N° 127 - 2016 www.eaap.orgEuropean Federation for Animal Science

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EDITORIALEDITORIAL BY THE SECRETARY GENERAL

Dear readers,

This newsletter comes, as usual, with interesting and relevant news about animal science and livestock industry. I also want to remind you that the discounted fee to participate to the Belfast annual meeting is only available until 30 June 2016. Pleas hurry up ( http://www.eaap2016.org )!

The 2016 annual meeting will be organized between August 29th and September 2nd. Few numbers about the Belfast annual meeting: there will be around 1200 abstracts, around 70 interesting scientific sessions, more than 50 invited scientists! The number of expected participants is 1400, and maybe more…

The Annual Meeting’s primary goal is to provide a forum for professional scientific growth and development of the participants to improve knowledge and expertise. The EAAP annual meeting provides a basis for exchange of ideas, both scientific and practical, among animal scientists and other relative technicians. Our Annual Meeting consists of theatre and poster presentations, the plenary session, the welcome and award ceremony and other social events organized by our British hosts. There will also be exhibits from a number of industries. Looking to see you in Belfast!

Andrea Rosati

NEWS FROM EAAPOpen positions for the EAAP Study Commissions

Every EAAP member is invited to participate actively to the life of EAAP by joining one of the nine Study Commissions. There are elections for the vacant posts in the EAAP Commissions and you are encouraged to apply or to suggest to possible candidates. Please do not forget that joining EAAP Study Commissions will help you to create your own European animal science network and to cooperate with best scientists in our continent.

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Steps to take are: 1. Select the Commission of interest among the nine in EAAP: http://www.eaap.org/index.php/presentation/scientific-structure/scientific-commissions/ 2. Check the open positions in the Commissions. For this year the open positions are: Cattle: One Secretary and one industry representative

Nutrition: one President, one vice-presidents and one secretary

Pigs: one President, one vice-presidents and one secretary

Genetics: one Secretary

Health and welfare: one President, one secretary, one industry representative (one of the vice-presidents could be an industry representative)

Livestock farming systems: one Vice-President, one secretary

Horse: one vice-presidents and one secretary, one industry representative

Sheep and goat: one industry representative.Physiology: one vice-president 3. Send the request to apply using the relative application form available on the home page of eaap (www.eaap.org) with a short CV and send to eleonora@eaap.org If you have any question (eleonora@eaap.org), we will be pleased to answer you. The proposals are public and will be discussed at the Business meetings of the relative SCs in Belfast. Before the Belfast annual meeting, every EAAP member can have the chance to support the single

applicants, through emails

Some important session at Belfast annual meeting

Session 20, Nutritional Physiology

Nutrition is the most important environmental factor affecting an animal`s performance and health even before birth. It becomes increasingly apparent that - besides diet and gut function- intermediary processes determining the utilization of nutrients are major determinants of metabolic health. If the oxidative capacity is compromised, health disturbances and also diseases may result. The session will particularly address the topics of oxidative stress in context with mitochondrial function mainly in pigs and cattle, but also in sheep and poultry. Moreover, several contributions in this session will report about the effect of various feed supplements, mainly minerals and plant preparations, on specific traits, including those related to reproduction in both males and females. The session will highlight the different aspects in 12 oral and 27 poster presentations.

Session 11, Physiological limits of performance due to disproportionate tissue growth

What are the “collateral damages” of breeding for high growth and milk performance? Is the way we raise meat and dairy animals really appropriate for a healthy development? What are the normal physiological changes? In this session, such questions will be addressed: After providing an overview across various livestock species in which physiological limits of performance are well known or emerged only recently, two lectures will take programming effects in dairy cattle in focus. Foetal development as affected by breed in pigs as well as thyroid gland function in growing cattle will be the topics of two further lectures. The role of nutrition both during pre and postnatal life will be addressed in the lectures and also in 10 posters. The core contents of Session 11 are also related to the length of the productive life span. The latter topic forms the focus of a session that is jointly organized by the

NEWS FROM EAAP

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Physiology and the Cattle Commission, i.e. Session 40 (Longevity: a physiological and management perspective)

Sessions about Precision Livestock Farming

In Belfast there will be two important sessions about Precision Livestock Farming titled “pathways to commercialisation”.

EAAP is also pleased to invite you to the Closing conference of the EU-PLF – Bright farm by Precision Livestock Farming that will be held on Sept. 29th, in Brussels. EAAP, in charge of the dissemination work-package of the EU supported project, co-organizes this event with the Animal Task Force.

Sessions about Aquaculture

On Monday August 29th, the EAAP conference in Belfast will dedicate two sessions to aquaculture. In the August 29th morning session there will be six invited speakers from Portugal and the UK and there will be discussion about various aspects of aquaculture and coastal fisheries. Sustainability is a key word in this session. The afternoon session will focus on fish nutrition and genetics. Internationally acknowledged speakers from France, the Netherlands, the UK, Spain, Norway and Thailand will share their views on topics like alleviation of nutritional anaemia, aquafeed without fish meal and fish oil, and fish genetic

EAAP individual members

Our family continues to grow… we just reached 2250 individual members! Last new members came mainly from Ireland, Estonia, UK, etc. A big thank to all of those who feel that EAAP is their animal science organization!

EAAP impresses the cream of Northern Ireland’s farming sector at the Balmoral Show

The EAAP 2016 team, Sinclair Mayne and Mike Steele visited the Balmoral Show 2016 earlier this month to talk to visitors, sponsors and industry leaders about

this summer’s EAAP conference in Belfast.Pictured are just some of the people the conference’s organising committee met, including Justin McCarthy, editor of the Irish Farmers Journal, Barclay Bell, president of the Ulster Farmers’ Union, and MEPs Diane Dodds and Jim Nicholson.If you’re planning on attending this summer’s EAAP conference in Belfast, then there’s still time to buy your ticket at a discounted price. Register before Thursday 30 June and you’ll qualify for our special early-bird rate. To register please click here.

The Young Scientist Award

For the first time EAAP organizes in 2016 the Young Scientist Award. Despite it was the first year, we had 21 candidates, all of them were qualified and with short but outstanding careers. The Study Commission made a pre-selection and created a short list of four candidates among whom the Election Committee will select the winner. In this newsletter we will present the four young scientists who were short-listed. We thought that is very important in any case to give proper visibility to the best four young scientists among all candidates, at next issue you will know the winner!

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Laurienne Canario (France)

Laurienne Canario is a research scientist at INRA. She holds a PhD in animal genetics and behaviour from INA-PG, that was awarded by the French Academia of Agriculture. Her research interest is on maternal ability and social interactions in pig and recently rabbit species. Her expertise is based on the definition and characterization of maternal and behavioural traits with use of crossbreeding experiments. She received post-doctoral training at the Swedish University of Life Sciences. There, she strengthened her skills in genetic

modelling of complex traits and started developing European collaborations in the area of behavioural genetics. First, she was hired at INRA Jouy-en-Josas near Paris and she moved to INRA Toulouse in 2010. The objective of her research is to improve young performance and account for welfare related traits in selective breeding. Her current projects include determinism of maturity at birth, maternal use of body resources and impact of social interactions on adult performance. She teaches behavioural genetics at Toulouse University and enjoys combining her research work with supervision of students.

Isabel Cervantes (Spain)

Isabel is a Professor at the Department of Animal Production, Veterinary Faculty, Complutense University of Madrid. She obtained the Veterinary degree in 2003 in University of Córdoba. She later performed PhD studies at the Genetics Department of the same University. The PhD studies involved research in horse genetic evaluations

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and horse population structure analysis using pedigrees. She defended the PhD in 2008. She is still working on the research lines started during the PhD studies and published many papers about population genetic structure and computation of effective population size. As a PhD student she made different research stays: at VIT in Germany; at University of Natural Resources and Applied Life Sciences in Vienna; and at Kaposvár University, Hungary; at the Norwegian University of Life. In 2015 she gained the present position as Professor at Complutense University of Madrid. She published 52 papers, 36 of them are included in the Journal Citation Report Journals and more than 30 books or book chapters. She has been always related with EAAP. She attended EAAP meetings every year since 2006. Participated in EAAP working groups as Education in Equine science and Interstallion. She is currently secretary of the Horse Commission

Massimo De Marchi (Italy)

He works at the Department of Agronomy, Food, Natural Resources, Animals and Environment University of Padova (Italy). He obtained his Master degree in Agricultural Science in 2002 and PhD in Animal Science in 2006. In the same year (2006), he joined the Agricultural Faculty of theUniversity of Padova as Assistant Professor (2006-2013) and in 2014 he was appointed Associate Professor (2014-). He has been visiting scientist in USA (Virginia Tech) and Ireland (University College Dublin). He is currently working on new milk phenotypes. Overall, his research projects can be broadly categorized into two main topics: (i) the use of infrared technology to predict new phenotypes for the dairy industry and farmers, and (ii) the use of these phenotypes for herd management and for genetic and breeding purpose. Massimo De Marchi is principal

investigator of several research projects with Teagasc (Ireland), FOSS (Denmark) and Italian dairy industries.He has published 93 peer-review scientific papers. Massimo De Marchi is lecturer (2010-) in the Master of Animal Science and in the PhD Course in Animal and Food Science of the University of Padova.

Han Mulder (the Netherlands)

Dr Han Mulder was born in 1979 in the Netherlands. He grew up on a dairy farm where he got interested in animal breeding. He studied Animal Science at the Wageningen University and completed his PhD in Animal Breeding and Genetics in 2007. Currently, he is Assistant Professor Animal Breeding and Genetics at Wageningen University and is involved in teaching at BSc, MSc and PhD level. He is supervising three PhD-students and a number of MSc-students. His research interests are about understanding the genetic background of genotype by environment interactions, disease resilience and environmental variance or uniformity. Statistical modelling is a key element in his research. Furthermore, he is interested in optimization of breeding programs and genomic selection. In his research, he is collaborating with various international scientists and researchers at breeding companies in cattle, pigs and poultry. He is furthermore Vice-President of the Genetics Commission of EAAP.

“Lamb and kid survival” working group news

Some good news regarding our working group “lamb and kid survival”, please visit our page at: http://www.eaap.org/index.php/presentation/scientific-structure/commissions-working-groups/working-group-lamb-and-kid-survival/

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The joint paper coordinated by Cathy Dwyer (Invited review: “Improving neonatal survival in small ruminants: science into practice”) has been accepted and published in “Animal”.

The working group has this year at the Belfast meeting a new challenge session: “Small ruminant mortality: Seeking solutions - genetics and environmental factors that contribute to improved survival” in the morning of Wednesday August 31st. This new challenge session will present knowledge gaps and identify new fields of research into developing solutions to high levels of small ruminant neonatal mortality. Lamb and kid survival can be improved using genetic and management solutions. This challenge session will explore ways to do this in extensive and intensively reared sheep systems. Specifically it will address genetic and phenotypic approaches to improving lamb and kid mortality, and address ways to standardise recording of perinatal survival for indoor and outdoor lambing. Issues around improving data quality, tools to record lamb and kid survival and ways to do this will be discussed. Small ruminant mortality before, during and after birth (thus including abortion and stillbirth) will be considered.

First part - communication with 5 very interesting presentations:

1. Genetic approaches to improving lamb

survival under extensive field conditions (Forbes Brien)2. What are the important phenotypes? (Cathy Dwyer)3. EBVs for lamb survival in UK sheep (Ann McLaren)4. Genetic determinism of maternal behaviour in sheep and relationship with lamb mortality (Dominique Hazard)5. The influence of ram on number of born and weaned lambs in Suffolk (J. Schmidova) Second part - panel discussion on data recording with 2 communications for introduction and then a large place for discussion/interaction (I count on your participation):

1. A field experience to assess new phenotypes: how to involved farmers? (Agathe Cheype)2. Ease of data collection on farm; reality or myth? (Huw Davies) You can widely inform your colleagues, partners and all kind of small ruminants actors on this session. The success will depend on the participation of a large panel of people for the discussion. I remind you that our WG has two available tools:• A discussion group on LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/groups/8227762). Don’t hesitate to use it to share ideas, questions, experiences… whatever you consider relevant to our WG.

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• An online survey on current projects on lamb mortality managed by members of the EAAP WG “lamb survival.”: http://limesurvey2014.idele.fr/index.php/339643/lang-en

EU project updates

EU-PLF – www.eu-plf.eu

EAAP is co-organising the final project conference for EU-PLF. It is being co-organised by ATF (Animal Task Force). It will be a full-conference to be held at the prestigious Residence Palace in Brussels on 29 September 2016. You can read more about the conference and how to register here: http://www.eu-plf.eu/index.php/eu-plf-final-conference/

GplusE – www.gpluse.eu

GplusE will also co-organise a session on 31 August 2016 at the 67th EAAP Annual Meeting in Belfast, UK. The afternoon session with the title Novel milk-based phenotypes for use in breeding and management applications in dairy production is being co-organised with the EAAP Cattle Production and Animal Genetics Commissions. The session will focus on the need of easily-measurable phenotypes and discuss the significance of the current results to date and what this means in terms of scientific development and policy implications. The project will present three significant papers with results from initial research. For more information on the EAAP Annual Meeting, visit: http://www.eaap2016.org/.

iSAGE – www.iSAGE.eu

EAAP is one of 34 partners in the new H2020 project, iSAGE. Innovation for Sustainable Sheep and Goat Production in Europe (iSAGE) began its activities on the 1st of March and is a 4-year project focusing on making the sheep and goat sectors in Europe and Turkey more sustainable, competitive and resilient. Of the 34 partners, 52% are from the industry side that represent approximately 16,000 farmers with approximately 5.5 million sheep and goats. EAAP leads Work Package 7: Multi-actor internal and external communication. Take a look at the project

website and sign up for the newsletter! http://www.isage.eu/

For more information on EAAP’s involvement in the following EU projects, please contact, Rebecca Neilson (rebecca@eaap.org).

EAAP PEOPLE PORTRAIT

Antonella Baldi (Council Member)

Antonella is member of the EAAP Council since 2014 representing Italy and Albania. She is also member of the Board of the Italian Animal Science and Production Association (ASPA). Antonella is Full Professor in Animal Nutrition at the University of Milan, Department of Health, Animal Science and Food Safety, where she is also President of the Master Degree Course in Biotechnological Veterinary Science of the University of Milan. Her education was in Biological Sciences, after her master degree her interest turned to animal sciences and she began to work as a researcher at the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine of the University of Milan in 1987.

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Her main interests in research were the role of animal nutrition and welfare in the production of high quality and healthy food of animal origin, in particular milk. She has studied the biological mechanisms underpinning the function and development of the mammary gland in dairy animals and she was deeply involved since the beginning (1992) in the organization of the biennial Biology of Lactation in Farm Animal (BOLFA) workshops, jointly organized by EAAP and ASAS/ADSA.

Besides research and university work, Antonella is active in several positions. She has been highly involved in the activities of COST (European Cooperation in Science and Technology), one of the main European networking programs of European research activities, becoming in 2006 Delegate for Italy in the COST Domain Committee “Food and Agriculture”. She just resigned from being Section Editor of the Journal “Animal” (she had this responsibility since the foundation of the journal in 2007), for Product Quality, Human Health and Well-being sector.

Antonella lives in Milano and is married with Vittorio since 1982. They have four children (Lorenzo, Emilio, Federico and Massimiliano). Her eldest son, Lorenzo is also father of two baby girls and therefore Antonella, after four boys, finally got two grand daughters: Ginevra and Vittoria. She has also a dog, a female Jack Russell that grew up with her

younger son Massimiliano. Her free time is mostly spent with such a big family, having fun together: in winter, during weekend, she loves skiing on the Alps or, during summer time, staying on the beach at the sea or on the Lake of Como where her grandfather was born. As a mother and grandmother, Antonella loves cooking and on Sunday she loves gather together her family around the table for a typical Italian lunch.

NEWS FROM RESEARCH

The least harm principle may require that humans consume a diet containing large herbivores, not a vegan diet (S.L. Davis, Department of Animal Sciences - Oregon State University, Corvallis, Oregon, U.S.A.)

Based on his theory of animal rights, Regan concludes that humans are morally obligated to consume a vegetarian or vegan diet. When it was pointed out to him that even a vegan diet results in the loss of many animals of the field, he said that while that may be true, we are still obligated to consume a vegetarian / vegan diet because in total it would cause the least harm to animals (Least Harm Principle, or LHP) as compared to current agriculture. But is that conclusion valid? Is it possible

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that some other agricultural production alternatives may result in least harm to animals? In this paper, I examine this question and find that the LHP may actually be better served using food production systems that include both plant-based agriculture and a forage-ruminant-based agriculture as compared to a strict plant-based (vegan) system. Perhaps we are morally obligated to consume a diet containing both plants and ruminant (particularly cattle) animal products.

To continue to read this article: https://www.morehouse.edu/facstaff/nnobis/papers/Davis-LeastHarm.htm

Livestock and sustainable development do mix

A focus on emissions ignores the huge diversity in animal farming that can help meet the SDGs, says François Le Gall.

You would be forgiven for thinking that livestock and sustainable development don’t mix. Reducing meat consumption has sometimes been cited as a great way to combat climate change — one of the anchors of the 2030 agenda for sustainable development — given that the livestock sector’s carbon emissions are equal to those from all the road vehicles in the world. [1]

But aren’t we oversimplifying the role the sector can play in meeting the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)?

Livestock production systems, enterprises and consumption patterns vastly differ around the world, and contribute more broadly to sustainable development than is currently recognised.

To harness livestock for the greatest good, it is essential to grasp this huge diversity in practices and understand the different interventions it requires.To continue to read this article: http://www.sc idev.net/g lobal/ l ives tock/opin ion/l i ves tock - su s ta inab le -deve lopment - food-s e c u r i t y . h t m l ? u t m _ m e d i u m = e m a i l & u t m _s o u r c e = S c i D e v N e w s l e t t e r & u t m _campaign=internat ional%20SciDev.Net%20

update%253A%2031%20May%202016

How to detect adulteration in PDO cheese

A parmesan cheese scandal earlier this year highlighted how easy it is to alter the cheese when it’s grated. For producers and consumers of some of the most expensive kinds, this is a big problem. Generic versions abound, but the traditional variety comes from only a handful of provinces in Italy and commands twice the price.Now, scientists reported in the Journal of Agricultural & Food Chemistry a way to catch adulteration of the regional products.In February, news stories emerged about grated Parmigiano Reggiano, or parmesan, cheese that used cellulose as a filler and contained different, less-expensive cheeses. One product labelled 100% parmesan reportedly contained no actual parmesan. For consumers interested in artisanal products, there was no way to truly know what they were getting at the store.To address this issue, the European Union gave the “protected denomination of origin” (PDO) designation to certain products. In the case of Parmigiano Reggiano, cheeses with the PDO label must meet certain requirements. For example, they must be made out of milk from cows that are not fed silage, a fermented cereal product often used in animal feed.

Augusta Caligiani and colleagues at the Università degli Studi di Parma in Italy wanted to see if detecting compounds associated with these diets would be an effective way to determine the authenticity of PDO-labelled parmesan.The researchers analysed more than 300 samples of cheeses using a gas chromatography-mass spectrometry method to see if it could help differentiate cheeses from cows fed silage versus those that were not. The team found that samples of Grana Padano, a cheese similar to parmesan but made with milk from cows that are allowed to eat silage, contained cyclopropane fatty acids. However, these fatty acids were not in PDO parmesan samples.The researchers also could tell if a blend of the

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two cheeses contained 10% or more of Grana Padano. Because the method is simple and fast, the researchers said it could be used in the industry to screen large numbers of samples for potential adulteration.

Antibiotic-free method to protect livestock against common infections

A University of Wisconsin-Madison animal scientist has developed an antibiotic-free method to protect animals raised for food against common infections. The innovation comes as growing public concern about antibiotic resistance has induced McDonald’s, Tyson Foods and other industry giants to announce major cuts in antibiotic use in meat production. About 80 per cent of antibiotics in the United States are used by farmers, because they both protect against disease and accelerate weight gain in many farm animals. The overuse of antibiotics in agriculture and medicine has created a public health crisis of drug-resistant infections, such as multidrug resistant staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) and “flesh-eating bacteria.”“You really can’t control the bugs forever; they will always evolve a way to defeat your drugs,” says Mark Cook, a professor of animal science and entrepreneur. Cook’s current work focuses on a fundamental immune “off-switch” called Interleukin 10 or IL-10, manipulated by bacteria and many other pathogens to defeat the immune system during infection. He and animal science associate researcher Jordan Sand have learned to disable this switch inside the intestine, the site of major farm animal infections such as the diarrheal disease coccidiosis.Cook vaccinates laying hens to create antibodies to IL-10. The hens put the antibody in eggs that are then sprayed on the feed of the animals he wants to protect. The antibody neutralizes the IL-10 off-switch in those animals, allowing their immune systems to better fight disease.In experiments with 300,000 chickens, those that ate the antibody-bearing material were fully protected against coccidiosis (continues…).

(The full article will be available on the EAAP Facebook page from Tuesday, June 14th. Please visit the EAAP Facebook page, you can also find other important information).

EU proposes that all scientific papers must be free by 2020

All publicly funded scientific papers published in Europe could be made free to access by 2020, under a “life-changing” reform ordered by the European Union’s science chief, Carlos Moedas.The Competitiveness Council, a gathering of ministers of science, innovation, trade and industry, agreed on the target following a two-day meeting in Brussels last week.The move means publications of the results of research supported by public and public-private funds would be freely available to and reusable by anyone. It could affect the paid-for subscription model used by many scientific journals, and undermine the common practice of releasing reports under embargo.At present the results of some publicly funded research are not accessible to people outside universities and similar institutions without one-off payments, which means that many teachers, doctors, entrepreneurs and others do not have access to the latest scientific insights. In the UK, funding bodies generally require that researchers publish under open access terms, with open access publishing fees paid from the researcher’s grant (continues…).

(The full article will be available on the EAAP Facebook page from Tuesday, June 14th. Please visit the EAAP Facebook page, you can also find other important information).

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NEWS FROM EU

New Innovation Deals to Reduce Barriers to Innovation and Boost Circular Economy

“Innovation Deals”, a new pilot scheme launched recently by the European Commission, aim to help innovators with promising solutions to environmental issues to navigate regulatory challenges to bringing their ideas to market. In an open invitation published for expressions of interest the Commission is seeking projects with strong potential to contribute to the EU’s Circular Economy Action Plan. The selected projects will benefit from access to a close cooperation framework bringing together national, local and EU regulatory bodies to help navigate regulatory requirements. This pilot is intended to support innovative ideas for maintaining the value of products, materials and resources in the economy.The initiative was introduced in the margins of the Competitiveness Council meeting by Frans Timmermans, the Commission’s First Vice-President, and Carlos Moedas, European Commissioner for Research, Science and Innovation (continues…).

(The full article will be available on the EAAP Facebook page from Tuesday, June 14th. Please visit the EAAP Facebook page, you can also find other important information).

Milk price crisis: MEPs demand further action to rescue dairy farmers

MEPs call for urgent action to help the struggling dairy sector. The EU must quickly take further measures to stabilize milk prices and bring relief to struggling dairy farmers, urged MEPs in Thursday’s plenary debate with Commissioner Phil Hogan and Dutch deputy farm minister Hans Hoogeveen. These measures should include a EU-wide lid on milk production to boost prices, a more efficient intervention system, to enable the EU to react more swiftly, and balancing the supply chain to enable farmers to earn fair returns, they said.

You can re-watch the plenary debate via EP Live, and EbS+. (continues…).

(The full article will be available on the EAAP Facebook page from Tuesday, June 14th. Please visit the EAAP Facebook page, you can also find other important information).

Public Consultation for Fisheries and Aquaculture and for Climate Action

The Commission has just launched a public consultation concerning one of the policy areas you selected when entering your organisation on the Transparency Register.The consultations concern:

• Fisheries and Aquaculture• Climate Action You can contribute to the consultation via the “Your Voice in Europe” site: http://ec.europa.eu/yourvoice/consultations/index_en.htmThe site is also a useful source of information if you have any questions about Commission consultations

CONFERENCE, WORKSHOP, MEETINGS

June 12th-17th, 2016

ICQG5 conference in Madison WI (USA)

The 5th International Conference on Quantitative Genetics will be held in Madison WI (USA), during June 12-17, 2016. The registration page is now already open. For more information: www.icqg5.org

June 20th-23rd, 2016

The 16th International Conference on Production Diseases in Farm Animals (ICPD) in Wageningen (the Netherlands)

A total number of 188 abstracts have been accepted for presentation in 11 scientific sessions. The preliminary programme is now available on the

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conference website. Those who are interested to participate should go to the conference website for more information on the registration procedure. Moreover, there will be an interesting social programme:

Wednesday 22 June a tour will be organized at the animal research facilities in Wageningen with a buffet dinner, hosted by the Animal Sciences Group.

Thursday 23 June will end with an excursion to Burgers’ Zoo in Arnhem with an invited lecture by Dr Constanze Mager, head Education and research at Burgers’ Zoo. This will be concluded by a Safari Style Conference Dinner!

June 20th-24th, 2016

The 13th International Colloquium on Paratuberculosis in Nantes (France)

The 13th International Colloquium on Paratuberculosis will be held in Nantes (France) from June 20th to 24th. For more information please see website: https://colloque.inra.fr/icp2016

June 23rd, 2016

The night of agroecology in Nantes (France)

The event, organized by the French initiative on agroecology, is named “The night of agroecology”. To demonstrate the importance of agroecology and farmers for France, the Minister of Agriculture is launching “The night of agroecology” on June 23 in all regions of France. This evening will be an opportunity for citizens to meet farmers in cafes, homes, associations and other public spaces. It will be an opportunity for those working in agriculture to introduce agroecological practices and debates to the public, under a common banner. Already, several networks engaged in the development of these practices have volunteered to participate in the organization of these meetings. We would like to praise the role of France in placing farmers at the centre of our food system. Working together we can

achieve food security, environmental protection, and a sustainable economy. More information can be found on: http://agriculture.gouv.fr/la-nuit-de-lagro-ecologie-jeudi-23-juin-2016-debats-citoyens-autour-de-lagriculture

June 24th, 2016

The International Conference “Agrimonde-Terra” in Paris (France)

«Land Use and Global Food Security in 2050», a foresight study by INRA will be presented in Paris next June.What could be land-use changes in the world between now and 2050? How will they impact on both global and regional food security in the context of climate change? The Agrimonde-Terra foresight study explores a variety of land-use scenarios based on qualitative and quantitative analysis. Scenarios are built and analysed with an international expert’s panel and using the INRA-CIRAD GlobAgri quantitative platform. They combine the possible evolutions of a large diversity of drivers (climate change, food diets, urban-rural relationships, farming structures, crop and animal production systems, public policies). The conference will present and discuss the implications of each scenario for food security, providing ‘food for thought’ for research institutions, policymakers and all actors involved in questions of land use and food security at global or regional scales. For more info: http://www.cirad.fr/en or http://www.inra.fr

June 27th-29th, 2016

The Infoweek in Brussels (Belgium)

The Infoweek about calls in 2017 for Societal Challenge 2, “Food security, sustainable agriculture and forestry, maritime and maritime inland water research and bio-economy” will be held in Brussels. At this event everyone can learn about the calls and topics, be updated on relevant past research outcomes and meet partners in the brokerage. The

www.eaap.org

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Buiatrics is the study of cattle and their health and the World Congress is held every two years. The Congress will be held over five days, bringing together world experts in cattle health and production systems: latest updates in diagnostics, animal health systems, animal welfare initiatives, food safety, zoonosis, mastitis control, parasitism, reproductive technologies and a wide range of infectious disease control programmes. There will be 2,500-3,000 delegates will attend from academia, research, general practice and government services branches of the veterinary profession as well as leading animal scientists.

July 19th-23rd, 2016

JAM in Salt Lake City (USA)

The 2016 ADSA-ASAS Joint Annual Meeting (JAM) will be held in Salt Lake City UT (USA), for more information for the North American animal science meeting: https://asas.org/meetings/jam-2016/home

August 29th–September 2nd, 2016

EAAP annual meeting in Belfast (UK)

The 67th EAAP annual meeting will be held at the Waterfront Conference and Exhibition Centre in the heart of Belfast and on the banks of the River Lagan (UK). Around 1400 animal scientists are expected for the largest livestock science meeting held in Europe.

event will include the following events:

• 27/06 - Dissemination event - The event will show case results of interesting and successful FP7 and Horizon 2020 projects which can be inspirational for calls open in 2017.

• 28/06 - Morning - Infoday on SC2 calls 2017 - Practical information to build successful proposals and interactive presentation of topics. Possibility to ask questions on topics will be opened like last year.

• 28/06 - Afternoon - Brokerage event - The brokerage event is organised by the BIOHORIZON project.

• 29/06 - Coordinators day - Coordinators of projects selected from the 2015 calls are invited to take part to learn how to run their project successfully.

The Infoweek will be held at Charlemagne building, Rue de la loi 170, Brussels.

July 1st-3rd, 2016

ICAR 2016 Satellite Meeting on Camelids Reproduction in Tour (France)

The website of the ICAR 2016 Satellite Meeting on Camelids Reproduction is in operation and you can access it at http://www.icarcamelidsatellite.com. On the website there are all information about the meeting that will be held in Tour (France) including registration to the conference and submission of abstracts. The deadline for submission of short abstracts is 15 March 2016 and the deadline for extended abstracts is 1 May 2016.

July 3rd-8th, 2016

The World Buiatrics Congress in Dublin (Ireland)

The 2016 World Buiatrics Congress will be held in the Convention Centre Dublin, Ireland. For more information please visit: http://www.wbc2016.com .

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The main topics of the conference are: Genetic characterization; Demographic CharacterizationMorphological and productive characterization; Reproductive technologies and conservation programs; Selection Schemes; Certificates and sustainability of AnGR Products; there will also be free communications. For more info: http://www.sprega.com.pt/conteudo.php?idm=49

September 19th- 21st, 2016

OECD “Blue Sky” event in Ghent (Belgium)

In September 2016 the Blue Sky event will be held. This even takes place every 10 years, and this year, like always, will gather science, technology and innovation practitioners around a discussion on evidence gaps and data needs.The European Commission has established through DG Research & Innovation intense cooperation with the OECD’s Science, Technology and Innovation Directorate. This cooperation has resulted in the launch of the STI Policy Survey 2016 (https://www.innovationpolicyplatform.org/ecoecd-stip-database), which this year and for the first time is a joint product by both institutions. In addition, comprehensive work on the incidence and impact of R&D tax incentives has been launched and an observatory for public sector innovation is being set up. In this context, it is important to draw the attention of the SSH and Forward-looking community to the upcoming OECD Blue Sky Forum which shall take the form of an unconstrained discussion on evidence gaps in science and innovation and on initiatives the international community can take to address data needs in this area. It will engage the policy community, data users and providers into an open dialogue to review and develop a long-term agenda on science, technology and innovation data and indicators. It will showcase examples of data and indicator development with the potential for international adoption, as well as examples of ground-breaking application of existing or new sources addressing questions and providing evidence on the state of

September 12th-15th, 2016

Conference on “Grazing in a changing Nordic region” in Reykjavik (Iceland)

The conference will take place in Reykjavik (Iceland). The conference will bring together policy-makers and experts of different disciplines to provide an integrated assessment of grazing in the changing Nordic region through presentations. The topics that will be dealt are: Nordic ecosystems and their responses to grazing under climate change; Historical and cultural values of traditional landscapes (conservation and restoration, biodiversity); Grazing management in Nordic conditions; Environmental impact of grazing on biodiversity and ecosystem services; Sustainable use and conservation of animal genetic resources in grazing; Socio-economic effects of grazing in rural areas (tourism, rural livelihoods) and linking goals of sustainability with support policies for grazing based agriculture. On the conference homepages http://www.nordicgrazing2016.org/ there are background and practical information, the preliminary scientific program, and information to register and submit abstracts for the conference.

September 15th-17th, 2016

X Iberian Congress on Animal Genetic Resources in Castelo Branco (Portugal)

At the Escola Superior Polytechnic Institute Agrária do Castelo Branco, The Portuguese Society of Genetic Resources Animais (SPREGA) and the Spanish Society for Animal Genetic Resources (SERGA) with the support of the Agricultural College Polytechnic Institute Castelo Branco (ESA / IPCB), will hold the X Congress Iberian Resources genetic Animals.Like in previous congresses researches will present new aspects about the genetic diversity of races, productive or demographic characterization, and related management programs, conservation, improvement and marketing of Animal Genetic Resources ( AnGR). Proposed presentation will be accepted for oral presentation or poster.

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now you can visit the specific website: www.phenodays.com

September 6th-8th, 2017

WAFL international scientific conference in Wageningen (the Netherlands)

WAFL will be held from 6-8 September 2017 at Wageningen (the Netherlands) and will be organized by the Wageningen Centre for Animal Welfare and Adaptation (CAWA) in collaboration with Van Hall Larenstein University of Applied Science. Some topic that will be discussed are: Welfare assessment protocols; Precision Farming and other new techniques for welfare measurements; Statistical methods to deal with large amounts of data; Genetics and welfare; Communication to consumers and welfare labelling. Please visit the website http://www.wafl2017.com for more information on the main conference, and the pre-conference activity. The important dates are 15 October 2016 for the opening of the registration and abstract submission and 1 February 2017 for the deadline of the abstracts submission

February 11th-16th, 2018

WCGALP meeting in Auckland (New Zealand)

The Organising Committee of the World Congress on Genetics Applied to Livestock Production is gearing up to the meeting in Auckland, New Zealand that will be held in February 2018. The registration will be open on December 1st 2016. Call for papers will open on May 1st, 2017. The deadline will be September 7th, 2017.

JOB OFFERS

Two-year master’s program iPAB - “Integrated Plant and Animal Breeding” in Göttingen (Germany)

The specialisation “iPAB” is scheduled to start in the winter semester 2016/ 2017. iPAB will initially be

science and innovation systems and the role of STI policies worldwide. Please find the background and call for paper at http://www.oecd.org/science/blue-sky.htm. The event counts on you to:

• submit original contributions on your preferred STI theme (as it is “blue sky”, the focus of these inputs is not constrained);

• diffuse the call to all those who can help develop a forward-looking and policy-relevant agenda on STI measurement.

October 16th- 21st, 2016

IDF World Dairy Summit in Rotterdam (the Netherlands)

The Organizing Committee of the IDF World Dairy Summit 2016 ‘Dare to Dairy’ in Rotterdam, Netherlands, has disclosed details of the programme http://www.idfwds2016.com/index.php/program-dates. Different from other Summits, ‘Dare to Dairy’ will be joined by high-level keynote speakers from outside the dairy sector, including leading representatives of non-governmental organizations. Registration at a discount fee is still possible until July 31. To have more information please visit http://www.idfwds2016.com/index.php/registration/

October 26th-27th, 2016

PhenoDays in Berlin (Germany)

The phenotyping conference will be held this year in Berlin. As always, this will be an interesting and well-attended event with delegates and speakers from academia and industry across the world. The first day will focus on laboratory and greenhouse phenotyping and the second day on field phenotyping. The conference participants aim to present new science, including new research and new applications for both automated and manual phenotyping.PhenoDays 2016 will be held at the Hotel Nhow, Berlin. To register and to see the sessions program

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The job position will require to:

- Create (real time) data driven models and decision systems using statistical modelling and machine learning techniques

- Translate business requirements into research questions

- Collaborate with other departments to ensure correct implementation of algorithms and real-time models

- Scouting for new developments in the field of data science and machine learning and apply those within CRV

- Project management & execution of projects

It is important for the candidate to have a passion for creating something new using innovative and complex methods, experience with machine learning techniques, implementing data driven models, experience with project management, good programming skills

Those who are interested must send the application letter and curriculum vitae to Jobs@crv4all.com. For more information, please contact Sijne van der Beek on +31(0)6-53810770 or sijne.van.der.beek@crv4all.com

Postdoctoral position at Munich (Germany)

A postdoctoral position is available at the Chair of Animal Breeding of the Technical University of Munich (TUM). The successful candidate will work on a variety of genetic and genomic projects in livestock species (mainly cattle and swine) with the aim of detecting and characterizing causal trait variants using next generation sequencing and large phenotype data sets. The candidate will be additionally tasked with some undergraduate teaching and the training of graduate students. Excellent opportunities exist for a motivated candidate to rapidly publish and to acquire new funding.

embedded in the Master Program for Agricultural Sciences. It is planned that the program will be transferred into a consecutive Master degree program by winter semester 2018/2019. Students specializing in iPAB will then automatically transferred into the degree program. The language is English.

Admission requirements: BSc in agriculture, biology or related disciplines; the admission regulations for the master program “Agricultural Sciences” will be applied; Proof of proficiency in English: CEFR Level C1 (TOEFL or equivalent)

The necessary profile: High degree of self-motivation and natural curiosity to tackle complex biological problems; Research-minded and not afraid of big data, mathematics and statistics; Interest in a long term engagement in international breeding research

There are different modules, some of them compulsory:

- Quantitative genetics and population genetics

- Breeding schemes and programs in plant and animal breeding- Statistical genetics, breeding informatics and experimental design- Biotechnology and molecular genetics in plant and animal breeding- Selection theory, design and optimisation of breeding programs

While a first study at a German university is tuition-free, please note that presently we cannot provide any scholarships or funding to support living costs.

More information: http://www.uni-goettingen.de/de/533390.html For further information, please contact: Dr Liane Schulz-Streeck; Tel: +49 (0)551-30 20848; iPAB@uni-goettingen.de

Data scientist in Arnhem (the Netherlands)

The data scientist will focus on creating decision support for farmers by combining sensor and genomics data for CRV.

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efficiency: http://epi-resurs.slu.se/Platsannonser/index.cfm?PageAction=lasmer&sprak=e&Platsannonser_id=2388

Post-doctoral fellowship in Portugal

One post-doctoral fellowship (Reference ICETA 2016-48) is opened at CIBIO-InBIO, for the Project “ARCHAIC - The archaeogenetics of Iberian cattle: investigating their origins, evolution and improvement” (PTDC/CVT-LIV/2827/2014).

The candidate must be of any nationality holding a PhD degree in biology, genetics, animal science or related fields. The candidate must have research experience in genetics, including laboratory skills in DNA extraction, sequencing and genotyping of molecular markers.

The keywords of the position are archaeogenetics; phylochronology; domestication; hybridization; animal improvement. The working place will be mainly conducted at CIBIO-InBIO Campus Agrario de Vairao, Portugal. The duration of the fellowship is 12 months, renewable up to a maximum of two years. Information and applications must be submitted by email to bolsas@cibio.up.pt with the fellowship reference in the subject area, and the following documentsattached: Curriculum vitae; Motivation Letter; Indication of two references and their contact information; Certificate copies of academic degrees.

The Chair of Animal breeding belongs to the TUM School of Life Sciences located in Freising-Weihenstephan, about 40 kilometres north of Munich. For more information, please visit http://www.tierzucht.tum.de. The contact person is Ruedi Fries (ruedi.fries@tum.de)

Position for Short-Term Scientific Missions in Methagene COST Action

COST Action FA1302 - “Methagene - Large-scale methane measurements on individual ruminants for genetic evaluations” is funding short term scientific missions to develop linkages and scientific collaborations between participating institutions involved in the Methagene COST Action.

The objective is to strengthen the existing networks and fostering collaboration by allowing scientists, breeding organizations and industry partners to visit an institution in another COST Country participating in the FA1302 Action. Short-Term Scientific Missions (STSM) should contribute to the objectives of the COST Action and send the application by e-mail as attachment to the future Host institution of the STSM and to the Action STSM Coordinator : Dr Marcin Pszczola marcin.pszczola@gmail.com. For further details: http://methagene.eu/stsm.html ; Chapter 7 of COST Vademecum - Short Term Scientific Missions (see: http://www.cost.eu/participate/networking)

Two post-doctoral researchers in quantitative genetics in Uppsala (Sweden)

The Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences is looking for 2 excellent post-doctoral researchers in quantitative genetics for a number of projects related to genomic selection, fertility, feed-efficiency and functional genomics.

The full job descriptions can be found at post-doc in the area of genomic selection methods:

http://epi-resurs.slu.se/Platsannonser/index.cfm?PageAction=lasmer&sprak=e&Platsannonser_id=2387 and in post-doc in the area of genetics and genomics of dairy cattle fertility and forage

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The Flash-e-news is the Official EAAP Newsletter. This interesting update about activities of the European animal science community, presents information on leading research institutions in Europe and also informs on developments in the industry sector related to animal science and production. The Newsletter is sent to all EAAP Members and supporters. You are all invited to submit information for the newsletter. Please send information, news, text, photos and logo to: eleonora@eaap.org .

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