Silvana Pietrosemoli

1. IntroductionA common challenge for most livestock industries is to identify more productive, efficient and sustainable pasture-based production systems that have a positive impact on animal welfare, biodiversity and long-term operation profitability without negatively affecting soil health. The way that the available resources (land, forage species, animals, infrastructure and climate) are orga ...

1. IntroductionThe sustainability of pasture-based animal production systems has social, environmental and economic implications. Grasslands provide low cost feed for livestock, mainly ruminants, becoming the basis for production and livelihoods in many rural areas of the world [1]. Sustainable grazing systems are grounded on the principles of improving the cycle of nutrients of grassland ecosyste ...

1. IntroductionMeat consumers have shown an increasing interest in purchasing products from more sustainable production systems that are considered more respectful of the environment and of animal welfare [1,2]. Those systems reduce the use of agrochemicals and fossil fuels, encourage the rescue of local animal genetic resources, and contribute to the strengthening of local communities [3]. This r ...

1. Introduction The new millennium brought a worldwide growing interest for animal welfare [1]. The livestock sector reacted by developing recommendations relevant to the wellbeing of farm animals, consequently encouraging producers to adopt and implement them. Additionally, consumer demand for better production practices contributed to the development of responsible production systems in which a ...