From the sky to the cells: a multidimensional study of thermal comfort of animals raised on crop-livestock-forest integrated systems (CLFS)

• Grant number: 19/04528-6
• Support Opportunities: Regular Research Grants
• Start date: July 01, 2019
• End date: December 31, 2021
• Field of knowledge: Agronomical Sciences - Animal Husbandry - Ecology of Domestic Animals and Ethology
• Principal Investigator: Alexandre Rossetto Garcia
• Grantee: Alexandre Rossetto Garcia
• Host Institution: Embrapa Pecuária Sudeste. Empresa Brasileira de Pesquisa Agropecuária (EMBRAPA). Ministério da Agricultura, Pecuária e Abastecimento (Brasil). São Carlos , SP, Brazil
• Associated researchers: Alberto Carlos de Campos Bernardi ; Fabio Luzi ; Felipe Zandonadi Brandão ; José Ricardo Macedo Pezzopane ; Leonardo Nanni Costa ; Manuel Antonio Chagas Jacinto ; Waldomiro Barioni Júnior
• Associated research grant(s): 19/23449-0 - The Connected Cow: a Brazilian-Italian effort to enhance the animal welfare based on precision livestock farming technologies, AP.R SPRINT
• Associated scholarship(s): 20/06203-4 - Technical training on technologies to assess the thermal comfort of animals raised on integrated production systems, BP.TT

Abstract

In 2018 Brazil became the principal exporter of beef with an 11% growth in shipping and US$ 6.5 billion in revenues. However, as demand growths, the requirement for products of high quality, for ethical production and animal welfare also growths. Under stress, animals activate adaptative mechanisms which alter their physiology and behavior. In Brazil, thermal stress is a problem which reduces animal productivity, what is aggravated by the recent increase in heat loads and the scarcity of trees in the pastures. In this context, the use of pastures with trees, such as in crop-livestock-forest integrated systems (CLFS), has been indicated as an alternative for the development of production systems more friendly to animals raised in tropical climates. Brazil has two million hectares established with CLFS and has compromised to achieve five million hectares until 2030. Nonetheless, much technical information still lacks about these systems and the possible gains in animal performance to be achieved with their use. Considering all that, adopting a multidimensional approach, the proposal has the objective of determining the effects of afforestation on the microclimatic conditions of pastures as well as the possibility that these microclimatic alterations may induce positive modifications in physiological and behavioral aspects of the animals, which may improve their productivity. The project involves the use of innovative methodologies for automated data acquisition, inside the concept of Precision Livestock Farming, with the perspective of favoring the analysis of multimodal databanks and complex biological interpretations of body thermoregulation in beef cattle raised on CLFS. (AU)

Scientific publications

(4)

(References retrieved automatically from Web of Science and SciELO through information on FAPESP grants and their corresponding numbers as mentioned in the publications by the authors)

LEMES, AMANDA PRUDENCIO; GARCIA, ALEXANDRE ROSSETTO; MACEDO PEZZOPANE, JOSE RICARDO; BRANDAO, FELIPE ZANDONADI; WATANABE, YEDA FUMIE; COOKE, REINALDO FERNANDES; SPONCHIADO, MARIANA; PARO DE PAZ, CLAUDIA CRISTINA; CAMPLESI, ANNELISE CARLA; BINELLI, MARIO; et al. Silvopastoral system is an alternative to improve animal welfare and productive performance in meat production systems. SCIENTIFIC REPORTS, v. 11, n. 1, JUL 8 2021. (19/04528-6, 15/26627-5)

GARCIA, ALEXANDRE ROSSETTO; BERNARDI, ALBERTO CARLOS DE CAMPOS; PEZZOPANE, JOSE RICARDO MACEDO; REDAELLI, VERONICA; LUZI, FABIO; LAURENTI, NICOLLE; MENEGAZZO, LUCAS PERASSOLI; GRUDZINSKI, CHRISTINE ELISABETH; DOS SANTOS JUNIOR, PAULO CERQUEIRA; BARBOSA, ANTONIO VINICIUS CORREA. Use of infrared thermography from a crewed aerial vehicle for remote sensing of tropical pasture areas with different levels of afforestation. COMPUTERS AND ELECTRONICS IN AGRICULTURE, v. 213, p. 11-pg., 2023-10-01. (19/04528-6, 16/02959-1)

ROMANELLO, NARIAN; BARRETO, ANDREA DO NASCIMENTO; PAULA DE SOUSA, MARCO ANTONIO; DE CARVALHO BALIEIRO, JULIO CESAR; BRANDAO, FELIPE ZANDONADI; TONATO, FELIPE; DE CAMPOS BERNARDI, ALBERTO CARLOS; MACEDO PEZZOPANE, JOSE RICARDO; BASTOS PORTUGAL, JOSE ALBERTO; GARCIA, ALEXANDRE ROSSETTO. Thermal comfort of Nelore (Bos indicus) and Canchim (Bos taurus x Bos indicus) bulls kept in an integrated crop-livestock-forestry system in a tropical climate. AGRICULTURAL SYSTEMS, v. 209, p. 12-pg., 2023-05-22. (19/04528-6, 15/26627-5)

BARRETO, ANDREA DO NASCIMENTO; JUNIOR, WALDOMIRO BARIONI; PEZZOPANE, JOSE RICARDO MACEDO; BERNARDI, ALBERTO CARLOS DE CAMPOS; PEDROSO, ANDRE DE FARIA; MARCONDES, CINTIA RIGHETTI; JACINTHO, MANUEL ANTONIO CHAGAS; ROMANELLO, NARIAN; DE SOUSA, MARCO ANTONIO PAULA; COSTA, LEONARDO NANNI; et al. Thermal comfort and behavior of beef cattle in pasture-based systems monitored by visual observation and electronic device. APPLIED ANIMAL BEHAVIOUR SCIENCE, v. 253, p. 11-pg., 2022-07-01. (19/04528-6, 15/26627-5)