Global agricultural production is dynamic and complex as various factors impact it. Understanding global agricultural production systems and farmers’ decisions requires an internationally standardized and scientifically sound approach. The agribenchmark Network is a global, non-profit network of producers and agricultural experts which aims to analyze and understand the key drivers of current and future trends and developments in global agriculture. The Network combines its in-depth knowledge of production systems with its expertise in analyzing international commodity markets and value chains to provide scientifically sound advice to policymakers, producers and agribusinesses. This paper details the agribenchmark Standard Operating Procedure (SOP), which is the step-by-step method of establishing typical farm information and quantifying their data. The paper also illustrates how the typical farm approach is applied by the agribenchmark Network to analyze and understand global agriculture, production systems and adaptation strategies. The paper provides examples of how the Network applies the approach in analyzing the status-quo of production systems, benchmarking, practice change analysis and policy analysis. The paper concludes that although the typical farm approach and the institutional settings (agri benchmark) present some limitations, the approach and the Network provide comprehensive, consistent and coherent data on farm economics.

The Brazilian dairy industry is still in its infancy, especially in regards to competitiveness on foreign markets. Therefore, it is facing difficult challenges to upgrade in terms of professionalisation, productivity and technological improvements, but also to avoid exclusion of small-scale farms. This study identifies the main factors affecting the competitiveness and slowing the modernisation of the supply chain in one of the most promising and dynamic dairy production areas in the world – the mesoregion ‘Grande Fronteira do Mercosul’ in Southern Brazil. The analysis is based on the perceptions of supply chain leaders about the challenges to improving the industry’s competitiveness. The paper also presents various strategies already implemented by some actors to overcome such barriers to competitiveness. The empirical results have manifold implications. One of which is that the problems and strategies must be the target of managers and authorities in a sustainable common project of development to the benefit of the whole dairy supply chain.

While international beef and sheep meat price developments are usually measured with meat trade prices (provided by FAO), no comparable information exists on world average of national prices that producers receive for livestock. This paper aims to fill this gap by introducing a set of global producer price indices representing cattle, lambs, and sheep prices as received by producers: the agri benchmark of weaner cattle, finished cattle, lambs and lambs and sheep price indices. These Laspeyres, production-weighted indices measure changes in global farm gate prices as provided annually by the agri benchmark Beef and Sheep Network, with this paper covering prices between 2000 and 2019. The results showed that growing Asian imports, local economic developments in South America, the interconnection with the dairy sector in Europe, growth of beef consumption in China and exchange rates shifts are the key factors that drove developments of global beef producer prices over the past 20 years. Droughts in Oceania and the rapid rise in China’s sheep meat prices are highly reflected in the Global Lambs and Lambs and Sheep Meat Price indices. The indices indicate whether cattle and sheep producers globally are receiving more, or less, for the commodity and may increase or reduce production and investment accordingly. This will be of more use if there were similar producer price indices for competing enterprises, such as dairy and cropping, and for competing proteins, such as pigs, poultry, and fish.

This study aims to provide possible utilization of sunflower head byproduct (SFH) as a feedstuff by implementing chemical pretreatments (4% sodium hydroxide (SFH_NaOH) or 4% urea (SFH_urea) and supplementation with either exogenous fibrolytic enzymes (EFE) or functional feed additive (FFA). The experimental EFE was a complex (1:1, v/v) of two enzyme products with high activity of β-1,3-1,4-glucanase and endo-1,4-β-D-xylanase and applied at 0 (SFH_out), 1, 2, 5, and 10 µL/ gdry matter, while FFA was a fermentation byproduct rich in cellulase and xylanase activities, applied at 0 (SFH_out), 0.5, 1, 2, and 4 mg/g DM. SFH_urea had the highest (p < 0.05) crude protein (CP) content compared to other SFH substrates. Linear enhancements (p < 0.05) in kinetics of gas production (GP), metabolizable energy (ME), organic matter digestibility (OMD) and total short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs) concentrations were observed for all SFH substrates supplemented with EFE. The SFH_out had the highest (p < 0.05) potential GP, maximum rate (Rmax) of GP, ME, OMD and SCFAs. Supplementation of EFE was more pronounced than FFA in affecting the kinetic parameters of in vitro GP for all SFH substrates. SFH_out supplemented with EFE seems to be the most promising substrate to enhance microbial fermentation in vitro.

While the COVID-19 pandemic and associated government responses have had a substantial impact on consumers and meat supply chains worldwide, the effect on beef and sheep farming has been surprisingly small, short-lived and largely offset by other global influences. However, the impact has also varied greatly between countries and regions, largely due to differences in Government measures and in industry circumstances and influences. This study aims to provide insights into the pandemic’s impacts throughout global beef and sheep supply chains, but with a focus on the farm level, particularly producer prices in 2020. At the centre of the study is an analysis of online questionnaire-based survey responses to the Global agri benchmark Beef and Sheep Network. The study also utilizes a variety of other studies and information sources to explore other potential factors that could have also driven beef and sheep sectors worldwide in 2020. It explores how these influences interacted with the effect of the pandemic. Food service sales were highly impacted by the pandemic, meat processing was temporarily disrupted in North America but global livestock prices remained high due, in large part, to the continuation of strong beef and sheep meat demand and imports in China.

This study aims to evaluate the nutritive value of Ajuga iva (A. iva) harvested from three distinct altitude regions in Tunisia (Dougga, Mograne, and Nabeul). The chemical composition, phenolic concentration, gas production, and in vitro dry matter (DM) digestibility were determined. The highest concentrations of neutral detergent fiber (NDF) and acid detergent fiber (ADF) were for A. iva cultivated in Nabeul. In contrast, the highest crude protein (CP) concentration was observed in that cultivated in Mograne, and the lowest (p < 0.01) CP concentration was noted in that cultivated in Dougga. Additionally, the cultivation regions affected the concentrations of free-radical scavenging activity, total flavonoids, and total polyphenols (p < 0.01). The highest free-radical scavenging activity was observed with A. iva cultivated in Dougga and Mograne. The highest (p < 0.05) gas production rate and lag time were observed in A. iva cultivated in Mograne and Nabeul regions. DM digestibility differed between regions and methods of determination. The highest (p < 0.01) DM degradability, determined by the method of Tilley and Terry and the method of Van Soest et al., was for A. iva cultivated in Mograne and Dougga, while the lowest (p < 0.01) value was recorded for that cultivated in the Nabeul region. Likewise, metabolizable energy (ME) and protein digestibility values were higher for A. iva collected from Mograne region than that collected from the other sampling areas. In conclusion, the nutritive value of A. iva differed between regions. Therefore, care should be taken when developing recommendations for using A. iva in an entire region. Season- and region-specific feeding strategies for feeding A. iva are recommended.