Livestock

Biodiversity and the Natural Suppression of Human Pathogens

Restoring livestock to mixed-vegetable farms allows on-farm fertilizer production and the sale of high-value meat products.  Likewise, diversifying farms with native plants provides habitat for pest-killing birds and predatory insects. Unfortunately, both practices carry the risk of unintentional contamination of produce by human pathogens (e.g., E. coli O157:H7), transmitted through livestock feces or those of […]

Eating our way to a healthy planet: Can how we eat help reduce climate change?

Agriculture and livestock production are often named as major contributors to climate change and other environmental problems such as poor air quality, polluted water supplies and degraded land. There is some truth in these accusations, but the blame needs to be focused on the way that the food is being produced, not the food itself. […]

Use of oxidized bio-chars to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and attenuate the transport of Escherichia coli in soils

This project addresses one Priority of the BioAg program: Integration of Livestock-Crop Integration and two topics covered by the Climate Friendly Farming program: Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Carbon Sequestration, Anaerobic Digestion (Biogas) and Biochar (pyrolysis). This project will generate preliminary data on the effect oxidized bio-chars will have on greenhouse gases (GHG)s emissions specifically (CO2) […]

Harnessing microcins for control of scours in neonatal calves

Calf diarrhea (scours) is a major animal health challenge for cattle producers because it causes dehydration, depression, mortality, and long-term reduction in vitality of infected animals. Enterotoxigenic E. coli (ETEC; K99) and enterohemorrhagic E. coli (EHEC; e.g., serovars O157:H7, O26 and O111) can cause enteric colibacillosis in calves, and EHEC strains are also significant food […]

Alternative Forage and Fodder Crops for Livestock Production

Increased costs of feed and the desire to enhance on-farm livestock feed production have created a need for alternative fodder and forage crops. Historically, many crops such as fodder beets, swedes, carrots and kale were used for livestock feed. Many small-scale crop producers in western Washington are looking to diversify their farming operations to include […]

Integrating low-disturbance organic grain and livestock production

This research addresses primary constraints on organic dryland grain production in Eastern Washington by developing conservation tillage practices for organic systems, N supply data for grain crops after forages, methods of establishing organic crops, alternative forages, and economic comparisons of mixed crop-livestock systems versus other alternatives. Integration of crops with livestock provides nutrient cycling, and […]