronger in high- compared to low-complexity jobs. Overall, our findings provide initial evidence for the predictive validity of employees' career adaptability with regard to other people's ratings of job performance.

Eldercare demands, strain, and work engagement: The moderating role of perceived organizational support

Demographic changes give rise to an increasing number of middle-aged employees providing home-based care to an elderly family member. However, the potentially important role of employees' perceptions of organizational support for eldercare has so far not been investigated. The goal of this study was to examine a stressor–strain–outcome model (Koeske & Koeske, 1993) of eldercare strain as a mediator of the relationship between eldercare demands and caregivers' work engagement. Perceived organizational eldercare support was expected to attenuate the positive relationship between eldercare demands and eldercare strain and to buffer the negative relationship between eldercare strain and work engagement. Results of mediation and moderated mediation analyses with data collected from 147 employees providing eldercare supported the hypotheses. The findings suggest that perceived organizational eldercare support is especially beneficial for employees' work engagement when eldercare demands and strain are high.

A comparison of welfare outcomes for weaner and mature Bos indicus bulls surgically or tension band castrated with or without analgesia: 2. Responses related to stress, health and productivity

Tension banding castration of cattle is gaining favour because it is relatively simple to perform and is promoted by retailers of the banders as a humane castration method. Two experiments were conducted, under tropical conditions using Bos indicus bulls comparing tension banding (Band) and surgical (Surgical) castration of weaner (7–10 months old) and mature (22–25 months old) bulls with and without pain management (NSAID (ketoprofen) or saline injected intramuscularly immediately prior to castration). Welfare outcomes were assessed using a range of measures; this paper reports on some physiological, morbidity and productivity-related responses to augment the behavioural responses reported in an accompanying paper. Blood samples were taken on the day of castration (day 0) at the time of restraint (0 min) and 30 min (weaners) or 40 min (mature bulls), 2 h, and 7 h; and days 1, 2, 3, 7, 14, 21 and 28 post-castration. Plasmas from day 0 were assayed for cortisol, creatine kinase, total protein and packed cell volume. Plasmas from the other samples were assayed for cortisol and haptoglobin (plus the 0 min sample). Liveweights were recorded approximately weekly to 6 weeks and at 2 and 3 months post-castration. Castration sites were checked at these same times to 2 months post-castration to score the extent of healing and presence of sepsis. Cortisol concentrations (mean ± s.e. nmol/L) were significantly (P < 0.05) higher in the Band (67 ± 4.5) compared with Surgical weaners (42 ± 4.5) at 2 h post-castration, but at 24 h post-castration were greater in the Surgical (43 ± 3.2) compared with the Band weaners (30 ± 3.2). The main effect of ketoprofen was on the cortisol concentrations of the mature Surgical bulls; concentrations were significantly reduced at 40 min (47 ± 7.2 vs. 71 ± 7.2 nmol/L for saline) and 2 h post-castration (24 ± 7.2, vs. 87 ± 7.2 nmol/L for saline). Ketoprofen, however, had no effect on the Band mature bulls, with their cortisol concentrations averaging 54 ± 5.1 nmol/L at 40 min and 92 ± 5.1 nmol/L at 2 h. Cortisol concentrations were also significantly elevated in the Band (83 ± 3.0 nmol/L) compared with Surgical mature bulls (57 ± 3.0 nmol/L) at weeks 2–4 post-castration. The timing of this elevation coincided with significantly elevated haptoglobin concentrations (mg/mL) in the Band bulls (2.97 ± 0.102 for mature bulls and 1.71 ± 0.025 for weaners, vs. 2.10 ± 0.102 and 1.45 ± 0.025 respectively for the Surgical treatment) and evidence of slow wound healing and sepsis in both the weaner (0.81 ± 0.089 not healed at week 4 for Band, 0.13 ± 0.078 for Surgical) and mature bulls (0.81 ± 0.090 at week 4 for Band, 0.38 ± 0.104 for Surgical). Overall, liveweight gains of both age groups were not affected by castration method. The findings of acute pain, chronic inflammation and possibly chronic pain in the mature bulls at least, together with poor wound healing in the Band bulls support behavioural findings reported in the accompanying paper and demonstrate that tension banding produces inferior welfare outcomes for weaner and mature bulls compared with surgical castration.

Boosting the productivity and profitability of northern Australian beef enterprises: Exploring innovation options using simulation modelling and systems analysis

The financial health of beef cattle enterprises in northern Australia has declined markedly over the last decade due to an escalation in production and marketing costs and a real decline in beef prices. Historically, gains in animal productivity have offset the effect of declining terms of trade on farm incomes. This raises the question of whether future productivity improvements can remain a key path for lifting enterprise profitability sufficient to ensure that the industry remains economically viable over the longer term. The key objective of this study was to assess the production and financial implications for north Australian beef enterprises of a range of technology interventions (development scenarios), including genetic gain in cattle, nutrient supplementation, and alteration of the feed base through introduced pastures and forage crops, across a variety of natural environments. To achieve this objective a beef systems model was developed that is capable of simulating livestock production at the enterprise level, including reproduction, growth and mortality, based on energy and protein supply from natural C4 pastures that are subject to high inter-annual climate variability. Comparisons between simulation outputs and enterprise performance data in three case study regions suggested that the simulation model (the Northern Australia Beef Systems Analyser) can adequately represent the performance beef cattle enterprises in northern Australia. Testing of a range of development scenarios suggested that the application of individual technologies can substantially lift productivity and profitability, especially where the entire feedbase was altered through legume augmentation. The simultaneous implementation of multiple technologies that provide benefits to different aspects of animal productivity resulted in the greatest increases in cattle productivity and enterprise profitability, with projected weaning rates increasing by 25%, liveweight gain by 40% and net profit by 150% above current baseline levels, although gains of this magnitude might not necessarily be realised in practice. While there were slight increases in total methane output from these development scenarios, the methane emissions per kg of beef produced were reduced by 20% in scenarios with higher productivity gain. Combinations of technologies or innovative practices applied in a systematic and integrated fashion thus offer scope for providing the productivity and profitability gains necessary to maintain viable beef enterprises in northern Australia into the future.