Recent Developments Affecting Livestock Production in the Americas
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aectii r FOOD AND AGRICULTURE ORGANIZATION OF THE UNITED NATIONS MAL BREEDING ABSTRAC S - will keep you up-to-date with research in Livestock Breeding- and Genetics By means of abstracts, review articles, book reviews anci news items thisjournal covers the world's published research on breeds, breeding, productivity, genetics and reproduction ofallfarm livestock, as well as poultry and fur bearers.Experimental work with small labora- tory animals is also reportedinsofarasitmay throw more light on problems connected withanimalsof economic importance. The ABSTRACTS are issued quarterly by the Common- wealth Bureau or Animal Breeding, Edinburgh, at 50s. ($7.00) per annum, with a 20% reduction on orders within the British Commonwealth. A Dan The Classification o; West A;rican Livestock. ($1.50)10s. 6d. I. L. Mason.(1951) A World Dictionary ofreeds, Types and ($4.20) 30s. Od. Varieties of Livestock.I. L. Mason (1952) The Genetics of the Dog.Marca Burns.(1952)($1.25)12s. 6d. GL:station Periods.J. H. Kenneth. Third edition,($1.10) 7s. 6d. with additions by G. R. Ritchie.(1953) Mammalian Hybrids. A Check List with ($3.00)21s. Od. Bibliography.Annie P. Gray.(1954) Hereditavy Factors Affecting Reproductive ($0.35) 2s. 6d. Efficiency in Cattle.D. H. L. Rollinson. (Reprinted from Vol. 23, No. 3) Orders, subscriptions and enquiries should be sent to the address below, or may be placed with any book- seller or subscription agent. COMMONWEALTH AGRICULTURAL BUREAUX, CENTRAL SALES BRANCH, FARNHAM ROYAL, SLOUGH, BUCKS, ENGLAND. RECENT DEVELOPMENTS AFFECTING LIVESTOCK PRODUCTION IN THE AMERICAS FAO Agricultural Development Paper No. 55 mCENT DEVELOP ENTS AFFECTDG LIVESTOCK PRODUCTION IN THE AMERICAS Edited by RALPH W. PHILLIPS Deputy Director Agriculture Division FOOD AND AGRICULTURE ORGANIZATION OF THE UNITED NATIONS ROME, 1956 CONYERS ON TABLE 1 yard 3 feet 0.91 meters 1. mile 1,609 kilometers 1 square mile 2.59 square kilometers 1 hectare 1,000 square meters 2.2 lb. 1 kilogram © FAO 1956 Printed in Italy FOREWORD This publication,likeothers in the series,is designed to make available to member countries of the Food and AgricultureOrganiza- tion of the United Nations information that should be usefidto them in planning and implementing agricultural improvementprograms. This Agricultural Development Paper is basedon material presented to the Third FAO Meeting on Livestock Production in the Americas by delegations from 18 countries (Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, France, Guatemala, the Netherlands, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, United Kingdom, Uruguay, the United States of America and Venezuela), and by staff metnbers of the Agriculture Division of FAO and the Inter-American Institute of Agricultural Sciences (1A1AS). Material submitted by the Government of El Salvador has also been used in preparing this publication. The names of those who participated in the meeting in the delegations from countries or as observers from organizations, and who contributed to the discussions, are listed in theintroduction." Also, observers were present fromtheCaribbeanCommission,theinternational Office of Epizootics, the International Association of Hydatid Disease, the Pan-American Sanitary Bureau and theWorld Federation of United NationsAssociations.The following members of the staff of the Agriculture Division of FAO and of theInter-American hastitute of Agricultural Sciences participated intheMeeting as technical secretaries, and collaborated in th,e editing of the report from which much of the material in this Development Paper was drawn: Mr. W. A. Beattie Adviser to the Government of Uruguay onrangeand pasturemanagement, FAO. iV1r. Gerardo E. BildesheimProgram Analysis Specialist on Latin America, FAO. Sir Thomas Dalling Veterinarian, FAO. Dr. Hans J. Engler Poultry Specialist, F AO. Dr. B. O. Retzer Consultant on Analysis and Design of Experiments, 1 A JAS. Dr. Douglas H. K. Lee Consultant on Animal Climatology, FAO. Dr. José 111arull Acting Director, Southern Zone Center, IAIAS. Mr. Roald A. Peterson, Southern Zone Center, IAIAS. Dr. R. O. Whyte Agronomist, FA O. Dr. S lf/o.rls; Agricultural Adviser, FAO North me- rican Regional Office. The full report of the Buenos Aires meeting was issued as a mimeo- graphed document in English and Spanish in the FAO Agriculture Division'sMeeting ReportSeriesasNo.1955/11.Reportsof the ,firstand second meetings,held in Turrialba, Costa, Rica and Baurzi, Brazil, respectively,lvere issued as FAO Agricultural De- velopment PapersNos. 8 and 33, prior to the establishment of a numbered series of meeting reports by the Agriculture Division. v CONTENTS Page INTRODUCTION 1 IMPROVING LIVESTOCK THROUGH BREEDING 5 Animal Climatology 5 Research Facilities and Effects of Hot Climates 10 Effects of High Altitudes 13 Adaptability of Breeds to Unfavorable En.vironments 15 Zoological and Ecologial Maps 17 Literature Cited regarding Animal Climatology 20 Herdbooks and Performance Tests 21 General Problems 21 Recent Developments in Various Countries 27 Literature Cited regarding Herdbooks and Performance Tests 41 Artificial Insemination an.d Storage of Semen 42 Literature Cited regarding Storage of Semen 47 IMPROVING LIVESTOCK PRODUCTION THROUGH IMPROVED 49 NUTRITION AND MANAGEMENT National Planning and Management Aspects of the Grazing 49 Industry Technical Problems in the Use of Grasslands 58 Conservation of Forage as Silage an.d Hay 79 Nutritional Deaciencies in Livestock 83 General Considerations 83 Observations in Countries 86 Selected References regarding Nutrition. and Management 96 IMPROVING LIVESTOCK PRODUCTION THROUGH BETTER DISEASE 99 AND PARASITE CONTROL Control of Foot-and-Mouth Disease 99 Control of Brucellosis 104 Recent Developments in Various Countries 105 Import Regulations Concerning Reactions to the Agglutina- 108 tion Test in Vaccinated Animals International Standards 109 Control of Parasitic Infestation and of the Diseases Parasites110 are Known to Transmit Literature Cited regardin.g Disease and Parasite Control 116 vi,i STATUS OF THE POULTRY INDUSTRY AND POSSIBLE PROGRAMS 117 FOR IMPROVEMENT General Considerations 117 Current Situation and Recent Technical Developments in 122 Various Countries Literature Cited regarding Poultry 140 INTERPRETATION AND EVALUATION OF THE RESULTS OF ANIMAL 141 HUSBANDRY AND VETERINARY EXPERIMENTS Planning of Experiments 142 Methods for Increasing Accuracy of Experiments 145 Size of Experiment 146 Refining Experimental Techniques 147 Proper Handling of Experimental Material 149 Experimental Designs 150 Complete Block Designs 150 Incomplete Block Designs 153 Analysis and Interpretation of Results 155 Literature Cited regarding Statistical Analysis 156 _NATIONAL SERVICES TO THE LIVESTOCK INDUSTRY 158 PROPOSALS TO FACILITATE CO-OPERATION AMONG THE COUNTRIES172 Glossary of Animal Husbandry Terms 172 Literature Cited regarding Glossaries 174 Proposals for Further Meetings and for a Working Party and 175 Sub-groups to Facilitate Co-operation between Meetings CoNcLusioN 180 INTRODUCTION Recognizing that the livestock industry is important to all of its member countries in North, Central an.d South America and in the Caribbean area, the Food an.d Agriculture Organization of the United Nations organized three meetings in which delegates from these countries had opportunities to discuss the problems of their respective countries, to exchange information on the research, extension and educational programs they are conducting aimed at the solution of those problems and to consider co-ordinated action on problems of common concern to two or more countries. These meetings were: The Inter-American Meeting on Livestock Production, held in Turrialba, Costa Rica, from 9 to 20 October 1950, and attended by delegations from Costa Rica, El Salvador, Honduras, Guatemala, Nicaragua, Panama, Peru,the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, the United States of America, and Venezuela; The Second Inter-American Meeting on Livestock Produc- tion,heldinBauni,Brazil, from8to 15 December 1952,andattended bydelegationsfromArgentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, France, Haiti, the Netherlands, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, the United Kingdom, the United States of America, Uruguay and Venezuela; and The Third FAO Meeting on Livestock Production in the Americas heldinBuenosAires,Argentina, from 18 to 30 April 1955, and attended by delegationsfrom Argentina, Bolivia,Brazil, Canada, Chile,Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, France, Guatemala, the Netherlands, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, the United King- dom, Uruguay, the United States of America and Vene- zuela.. The reports of the first and second meetings in this series were issued as FAO Agricultural Development Papers Nos. 8 and 33 respectively, prior to the establishment of a regular series of re- ports of agricultural meetings conven.ed by FAO. The report of the third meeting has been issuedin this new mimeographed series as Meeting Report No. 1955/11.In order that the great amount of ne-w information made available to the Buenos Aires meeting may be more generally available to government officials and other leaders concerned with the improvement of livestock produc- tion in the Americas, much of the material presented at that meeting has been extracted from the Report, edited, and published in this Development Paper.This includes not only new information of a technical nature, but also information on organizational arrange- ments which may facilitate co-operation