Abstract

Context

     Crop-livestock integration is a theoretical ideal for sustainable agriculture. However, the number of European crop-livestock farms has decreased due to multiple factors (e.g. agricultural policies and work constraints). Crop-livestock integration beyond the farm level (e.g. through grain-manure exchanges) is a relevant option to address these limiting factors. However, this integration within farmer groups is challenging because it requires collective redesign to address organizational issues.

Objective

     We developed a participatory approach that includes the serious game Dynamix to support the co-design of scenarios of crop-livestock integration among farms.

Methods

     The approach consists of six steps: (1) initial group meeting to define the problem; (2) farmer interviews to identify motivations and collect technical and economic farm data; (3) scenario co-design meeting using the serious game Dynamix, including a spatially explicit board game and a simulation model; (4) multicriteria evaluation of these scenarios at the individual farm and group levels using the simulation model included in Dynamix; (5) group meeting to discuss the results; and (6) monitoring of selected scenario implementation. We applied this methodology with two groups of farmers in southwestern France.

Results and conclusions

     In the two groups, crop farmers wanted to diversify their cropping systems and use manure to improve soil quality. Livestock farmers were interested in local and non-GMO feed for their animals. The scenario they selected included i) inserting cereal-legume mixtures into crop rotations on crop farms to be sold to livestock farms and ii) transferring manure from livestock farms to crop farms. In this scenario, the predicted overall gross margin increased more for livestock farmers (median = 29.90 €/ha) than for crop farmers (median = 6.60 €/ha). Nitrogen balance management was improved: crop farmers decreased their use of mineral fertilizer by 2.8–17.4 kg/ha/year; livestock farmers decreased their feed inputs improving local feed self-sufficiency. However, farmers’ workload and management complexity increased, with 22–54 h of additional work per farmer per year. Compared to other scenarios, trade-offs between individual farm and group benefits resulted in greater local autonomy in inputs but lower autonomy in decision-making. In the two groups, discussions improved trust, which is a key ingredient for transitioning to integration beyond the farm level.

Significance

     Our study is the first to use a standardized participatory approach based on a serious game to support the complex issue of crop-livestock integration beyond the farm level. Applying the approach to a case-study revealed its strong potential. It can easily be scaled-out to other agricultural contexts.

Introduction

     Farms that include crops and livestock are widely perceived as an ideal option to maintain agricultural production levels while limiting environmental impacts on soil and biodiversity (Franzluebbers et al., 2014; Hendrickson et al., 2008; Lemaire et al., 2014). However, globalized markets associated with policy incentives contributed to their decrease in number (Garrett et al., 2017), especially in Europe, due to limited availability of workforce and loss of skills (Ryschawy et al., 2013). Integration beyond the farm level could thus be a relevant alternative to address these limiting factors (Martin et al., 2016). It consists of reconnecting neighboring specialized farms through exchanges of grain, fodder, crop by-products and manure, or even by sharing land and other resources (e.g. workers, equipment).

     Only a few crop-livestock integration initiatives beyond the farm level have been documented (de Wit et al., 2006; Regan et al., 2017; Ryschawy et al., 2019). Asai et al. (2018) compared worldwide case studies and identified a variety of barriers that restrict implementation of crop-livestock integration among farms. Operational barriers related to the availability of on-farm storage capacity and transportation, distance and legal aspects related to contracts and billing. Social barriers related to establishing trust and shared goals, and to the complexity of governance. Frequent meetings and communication among participants and a third party were deemed necessary to develop and maintain effective mediation (Cofr´e-Bravo et al., 2019). Thus, organizing highly coordinated groups of crop farmers and livestock farmers remains a challenge due to the high cost of coordination (Asai et al., 2018).

Conclusion

     This study was the first to use a standardized participatory approach based on a serious game to support crop-livestock integration beyond the farm level, including implementation. The case-study application showed its potential for addressing this complex issue. The method can be easily scaled-out to other contexts and is already planned to be adapted to other cases of crop-livestock integration beyond farm level, including sheep-viticulture systems in France and California, cattle grazing cover crops in Scottland and biogas production in Denmark. Further developments will be needed to include permanent crops and biogas plants in the Dynamix serious game.

Abstract

     A farm scale life cycle assessment (LCA) was conducted to estimate environmental indicators of organic dairy systems in the U.S. and evaluate alternative management practices and methodological decisions. Fourteen farm layouts (including Amish and grass intensive) are evaluated over four U.S. regions. Carbon (C) sequestration from pasture and cropping systems is estimated based on C added to the soil and the crop and grassland management practices. Greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions range from 0.76 to 1.08 kg CO2-eq/kg fat and protein corrected milk (FPCM) after C sequestration. Methane (CH4) from enteric fermentation and liquid-slurry manure storage are major sources of GHGs, with the first related to cow feed to milk conversion efficiency. The production and consumption of fossil energy contribute to GHGs depending on the mix of fuels of regional electricity production. NH3 emissions range from 7.7 to 20.0 g/kg FPCM with differences between regions explained by environmental factors, management practices, and dairy diet composition. Eutrophication potential ranges from 3.4 to 6.6 g PO4/kg FPCM from phosphorus and nitrogen losses after manure application from on-farm and imported feeds. Electricity and diesel are the major contributors to fossil energy depletion (2.1 to3.7 MJ/kg FPCM), with the embedded energy from imported feeds also contributing significantly.

Introduction

     Agricultural systems are challenged to balance feeding a growing population while addressing environmental concerns and providing a high quality of life for farmers and rural communities. Agricultural emissions to air and water contribute to climate change, ecosystem deterioration, and human health issues (Poore and Nemecek, 2018). In the U.S., agriculture is responsible for 10% of total greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, with soil management, enteric fermentation, and manure accounting for 55%, 28% and 10%, respectively (U.S. EPA, 2021a). Up to 70% of the excreted nitrogen (N) in manure can be emitted as ammonia (NH3) in livestock operations (Hristov et al., 2002). These losses represent 80–90% of the global anthropogenic NH3 emissions (Xu et al., 2019) that can redeposit and lead to impaired waterways (U.S. EPA, 2004), or further transform to particulate matter or N2O. Nutrient losses from manure have the potential to reach ground and surface water contributing to eutrophication.

Conclusions

     GHG emissions (including C sequestration), NH3 emissions, resource depletion (energy, land, and water use), and EP at organic dairy farms in the U.S. were evaluated. Despite that milk production levels are generally lower than conventional systems, environmental impacts are comparable. Carbon sequestration is largely absent from LCA studies given its complexity but can be important for dairies that rely on pasture and forages. This study presents a procedure that can be implemented in other dairy or agricultural related LCA studies and promote discussion around this topic. Enteric CH4 remains the most prominent source of GHGs from cradle-to-farm gate, but results show that farms can still improve feeding efficiencies. Impacts from energy consumption are directly related to the regional electricity mix, with the implementation of renewables having the greatest impact on Amish farms that use diesel generators. As NH3 emissions continue to be an important concern for animal agriculture, baseline estimations will help establish mitigation targets and strategies. Manure management remains an important source of environmental impacts, especially during storage and after land application. Water use is significantly higher on farms that use irrigation and import feed. Alternative management practices can reduce GHGs and can guide on-farm implementation. Variations in results by different methodological decisions show these choices remain an unresolved topic in LCA worthy of discussion.

1- Introduction

2- Materials and methods

3- Results

4- Discussion

5- Conclusions

References

Abstract

The objective of this paper was to examine how cutting frequency, silage fermentation patterns and clover performance in grass–clover swards influence the use of inputs and profitability in an organic dairy system. A linear programming model was developed to compare a three-cut and a two-cut system for a model farm in Central Norway, either with restricted or extensive silage fermentation at low or high red clover (Trifolium pratense L.) proportion in the sward, giving 8 different silage types in all. Input-output relations incorporated into the model were derived from a meta-analysis of organic grassland field trials in Norway as well as a silage fermentation experiment, and with feed intakes and milk yields from simulations with the ‘TINE Optifôr’ feed ration planner in the Norfor feed evaluation system. The model maximized total gross margin of farms with 260,000 l milk quota and housing capacity for 45 cows, with separate model versions for each of the 8 silage types. Farmland availability varied from 30 to 70 ha with 40 ha as the basis. Our results suggested that farmland availability and marginal return of a competing barley crop profoundly influenced the profitability of the different silage types. A high clover proportion increased dry matter (DM) yields and was far more important for profitability than the score on the other factors considered at restricted land availabilities. Profits with the three-cut systems were always greater than those with the two-cut systems, the former being associated with greater silage intakes and improved dairy cow performances but lower DM forage yields. Three-cut systems were further favoured as land availability increased and also by a lower marginal return of barley. Although use of an acidifying silage additive improved feed intakes and milk production per cow, the practice reduced total milk production and depressed profit compared to untreated, extensively fermented silage at restrictive land availabilities. With more land available, and in particular at a low marginal return of barley, use of a silage additive was profitable.

Introduction

At high latitudes, the grazing season is short, and dairy farmers need to feed cows indoors for up to 8–9 months, resulting in a major reliance on conserved forage crops and concentrates. These limitations result in higher input costs than in pasture-based systems and a need, also for organic farmers, to lean somewhat towards high input-output milk production systems. Such strategies require highly digestible forages and rather high proportions of concentrates in the diet. The annual energy corrected milk (ECM) yield per cow in organic production in Norway increased from 6045 kg in 2007 to 7179 kg in 2013. In the same period, concentrate feeding increased from 153 to 177 MJ Net energy lactation per 100 kg ECM produced. Although the proportion of concentrate in the diet has increased considerably, the average organic dairy ration is still predominantly forage-based. Of the total net energy intake in 2012, 41% was made up of grass–clover silage and 11% of pasture (TINE Rådgivning, 2014). Feed is generally the greatest expense for milk production and various practices in the production of forages and feeding of the herd need to be evaluated to improve profits of organic dairy systems. The ban of synthetic nitrogen fertilisers makes legumes crucial for forage yield and quality and for profits in organic systems (Doyle and Topp, 2004). In mixed grass–clover swards cropped for silage production, the regrowths contain more clover than the spring growth (Steinshamn et al., 2016). The regrowth herbage has, therefore, usually higher crude protein (CP) concentration and lower energy value than the herbage from the first cut.

Greenhouse gas (GHG) accounting models facilitate mitigation of emissions from livestock systems. Such models are approximations, and uncertainties in their output may stem from a) uncertainty or variability in input data, b) uncertainty resulting from model scope and allocation methods, or c) uncertainty in modelling approach used. While sources a) and b) vary depending on the modelled scenario, c), referred to as epistemic uncertainty, relates to the modelling process, and as such is inherent in the methodology used rather than the specific scenario. This study combines a farm-level model comprised of widely used GHG accounting methodologies with a typical northern hemisphere suckler beef production system, and employs Monte Carlo simulation to assess the sensitivity of the modelled GHG footprint to epistemic uncertainty in the model. Following a cradle-to-gate approach, an emissions intensity of 19.20 ± 2.49 kg CO2-eq kg live weight
1 was estimated for the modelled system. The study also highlights a discrepancy of 8.3% between deterministically and stochastically calculated emissions; this results from skewness in key modelling coefficients, primarily those relating to nitrous oxide emissions. Sensitivity analysis showed coefficients relating to emissions of nitrous oxide from land and methane from enteric fermentation were most influential in the modelled uncertainty, though coefficients relating to livestock feed production also contributed substantially. In conducting a root-cause analysis of uncertainty in GHG accounting from beef production, this study makes a novel contribution to the literature surrounding uncertainty in livestock emissions modelling. Developers of GHG accounting methodologies may use these insights to focus efforts on refining the most influential elements of these approaches, while researchers applying the models should be aware of the associated uncertainty. The latter should be quantified and effectively communicated where these models are used to support policy decisions.

Introduction

Global livestock production is faced with the twin challenges of increasing productivity to meet demand and reducing emissions to meet climate commitments (Opio et al., 2013; OECD/FAO, 2017). Cattle production systems (i.e. beef and dairy) contribute almost three quarters to total livestock emissions (Caro et al., 2014) and are therefore under considerable scrutiny in many national greenhouse gas budgets (e.g. Moran et al., 2011; Schulte et al., 2012; Pellerin et al., 2013). Greenhouse gas (GHG) accounting models are important for understanding and quantifying emissions from complex livestock production systems (Opio et al., 2013). These tools provide a better understanding of emissions hotspots, and opportunities for mitigation. The models used differ in goal and scope; system-level life cycle assessments (e.g. Beauchemin et al., 2010), farm-level GHG accounting tools (e.g. Sykes et al., 2017), and national inventory assessments (e.g. Milne et al., 2014) are common implementations. While such models draw on common methodologies (e.g. IPCC, 2006), there is recognition that broadbrush approaches necessary in national-level assessments are often insufficient to facilitate detailed policy analysis of the heterogeneous livestock sector (Moran et al., 2011). As such, a requirement is growing for system-level assessments of GHG emissions from livestock systems, and scalable GHG accounting tools are increasingly sought to facilitate this on an ongoing basis (Hall et al., 2010; Macleod et al., 2017; CSA Wales, 2017). However, livestock production systems are fundamentally complex, and limitations in the methodological ability of extant modelling approaches to accurately capture these intricacies represent a major challenge both to modellers (Ro€os and Nylinder, € 2013) and those seeking to utilise such approaches for decision making (Milne et al., 2015).

1. Introduction

2. Analysis of milk production

3. Milk supply and milk price

4. Conclusions

References

Dairy farming (milk production) is one of the important sectors in agriculture economic in Latvia. After joining the EU the dairy sector in Latvia has changed, small dairy farms could not complete the new technological requirements of milk production and it was the time when in the country the amount of dairy cows was reduced by 9.3% during the two years from 2003 to 2004. During the last ten years farms involved in commercial milk production often had substantial modernization, the farmers are motivated to improve cows keeping and feeding. The smaller number of dairy cows is partly offset by the regular growth of their milk yield. Thereby average milk yield per cow during the ten years has increased by 42% and has reached 6993 kg in 2014. Milk price is depending on the economic and political situation in the world, it is also influenced by the geographic location, seasonality, and raw materials (feed, electricity, fuel) prices. During the last 10 years the average milk price in Latvia has increased by 60% with variation during the seasons therefore the purpose of this paper is to analysis the milk supply and demand to its price, using the forecasting models.

Introduction

Dairy farming (milk production) is of great importance to the European Union (EU) and is one of the important sectors in agriculture economic in Latvia. Total EU-28 milk production is estimated around 154 million tons in 2014 year. According the European Commission data (2015) the EU’s main producers are Germany, France, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Italy and Poland which together account for more than 70% of the EU milk production. Latvia accounted for 0.6% of total EU-28 milk production or around 0.9 million tons in 2014. Milk production in Latvia has continued to increase after joining the EU and in 2014 cover 133 % of the self-sufficiency of milk and about 60% of produced milk Latvia is exported. After joining the EU the dairy sector in Latvia has changed, small dairy farms could have not completed the new technological requirements of milk production and it was the time when in the country the amount of dairy cows was reduced by 9.3% during the two years from 2003 to 2004. Therefore in 2009 the numbers of dairy cows have decreased till 120.8 thousand, but during the last five years have increased and in 2014 reached 130.7 thousand cows. During the last ten years farms involved in commercial milk production often had substantial modernization of existing farm and construction of new dairy farms. The farmers are motivated to improve cows keeping and feeding. Technological solutions are being implemented: loose handling of cows, automatic milking systems, total mixed ration or usage of precise feeding technology (Salins et al., 2012). In 2011 about 200 farms were subsidized for this purpose. The smaller number of dairy cows in Latvia is partly offset by the regular growth of their milk yield. Thereby average milk yield per cow during the ten years has increased by 42% and has reached 6993 kg in 2014.

Abstract

Twenty “Merinizzata Italiana” lambs were introduced to two experimental diets. Ten animals (five males and five females, control group) received the traditional diet that is supplied by farmers in southern Italy, which comprised of oat hay ad libitum and commercial concentrate. The second group (the same number of lambs, silage group) received citrus pulp and wheat straw silage ad libitum and 70% of the commercial concentrate supplied to the control group. The animals were slaughtered after 80 days of feeding and carcass and some meat quality parameters were measured. No differences were observed for live weight between treatments, and carcass weights were similar for the two diets, but with obvious differences between sexes. Animals on silage produced carcasses with a better muscular conformation and with a lower fatness score (P<0.05). Subcutaneous fat colour was influenced by sex, being lighter in the female carcasses (P<0.05). Dissection of different anatomical parts showed a higher percentage of lean and a lower proportion of fat in silage samples compared to control ones. Ultimate pH was highly affected by sex being higher in the samples from male lambs (P<0.01), but was unaffected by diet treatment. Diet tended to affect meat shear force value which was lower in the silage samples, although, samples from all the animals were extremely tender. Meat from silage samples had a higher water content (P<0.05). Overall, in our experimental conditions, the use of citrus pulp silage seemed to be economically convenient for producing animals with substantially unmodified carcass and meat quality characteristics.

Introduction

Citrus pulp is a by-product widely available in Mediterranean countries and its cost is relatively low compared to its nutritive value (Guessous et al., 1989). This by-product contains a relatively high amount of pectin and soluble carbohydrates, and for this reason dried citrus pulp has been used to replace cereals in ruminant diets (Bhattacharya and Harb, 1973; Hadjipanayiotou and Louca, 1976). However, citrus pulp has also some roughage-like characteristics (Ben-Ghedalia et al., 1989) and low amount of nitrogen (Lanza, 1982).

Livestock ranching on semi-arid rangelands involves some of the most complex decision-making of any natural resource production and land use system. Ranchers continuously adjust to weather, climate, and range conditions that affect livestock production. They must also respond to weather-sensitive swings in feed prices and cattle markets. Studies of ranchers’ drought management strategies can offer lessons for complex decision-making in a variety of weather- and climate-sensitive sectors. Insights gleaned in this setting have the potential to improve our understanding of universal problems in decision-making under uncertainty. Pastoralism has long been studied as a dynamic socio-ecological system (Galaty and Johnson, 1990), and as an exemplar of human adaptation to environmental variability. In their review of global pastoralism studies, Reid et al. (2014) identified a set of key insights into how pastoralists use movement, collaboration, market hedging, and other adaptive mechanisms to thrive despite the considerable natural variability typical in semi-arid rangelands, where “vegetation and water resources are usually ephemeral in time and patchy in space” (p. 219). They noted that flexibility and adaptability, hallmarks of range livestock production, are necessitated by the uncertainty inherent in rangelands, which exhibit nonlinear dynamics, difficult-to-identify tipping points, and responses to different grazing pressures. For example, climate variation can either amplify or attenuate the effect of grazing pressure in determining rangeland ecosystem behavior (Briske et al., 2005; Ellis and Swift, 1988; Wehrden et al., 2012). Livestock production in the western U.S., regionally referred to as ranching, is a form of pastoralism that has evolved into an adaptable natural resource production system exhibiting complex interactions among weather and climate, range condition, cattle and land management, markets, socioeconomics, and policy. Utilizing 55% of land in the United States and producing $64 billion of cattle in 2016, cattle ranching is an important industry that warrants more attention in climate risk management (USDA Economic Research Service, 2017; USDA, 2016). In this paper, we focus our discussion largely on cow-calf production in the Rocky Mountain and Plains regions in the United States.

هدف از این مطالعه بررسی اثرات 1) افشانه سلول های خونی خشک شده غنی از هیستیدین و 2) تاثیر هیستیدین خالص اضافه شده به غذ ا در وضعیت آنتی اکسیدانی و غلظت مولکول های مرتبط با کارنوزین در خون و گوشت سینه بوقلمون های ماده ، می باشد . آزمايش بر روي 168 بوقلمون ماده بیگ 7 صورت گرفت . سه رژیم غذایی به طور تصادفی برای بوقلمون های مورد بررسی اعمال شد: رژیم غذایی کنترل ؛ رژیم غذایی کنترل بعلاوه 0.18٪ L-هیستیدین (His)؛ و رژیم غذایی کنترل بعلاوه افشانه گلبول های قرمز خون خشک شده( SDBC). . پرنده ها برای مدت 103 روز در بستری با خاک اره، آب آشامیدنی و تغذیه اختیاری (تغذیه با خوراک نامحدود دام) نگهداری شدند. وضعیت آنتی اکسیدانی پلاسمای خون و عضله سینه با توانایی کاهش آهن (FRAP) و توانایی جمع آوری رادیکال ها توسط 2,2-Azinobis-(3- ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulfonic acid) (ABTS) و 1,1- Diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) مورد ارزیابی قرار گرفت. فعالیت آنزیم های آنتی اکسیدانی سوپر اکسید دیسموتاز (SOD)، کاتالاز (CAT) و گلوتاتیون پراکسیداز (GPx) در خون و گوشت سینه با محتوای آنزیم و کارنوزین با استفاده از HPLC اندازه گیری شد. آنالیز تقریبی و همچنین آنالیز آمینو اسید برای خوراک و عضلات سینه انجام شد .

جمع آوری خون و آماده سازی عضلات برای آنالیز
نمونه های خون در طی کشتار جمع آوری و سپس بلافاصله هپارینیزه شدند، روی یخ قرار داده شدند و برای جداسازی پلاسما از سلول های خونی سانتریفیوژ ( 5,000 G) شدند. فعالیت GPx، و همچنین ظرفیت آنتی اکسیدان 2,2-Azinobis-(3 ethylbenzothiazoline-6- sulfonic acid) (ABTS); 1,1-Diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH); توانایی کاهش آهن (FRAP) در پلاسما تعیین شد. رسوب سلول های خونی برای بررسی فعالیت CAT پس از 3 بار شستشو با محلول سرد 0.15 میلی گرم NaCl مورد استفاده قرار گرفت و در G 5,000. سانتریفیوژ شد.

مقاله سال 2016

تاثیرات مصرف دانه و مکمل آنزیم کربوهیدرات در فیزیولوژی گوارش مرغ مورد بررسی قرار گرفت. مجموع 625 عدد جوجه یک روزه (راس 308) به طور تصادفی با پنج روش تیمار مختلف در طرحی کاملا تصادفی قرار گرفتند. تیمار ، شامل دو نوع مختلف از دانه ها (گندم و جو) می شد که با مکمل یا بدون مکمل کربوهیدرات چندگانه بود. رژیم ذرت نیز مطرح شده تا به عنوان یک تنظیم کننده بکار رود. مصرف خوراک جو با مکمل کربوهیدرات چندگانه منجر به جذب بیشتر خوراک (P <0.01) نسبت به آن دسته که از رژیم های غذایی ذرت و گندم در تغذیه شان استفاده کرده بودند می شود . پرندگانی که از رژیم غذایی جو و گندم تغذیه کردند افزایش وزن کمتری داشتند با وجود اینکه میزان جذب بالاتری در خوراک داشتند (P <0.01).تعداد کل و شمار مختلفی از باکتری ها از جمله گرم منفی، اشریشیا کلی، و کلستریدیا پس از تغذیه گندم و جو کاهش یافت اما تعداد لاکتوباسیل و بیفیدوباکتریوم افزایش یافت (P <0.01). تغذیه رژیم جو و گندم ارتفاع پرزها در قسمت های مختلف روده کوچک را در مقایسه با آنهایی که از رژیم ذرت تغذیه کردند کاهش می دهد.با این حال ، مکمل آنزیمی جو و رژیم غذایی گندم وزن مفید و میزان جذب غذا را افزایش داده و در نتیجه تعداد باکتری E. coli و کلستریدیا کاهش داده و تعداد لاکتوباسیل ها و بیفیدوباکتریوم را افزایش می دهد ، و همچنین اثرات منفی بر روی ارتفاع پرزهای روده (P <0.01) را ترمیم می کند. فعالیت های پانکراس α-آمیلاز و لیپاز (P <0.01) در جوجه هایی که خوراک گندم و رژیم های غذایی جو داشتند در مقایسه با تغذیه اصلاح شده رژیم غذایی ذرت افزایش یافته بود .مکمل آنزیمی فعالیت های پانکراس α-آمیلاز و لیپاز (P <0.01) را کاهش می دهد. در نتیجه، رژیم های غذایی مختلف بدون نشاسته پلی ساکاریدی که فاقد مکمل آنزیمی هستند ، تاثیر سوء بر گرانروی مواد هضمی ، فلور روده، مورفولوژی پرز و فعالیت آنزیم پانکراس می گذارند.

مقاله سال 2016

In developing countries, where most of the smallholder farmers practice mixed farming system, livestock production is the major source of household food, income, traction power and a means to accumulate assets. Smallholder farmers do not only generate cash income from sale of livestock and livestock products, but they also use livestock as a cash buffer, capital reserve, and hedge against inflation. Despite mixed livestock growth pattern observed in different regions of developing countries, in general, the productivity (output/animal) of different livestock species in developing countries is still the lowest in the world. For instance, in Sub-Saharan Africa, significant decline in milk and beef production per animal have been recorded since 1961, which has made the average contribution of the region to the world milk and beef production among the lowest (Nin et al., 2007). Broadly, this could mainly be attributed to inadequate production inputs, traditional management system, poor enabling environment and associated research and development efforts exerted to generate improved technologies (McDermott et al., 2010; Fuglie and Wang, 2012; Makkar, 2014).

Empirical findings on livestock production and productivity also show that, in most developing countries, lack of adequate quantity and quality of feed remains one of the most important constraints that smallholder livestock farmers face especially during the dry season (Thornton, 2010). Even though well-integrated and comprehensive livestock strategy is necessary to address various constraints and improve the production and productivity of livestock in developing countries, improved livestock feed and feeding system would have significant contribution by dealing with multiple challenges related with livestock nutrition, health, and husbandry system simultaneously. Improved feed technologies have better social, economic, and environmental benefits over the traditional feed types. Their contribution in improving feed supply, enhancing the health and productivity of animals, augmenting land use ef- ficiency, and reclaiming land degradation and others have been well studied and documented in different countries (Peters et al., 2001; Bouton, 2007; Koralagama et al., 2008; White et al., 2013; Yami et al.,2013: Franzel et al., 2014; Rao et al., 2015). For instance, Turinawe et al. (2012) shows that farmers who used improved feed technologies had significantly higher gross margins than those using traditional feeding methods. Moreover, using improved feed technologies like forages does not only improve animal nutrition but it also contributes to improve crop productivity by maintaining soil fertility through nitrogen fixation, reduce pressure on natural pastures, reduce soil erosion on marginal lands, and improve carbon sequestration to mitigate climate change (Peters et al., 2001; Entz et al., 2002; Rao et al., 2015).

In Ethiopia, like to other developing countries, due to inadequate feed availability and malnutrition, animals’ performance measured by birth weight, growth rate, milk yield, mortality rate, and reproductive performance are below the expected range and different animals in the country are not able to produce at their genetic potential (Shapiro et al., 2015). To address this constraint and improve the production and productivity of animals, so far a plethora research and development efforts have been exerted by national and international research institutes to generate and disseminate improved livestock feed and feeding system in the country. Various exotic and indigenous improved technologies were introduced to smallholder farmers by different strategies. For instance, improved livestock feed technologies such as forage legumes, perennial grasses, and pastures were first introduced by Arsi Rural Development Unit (ARDU) (Davis et al., 2010; Tekalign, 2014). Then through various projects such as Fourth Livestock Development Project (FLDP); Crop Diversification and Marketing Development (CDMD); and Feed Enhancement for Ethiopian Development (FEED); improved forage seeds were disseminated to smallholder farmers in different parts of the country (Tekalign, 2014). Moreover, the role of agricultural research institutes such as International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI), Kulumsa and Melkassa Agricultural Research Centers and others in testing the adaptability and nutritional contents of various exotic and indigenous forages crops for different agro-ecological zones was very significant. As a result different improved forages and fodder crops have been released for different ecological zones and considerable efforts have been made to disseminate these pasture and forage technologies to smallholder farmers. However, despite a number of efforts that have been exerted to introduce various improved feed technologies and feeding systems, adoption and use of these technologies have been still very limited and insignifi- cant (Gebremedhin et al., 2003, Bassa, 2016). For example, based on 2014/15 livestock survey report only 0.3% of livestock holders practiced using improved feed technologies for their livestock (CSA, 2015). This can be attributed to various socio-economic, institutional and biophysical factors entailing limited household resource endowment, especially labor and land to plant forage; mismatch of farmers need’s and technologies; limited market integration and extension services provision including weak information flows and linkages to other inputs providers; and multiple bio-physical stress and shocks (Adugna et al., 2012).