Specialty Livestock
A special issue of Agriculture (ISSN 2077-0472). This special issue belongs to the section "Farm Animal Production".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 May 2021) | Viewed by 16594
Special Issue Editor
Interests: meat quality; organic farming; animal welfare; animal farming
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
In times of public concerns about animal welfare, environmental, safety and human health, specialty livestock farming is one of the best agricultural strategies for increasing the sustainability of animal production, increasing the public acceptance of animal farming, and contributing to the implementation of a ”From Farm to Fork” strategy. Specialty livestock farming allows for the production of food of a very high standard, with respect to the environment and on the basis of locally available feed resources.
This Special Issue covers agricultural production systems with a benign impact on the environment and a beneficial effect on the farmed animals: alternative livestock farming, mixed crop-livestock farming, and backyard farming. Specialty, alternative, or unconventional livestock are terms used for animals farmed under systems promoting high welfare standards, and therefore we can expect them to be healthier when compared to commercial, conventional livestock species. The production of these multipurpose animals, kept for meat, milk, manure, fibers, and feathers is both environmentally sound and profitable. Many examples can be found in regions with harsh environmental conditions, where multipurpose breeds are treated as the most economically viable form of animal production. In general, in times of pasture-based animal farming, some of the old, native breeds have returned to farmers’ good graces.
The products from specialty livestock are healthier and safer for consumers when compared to commercial livestock, but they require consumer acceptance and finding sales markets. More research data, research grants, and funding are needed in order to increase the knowledge in this field and promote specialty livestock farming. This Special Issue has been prepared to gather the newest research results on specialty livestock species, their role in agriculture, and in the production chain of food and other animal products.
Dr. Agnieszka Ludwiczak
Guest Editor
Manuscript Submission Information
Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.
Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Agriculture is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.
Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.
Keywords
- sustainable agriculture
- specialty livestock
- alternative livestock
- mixed farming
- backyard farming
- bush meat
- exotic meat
- multipurpose animals
- native livestock breeds
