A negative human-animal relationship (HAR) from the perspective of the animal is a limiting factor affecting farm animal welfare, as well as farm animal productivity. Research in farm animals has elucidated sequential relationships between stockperson attitudes, stockperson behaviour, farm animal fear behaviour, farm animal stress physiology, and farm animal productivity. In situations where stockperson attitudes to and interactions with farm animals are sub-optimal, through animal fear and stress, both animal welfare and productivity, including reproductive performance, can be compromised. There is a growing body of evidence that farm animals often seek and enjoy interacting with humans, but our understanding of the effects of a positive HAR on stress resilience and productivity in farm animals is limited. In this review, we explore the pathways by which stress induced by human-animal interactions can negatively affect farm animal reproduction, in particular, via inhibitory effects on the secretion of gonadotrophins. We also review the current knowledge of the stockperson characteristics and the nature of stockperson interactions that affect fear and physiological stress in farm animals. The contents of this review provide an insight into the importance of the HAR on farm animal welfare and reproduction while highlighting the gap in knowledge regarding the effects of a positive HAR on farm animals.

The objective of the present study was to evaluate the secretion of testosterone (T) in bulls in response to the administration of varying doses of bovine LH (bLH) during the four seasons of the year. Five adult bulls (4 yr of age) were treated with an amount of bLH that was estimated to induce a 5 ng/mL amplitude pulse of LH in blood serum on five consecutive days around the spring equinox, summer solstice, fall equinox, and winter solstice. Five hours after this dose, bulls were treated with bLH in amounts that were estimated to induce a 0.25, 0.5, 1, 2, or 4 ng/mL amplitude LH pulse in blood serum in a Latin square design. Blood samples were collected for 5 h after administration of a dose of bLH that was estimated to induce the 5-ng amplitude LH pulse, and for 3 h after administration of the variable doses of bLH, and were then assayed for concentrations of T. Average concentrations and amplitude of T release after doses of bLH that were estimated to induce the 5-ng amplitude LH pulses were greater during the spring and summer than during the winter (P < 0.05). The area under the release curve (AUC) was greater during the spring than during the winter (P < 0.05). During the 3 h after treatment with the variable doses of bLH, T response was affected by dose (P < 0.001) and season (P < 0.001), but there was no dose × season interaction. Testosterone response increased in a dose-dependent fashion for all variables studied. The greatest average concentrations of T and AUC were observed in the spring compared with the fall and winter (P < 0.05). These data support our working hypothesis that testes of bulls are more responsive in releasing T in response to bLH stimulation in the spring and summer compared with the winter; however, there were no changes in sensitivity of the testes to LH during different seasons of the year as indicated by the lack of a dose of bLH × season interaction. Copyright © 2003. . Copyright 2003 Journal of Animal Science

As the global demand for products from food-producing animals increases with greater household economic capacity, there is an increased emphasis on the development of precision technologies for monitoring the health, product production, and wellbeing of these animals. The present review focuses on pork production. Using these systems is advantageous for enhancing pork production efficiency when trained personnel utilize these technologies to full capacity and have objective, automated, and uninterrupted streams of data collection. While these systems have great potential for revolutionizing food animal production, the nascent stage of computer vision in precision technology has precluded its integration into traditional agricultural practices and systems. In this review paper, there is a focus on the need to (1) evaluate the performance and effective use of computer vision technologies to collect and evaluate reliable data from pork production enterprises; and (2) focus on the current state of sensor-based animal management using a data fusion approach to monitor pig health/performance. Many of these technologies are in various stages of development; therefore, these technologies have not been integrated into pork production or other food animal producing systems. Even though the focus of this review article is on the utilization of these technologies in pork production systems, these technologies are relevant in other food animal production systems, particularly dairy and poultry production. Therefore, we describe an approach that emphasizes the important need for computational capacity and speed, edge computing, data storage and transmission, and maintaining connectivity in rural settings.

James E Kinder; Recognition of Billy day for service to reproductive biologists, Biology of Reproduction, , ioad056, https://doi.org/10.1093/biolre/ioad056