This paper aimed to analyze the use of digital media, and the research was conducted via a web survey sent by e-mail to equestrian clubs in Croatia. Social media has significantly altered the way of communication and the availability of information in all segments of life and work, including horse breeding. Within digital media, an extremely large amount of information is available that is not necessarily relevant and true. To prevent the use of inadequate information, in 60% of equestrian clubs in Croatia, certain persons are responsible for the content. Less than 50% of the respondents follow influencer posts. Furthermore, 90% of the respondents believe that digital media is an excellent tool that can help in the work of equestrian clubs, while 80% of the respondents believe that it is currently underutilized.

Svojstva klijanaca i biljaka engleskog ljulja nakon 5 godina skladištenja sjemena na različitim temperaturama

The aim of this paper is to characterize the low-input farming considering the resources it uses, scale of farming operations to which it suits, and its environmental impacts along with sustainability issues. The research was conducted by literature review. Low input farming systems seek to optimize the management and use of on-farm resources and to minimize the use of production inputs as off-farm resources, such as purchased fossil fuels, chemical fertilizers, and pesticides. The research has shown that low-input farming can contribute to lessening the use of synthetic pesticides, fertilizers, and fossil fuels while enabling the recovery of soils’ fertility, and biodiversity in the agroecosystems. Thanks to the expected recovery of soil fetility and porosity, there is anticipated greater resilience of low-input farming to extreme climatic events like droughts when compared with currently prevailing intensive farming. Therefore, the low-input farming can be much appreciated among the farming options for the improved sustainability.

Mastitis, a production disease highly prevalent in dairy farming, poses a significant challenge to farmers. It is responsible for decreased milk production, reduced milk quality, and increased treatment costs. Thus, early detection and prompt treatment are essential to prevent the infection and minimize the mastitis impact. This study aimed to determine how farm size affects the prevalence, effect, and cost of mastitis. Therefore, a total of 4,922,751 test-day records for dairy Simmental cows collected in the period 2005-2022 were analysed. Results showed that mastitis was most prevalent among small farms, which also exhibited a lower total increase in milk production. In contrast, the highest prevalence of healthy cows was observed at large farms, with the highest total increase in milk production.

In Croatia, as well as in many neighboring countries, neither the cattle farmers nor the general public (i.e., the consumers) are familiar with the meaning of the grass- fed cattle farming. This paper’s objective is to present what environmental and consumer-health benefits might arise from this way of cattle farming, along with the expected constrains regarding a lower productivity per animal and per the used land resources. The presented literature review has demonstrated that, when compared to the conventional TMR-fed cattle, the grass-fed feeding manner produces the cattle-derived foods with the greater consumer-related health benefits, has a potential to restore biodiversity in agricultural countryside, causes a lesser environmental pollution due to a lesser pesticide use, improves animal welfare and the beauty of a countryside landscape, decreases the farmers’ operating costs, consumes less fossil fuel per hectare of the utilized land, which is appreciated in climate policies, and has a potential to improve the cattle farmers’ resilience and independence from distant fossil fuels. The grass-fed foods are appreciated by the end-consumers who are willing to pay a price premium for such products. The projected feed and forage consumptions, along with the data on a grass-fed cattle productivity, have indicated a poorer conversion rate of feed DM to milk (1.433 vs. 0.756) and bodyweight gain (12.168 vs. 7.526) in the grass-fed cattle when compared to the TMR-fed, which implies that the grass-fed cattle would require much more land resources per product unit than the TMR-fed cattle. Further research is required to test the productivity of grass-fed cattle (per head and per hectare) in Croatian conditions, as well as to investigate the productivity of Croatian grassland resources.

The study examined how different solid feeds affected the biochemical parameters in calf plasma. The experiment involved a control group and three test groups of calves, each fed with a different starter mixture. The results showed significant differences in some biochemical parameters between the feeding groups. Calves in groups P1 and P3 had a statistically higher glucose concentration in blood plasma compared to group C. Calves from group P3 had a higher concentration of urea in blood plasma than calves from group C. Calves in groups P1 and P3 also had higher concentrations of total protein and globulin in blood plasma compared to group C. The concentration of inorganic phosphate in the blood plasma of calves from group P3 was significantly higher than that of group C. Female calves in the experimental groups showed a lower concentration of NEFA at three months of age compared to the control group. It was concluded that feeding calves with a starter mixture containing whey and easily digestible protein had a positive effect on the nutritional status and energy balance of the calves.