Predicted changes in distribution and grazing value of Stipa-based plant communities across the Eurasian steppe.

The Eurasian steppe is one of the world's largest continuous areas of grassland and has an important role in supporting livestock grazing, the most ubiquitous land use on Earth. However, the Eurasian steppe is under threat, from irrational grazing utilization, climate change, and resource exploitation. We used an ensemble modeling approach to predict the current and future distribution of Stipa-dominated plant communities in three important steppe subregions; the Tibetan Alpine, Central Asian, and Black Sea-Kazakhstan subregions. We combined this with an assessment of the grazing value of 22 Stipa species, the dominant grassland species in the area, to predict how grazing value might change under future climate change predictions. We found that the effects of changing climates on grazing values differed across the three subregions. Grazing values increased in the Tibetan alpine steppe and to a lesser extent in Central Asia, but there were few changes in the Black Sea-Kazakhstan subregion. The response of different species to changing climates varied with environmental variables. Finally, our trait-based assessment of Stipa species revealed variations in grazing value, and this had major effects on the overall grazing value of the region. Our results reinforce the importance of trait-based characteristics of steppe plant species, how these traits affect grazing value, and how grazing values will change across different areas of the Eurasian steppe. Our work provides valuable insights into how different species will respond to changing climates and grazing, with important implications for sustainable management of different areas of the vast Eurasian steppe ecosystem.

Developmental programming of the ovarian reserve in livestock.

Mammalian females are born with a finite number of follicles in their ovaries that is referred to as the ovarian reserve. There is a large amount of variation between females in the number of antral follicles that they are born with, but this number is positively correlated to size of the ovarian reserve, has a strong repeatability within a female, and a moderate heritability. Although the heritability is moderate, numerous external factors including health, nutrition, ambient temperature, and litter size influence the size and function of the ovarian reserve throughout life. Depletion of the ovarian reserve contributes to reproductive senescence, and genetic and epigenetic factors can lead to a more rapid decline in follicle numbers in some females than others. The relationship of the size of the ovarian reserve to development of the reproductive tract and fertility is generally positive, although some studies report antagonistic associations of these traits. It seems likely that management decisions and environmental factors that result in epigenetic modifications to the genome throughout life may cause variability in the function of ovarian genes that influence fecundity and fertility, leading to differences in reproductive longevity among females born with ovarian reserves of similar size. This review summarizes our current understanding of factors influencing size of the ovarian reserve in cattle, sheep, and pigs and the relationship of the ovarian reserve to reproductive tract development and fertility. It provides strategies to apply this knowledge to improve diagnostics for better assessment of fertility and reproductive longevity in female livestock.

Consumption in Non-Pastoral Regions Drove Three-Quarters of Forage-Livestock Conflicts in China.

Forage-livestock conflict (FLC) is a major anthropogenic cause of rangeland degradation. It poses tremendous threats to the environment owing to its adverse impacts on carbon sequestration, water supply and regulation, and biodiversity conservation. Existing policy interventions focus on the in situ FLCs induced by local production activities but overlook the role of consumption activities in driving FLCs. Here, we investigate the spatiotemporal variations in China's FLCs and the domestic final consumers at the county level by combining remote sensing data and multi-regional input-output model. Results show that during 2005-2015, China's pastoralism induced an average of 82 million tons of FLCs per year. Domestic final demand was responsible for 85-93% of the FLCs in China. There was spatiotemporal heterogeneity in domestic consumption driving China's FLCs. In particular, the final demand of non-pastoral regions was responsible for around three-quarters (74-79%) of the total FLCs throughout the decade. The rangeland-based livestock raising, agricultural and sideline product processing, and catering sectors are important demand-side drivers. These findings can support targeted demand-side strategies and interregional cooperation to reduce China's FLCs, thus mitigating rangeland degradation.

Anchoring grassland sustainability with a nature-based small burrowing mammal control strategy.

Over the last 40 years, a burrowing mammal eradication policy has been prevalent on the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau (QTP). This policy is based on similar burrowing mammal eradication programs in other areas and is justified on the assumptions that burrowing mammals compete with livestock for forage and contribute to grassland degradation. However, there is no clear theoretical or experimental evidence supporting these assumptions. This paper synthesizes the ecological functioning of small burrowing mammals in natural grasslands and discusses the irrationality and consequences of burrowing mammal eradication for sustainable livestock grazing and grassland degradation. Past burrowing mammal eradication efforts have failed because increased food availability for the remaining rodents and reduced predator populations led to rapid population rebounds. Herbivores differ in diet, and there is clear evidence that burrowing mammals, especially plateau zokors Myospalax baileyi, have a different diet than livestock. In QTP meadows, burrowing mammal eradication induces a shift towards plant communities with fewer species preferred by livestock and more species preferred by burrowing mammals. Thus, eradicating burrowing mammals has the opposite effect, a reduction in livestock preferred vegetation. We suggest that the policy of poisoning burrowing mammals needs to be reconsidered and revoked as soon as possible. We argue that incorporating density-dependent factors such as predation and food availability are essential for maintaining a low burrowing mammal density. For degraded grasslands, we suggest that the optimal sustainable approach is to decrease the intensity of livestock grazing. Lower grazing induces changes in vegetation structure and plant species composition that increases predation on burrowing mammals and decreases the abundance of plants preferred by burrowing mammals. Such a nature-based grassland management system maintains the density of burrowing mammals at a low stable density while minimizing human management and interventions.

Environment to embryo: intersections of contaminant exposure and preimplantation embryo development in agricultural animals†.

Environmental impacts on reproductive function are well documented in humans, yet little information is known about the effects on large animals. The interface of environment and reproduction has evolved prudently with a concerted effort to ensure global food sustainability tightly integrated with the application of technological advances in agriculture production that include nutrient and resource management. Exposure to environmental toxicants through chemical pesticide application and industry practices has coincided with a decline in cattle and human fertility. The increased adoption of agriculture animals for human biomedical models further emphasizes the importance of understanding the consequences of livestock exposure to environmentally and physiologically relevant levels of contaminants to preimplantation embryo development. In addition, increased awareness of paternal contributions to the early embryo that include both genetic and nongenetic factors supports the need to define environmental interactions from gamete to genome. Herein we summarize current knowledge of common environmental contaminants on reproductive function including direct and indirect effects on embryo development success in livestock. Information obtained from a diverse number of species including humans is presented to illustrate gaps in knowledge within livestock directly pertaining to agriculture success, sustainability, clinical practice, and biomedical research.

Patterns of livestock depredation and Human-wildlife conflict in Misgar valley of Hunza, Pakistan.

Throughout the world, livestock predation by mammalian carnivores causes significant economic losses to poor farmers, and leads to human-wildlife conflicts. These conflicts result in a negative attitude towards carnivore conservation and often trigger retaliatory killing. In northern Pakistan, we investigated livestock depredation by large carnivores between 2014 and 2019, and subsequent Human-wildlife conflict, through questionnaire-based surveys (n = 100 households). We used a semi-structured questionnaire to collect data on livestock population, depredation patterns, predation count, and conservation approaches. We found a statistically significant increasing pattern of predation with influential factors such as age, gender, occupation, education of respondents, population of predators, threats index for predators and conservation efforts. Some 310 livestock heads with an average of 51 animals per year out of the total 9273 heads were killed by predators, and among them 168 (54%) were attributed to the wolf and 142 (45.8%) to snow leopard. Major threats to carnivores in the area included retaliatory killing, habitat destruction and climate change. Incentivization against depredation losses, guarded grazing and construction of predator-proof corral may reduce Human-wildlife conflict and both livelihood and predator can be safeguarded in the study area.

Mitigation potential of global ammonia emissions and related health impacts in the trade network.

Ammonia (NH3) emissions, mainly from agricultural sources, generate substantial health damage due to the adverse effects on air quality. NH3 emission reduction strategies are still far from being effective. In particular, a growing trade network in this era of globalization offers untapped emission mitigation potential that has been overlooked. Here we show that about one-fourth of global agricultural NH3 emissions in 2012 are trade-related. Globally they induce 61 thousand PM2.5-related premature mortalities, with 25 thousand deaths associated with crop cultivation and 36 thousand deaths with livestock production. The trade-related health damage network is regionally integrated and can be characterized by three trading communities. Thus, effective cooperation within trade-dependent communities will achieve considerable NH3 emission reductions allowed by technological advancements and trade structure adjustments. Identification of regional communities from network analysis offers a new perspective on addressing NH3 emissions and is also applicable to agricultural greenhouse gas emissions mitigation.

Slope and distance from buildings are easy-to-retrieve proxies for estimating livestock site-use intensity in alpine summer pastures.

Regardless of the issue, most of the research carried out on summer pastures of European Alps had to consider the effects of grazing management, as it is an intrinsic component of alpine environment. The management intensity of grazing livestock is measured in terms of livestock stocking rate, but not always a direct measure of it is easily retrievable. Therefore, the aim of the research was to test the reliability of proxies easily retrievable from open data sources (i.e. slope and distance from buildings) in approximating the pastoral site-use intensity. To test the proxies' effectiveness two different approaches were used. With the first one, the proxies' reliability was assessed in a case-study conducted at farm scale by using the number of positions gathered with GPS collars, which are a reliable measure of livestock site-use intensity. With the second, the proxies' reliability was assessed by means of five Vegetation Ecological Groups (VEGs), used as a tool for indirect quantification of livestock site-use intensity at regional scale (thirty-two alpine valleys of the Western Italian Alps, Piedmont Region-Italy). At farm scale, distance from buildings and slope were both reliable predictors of the number of GPS locations as assessed with a Generalized Additive Model. Results of Generalized Linear Models at the regional scale showed that the values of both the slope and the distance from buildings were able to separate VEGs along the same site-use intensity gradient assessed by modelling the number of GPS locations at farm scale. By testing proxies' reliability both with a direct (i.e. GPS collar positions) and indirect (i.e. VEGs) measurement of livestock site-use intensity, results indicated that slope and distance from buildings can be considered effective surrogates of site-use intensity gradient in alpine grasslands managed under livestock grazing. Therefore, when the level of site-use intensity in research carried out in alpine summer pastures is not directly available, a reliable solution consists in the use of the terrain slope and the distance from buildings, which are also easily retrievable from open data sources or computable.

Current scenario and challenges ahead in application of spermatogonial stem cell technology in livestock.

PURPOSE: Spermatogonial stem cells (SSCs) are the source for the mature male gamete. SSC technology in humans is mainly focusing on preserving fertility in cancer patients. Whereas in livestock, it is used for mining the factors associated with male fertility. The review discusses the present status of SSC biology, methodologies developed for in vitro culture, and challenges ahead in establishing SSC technology for the propagation of superior germplasm with special reference to livestock. METHOD: Published literatures from PubMed and Google Scholar on topics of SSCs isolation, purification, characterization, short and long-term culture of SSCs, stemness maintenance, epigenetic modifications of SSCs, growth factors, and SSC cryopreservation and transplantation were used for the study. RESULT: The fine-tuning of SSC isolation and culture conditions with special reference to feeder cells, growth factors, and additives need to be refined for livestock. An insight into the molecular mechanisms involved in maintaining stemness and proliferation of SSCs could facilitate the dissemination of superior germplasm through transplantation and transgenesis. The epigenetic influence on the composition and expression of the biomolecules during in vitro differentiation of cultured cells is essential for sustaining fertility. The development of surrogate males through gene-editing will be historic achievement for the foothold of the SSCs technology. CONCLUSION: Detailed studies on the species-specific factors regulating the stemness and differentiation of the SSCs are required for the development of a long-term culture system and in vitro spermatogenesis in livestock. Epigenetic changes in the SSCs during in vitro culture have to be elucidated for the successful application of SSCs for improving the productivity of the animals.

Environmental stress and livestock productivity in hot-humid tropics: Alleviation and future perspectives.

Tropical environments are characterized by persistently high temperature and relative humidity and the harsh environmental conditions pose a serious limitation on the optimal performance of the animals raised in this region. Heat stress causes deleterious effects on welfare, immunology and physiology of farm animals with a resultant impact on their productivity as the use of body resources is re-organized and the metabolic priorities of animals shift away from production, growth, health and reproduction. It is imperative to understand the mechanisms involved in the thermoregulation of animals under tropical conditions in order to develop appropriate strategies for their improvement. This review focuses on the available data on the increasing global temperature and the adverse impact of tropical conditions on animals' adaptive mechanism affected during thermal stress on production performance, intestinal and ileal microbiome, physiological responses, antioxidant system, metabolic responses, cellular and molecular response, adaptive mechanism strategies to heat stress and also strategies to palliate environmental stress on livestock under humid tropical conditions including environmental manipulation, genetic opportunity, epigenetic and feeding modification. Overall, the present review has identified the disturbance in the physiological indices of tropical livestock and the need for concerted efforts in ameliorating the adverse impacts of high ambient temperature aggravated by high humidity on livestock in tropical environments. Further research is needed on genotype-by-environment interaction on the thermotolerance of different livestock species in the tropics.

Livestock as vectors of organic matter and nutrient loading in aquatic ecosystems in African savannas.

Populations of large wildlife have declined in many landscapes around the world, and have been replaced or displaced by livestock. The consequences of these changes on the transfer of organic matter (OM) and nutrients from terrestrial to aquatic ecosystems are not well understood. We used behavioural data, excretion and egestion rates and C: N: P stoichiometry of dung and urine of zebu cattle, to develop a metabolism-based estimate of loading rates of OM (dung), C, N and P into the Mara River, Kenya. We also directly measured the deposition of OM and urine by cattle into the river during watering. Per head, zebu cattle excrete and/or egest 25.6 g dry matter (DM, 99.6 g wet mass; metabolism) - 27.7 g DM (direct input) of OM, 16.0-21.8 g C, 5.9-9.6 g N, and 0.3-0.5 g P per day into the river. To replace loading rates OM of an individual hippopotamus by cattle, around 100 individuals will be needed, but much less for different elements. In parts of the investigated sub-catchments loading rates by cattle were equivalent to or higher than that of the hippopotamus. The patterns of increased suspended materials and nutrients as a result of livestock activity fit into historical findings on nutrients concentrations, dissolved organic carbon and other variables in agricultural and livestock areas in the Mara River basin. Changing these patterns of carbon and nutrient transport and cycling are having significant effects on the structure and functioning of both terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems.

Livestock movement informs the risk of disease spread in traditional production systems in East Africa.

In Africa, livestock are important to local and national economies, but their productivity is constrained by infectious diseases. Comprehensive information on livestock movements and contacts is required to devise appropriate disease control strategies; yet, understanding contact risk in systems where herds mix extensively, and where different pathogens can be transmitted at different spatial and temporal scales, remains a major challenge. We deployed Global Positioning System collars on cattle in 52 herds in a traditional agropastoral system in western Serengeti, Tanzania, to understand fine-scale movements and between-herd contacts, and to identify locations of greatest interaction between herds. We examined contact across spatiotemporal scales relevant to different disease transmission scenarios. Daily cattle movements increased with herd size and rainfall. Generally, contact between herds was greatest away from households, during periods with low rainfall and in locations close to dipping points. We demonstrate how movements and contacts affect the risk of disease spread. For example, transmission risk is relatively sensitive to the survival time of different pathogens in the environment, and less sensitive to transmission distance, at least over the range of the spatiotemporal definitions of contacts that we explored. We identify times and locations of greatest disease transmission potential and that could be targeted through tailored control strategies.

New residual feed intake criterion for longitudinal data.

BACKGROUND: Residual feed intake (RFI) is one measure of feed efficiency, which is usually obtained by multiple regression of feed intake (FI) on measures of production, body weight gain and tissue composition. If phenotypic regression is used, the resulting RFI is generally not genetically independent of production traits, whereas if RFI is computed using genetic regression coefficients, RFI and production traits are independent at the genetic level. The corresponding regression coefficients can be easily derived from the result of a multiple trait model that includes FI and production traits. However, this approach is difficult to apply in the case of multiple repeated measurements of FI and production traits. To overcome this difficulty, we used a structured antedependence approach to account for the longitudinality of the data with a phenotypic regression model or with different genetic and environmental regression coefficients [multi- structured antedependence model (SAD) regression model]. RESULTS: After demonstrating the properties of RFI obtained by the multi-SAD regression model, we applied the two models to FI and production traits that were recorded for 2435 French Large White pigs over a 10-week period. Heritability estimates were moderate with both models. With the multi-SAD regression model, heritability estimates were quite stable over time, ranging from 0.14 ± 0.04 to 0.16 ± 0.05, while heritability estimates showed a U-shaped profile with the phenotypic regression model (ranging from 0.19 ± 0.06 to 0.28 ± 0.06). Estimates of genetic correlations between RFI at different time points followed the same pattern for the two models but higher estimates were obtained with the phenotypic regression model. Estimates of breeding values that can be used for selection were obtained by eigen-decomposition of the genetic covariance matrix. Correlations between these estimated breeding values obtained with the two models ranged from 0.66 to 0.83. CONCLUSIONS: The multi-SAD model is preferred for the genetic analysis of longitudinal RFI because, compared to the phenotypic regression model, it provides RFI that are genetically independent of production traits at all time points. Furthermore, it can be applied even when production records are missing at certain time points.

The Circadian Physiology: Implications in Livestock Health.

Circadian rhythms exist in almost all types of cells in mammals. Thousands of genes exhibit approximately 24 h oscillations in their expression levels, making the circadian clock a crucial regulator of their normal functioning. In this regard, environmental factors to which internal physiological processes are synchronized (e.g., nutrition, feeding/eating patterns, timing and light exposure), become critical to optimize animal physiology, both by managing energy use and by realigning the incompatible processes. Once the circadian clock is disrupted, animals will face the increased risks of diseases, especially metabolic phenotypes. However, little is known about the molecular components of these clocks in domestic species and by which they respond to external stimuli. Here we review evidence for rhythmic control of livestock production and summarize the associated physiological functions, and the molecular mechanisms of the circadian regulation in pig, sheep and cattle. Identification of environmental and physiological inputs that affect circadian gene expressions will help development of novel targets and the corresponding approaches to optimize production efficiency in farm animals.

Phenomes: the current frontier in animal breeding.

Improvements in genomic technologies have outpaced the most optimistic predictions, allowing industry-scale application of genomic selection. However, only marginal gains in genetic prediction accuracy can now be expected by increasing marker density up to sequence, unless causative mutations are identified. We argue that some of the most scientifically disrupting and industry-relevant challenges relate to 'phenomics' instead of 'genomics'. Thanks to developments in sensor technology and artificial intelligence, there is a wide range of analytical tools that are already available and many more will be developed. We can now address some of the pressing societal demands on the industry, such as animal welfare concerns or efficiency in the use of resources. From the statistical and computational point of view, phenomics raises two important issues that require further work: penalization and dimension reduction. This will be complicated by the inherent heterogeneity and 'missingness' of the data. Overall, we can expect that precision livestock technologies will make it possible to collect hundreds of traits on a continuous basis from large numbers of animals. Perhaps the main revolution will come from redesigning animal breeding schemes to explicitly allow for high-dimensional phenomics. In the meantime, phenomics data will definitely enlighten our knowledge on the biological basis of phenotypes.

Human casualties are the dominant cost of human-wildlife conflict in India.

Reducing the costs from human-wildlife conflict, mostly borne by marginal rural households, is a priority for conservation. We estimate the mean species-specific cost for households suffering damages from one of 15 major species of wildlife in India. Our data are from a survey of 5,196 households living near 11 wildlife reserves in India, and self-reported annual costs include crop and livestock losses and human casualties (injuries and death). By employing conservative estimates from the literature on the value of a statistical life (VSL), we find that costs from human casualties overwhelm crop and livestock damages for all species associated with fatalities. Farmers experiencing a negative interaction with an elephant over the last year incur damages on average that are 600 and 900 times those incurred by farmers with negative interactions with the next most costly herbivores: the pig and the nilgai. Similarly, farmers experiencing a negative interaction with a tiger over the last year incur damage that is on average 3 times that inflicted by a leopard and 100 times that from a wolf. These cost differences are largely driven by differences in the incidence of human death and casualties. Our estimate of costs fluctuates across reserves, mostly due to a variation of human casualties. Understanding the drivers of human casualties and reducing their incidence are crucial to reducing the costs from human-wildlife conflict.Most of the tales were about animals, for the Jungle was always at their door. The deer and the pig grubbed up their crops, and now and again the tiger carried off a man at twilight, within sight of the village gates. "Tiger! Tiger!" (Rudyard Kipling, The Jungle Book, Collins Classics, 2010).

Resilience and livestock adaptations to demographic growth and technological change: A diachronic perspective from the Late Bronze Age to Late Antiquity in NE Iberia.

There are strong interactions between an economic system and its ecological context. In this sense, livestock have been an integral part of human economies since the Neolithic, contributing significantly to the creation and maintenance of agricultural anthropized landscapes. For this reason, in the frame of the ERC-StG project 'ZooMWest' we collected and analyzed thousands of zooarchaeological data from NE Iberia. By considering these data in comparison with ecological indicators (archaeobotanical remains) and archaeological evidence (settlement characteristics and their distribution) this paper seeks to characterize changes in animal production and the relationship between people, livestock, and their environment. These methods allow for an investigation of the topic at different scales (site, zone, territory) with a broad diachronic perspective, and for consideration of orography and cultural traditions alongside climatic factors. Through this integration of various streams of evidence, we aim to better understand the structure of ancient economic systems and the way they conditioned human decision-making on animal production. Results show a shifting relationship with the territory between the Bronze Age and Late Antiquity, in which market requirements and an economic model with a higher degree of integration increasingly influenced husbandry strategies. These processes are reflected in changes in land use and forms of territorial occupation, although along different rhythms and trajectories.

Optimizing livestock carrying capacity for wild ungulate-livestock coexistence in a Qinghai-Tibet Plateau grassland.

Wild ungulates are an important part of terrestrial ecosystems and play a critical role in maintaining ecosystem health and integrity. In many grassland ecosystems that are habituated by wild ungulates, the coexistence of domestic ungulates has created a conflict over grazing resources. Solving this conflict requires a balanced and sustainable policy that satisfies both the needs of wildlife protection and food production. Here, we assess the optimal grassland livestock carrying capacity of an alpine grassland on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, given the coexistence of wild populations of kiangs (Equus kiang) and Tibetan gazelles (Procapra picticaudata), two key species grazing in this region. We use kriging and the MaxEnt method to estimate the population sizes of kiangs and Tibetan gazelles in Maduo County, Qinghai Province. We then convert the estimated population size of the two species into sheep units and calculate the residual carrying capacity for livestock grazing. We show that after accounting for the grazing need for kiangs and Tibetan gazelles, grassland in Maduo is capable of supporting 420,641 sheep units, which is slightly more than the current livestock population. However, the residual carrying capacity is highly uneven across the region, and overgrazing is found in many areas of Maduo, especially in northern Maduo. This research provides a useful framework for planning sustainable livestock farming for the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau and other regions facing wildlife-livestock conflict.

Potential impacts of climate change on geographical distribution of three primary vectors of African Trypanosomiasis in Tanzania's Maasai Steppe: G. m. morsitans, G. pallidipes and G. swynnertoni.

In the Maasai Steppe, public health and economy are threatened by African Trypanosomiasis, a debilitating and fatal disease to livestock (African Animal Trypanosomiasis -AAT) and humans (Human African Trypanosomiasis-HAT), if not treated. The tsetse fly is the primary vector for both HAT and AAT and climate is an important predictor of their occurrence and the parasites they carry. While understanding tsetse fly distribution is essential for informing vector and disease control strategies, existing distribution maps are old and were based on coarse spatial resolution data, consequently, inaccurately representing vector and disease dynamics necessary to design and implement fit-for-purpose mitigation strategies. Also, the assertion that climate change is altering tsetse fly distribution in Tanzania lacks empirical evidence. Despite tsetse flies posing public health risks and economic hardship, no study has modelled their distributions at a scale needed for local planning. This study used MaxEnt species distribution modelling (SDM) and ecological niche modeling tools to predict potential distribution of three tsetse fly species in Tanzania's Maasai Steppe from current climate information, and project their distributions to midcentury climatic conditions under representative concentration pathways (RCP) 4.5 scenarios. Current climate results predicted that G. m. morsitans, G. pallidipes and G swynnertoni cover 19,225 km2, 7,113 km2 and 32,335 km2 and future prediction indicated that by the year 2050, the habitable area may decrease by up to 23.13%, 12.9% and 22.8% of current habitable area, respectively. This information can serve as a useful predictor of potential HAT and AAT hotspots and inform surveillance strategies. Distribution maps generated by this study can be useful in guiding tsetse fly control managers, and health, livestock and wildlife officers when setting surveys and surveillance programs. The maps can also inform protected area managers of potential encroachment into the protected areas (PAs) due to shrinkage of tsetse fly habitats outside PAs.

Livestock integration into soybean systems improves long-term system stability and profits without compromising crop yields.

Climate models project greater weather variability over the coming decades. High yielding systems that can maintain stable crop yields under variable environmental scenarios are critical to enhance food security. However, the effect of adding a trophic level (i.e. herbivores) on the long-term stability of agricultural systems is not well understood. We used a 16-year dataset from an integrated soybean-beef cattle experiment to measure the impacts of grazing on the stability of key crop, pasture, animal and whole-system outcomes. Treatments consisted of four grazing intensities (10, 20, 30 and 40 cm sward height) on mixed black oat (Avena strigosa) and Italian ryegrass (Lolium multiflorum) pastures and an ungrazed control. Stability of both human-digestible protein production and profitability increased at moderate to light grazing intensities, while over-intensification or absence of grazing decreased system stability. Grazing did not affect subsequent soybean yields but reduced the chance of crop failure and financial loss in unfavorable years. At both lighter and heavier grazing intensities, tradeoffs occurred between the stability of herbage production and animal live weight gains. We show that ecological intensification of specialized soybean systems using livestock integration can increase system stability and profitability, but the probability of win-win outcomes depends on management.