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Dairy
Special Issues
Environmental Sustainability of Dairy Animal Systems
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Environmental Sustainability of Dairy Animal Systems

A special issue of Dairy (ISSN 2624-862X). This special issue belongs to the section "Dairy Systems Biology".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (25 June 2023) | Viewed by 2232

Special Issue Editor

Prof. Dr. Andrea Vitali

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Agriculture and Forest Sciences DAFNE, University of Tuscia, 01100 Viterbo, Italy
Interests: cattle; heat stress; animal welfare; GHG emissions; environmental sustainability; mitigation and adaptation to climate change
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Public opinion around environmental issues related to livestock systems has been receiving increasing attention in recent years, with consumers becoming increasingly sensitive to the environmental sustainability of products of animal origin. The main environmental impacts attributable to the dairy sector, mainly associated with farming operations, concern the release of pollutants into water and air and the consumption of natural resources such as water and soil.

One of the main, and most debated, impacts concerns the emissions of greenhouse gases (GHG) into the atmosphere. GHGs are the main cause of global warming, and methane (CH4) is the main greenhouse gas emitted from dairy farming as a consequence of rumen fermentation and manure management. Nitrous oxide, ammonia, and nitrates are nitrogen-based pollutants contributing to environmental issues.

In the last decade, several studies have already highlighted solutions to mitigate these impacts; however, in the face of a growing demand for dairy products as a result of increased global population and changes in food habits, research is needed to further reduce environmental pressure and improve the sustainability of dairy systems.

Prof. Dr. Andrea Vitali
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Dairy is an international peer-reviewed open access quarterly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 1200 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • dairy
  • environmental impacts
  • GHG
  • natural resources depletion
  • mitigation
  • adaptation
  • sustainability
  • one health

Published Papers (1 paper)

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Research

16 pages, 989 KiB  
Article
Fatty Acid, Carotenoid and Fat-Soluble Vitamin Composition of Multispecies Swards Grown in Ireland—Implications for a Sustainable Feed in Dairy Farming
by Samuel Rapisarda, Graham O’Neill and Nissreen Abu-Ghannam
Dairy 2023, 4(2), 300-315; https://doi.org/10.3390/dairy4020021 - 17 Apr 2023
Viewed by 1846
Abstract
Although traditional ryegrass pastures are still commonly used, they require intense management and input and do not perform well during the summer months. Multispecies systems have been recognised as more sustainable, needing less fertiliser and being tolerant to drought and heat. While data [...] Read more.
Although traditional ryegrass pastures are still commonly used, they require intense management and input and do not perform well during the summer months. Multispecies systems have been recognised as more sustainable, needing less fertiliser and being tolerant to drought and heat. While data on monoculture system fat composition exist, information for multispecies is scarce. The present study compared the fatty acid (FA), carotenoid and fat-soluble composition of a multispecies system (consisting of perennial ryegrass, timothy, white clover, red clover, chicory and plantain) (MULTI) with two other conventional grazing systems (monoculture perennial ryegrass (PRG) and a binary mixture of perennial ryegrass and white clover (PRG+WC)) over the Irish late-summer grazing season of dairy cattle (July–September). The results showed that the three systems had similar levels of FAs (p > 0.05), with mean α-linolenic acid values of 20.00 mg/g in PRG, 18.51 mg/g in PRG+WC, and 17.90 mg/g in MULTI and mean linoleic acid values of 3.84 mg/g in PRG, 4.16 mg/g in PRG+WC, and 4.39 mg/g in MULTI. Fourfold and twofold increases in the concentrations of α-linolenic acid and linoleic acid, respectively, were observed throughout July–September. Variations in stearic acid concentrations were not significant (p > 0.05), and palmitic acid concentrations increased over time (p < 0.05). The average values of lutein (36.68 mg/kg in PRG, 31.26 mg/kg in PRG+WC, and 35.75 mg/kg in MULTI) and α-tocopherol (2.28 mg/kg in PRG, 1.49 mg/kg in PRG+WC, and 1.83 mg/kg in MULTI) were similar among the grazing systems (p > 0.05), and the average β-carotene value was 25% higher in monoculture ryegrass (140.74 mg/kg) than in the multispecies (102.51 mg/kg) (p < 0.05). Nonetheless, the levels of β-carotene found in the multispecies were still above the recommended intake required for ruminants. In conclusion, multispecies pastures could be included in dairy cattle production systems as a sustainable alternative to traditional pastures while also providing typically adequate sources of fats for animal diets. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Environmental Sustainability of Dairy Animal Systems)
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