The aim of this study was to examine the Salmonella serovars and antimicrobial resistance within an animal-based agriculture river system. The study area consisted of a 1,345 ha upper part of Pinhal catchment. A total of 384 samples were collected in four years of monitoring. Salmonella was isolated from 241 samples (62.7%), resulting in 324 isolates. The highest number of Salmonella sp. occurred in samples associated with sites with high stoking density animal unit per hectare. It was possible to demonstrate the variability of serovars in the study area: 30 different serovars were found and at least 11 per monitoring site. Thirty-three potentially related isolates were genotyped by PFGE, one major clone was observed in serovar Typhimurium, which occurred in animal feces (swine and bovine), and different sites and samplings proving the cross-contamination and persistence of this specific clone. Among 180 isolates submitted to an antimicrobial susceptibility test, 50.5% were susceptible to all 21 antimicrobials tested and 54 different profiles were found. In the current study, 49.5% of the tested isolates were resistant to at least one antimicrobial, and multi-resistance occurred in 18% of isolates. Results indicate a close interaction between animal-based agriculture, Salmonella, and antimicrobial resistance.

Water is a crucial resource to produce dairy milk and studies are required to identify opportunities for improvements in water management. This study evaluates the water productivity of milk (WPMilk) produced on 67 farms located in southern Brazil and the influence of dairy cattle production systems (pasture-based, 57 farms; semi-confined, 7 farms; confinement, 3 farms) on water productivity. Indirect and direct water flows were taken into account and the dairy milk was the output. Pasture yield was estimated based on a weighted average. Indirect water represented >98 % of water consumption for milk production on farms assessed. In the pasture-based system, the WPMilk ranged from 0.27 to 1.46 kg FPCM (Fat Protein Corrected Milk) m^-3 of water; in the semi-confined system it ranged from 0.59 to 1.1 kg FPCM m^-3; in the confined system, it ranged from 0.89 to 1.09 kg FPCM m^-3. Results show that 20 farms in the pasture-based system presented higher WPMilk than the maximum WPMilk of farms in the semi-confined system. Comparing outcomes of farms in the confined system with pasture-based system, similar results were observed with higher WPMilk on 22 farms in the pasture-based system. Results indicate that, regardless of the type of production system, water productivity is influenced by the dairy productivity indicators of the farm, such as milk yield and feed components. The large variability in the WPMilk was expected and reflects the inherent attributes and conditions affecting this indicator, which underlines the importance of assessing it on a farm scale. Consequently, achieving high dairy productivity indicators should be encouraged in the pasture-based system due to the environmental, economic and social advantages for the farmer. Results advance the knowledge about water flows and WPMilk in different dairy cattle production systems besides defining the first benchmarks for WPMilk produced on farms in Brazil.

This study evaluated the impact of diet as a mitigation action to improve the water efficiency of lactating cows. An intensive pasture dairy system was considered to calculate direct and indirect water use. Group 1 was fed with a diet containing 20% crude protein content. The crude protein content of Group 2 was adjusted according to milk production, ranging from 23% to 14.5%. The total water footprints had a value of 502.4 L kg-1 fat protein corrected milk for Group 1 and 451.2 L kg-1 fat protein corrected milk for Group 2. The diet with the adjusted protein provided a reduction of 10% in the footprint value. The green water footprint was the most representative of consumption in the total value of the water footprint, 86.4% and 85.5% for Groups 1 and 2, respectively. The animals in Group 1 had a mean total drinking water consumption of 83.3 L animal-1 day-1 and those of Group 2, 80.4 L animal-1 day-1. This study demonstrated that high crude protein content in the diet provided a greater water footprint, therefore lower water efficiency. The proposed nutritional practice proved viable as a water-mitigating action, making the ratio of liters of water per liter of milk more advantageous. The results of this study could be considered a validation of a nutritional mitigation practice to improve water efficiency and could be used as best management for the dairy supply chain.

The aim of the study is to discern benchmarks for the indicators L water cow⁻¹ day⁻¹ and L water kg milk⁻¹ day⁻¹ per type of production system and season. A total of 876 commercial dairy farms underwent comprehensive water consumption monitoring from January 2021 to December 2022. The monitored water consumptions were animal drinking water and water usage for cleaning. Confined systems exhibited the highest average for animal drinking and cleaning, 87.5 L water cow⁻¹ day⁻¹ and 84.4 L water cow⁻¹ day⁻¹, respectively. Semi-confined systems presented the lowest average for animal drinking, 54.4 L water cow⁻¹ day⁻¹. Pasture systems showed the lowest average for cleaning, 45.2 L water cow⁻¹ day⁻¹. The benchmarks proposed in this study can serve as the first references for animal drinking and milking parlor washing consumption for production systems in tropical conditions.

Objetivou-se, neste estudo, calcular a pegada hídrica dos suínos abatidos no estado de Santa Catarina na década de 2001 a 2011 e avaliar o impacto de estratégias nutricionais no valor das pegadas azul e cinza. Testaram-se cinco estratégias nutricionais a fim de avaliar os impactos: T1, ração convencional; T2, ração com aminoácidos; T3, ração com fitase; T4, ração com minerais orgânicos e T5, ração com as tecnologias (T2, T3 e T4). Os valores das pegadas apresentaram comportamento crescente ao longo da década, resultado do aumento do número de animais abatidos. O cálculo para T1 apresentou os maiores valores de pegada e para T5, os menores. A porcentagem de redução foi de 18% entre esses tratamentos. O maior valor da pegada cinza foi verificado para ração convencional (15.073 m³ ano-1) e o menor para estratégia com uso de fitase (11.307 m³ ano-1). Para cada litro de água utilizado foram gerados 179 kcal em T1, 200 kcal em T2, 193 kcal em T3, 200 kcal em T4 e 218 kcal em T5. A macrorregião Oeste representou de 75 a 77% do total da pegada para determinado ano e a Sul de 9 a 12%. Os resultados deste estudo sustentam que o uso de estratégias nutricionais é uma prática conservacionista de uso da água reduzindo o valor das pegadas azul e cinza.