Reliable seasonal weather forecasts are essential for irrigation management and crop yield prediction, particularly in regions with limited water resources. This study aimed to improve the usability of the North American Multi-Model Ensemble (NMME), an experimental real-time seasonal weather forecast system, for regional crop modelling and irrigation decision-making. Coarse resolution of NMME may introduce bias and uncertainty at regional/local scales. To address this, a statistical downscaling method with bias correction for both mean and variability was used to produce 1-km gridded daily weather projections for temperature and precipitation across the contiguous United States from a representative NMME model, the Canadian Coupled Climate Model version 4 (CanCM4). The daily surface weather and climatological summaries (DAYMET) data were used to calibrate the downscaled hindcast projections of CanCM4. The reliability of downscaled CanCM4 forecasts for local crop modelling was evaluated at lead times of up to six months using a calibrated DSSAT model at a research station in the semi-arid Texas Rolling Plains region. Cross-validation during the hindcast period demonstrated strong forecast skill, with R2 values of 0.72 and 0.71 for maximum and minimum temperatures, respectively. The precipitation forecast remained sensitive to extreme events, with seasonal and annual relative errors of 31% and 1%, respectively. Crop yield predictions had a relative error of 9%, and irrigation water requirements closely matched field observations, outperforming both raw CanCM4 and multi-model mean methods. The downscaling method used in this study significantly improved NMME data reliability, although the degree of improvement may vary with time and location.

The objective of the trial was to evaluate the effects of arginine supplementation in the feed of gestating sows on the variability of piglet birth weight. The weight of the piglets was evaluated using descriptive analysis, correlation analysis, and analysis of variance with a 2 × 3 factorial arrangement. This arrangement included no supplementation or supplementation with 1.0% L-arginine, combined in three periods. Period 1: from days 25 to 53 of gestation, providing 23 g/day from days 25 to 28 and 18 g/day from days 29 to 53 of gestation; period 2: from days 30 to 60 of gestation and from day 80 of gestation to farrowing, providing 18 g/day in the first period and 45 g/day in the second period; and period 3, from day 85 of gestation to delivery, with 24 g/day was provided from day 85 until farrowing, and 28 g/day from days 85 to 107, increasing to 56 g/day from day 108 until farrowing. Supplementation with 1.0% of L-arginine reduced the percentage of total piglets born and piglets born alive with less than 800 g by 2.26 and 2.05 percentage points, respectively; and increased the percentage of total piglets born and piglets born alive between 1601 and 1800g by 5.89 and 6.08 percentage points, respectively. Supplementing with 1.0% of L-arginine, improves litter uniformity, with an average reduction of 4.06 percentage points in the piglet population of less than 1180 g and an increase in the piglet population of 1180 to 1890 g by 4.70 percentage points.

The presence of excessive arsenic (As) in paddy fields poses a significant risk to human health due to its accumulation in rice grains. However, the current level of As in Sri Lankan paddy fields remains unclear. Therefore, this research aims to assess the distribution of exchangeable As concentration and investigate the effects of agro-climatic zones (ACZs), soil orders, and water sources on exchangeable As concentration in Sri Lankan paddy fields. For this purpose, 7,154 soil samples were collected from paddy fields using a stratified random sampling method representing six ACZs, six soil orders, and three water sources. Arsenic extraction was made using 0.01 M CaCl2 followed by the detection with Inductive Coupled Plasma Mass-Spectrophotometry. The concentration of exchangeable As ranged from 0.01 to 392.9 µg/kg with an average of 24.6 µg/kg. Samples from the Low-country Wet zone exhibited higher exchangeable As levels compared to those from the Low country Dry zone (p<0.05). Among soil orders, Histosols, Inceptisols, and Ultisols showed higher exchangeable As concentrations than Alfisols and Vertisols (p<0.05). Rainfed paddy fields had higher exchangeable As compared to the fields with access to supplementary irrigation. Additionally, exchangeable As concentration was inversely correlated with soil pH and paddy grain yield (p<0.05). The observed variations in soil-As concentration across ACZs, soil orders, and water sources highlight the need for climate, soil order, and water source-specific strategies to mitigate further accumulation of As in paddy fields.

The effect of supplementation of γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA), a component of the neuroendocrine cascade involved in stress alleviation, was studied in broiler chickens in a heat stress model. In a 42-day feeding trial, 300 male and 300 female broiler chickens were equally distributed in an environmentally controlled (EC) and an open house (OH) according to a 2x2x3 factorial design. The diet was either devoid of GABA (0 mg/kg) or was supplemented with 60 or 120 mg/kg GABA. Zootechnical performances (1-42 d), expression of mRNA for genes coding for inflammatory cytokines (IL-1β, IL-8, TNF-α) in spleen (24 d), oxidative regulators (Nrf-2, SOD) in liver (24 d), and arterial blood gas concentrations (24 d) were assessed. Whole genome sequencing of the caecal microbiome was performed for the male birds (42 d). Supplementation of GABA improved (P < 0.01) body weight and feed conversion ratio irrespective of sex and housing conditions, expression of IL-1β and IL-8, and Nrf-2 gene. GABA decreased (P < 0.05) malondialdehyde and increased (P < 0.05) glutathione peroxidase activities in serum. GABA decreased circulatory corticosterone concertation (P < 0.05). While both housing conditions benefitted from GABA, its effects were more pronounced in OH (house effect P < 0.05). GABA supplementation modulated caecal microbiota composition by increasing the relative abundance of beneficial bacteria such as Alistipes and Bacteroides, particularly in the OH environment. Overall, this study concludes that 60 mg/kg GABA supplementation improves growth performance, stress resilience, and microbial composition in broiler chickens, with variable effects depending on housing conditions.

The study analysed corn harvested areas from 1960 to 2030, using data from the USDA open-access official dataset and 1,000 ARIMA models. The global corn harvested area experienced a steady growth rate of 1.0% in the 1960s, followed by a slight setback in the 1980s and a recovery in the 1990s. The early 2000s saw significant expansion, while the 2010s saw a slightly slower pace of 1.4%. From 2020 to 2024, the global growth rate declined to 0.0%, suggesting a potential shift towards a more stable or slower growth phase. The most likely scenario for the global corn area is an optimistic outlook with a 37% likelihood of steady growth. China’s most likely scenario is a gradual expansion with a rate of 2.0%. The United States’ most likely scenario suggests a neutral trend. Brazil has remarkable growth trajectories in its areas, reflecting land availability. Ukraine’s area by 2030 is projected to experience varying outcomes due to uncertainties in the agricultural landscape.

Grazing is a crucial component of dairy farms across many regions of the world. This review explores challenges related to grazing infrastructure and opportunities for future improvement. Farmers who aim to increase pasture utilisation face heightened inter-animal competition necessitated by pasture restriction to achieve target post-grazing sward heights. Increasing the frequency of fresh pasture allocation beyond once per day has been observed to reduce milk production in primiparous animals, due to intensified competition for limited feed resources. Implementing grazing paddocks tailored for 24 to 36 hour allocations helps to mitigate inter-animal competition while concurrently preventing the grazing of fresh regrowth. Crucial to this approach is establishing farm roadway infrastructure, that allows access to all sections of the grazing platform. However, the development of these roadway networks has often occurred without a comprehensive assessment of their impact on the efficiency of the dairy herd’s movement between grazing paddocks and the milking parlour. The efficiency of the dairy herd’s movement is most significantly influenced by the location of the milking parlour within the grazing platform. Extreme walking distances or challenging terrain on farm roadways may have an impact on milk production per cow. Factors such as farm roadway surface quality and width significantly influence cow throughput on farm roadways. Recent studies have highlighted inadequate roadway widths on many farms relative to their herd size, while surface condition may also be limiting cow throughput on these farms. Enhancing roadway width and surface condition of farm roadways may improve labour efficiency on commercial farms.

Agricultural monoculture negatively impacts soil quality, particularly in fragile soils that yield limited crop production and are highly susceptible to degradation. Increasing plant diversity in production systems can be an alternative for maintaining soil ecosystem services and increasing crop yields. This study investigated the influence of increased plant diversity on soil health and its impact on soybean and cotton yield in an Ultisol in the Brazilian savanna in Mato Grosso State, Brazil. Tested five levels of plant diversity after soybean harvest: 1) very low (VL), 2) low (LW), 3) average (AVG), 4) long term average (AVL) e 5) high (ICLS) were tested. Plant diversity improves the health of sandy loam soil, increases C and N fractions in particulate organic matter (POM-C and POM-N) and leads to differences in C utilization by the soil microbial community. High ICLS diversity raises total organic carbon levels (TC, being POM-C and POM-N, the labile fractions, more efficient to show changes in sandy loam soil, in the short term, over a period of three years. High diversity promoted yield gains of up to 251% for cotton and 82% for soybean in relation to very low plant diversity. Changes in soil microbial composition are able to partially explain crop yield in diversified production systems (R2 ranging from 0.51 to 0.80). Diversifying production components is a sustainable way to maintain biological functions and agricultural quality of loam sandy soil in the Brazilian Cerrado in Mato Grosso.

The concept of interaction classes (iClasses) for multi-environment trial data was introduced to address the problem of summarising variety performance across environments in the presence of variety by environment interaction (VEI). The approach involves the fitting of a factor analytic linear mixed model (FALMM), with the resultant estimates of factor loadings being used to form groups of environments (iClasses) that discriminate varieties with different patterns of VEI. It is then meaningful to summarise variety performance across environments within iClasses. The iClass methodology was developed with respect to a FALMM in which the genetic effects for different varieties were assumed independent. This was done for pedagogical reasons but it was pointed out that the accuracy of variety selection is greatly enhanced by considering the genetic relatedness of varieties, either via ancestral or genomic information. The focus of the current paper is therefore to extend the iClass approach for FALMMs which incorporate such information. In addition a measure of stability of variety performance across iClasses is defined. The utility of the approach for variety selection is illustrated using a multi-environment trial dataset from the lentil breeding program operated by Agriculture Victoria.

A ruminant model, MINDY, was used to explore the impact of grazing patches of tannin-containing legumes on environmental impact by cows grazing on grass-dominated rangelands swards. MINDY was initialized as a pregnant beef cow grazing on a grass (Bromus biebersteinii; meadow brome-Control), with the addition of a patch with tannin-containing legumes (Lotus corniculatus-birdsfoot trefoil-Tre, or Onobrychis viciifolia-sainfoin-Sain). Twenty-five scenarios (treatments) were established as a product of frequency (weekly, fortnightly, and monthly) and dietary proportions (0.05, 0.10, 0.15, and 0.20 of total forage allocation) of either Sain or Tre. Methane (CH4) production and nitrogen (N) excretion increased with legume availability. As legume proportion increased, dry matter intake (DMI), animal performance, CH4 production and urinary nitrogen (UN) excretion increased with a greater magnitude for Sain. Methane yield was lower than the Control at weekly allocation of legumes. Environmental costs in terms of CH4 emission increments per unit of production relative to Control were greater at monthly allocations when the levels of legume in the diet were low (0.5 – 0.10). Legumes in the diet at 0.15 – 0.20 yielded the lowest costs regardless of frequency of allocation. Environmental costs in terms of UN increments per unit of production relative to Control were lowest at 0.15 – 0.20 of legumes in the diet regardless of frequency of allocation. This study suggests that strategic allocation of either sainfoin or birdsfoot trefoil when beef cattle graze grass-dominated rangelands swards can reduce environmental impact, while increasing secondary production of the system at the same levels of resource allocation.

Grazing management is an important component affecting pasture stability, but the underlying demographic mechanisms remain poorly understood in mixed-species systems. This three-year study investigated how grazing height (15 cm and 20 cm pre-grazing) and strategic spring defoliation (7 cm) influence stability in mixed pastures composed of complementary C3/C4 grasses (Lolium arundinaceum and Cenchrus clandestinus). Utilizing demographic and tiller size/density relationship theories, we examined population dynamics to better understand pasture stability. The results indicated that height management significantly affected the demographic traits with shorter grazing (15 cm) increasing tiller emergence and population density while reducing individual tiller weight. In addition, higher tiller population density (TPD) and lower tiller weight (TW) were observed in the shorter treatments. Despite these contrasting responses, the mixed pasture maintained consistent stability across treatments through compensatory relationships between tiller traits. The stability index remained close to 1 (0.956 ± 0.02) regardless of management, demonstrating robust demographic equilibrium. Individual species showed distinct seasonal stability patterns - L. arundinaceum dominating in winter and C. clandestinus in spring and summer - yet their complementary growth maintained year-round system stability. The self-thinning law effectively revealed stable size-density compensation across treatments, suggesting its utility for assessing mixed sward persistence. These findings demonstrate that mixed pastures can maintain demographic stability under varying grazing regimes through species complementarity and population-level compensatory mechanisms.