Journal articles on the topic 'Cattle breeder attitudes'

The aim of the article was to identify leading relationship attitudes among farmers keeping animals of conservative breeds. The practical justification for the adopted analyses was to identify factors that foster desirable relations (attitudes) in agriculture based on ties. The research was conducted among 145 farms using an interview questionnaire in the poviats of three voivodships (Malopolskie, Podkarpackie, Lubelskie), where operations with livestock conservation breeds occurred. Collective selection was deliberate, meeting the criteria for the use of the extended diversity of breeds of farmed animals in 3 categories (cows, sheep and pigs). On the basis of the PCA test and analysis, 2 types of attitudes were selected: bonded and opportunistic. In the implemented accounts represented by farms according to three species of animals of conservative breeds, the opportunistic attitude was more prevalent than the prison attitude. The opportunism of pig and cattle breeders was particularly valued. In addition, the distribution of attitudes in groups was analysed, among others, due to the characteristics of farmers (age, sex, education and professional experience) and the presence of a successor on the farm. What was confirmed, among others, was the impact of a lack of professional experience of farmers on pro-bonding attitudes. In addition, in the groups, the distribution of attitudes was analysed, among others, according to the characteristics of farmers (age, gender, education, professional experience) and the presence of a successor on the farm. The influence of the lack of professional experience of farmers on relationship-oriented attitudes was confirmed. The younger generation of farmers may be more effective in implementing programmes of genetic biodiversity of farm animals. Small-scale farms, developed by better-educated farmers, with short work experience in agriculture and less experience in keeping animals of conservative breeds, prove to be developmental. The obtained results are illustrative of purposely selected objects, with restrictions, they can be related to the population of all Polish farms keeping animals of conservative breeds.

Livestock keepers in southwestern Burkina Faso hold the local Lobi taurine breed, local Zebu cattle, and their crosses. Some communities in the region have begun to implement community-based cattle breeding programs (CBBPs), which involve animal tagging and recording and, potentially, also bull sharing. Based on the hypothesis that the participation of livestock keepers in CBBPs depends on their attitudes towards these programs, we used questionnaires to survey the attitudes of 125 farmers towards cattle breeding strategies and tools. Results were analyzed using principal component analysis. Farmers showed a highly positive attitude towards maintaining the features of their preferred cattle breed, but their attitudes varied substantially towards crossbreeding for breed improvement. Farmers generally agreed that performance was more important than animal appearance, and most of them were willing to cooperate with breeders’ associations but were skeptical about sharing their bulls with other farmers. The majority was reluctant to record performance data, which may be due to a capacity deficit and their confidence in being able to select the best animals based purely on phenotype. Our analysis suggests that breeders’ associations, as a key component of CBBPs, should lay down clear rules and obligations for their members from the outset. Timely consideration of farmers’ attitudes towards different breeding tools may improve their uptake and guarantee the sustainability of CBBPs.

The research was conducted in Mangunrejo Village, Tegalrejo District, Magelang Regency. The purpose of the study was to determine the relationship between the level of cosmopolitan and innovation characteristics with the attitude of beef cattle breeders, in the treatment of traumatic wounds using Iodine plant extract ointment. Data were collected by means of observation and questionnaires. The variables observed were the level of cosmopolitan, innovation characteristics and attitudes. The study design used is the One Shot Case Study method. The population used is the Amanah farmer/livestock group with a sample of 32 people determined using the saturated sample technique. Analysis of the data used is descriptive analysis and statistical analysis (simple correlation or Pearson product moment and multiple correlation). The results showed a significant relationship (p < 0.05) between the cosmopolitan level and the attitude of goat breeders with a correlation coefficient (ryx1) of 0.395 (positive), indicating a significant relationship (p < 0.05) between the characteristics of innovation and the attitudes of cattle farmers. cut on the treatment of traumatic wounds using an iodine plant extract ointment and the correlation coefficient (ryx2)= 0.355 (positive). Taken together, there was also a significant relationship (p < 0.05) between the level of cosmopolitan and innovation characteristics with the attitude of beef cattle farmers on the treatment of traumatic wounds using plant extract ointment (Ryx1x2) of 0.473 (positive). This study can be concluded that there is a relationship between the level of cosmopolitan and innovation characteristics with the attitude of beef cattle farmers in the treatment of traumatic wounds using plant extract ointment.

The purpose of research is finding out the influence of internal factors and external members on the sustainability of livestock fattening beef cattle breeding business in Central Java jepara regency.This research was conducted in February until Juni 2017 in Jepara regency. The used of research method is survey. The research material is breeder as respondent wit the total of 250 people who are taken fromtaken from 3 districts and villages stratified random sampling based on the number of cattle fire pieces in the most district, medium and at least.The equipment used here is a questionnaire (questionnaire). The data analysis used here is regression followed by path analysis.The independent variables in this research are internal factors and external factors of members. The internal factors of the members consist of: members motivation (X1), membersknowledge (X2), members attitude (X3) and external factors of members consisting of: information exposure (X4), the role of instructorrole (X5), livestock performance (X6). The dependent variable is member sustainability (Y1). The results showed that simultaneously and partially the members motivation, members knowledge, members attitude, the instructorrole and livestock performance affect significantly on the groupssustainability variable.

Abstract. The complex balance between innovation and conservation regarding animal genetic resources makes it difficult to find mutually accepted improvement pathways between breeders, government agencies, and research and education institutions. This study maps stakeholder viewpoints on cattle genetic improvement in Niger using the Q method. Fifty-three statements derived from expert opinions and focus group interviews were ranked by 22 respondents along a seven-grade scale expressing their degree of approval. The Q method reveals a limited consensus on development goals, overall strategy, and the present context of operation. Beyond this consensus, three discourses are identified that express distinct attitudes regarding the balance between conservation and progress, leading to distinct strategies. The first discourse fits with a modernist vision and government strategies established in the 2000s based on exotic crossbreeding and improved purebred Azawak. The second discourse lines up with the previous livestock development strategy of Niger (before 2000) based on indigenous breeds. The third discourse represents a conservationist vision, with minor importance in the present sampling. Tentative observations are proposed on the consequences of this divide in opinions on livestock policies in Niger, including extension. The Q method appears effective in identifying the concerns of stakeholders on complex agricultural innovation topics. As a sensing tool to follow-up policy implementation in similarly complex agricultural topics, the Q method may inform adaptive extension and education strategies.

RELATIONSHIP OF THE AUTHOR CHARACTERISTICS WITH THE SUCCESS OF DEVELOPMENT OF COW LIVESTOCK BUSINESS IN TONDEGESAN, TONDEGESAN ONE, AND TONDEGESAN TWO VILLAGE. Theaim of this studi was to evaluate the characteristics of extension agents from the aspects of knowledge, skills, motivation, attitude, distance of residence and extension facilities in developing PO cattle breeders in Tondegesan Village, Tondegesan Village One and Two Kawangkoan District. The study was designed as a survey to 100 farmers as respondents. The results of the study showed (1) Characteristics of Extension Workers classified as good for developing of PO beef cattle business indicated from knowledge, skills, motivation, attitude of farmers, distance of residence and extension facilities, (2) Relatively good things from extension agents in their roles as an instructor isprovided material extension considered on farmers needed, and the ability of the instructor in explaining the material. The results of the analysis show that the value of x2count = 26.586, which is greater than the value of x2table which is 9,488.Thus, we conclude that there is a significant correlation between the characteristics of extension agents and the successful development of PO beef cKeywords: Characteristics, extension agents, successattle business.

Seedstock breeders’ perspectives on topics associated with maternal productivity in beef cattle were investigated through the use of qualitative in-depth semi-structured interviews. Given the complexity of maternal productivity, it is possible that some issues may not be fully captured by recording performance and data analysis. This paper discusses theory emerging from content analysis of interview data on management and genetic factors affecting maternal productivity as detailed by seedstock breeders in southern Australia. Overall, 24 interviews were conducted as part of an intensive field-work component with seedstock breeders involved with the Cooperative Research Centre for Beef Genetic Technologies’ Maternal Productivity Project. Qualitative content analysis of interview data revealed a considerable divergence in attitudes to cow management with regards to grazing management, body condition fluctuation and the utilisation of body fat reserves. Specifically, production systems diverged on the basis of animal management characterised by either ‘controlled’ or ‘variable input’ feeding strategies. Variation in management approach was associated with different perspectives on the perceived importance of selecting for production traits including growth, beef yield and milk compared with selection for perceived resilience traits including increased subcutaneous fat. The results demonstrated that among seedstock breeders targeting similar end markets, substantial variation in animal selection and management exists and this requires further characterisation to ensure breeding programs and animal management are optimal.

The paper is initiated to design appropriate conservation strategies and breeding scheme for Fogera cattle breed that will be used as a guide for other Ethiopian indigenous cattle breed. Two types of data, on-farm and on-station, were used; the on-farm data was collected from three districts, namely, Fogera, Dera, and Bahir Dar Zuria; those are expected as the home of the breed. A total of 150 farmers, which are knowledgeable and having at least one cattle of Fogera phenotype in their herd, were purposively selected and interviewed. Additionally, farmer’s focus group discussion (FGD) was conducted to capture the historical background, population, and distribution of the breed. SPSS (version 16) and index method was used to analyze the quantitative and scoring data’s, respectively. A meeting at national and regional level was also conducted to evaluate the existing conservation strategy and to identify the major stakeholders for the strategy. The main reasons to conserve Fogera breed are due to presence of interrelated constraints, presence of unique traits of the breed, better attitude of farmers, and decreasing population trend of the breed. Community-based in situ conservation strategy, to ensure the participation of the community, was designed for the breed. With the conservation strategy, related activities like feed development, animal health interventions, market linkage, and development of cooperatives will be implemented to improve the working environment. The stakeholders that are identified as an actor in the strategy should realize their honest participation for the sustainability of conservation and improvement of the breed.

Tujuan diseminasi teknologi pembuatan haylage plus melalui kegiatan pengabdian kepada masyarakat ini adalah untuk meningkatkan pengetahuan, keterampilan dan merubah sikap anggota kelompok tani agar mampu mengolah dan menyimpan bahan pakan ternak yang melimpah pada musim hujan (panen) sebagai solusi untuk mengatasi kesulitan penyediaan pakan sapi potong yang terbatas pada musim kemarau. Metode diseminasi yang digunakan untuk memecahkan masalah tersebut adalah kombinasi metode penyuluhan tatap muka langsung sesuai dengan protokol kesehatan Covid-19 dengan gelar teknologi (showcase technology). Berdasarkan hasil kajian ini sebanyak 28,69% anggota kelompok tani yang pernah mendengar teknologi pembuatan haylage plus dari jerami padi dan hanya 13,79% yang sudah mengikuti pelatihan pembuatan haylage. Berdasarkan hasil kegitan, dapat disimpulkan bahwa tingkat pengetahuan, keterampilan dan sikap anggota kelompok tani terhadap teknologi pembuatan haylage plus masih rendah, sehingga masih perlu ditingkatkan dalam rangka peningkatan kapasitas petani-peternak. Dissemination of Haylage Plus Production Technology to Overcome Difficulties in Feeding Beef Cattle in the Dry Season Abstract The purpose of disseminating the technology for making haylage plus through community service activities is to increase knowledge, skills and change the attitude of farmer group members so that they are able to process and store abundant animal feed ingredients during the rainy season (harvesting) as a solution to overcome difficulties in providing beef cattle feed. limited to the dry season. The dissemination method used to solve this problem is a combination of face-to-face counseling methods in accordance with the Covid-19 health protocol with a technology title (showcase technology). Based on the results of this study, 28.69% of farmer group members had heard of the technology of making haylage plus from rice straw and only 13.79% had attended training on making haylage. Based on the results of the activity, it can be concluded that the level of knowledge, skills and attitudes of farmer group members towards the technology of making haylage plus is still low, so it still needs to be improved in order to increase the capacity of farmers and breeders.

Public attitudes towards cows and cow shelters in India need to be assessed in the contemporary context, as India is facing an overpopulation of street cows, leading to traffic hazards, public health issues, and pollution. We investigated the attitudes of the general public in India towards cow welfare in general and cow shelters (gaushalas) in particular. Eight hundred and twenty-five members of the public, residing in the vicinity of 54 cow shelters, were interviewed for this purpose. Their perception of animal welfare centred on animal care, cows as goddesses and mothers, and doing things properly. More than half visited a shelter daily for religious reasons. Most believed that cow shelters were the best way to manage the stray cow population and felt a community responsibility towards all breeds of cows for animal welfare reasons. Space availability for the cows was the key welfare issue voiced. Older people were more likely to identify animal welfare and culture as the main reason for sheltering cows. Better educated, wealthier, and more religious people visited the shelters most, rating religion and breeding higher as the shelter’s main purpose. Males favoured indigenous cow breeds more than females. Village respondents were more likely to consider the facilities adequate compared with country town and urban respondents. In contrast to married respondents, single people were more likely to say that they visited for leisure rather than for religious purposes. The survey indicated that the Indian community was generally supportive of cow sheltering and that visits to the shelters helped them to know that unwanted cattle were being well cared for.

The main thing needed in the implementation of the cattle business insurance program (AUTS) to run effectively and achieve its goals is the presence of professional field officers. The professionalism of field officers is closely related to the level of their performance. One of the problems occurring in implementing the field program is the low performance of the field officers. Therefore, this research was conducted to measure the performance level of the AUTS field officers by survey research. The research was conducted in Getasan District, Semarang Regency. The research location was selected with the consideration that this location is the centre of dairy cattle in Semarang Regency and has implemented the AUTS program. The technique of determining the respondents used was purposive sampling with the number of respondents who were taken as many as 56 breeders. Respondents were selected based on dairy farmers who have doing insurance claims. This study uses descriptive analysis and ranks Spearman correlation analysis. Overall, the results of the study indicate that the performance of the field officers is in a good category. This condition is supported by good knowledge, skills, and attitudes shown by field officers in carrying out the AUTS program. Based on the results of Spearman rank analysis showed that variables of knowledge and attitude have a highly strong correlation with the value of Rs respectively 0.84 and 0.73. The skill variable has a relatively weak correlation with the value of Rs 0.70. In addition, variables of knowledge, skills, and attitudes have a positive relationship and statistically significant. Hal utama yang dibutuhkan dalam pelaksanaan program asuransi usaha ternak sapi (AUTS) supaya berjalan efektif dan tercapainya tujuan diperlukan keberdaan dari petugas lapang yang professional. Profesionalitas petugas lapang erat kaitannya dengan tingkat kinerja. Permasalahan yang terjadi dalam pelaksanaan program dilapangan salah satunya disebabkan oleh rendahnya kinerja dari petugas lapang. Oleh karena itu, penelitian ini dillakukan bertujuan untuk mengukur tingkat kinerja petugas lapang AUTS. Penelitian ini adalah penelitian survei. Penelitian dilakukan di Kecamatan Getasan, Kabupaten Semarang. Lokasi penelitian dipilih dengan pertimbangan bahwa lokasi ini merupakan sentra sapi perah di Kabupaten Semarang dan telah menjalankan program AUTS. Teknik penentuan responden yang digunakan yaitu purposive sampling dengan jumlah responden yang di ambil sebanyak 56 peternak. Responden dipilih berdasarkan peternak yang sudah pernah melakukan klaim asuransi ternak. Penelitian ini menggunakan analisis diskriptif dan analisis korelasi rank spearman. Secara kesuluruhan hasil penelitian menunjukkan bahwa kinerja petugas lapang berada pada kategori baik. Kondisi ini didukung dengan pengetahuan, ketrampilan dan sikap petugas yang baik dalam menjalankan program AUTS. Dari analisis rank spearman didapatkan hasil variabel pengetahuan dan sikap memliki hubungan yang sangat kuat dengan nilai Rs masing-masing 0,84 dan 0,73. Sedangkan variabel ketrampilan pertugas lapang tergolong dalam katogori kuat dengan nilai Rs 0.70. Selain itu variabel pengetahuan, ketrampilan dan sikap memliki arah hubungan yang positif, signifikan dan nyata.

Kegiatan penyuluhan secara tidak langsung merupakan bagian dari upaya untuk mendukung pembangunan peternakan, melalui transfer ilmu dan teknologi diharapkan terjadi adopsi inovasi sehingga terjadi perubahan perilaku pada peternak, baik itu perubahan pengetahuan (koqnitif), perubahan sikap (afektif) maupun perubahan keterampilan (pisikomotor). Ilmu dan teknologi yang ditawarkan dalam kegiatan penyuluhan ini adalah penguatan kelembagaan, motivasi usaha, reproduksi ternak, pemanfaatan limbah pertanian kakao sebagai pakan ternak dan pemanfaatan limbah kotoran ternak. Metoda yang digunakan dalam kegiatan pengabdian ini adalah metode Penyuluhan melalui pendekatan ceramah/pidato, kunjungan rumah dan usahatani serta pendekatan demonstrasi, setelah dilakukan penyuluhan dilakukan pembinaan dan evaluasi terhadap kegiatan yang sudah dilakukan. Kegiatan ini diharapkan dapat meningkatkan motivasi peternak, meningkatkan pengetahuan (koqnitif) dan keterampilan peternak (psykomotorik) dalam menerapkan suatu inovasi serta peternak mau dan mampu menerapkan inovasi (afektif) yang ditawarkan oleh oleh narasumber, sehingga pada gilirannya usaha peternakan sapi yang digeluti oleh peternak mampu meningkatkan pendapatan sehingga mampu memperbaiki perekonomian rumah tangga peternak. Pelaksanaan kegiatan ini menghasilakn beberapa perubahan pada peternak sasaran, seperti muncul keinginan untuk membuat kelompok baru dan mendaftarkan kelompok tersebut pada instansi terkait untuk mendapatkan legalitas keberadaan kelompok. Peternak sasaran kegiatan mengalami peningkatan pengetahuan terutama tentang tanda tanda birahi pada ternak sapi, pemanfaatan limbah pertanian kakao sebagai pakan ternak serta pengetahuan tentang pemanfaatan limbah kotoran ternak untuk dijadikan suatu produk yang bernilai ekonomi.Kata Kunci: Penyuluhan, Inovasi, Perubahan Perilaku, Peternak sapi ENHANCING PRODUCTIVITY OF CATCHERS IN THE AREA OF TRANSMIGRATION OF LUBUK AUR SITIUNG I DISTRICT DHARMASRAYAABSTRACT: Indirect counseling activities are part of efforts to support livestock development, through the transfer of science and technology is expected to occur the adoption of innovation so that there is a change of behavior in the breeders, whether it changes knowledge (koqnitif), attitude changes (affective) and skills changes (psykomotorik). The science and technology offered in this extension activity is institutional strengthening, business motivation, livestock reproduction, utilization of cocoa farm waste as animal feed and utilization of cattle dung waste. The method used in this devotional activity is the method of counseling through the approach of lectures / speeches, home visits and farming and demonstration approaches, after the counseling done coaching and evaluation of activities that have been done. This activity is expected to increase the motivation of farmers, improve the knowledge (koqnitif) and skills of farmers (psykomotorik) in applying an innovation and breeders willing and able to apply innovation (affective) offered by the speakers, so in turn cattle breeding business that is cultivated by farmers are able Increase the income so as to improve the household economy of farmers. The implementation of these activities resulted in some changes to the target farmers, such as the desire to create new groups and register the group with relevant agencies to obtain the legality of group existence. Target farmers experience increased knowledge, especially about the signs of lust in cattle, the use of agricultural waste cocoa as animal feed and knowledge of the use of cattle manure waste to be a product of economic value.Keywords: Counseling, Innovation, Behavior Change, Cattle ranchers

Artificial insemination (AI) is one of the appropriate techniques in increasing cattle productivity and to improve cow genetics. However, not all people are interested in implementing IB Technology. This study aims to explain how to increase the interest of the breeder community to apply artificial insemination technology. This study uses a descriptive quantitative approach. The total sample of 33 respondents was taken by purposive sampling, namely farmers who have at least one calf produced by means of artificial insemination (IB) technology. The analysis used for knowledge and interest variables is descriptive analysis, regression analysis, and T-Test. From the research results obtained knowledge and interest are very influential in improving the application of artificial insemination (IB) technology. The contribution of increasing each variable is knowledge by 24.4% and interest by 48.8%. From these results, it can be concluded that the interest and knowledge of the farming community about artificial insemination technology is very influential or significant based on the results of the T-Test which shows that the substantial value in the attitude of farmers is (0.000) < (0.05). With the implementation of artificial insemination technology carried out by farmers, the community is expected to be able to increase the productivity and quality of their livestock genetic products Keywords: Breeding Community; Interest; Knowledge; Artificial Insemination Technology

THE ROLE OF EXTENSIONISTS TO THE DECISION OF FARMERS IN THE ADOPTION OF TECHNOLOGICAL INNOVATION FARMS IN SANGKUB SUB-DISTRICT, NORTH BOLAANG MONGONDOW DISTRICT.Extension activities is one of the goverment’s efforts that have an important role in improving knowledge, skills and attitude to livestock. Extension workers have an important role in the development of livestock breeding and improvement of livestock technology adoption process to farmers. The purpose of this study was to examine the role of extension workers in decision making farmers in the adoption of technological innovation farms in District of Sangkub North of Bolaang Mongondow regency. This research was done by survey method. Three villages was selected using purposive method. Thirty respondents then selected from breeder groups, which is done randomly. Data collection was done by interview, observation and documentation. The sources of data taken include primary data in the form of respondent identity, the number of livestock kept, the technology applied and the role of extension workers. Secondary data obtained from agriculture office of north Bolaang Mongondow regency, agricultural and forestry extension agency (BP3K) of Sangkub sub-district and central bureau of statistics Bolaang Mongondow. Data were analyzed by using scoring method and descriptive analysis. Result of the research indicate that the tendency of farmer appraisal to agriculture extension role as motivator, dynamic and facilitator in district of Sangkub Regency of North Bolaang Mongondow was optimal The results showed that the process of adoption of cattle ranchers in Sangkub sub-district North of Bolaang Mongondow regency is varied from respondents who do not know about farming technology, have tried and already apply. And the role of extensionists have and influence on the dicision of farmers in the adoption of farm technology innovation in Sangkub sub-district.Keywords : The role of extensionists, Adoption process, Decision – making

Indigenous breeds of cattle play a significant role in the livelihood of resource poor farmers in rural areas of India. Nattukuttai cattle are short and stout cattle reared under zero input system in North Eastern agro-climatic zone of Tamil Nadu. A qualitative tool consisting of four projective techniques, viz. Sentence completion test, Verbal projection test, Story completion test and Thematic Apperception Test (TAT) to measure the attitude of the farmers towards the conservation of Nattukuttai cattle was developed and standardized as per the standard protocol. The study was carried out for a period of one year 2021-22 in the selected districts of North Eastern agro-climatic zone of Tamil Nadu. Nearly two third of the respondents had favourable to most favourable attitude towards the conservation of Nattukuttai cattle breed. This study discusses the methodology of developing projective tools and their importance in measuring the attitude of farmers towards conservation of Nattukuttai cattle.

The research was at determining the knowledge, attitudes, and actions of farmers on the Qanun number 3 of 2016 regarding the control of productive cows and buffaloes to avoid slaughtering productive cows and buffaloes so that livestock populations are maintained. This research was conducted using a survey method for three months starting from May 2021 to July 2021. Breeders were selected using the purposive sampling method and interviews were conducted by filling out a validated questionnaire. The data analysis method used was descriptive qualitative analysis using a structured questionnaire to 110 farmer respondents with the criteria of having 2 years of experience in raising cattle, and raising female cows. The livestock population has increased since Qanun Number 3 was issued in 2016. The results of this study indicate that the level of knowledge of farmers is in a good category (72.5%), attitude is a very good category (83.2%) and action is good category (72.5%).

The Provincial Government of Bali continues to encourage community farmers to form livestock groups, especially cows through the Integrated Agricultural System (“Simantri”) program since 2009/2010 which is now known as the Integrated Agricultural System (Sipadu). In addition to the program, livestock groups are also formed independently by breeders spread across Bali, one of which is the “Bhakti Pertiwi” livestock group in Belimbing Village, Pupuan-Tabanan which was only formed in 2021. Assistance in empowering its resources is the management of raising cattle and strategies for providing the animal feed. The problem faced by groups and group members is the lack of knowledge in livestock management, especially in the provision of animal feed. Farmers do not yet know which feed ingredients (grass and nuts) are good to give to livestock. As an agricultural area for rice fields and plantations, it produces a lot of agricultural waste in the form of rice straw and plantation waste in the form of coffee husks which still have potential as animal feed. Therefore, in this PKM, besides being given counseling on cattle rearing management, training is also given on the use of several types of agricultural waste as animal feed ingredients through the fermentation process. The result of this activity is that there has been a change in the behavior of group members, namely a change in knowledge about the types of feed ingredients that are good for the livestock. In changing the skills of farmers through the direct practice of how to make fermented feed, it is hoped that it can encourage farmers to utilize agricultural waste, especially rice straw as feed ingredients that can be stored. Therefore, the next group assistance activity is to monitor changes in farmers' attitudes towards the material that has been given.

Knowledge of the genetic architecture of key growth and beef traits in livestock species has greatly improved worldwide thanks to genome-wide association studies (GWAS), which allow to link target phenotypes to Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms (SNPs) across the genome. Local dual-purpose breeds have rarely been the focus of such studies; recently, however, their value as a possible alternative to intensively farmed breeds has become clear, especially for their greater adaptability to environmental change and potential for survival in less productive areas. We performed single-step GWAS and post-GWAS analysis for body weight (BW), average daily gain (ADG), carcass fleshiness (CF) and dressing percentage (DP) in 1,690 individuals of local alpine cattle breed, Rendena. This breed is typical of alpine pastures, with a marked dual-purpose attitude and good genetic diversity. Moreover, we considered two of the target phenotypes (BW and ADG) at different times in the individuals’ life, a potentially important aspect in the study of the traits’ genetic architecture. We identified 8 significant and 47 suggestively associated SNPs, located in 14 autosomal chromosomes (BTA). Among the strongest signals, 3 significant and 16 suggestive SNPs were associated with ADG and were located on BTA10 (50–60 Mb), while the hotspot associated with CF and DP was on BTA18 (55–62 MB). Among the significant SNPs some were mapped within genes, such as SLC12A1, CGNL1, PRTG (ADG), LOC513941 (CF), NLRP2 (CF and DP), CDC155 (DP). Pathway analysis showed great diversity in the biological pathways linked to the different traits; several were associated with neurogenesis and synaptic transmission, but actin-related and transmembrane transport pathways were also represented. Time-stratification highlighted how the genetic architectures of the same traits were markedly different between different ages. The results from our GWAS of beef traits in Rendena led to the detection of a variety of genes both well-known and novel. We argue that our results show that expanding genomic research to local breeds can reveal hitherto undetected genetic architectures in livestock worldwide. This could greatly help efforts to map genomic complexity of the traits of interest and to make appropriate breeding decisions.

Historians have often been compared with detectives; searching for clues as evidence of a mystery they are seeking to solve. I would prefer an association with food, making history like a trained cook who blends particular ingredients, some fresh, some traditional, using specific methods to create an object that is consumed. There are primary sources, fresh and raw ingredients that you often have to go to great lengths to procure, and secondary sources, prepared initially by someone else. The same recipe may yield different meals, the same meal may provoke different responses. On a continuum of approaches to history and food, there are those who approach both as a scientific endeavour and, at the other end of the spectrum, those who make history and food as art. Brought together, it is possible to see cookbooks as history in at least two important ways; they give meaning to the past by representing culinary heritage and they are in themselves sources of history as documents and blueprints for experiences that can be interpreted to represent the past. Many people read cookbooks and histories with no intention of preparing the meal or becoming a historian. I do a little of both. I enjoy reading history and cookbooks for pleasure but, as a historian, I also read them interchangeably; histories to understand cookbooks and cookbooks to find out more about the past. History and the past are different of course, despite their use in the English language. It is not possible to relive the past, we can only interpret it through the traces that remain. Even if a reader had an exact recipe and an antique stove, vegetables grown from heritage seeds in similar conditions, eggs and grains from the same region and employed the techniques his or her grandparents used, they could not replicate their experience of a meal. Undertaking those activities though would give a reader a sense of that experience. Active examination of the past is possible through the processes of research and writing, but it will always be an interpretation and not a reproduction of the past itself. Nevertheless, like other histories, cookbooks can convey a sense of what was important in a culture, and what contemporaries might draw on that can resonate a cultural past and make the food palatable. The way people eat relates to how they apply ideas and influences to the material resources and knowledge they have. Used in this way, cookbooks provide a rich and valuable way to look at the past. Histories, like cookbooks, are written in the present, inspired and conditioned by contemporary issues and attitudes and values. Major shifts in interpretation or new directions in historical studies have more often arisen from changes in political or theoretical preoccupations, generated by contemporary social events, rather than the recovery of new information. Likewise, the introduction of new ingredients or methods rely on contemporary acceptance, as well as familiarity. How particular versions of history and new recipes promote both the past and present is the concern of this paper. My focus below will be on the nineteenth century, although a much larger study would reveal the circumstances that separated that period from the changes that followed. Until the late nineteenth century Australians largely relied on cookbooks that were brought with them from England and on their own private recipe collection, and that influenced to a large extent the sort of food that they ate, although of course they had to improvise by supplementing with local ingredients. In the first book of recipes that was published in Australia, The English and Australian Cookery Book that appeared in 1864, Edward Abbott evoked the ‘roast beef of old England Oh’ (Bannerman, Dictionary). The use of such a potent symbol of English identity in the nineteenth century may seem inevitable, and colonists who could afford them tended to use their English cookbooks and the ingredients for many years, even after Abbott’s publication. New ingredients, however, were often adapted to fit in with familiar culinary expectations in the new setting. Abbott often drew on native and exotic ingredients to produce very familiar dishes that used English methods and principles: things like kangaroo stuffed with beef suet, breadcrumbs, parsley, shallots, marjoram, thyme, nutmeg, pepper, salt, cayenne, and egg. It was not until the 1890s that a much larger body of Australian cookbooks became available, but by this time the food supply was widely held to be secure and abundant and the cultivation of exotic foods in Australia like wheat and sheep and cattle had established a long and familiar food supply for English colonists. Abbott’s cookbook provides a record of the culinary heritage settlers brought with them to Australia and the contemporary circumstances they had to adapt to. Mrs Beeton’s Cookery Book and Household Guide is an example of the popularity of British cookbooks in Australia. Beeton’s Kangaroo Tail Curry was included in the Australian cooking section of her household management (2860). In terms of structure it is important for historians as one of the first times, because Beeton started writing in the 1860s, that ingredients were clearly distinguished from the method. This actually still presents considerable problems for publishers. There is debate about whether that should necessarily be the case, because it takes up so much space on the page. Kangaroo Tail CurryIngredients:1 tail2 oz. Butter1 tablespoon of flour1 tablespoon of curry2 onions sliced1 sour apple cut into dice1 desert spoon of lemon juice3/4 pint of stocksaltMethod:Wash, blanch and dry the tail thoroughly and divide it at the joints. Fry the tail in hot butter, take it up, put it in the sliced onions, and fry them for 3 or 4 minutes without browning. Sprinkle in the flour and curry powder, and cook gently for at least 20 minutes, stirring frequently. Add the stock, apple, salt to taste, bring to the boil, stirring meanwhile, and replace the tail in the stew pan. Cover closely, and cook gently until tender, then add the lemon juice and more seasoning if necessary. Arrange the pieces of tail on a hot dish, strain the sauce over, and serve with boiled rice.Time: 2-3 hoursSufficient for 1 large dish. Although the steps are not clearly distinguished from each other the method is more systematic than earlier recipes. Within the one sentence, however, there are still two or three different sorts of tasks. The recipe also requires to some extent a degree of discretion, knowledge and experience of cooking. Beeton suggests adding things to taste, cooking something until it is tender, so experience or knowledge is necessary to fulfil the recipe. The meal also takes between two and three hours, which would be quite prohibitive for a lot of contemporary cooks. New recipes, like those produced in Delicious have recipes that you can do in ten minutes or half an hour. Historically, that is a new development that reveals a lot about contemporary conditions. By 1900, Australian interest in native food had pretty much dissolved from the record of cookbooks, although this would remain a feature of books for the English public who did not need to distinguish themselves from Indigenous people. Mrs Beeton’s Cookery Book and Household Guide gave a selection of Australian recipes but they were primarily for the British public rather than the assumption that they were being cooked in Australia: kangaroo tail soup was cooked in the same way as ox tail soup; roast wallaby was compared to hare. The ingredients were wallaby, veal, milk and butter; and parrot pie was said to be not unlike one made of pigeons. The novelty value of such ingredients may have been of interest, rather than their practical use. However, they are all prepared in ways that would make them fairly familiar to European tastes. Introducing something new with the same sorts of ingredients could therefore proliferate the spread of other foods. The means by which ingredients were introduced to different regions reflects cultural exchanges, historical processes and the local environment. The adaptation of recipes to incorporate local ingredients likewise provides information about local traditions and contemporary conditions. Starting to see those ingredients as a two-way movement between looking at what might have been familiar to people and what might have been something that they had to do make do with because of what was necessarily available to them at that time tells us about their past as well as the times they are living in. Differences in the level of practical cooking knowledge also have a vital role to play in cookbook literature. Colin Bannerman has suggested that the shortage of domestic labour in Australia an important factor in supporting the growth of the cookbook industry in the late nineteenth century. The poor quality of Australian cooking was also an occasional theme in the press during the same time. The message was generally the same: bad food affected Australians’ physical, domestic, social and moral well-being and impeded progress towards civilisation and higher culture. The idea was really that Australians had to learn how to cook. Colin Bannerman (Acquired Tastes 19) explains the rise of domestic science in Australia as a product of growing interest in Australian cultural development and the curse of bad cookery, which encouraged support for teaching girls and women how to cook. Domestic Economy was integrated into the Victorian and New South Wales curriculum by the end of the nineteenth century. Australian women have faced constant criticism of their cooking skills but the decision to teach cooking shouldn’t necessarily be used to support that judgement. Placed in a broader framework is possible to see the support for a modern, scientific approach to food preparation as part of both the elevation of science and systematic knowledge in society more generally, and a transnational movement to raise the status of women’s role in society. It would also be misleading not to consider the transnational context. Australia’s first cookery teachers were from Britain. The domestic-science movement there can be traced to the congress on domestic economy held in Manchester in 1878, at roughly the same time as the movement was gaining strength in Australia. By the 1890s domestic economy was widely taught in both British and Australian schools, without British women facing the same denigration of their cooking skills. Other comparisons with Britain also resulted from Australia’s colonial heritage. People often commented on the quality of the ingredients in Australia and said they were more widely available than they were in England but much poorer in quality. Cookbooks emerged as a way of teaching people. Among the first to teach cookery skills was Mina Rawson, author of The Antipodean Cookery Book and the Kitchen Companion first published in 1885. The book was a compilation of her own recipes and remedies, and it organised and simplified food preparation for the ordinary housewife. But the book also included directions and guidance on things like household tasks and how to cure diseases. Cookbooks therefore were not completely distinct from other aspects of everyday life. They offered much more than culinary advice on how to cook a particular meal and can similarly be used by historians to comment on more than food. Mrs Rawson also knew that people had to make do. She included a lot of bush foods that you still do not get in a lot of Australian meals, ingredients that people could substitute for the English ones they were used to like pig weed. By the end of the nineteenth century cooking had become a recognised classroom subject, providing early training in domestic service, and textbooks teaching Australians how to cook also flourished. Measurements became much more uniform, the layout of cookbooks became more standardised and the procedure was clearly spelled out. This allowed companies to be able to sell their foods because it also meant that you could duplicate the recipes and they could potentially taste the same. It made cookbooks easier to use. The audience for these cookbooks were mostly young women directed to cooking as a way of encouraging social harmony. Cooking was elevated in lots of ways at this stage as a social responsibility. Cookbooks can also be seen as a representation of domestic life, and historically this prescribed the activities of men and women as being distinct The dominance of women in cookbooks in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries attested to the strength of that idea of separate spheres. The consequences of this though has been debated by historians: whether having that particular kind of market and the identification that women were making with each other also provided a forum for women’s voices and so became quite significant in women’s politics at a later date. Cookbooks have been a strategic marketing device for products and appliances. By the beginning of the twentieth century food companies began to print recipes on their packets and to release their own cookbooks to promote their products. Davis Gelatine produced its first free booklet in 1904 and other companies followed suit (1937). The largest gelatine factory was in New South Wales and according to Davis: ‘It bathed in sunshine and freshened with the light breezes of Botany all year round.’ These were the first lavishly illustrated Australian cookbooks. Such books were an attempt to promote new foods and also to sell local foods, many of which were overproduced – such as milk, and dried fruits – which provides insights into the supply chain. Cookbooks in some ways reflected the changing tastes of the public, their ideas, what they were doing and their own lifestyle. But they also helped to promote some of those sorts of changes too. Explaining the reason for cooking, Isabella Beeton put forward an historical account of the shift towards increasing enjoyment of it. She wrote: "In the past, only to live has been the greatest object of mankind, but by and by comforts are multiplied and accumulating riches create new wants. The object then is to not only live but to live economically, agreeably, tastefully and well. Accordingly the art of cookery commences and although the fruits of the earth, the fowls of the air, the beasts of the field and the fish of the sea are still the only food of mankind, yet these are so prepared, improved and dressed by skill and ingenuity that they are the means of immeasurably extending the boundaries of human enjoyment. Everything that is edible and passes under the hands of cooks is more or less changed and assumes new forms, hence the influence of that functionary is immense upon the happiness of the household" (1249). Beeton anticipates a growing trend not just towards cooking and eating but an interest in what sustains cooking as a form of recreation. The history of cookbook publishing provides a glimpse into some of those things. The points that I have raised provide a means for historians to use cookbooks. Cookbooks can be considered in terms of what was eaten, by whom and how: who prepared the food, so to whom the books were actually directed? Clever books like Isabella Beeton’s were directed at both domestic servants and at wives, which gave them quite a big market. There are also changes in the inclusion of themes. Economy and frugality becomes quite significant, as do organisation and management at different times. Changes in the extent of detail, changes in authorship, whether it is women, men, doctors, health professionals, home economists and so on all reflect contemporary concerns. Many books had particular purposes as well, used to fund raise or promote a particular perspective, relate food reform and civic life which gives them a political agenda. Promotional literature produced by food and kitchen equipment companies were a form of advertising and quite significant to the history of cookbook publishing in Australia. Other themes include the influence of cookery school and home economics movements; advice on etiquette and entertaining; the influence of immigration and travel; the creation of culinary stars and authors of which we are all fairly familiar. Further themes include changes in ingredients, changes in advice about health and domestic medicine, and the impact of changes in social consciousness. It is necessary to place those changes in a more general historical context, but for a long time cookbooks have been ignored as a source of information in their own right about the period in which they were published and the kinds of social and political changes that we can see coming through. More than this active process of cooking with the books as well becomes a way of imagining the past in quite different ways than historians are often used to. Cookbooks are not just sources for historians, they are histories in themselves. The privileging of written and visual texts in postcolonial studies has meant other senses, taste and smell, are frequently neglected; and yet the cooking from historical cookbooks can provide an embodied, sensorial image of the past. From nineteenth century cookbooks it is possible to see that British foods were central to the colonial identity project in Australia, but the fact that “British” culinary culture was locally produced, challenges the idea of an “authentic” British cuisine which the colonies tried to replicate. By the time Abbot was advocating rabbit curry as an Australian family meal, back “at home” in England, it was not authentic Indian food but the British invention of curry power that was being incorporated into English cuisine culture. More than cooks, cookbook authors told a narrative that forged connections and disconnections with the past. They reflected the contemporary period and resonated with the culinary heritage of their readers. Cookbooks make history in multiple ways; by producing change, as the raw materials for making history and as historical narratives. References Abbott, Edward. The English and Australian Cookery Book: Cookery for the Many, as well as the Upper Ten Thousand. London: Sampson Low, Son & Marston, 1864. Bannerman, Colin. Acquired Tastes: Celebrating Australia’s Culinary History. Canberra: National Library of Australia, 1998. Bannerman, Colin. "Abbott, Edward (1801–1869)." Australian Dictionary of Biography. National Centre of Biography, Australian National University. 21 May 2013. . Beeton, Isabella. Mrs Beeton’s Book of Household Management. New Ed. London and Melbourne: Ward, Lock and Co. Ltd., n.d. (c. 1909). Davis Gelatine. Davis Dainty Dishes. Rev ed. Sydney: Davis Gelatine Organization, 1937. Rawson, Lance Mrs. The Antipodean Cookery Book and Kitchen Companion. Melbourne: George Robertson & Co., 1897.