Topic:Agriculture
The relationship between agriculture and horses encompasses the historical and contemporary roles that horses play in agricultural settings. Horses have been utilized for various agricultural tasks, including plowing fields, planting crops, and transporting goods. Their contributions extend to both draft work and the maintenance of pasture lands. This topic explores the integration of equine labor in farming practices, the impact of horse management on agricultural productivity, and the evolution of mechanization replacing equine labor. Additionally, it examines the environmental and economic implications of using horses in agriculture. This page gathers peer-reviewed research studies and scholarly articles that investigate the historical significance, current practices, and future prospects of horses in agricultural systems.
Draught animals and welfare. In fifty developing countries, which contain half of the total human population of the world, there is a heavy dependence on draught animals as an energy source. These animals are used for agriculture operations in 52% of cultivated areas of the world, as well as for hauling 25 million carts. This situation is likely to continue for at least another fifty years. The work performed annually by these draught animals would require 20 million tons of petroleum, valued at US$6 billion, if it were performed by motorized vehicles. The poor working conditions of these animals often adversely affect th...
Fumonisin contamination of the 1991 Indiana corn crop and its effects on horses. No abstract available
The dangers of disease transmission by artificial insemination and embryo transfer. This review summarizes the major infectious diseases of the three major agricultural species (cattle, sheep and pigs) and horses, and presents the evidence for and against the possibility of infectious agents being transmitted between animals via the venereal route or by the use of semen or early embryos in commercial artificial insemination (AI) or embryo transfer (ET). Cattle feature most prominently in the widespread distribution of frozen semen, and national and international organizations have set out guidelines to work towards disease-free bull studs with semen free from potential pathog...
Clinical assessment of selenium status of livestock. Assessment of the selenium status of livestock is an important aspect of production medicine, but variations in reported values between laboratories and between methods may be > 30%. Reliable interpretations require considerable experience with an assay and an extensive database from field and research case samples of a variety of species. The Michigan State University Animal Health Diagnostic Laboratory (MSU-ADHL) has offered Se analyses by acid-digestion and fluorometric detection since 1982. This laboratory expects serum Se values (nanograms per milliliter) of livestock to increase graduall...
Venezuelan equine encephalomyelitis and African horse sickness. Current status and review. The arthropod-borne virus (arbovirus) diseases of livestock have worldwide impact. The prevention of an introduction of an exotic disease and the control of one subsequent to an introduction will require the attention, cooperation, and support of the livestock industry, regulatory agencies, and researchers. The most effective protection of our livestock industries is to prevent the introduction of an exotic disease agent. This implies complete restriction of animal imports and exports. However, "zero risk" is an unacceptable option in today's world of internationally integrated and interdepend...
[Selenium, an essential and toxic element. Latin American data]. After a brief discussion of some of the aspects of importance, sources, deficiencies and excesses of selenium the great differences of ingestion between different countries are mentioned. Breast fed children from an area in Venezuela ingest 10 times the amount compared with children from Finland. Among sesame seed samples from 20 different countries used as Se indicators, the highest and the lowest values were found in those of Latin-American origin. With very few exceptions the highest and the lowest urinary and serum Se levels reported in the literature came from this region. The performance...
Dietary selenate versus selenite for cattle, sheep, and horses. Food and Drug Administration regulations currently permit addition of .3 mg of Se per kilogram of diet for chickens, turkeys, ducks, swine, sheep, and cattle. However, field reports indicate that this level may not be adequate for ruminants in all situations. Because sodium selenite is the most common supplemental form and is known to be readily absorbed to particles or reduced to insoluble elemental Se or selenides in acid, anaerobic environments, studies were conducted with dairy cattle, sheep, and horses fed sodium selenate to determine whether Se from this source was more bioavailable than...
Entomophthoromycosis due to Conidiobolus. Entomophthoromycosis due to Conidiobolus coronatus is a granulomatous infection characterized by lesions that originate in the inferior turbinate, spread through ostia and foramina to involve the facial and subcutaneous tissues and paranasal sinuses. The majority of the cases have been described from areas of tropical rainforest in West Africa, agricultural and outdoor workers (aged 20-60 years) being the ones most frequently affected. The fungus is common in soil and decaying vegetation. Infection probably occurs by implantation of the spores of the fungus in nasal mucosa. C. incongruus is a ...
Ultrasonic determination of fetal gender in horses and cattle under farm conditions. Accuracy of transrectal ultrasonic diagnosis of fetal gender by identifying and locating the genital tubercle was assessed in 85 horses and 102 dairy heifers and cows. Examinations were made once (horses and cattle) under farm conditions (cattle) on approximately Days 50 to 100. Definite diagnosis was made by removal of fetuses (horses) or after calving or abortion (cattle). In both species and both parities, accuracy was 100% (109 109 totaled over both species) when the certainty level recorded at the time of examination was 95 or 99%. At the lower levels of certainty (65 to 80%, 85 to 90%), ...
Hepatic disease in Alberta horses: A retrospective study of ‘alsike clover poisoning’ (1973-1988). Over sixteen years, 49 horses were diagnosed by Alberta Agriculture Animal Health laboratories as having "alsike clover poisoning". There was a distinct northwestern distribution of cases, the majority coming from the Peace River district. This distribution is opposite to that of the Alberta horse population, but coincides with areas of alsike clover cultivation. Cases could be divided into chronic or nervous clinical presentations, as described by Schofield. Tissues from 45 animals were retrieved and examined microscopically. Significant histological lesions were confined to the liver and con...
Hazards in confinement housing–gases and dusts in confined animal houses for swine, poultry, horses and humans. Indoor atmospheres in swine or poultry confinement buildings, horse stalls or human dwellings contain gases, dusts and endotoxin in concentrations significantly in excess of those in outdoor environments. Although concentrations of such constituents differ appreciably between species, many of such differences may be related to differences in indoor mass loading and ventilation, or to the homogeneity of such ventilation. The high protein content of these indoor dust particles suggest they are of animal origin. Their ability to form bacterial colonies and to form or bind endotoxin suggest that t...
Absence of cadmium in the blood of horses fed oats grown on municipal sludge-amended soil. Effluents from a number of industries which are typically treated in municipal sewage plants result in cadmium-containing sludge. Disposal of such sewage sludge by application to agricultural land can result in uptake of cadmium by crops. In this study, oats were grown on soils which had been amended with sewage sludge from Syracuse, New York. The cadmium concentration in the sludge-grown oats was 1.79 ppm dry weight. Horses were fed the sludge-grown oats for 6 weeks during which time blood samples were taken for the determination of cadmium. No significant differences (p greater than 0.05) we...
[Ethological foundations in relation to animal husbandry technics]. Ethological reflections concerning animal management and handling because of efficiency have to consider different factors of influence as for example animal/man-relationship, economy of labor and working conditions for men. Definitions of ethological methods were given, and the complexity between animal behavior and animal management were described. The quantification of men's ability to handle animals is treated. The evaluation of a cattle-keeping facility by the ethological concept of 'meeting of requirements and avoiding of damage' is reviewed.
Growth performance of yearling horses grazing bermudagrass pastures at different grazing pressures. Body weight gains and height at the withers were measured in yearling geldings grazing bermudagrass (Cynodon dactylon [L.] Pers.) pastures with neither energy nor protein feed supplementation at stocking rates of 6.7, 8.0, 9.5 and 12.4 yearlings per hectare. Weekly forage samples were taken to estimate the quantity and quality of available forage. These samples were clipped and separated into three equal lengths to characterize upper, middle and lower thirds of the canopy and to determine relationships between available forage and yearling growth rate. Average daily gain was influenced by stoc...
Tremorgenic syndromes in livestock. Grasses that are essential components of livestock grazing programs sometimes are the source of tremorgenic toxicants to the animals consuming them. Morbidity can be high but mortality need not be if management closely observes the cattle daily and removes them at first sign of trouble. Specific treatment generally is not available nor needed. Survivors recover completely within a few days or weeks, except in chronic phalaris poisoning, where sheep and cattle may die after prolonged illness--or at least not make an economical recovery. Certain poisonous plants are responsible for tremorgenic s...
Ecology of Rhodococcus (Corynebacterium) equi in soil on a horse-breeding farm. The ecology of Rhodococcus (Corynebacterium) equi in soil was studied on a horse-breeding farm. R. equi was cultured from soil at a depth of 0, 10, and 20 cm on the six sites of the farm at monthly intervals for 10 months from March to December of 1983. The highest numbers of R. equi were found in the surface soil. The mean number of bacteria in soil samples at every depth increased remarkably from 0 or 10(2) to 10(4) colony-forming units (CFU) g-1 of soil in the middle of April, and later decreased gradually. R. equi inoculated into six soil exudate broths prepared from surface soils at separ...
Fusariotoxicoses of farm animals and mycotoxic leucoencephalomalacia of the equine associated with the finding of trichothecenes in feedstuffs. Mycotoxicoses involving horses, rabbits and cattle have been studied. Fusarium tricinctum and T-2 toxin were isolated from all incriminated feedstuffs. Other isolated trichothecenes from the feed included HT-2, verrucarins and roridin. The toxins were separated, identified and quantitated using thin-layer chromatography, gas-liquid chromatography and mass spectrometry. T-2 toxin was detected in amounts varying from 0.5-204 ppm. The contaminated feedstuffs in connection with the affected horses and rabbits, included cereal grains (corn, cornstalks, bran and barley), whereas fescue hay was assoc...
Paralysis and lipofuscin-like pigmentation of farm stock caused by the plant, Trachyandra laxa var. laxa. A paralytic condition of farm stock in South West Africa, characterized by prominent neuronal and some mild extraneuronal pigmentation, is described. The distribution of the pigment, which was mainly located in the larger neurones of the brain and spinal cord, is given. Experimental evidence, obtained by feeding the plant, is presented that the condition is caused by Trachyandra laxa var. laxa. The histochemical features of the pigment proved to be compatible with a lipofuscin.
Dietary exposure to cadmium and health effects: impact of environmental changes. Cadmium exposure, metabolism, and effects are described especially in relation to dietary intakes. Data on dietary intakes in several countries have been complied from studies using the duplicate diet method or fecal analysis. These two methods seem to give more accurate data than estimates based on cadmium concentrations in food classes and food consumption (composite method). The present data on absorption and retention of ingested cadmium indicate that normally less than 5% is ingested, but absorption may increase in women who have iron deficiency. Earlier estimates of the critical concentr...
Animal welfare considerations – pastoral animals. Modern pastoral farming has radically transformed the niche where agricultural animals live. Recent trends in husbandry tend to give as much emphasis to economic profit and human convenience, as do a concern for the farmed species. Most of the traditional ways of handling sheep, cattle, goats, horses and pigs, like castration, ear tagging, tail-docking or horse breaking, have been accepted by the public with little concern. Inevitably, as renewed public interest focuses on intensive farming, some questions are directed towards extensive pastoral farming practices, particularly in newly-farmed ...
Occupational hazards of farriers. A farrier is a specialist in the shoeing of horses. It has been estimated that in the United States over 8 million horses are ridden for show and pleasure. These horses need hoof and leg care. The farrier does give this care and in so doing is subject to occupational hazards. These hazards cover a wide range and include bites from horses and farmer's dogs, ergonomic problems, noise and exposure to metal and welding fumes. Many of the hazards he encounters are unique to his profession.
[Genetic research in the field of reproductive pathology and genetic prophylaxis in agricultural animals in the Socialist Republic of Romania]. The paper presents the results of some genetic studies accomplished in Romania in the field of pathology of reproduction in domestic animals (pseudohermaphroditism in horses, testicular hypoplasia in he-goats, intersexuality in pigs, freemartinism and genital infantilism in cattle). Also, the use of the cytogenetic test in genetic prophylaxis in pigs and cattle was shown. In addition, the methods for detecting genitors with undesirable genes were devised and perspectives for the development of hereditary hygiene discussed.