Food is widely consumed and in 2011 an average American devoured approximately one ton of food. The production of these goods requires large amounts of energy and contributes to 22-31 % of all greenhouse gas emissions occurring in Europe. More than one third of the produced food is discarded instead of consumed, and food waste make up about 30 % of the waste generated by households. 60 % of this food waste could be avoided if the eatables were handled in a better way.Avoidable food waste arises partly because residues from food are not taken care of, and because the food is not stored in a way that optimise its durability. Residues arises part- ly because of the contradictory and complex demands of everyday life and are, because of our busy lifestyle, difficult to avoid.

Today, high-yielding leys of good quality are a must for Swedish dairy and Beef enterprises if they are to become profitable. Thus, it is of interest to evaluate the quality of the recently released high-yielding Festulolium hybrids ((Festulolium braunii (K.Rich.) A.Camus). The aim of this project was to determine at what phenological stage three different Festulolium hybrids should be cut in order to get the highest nutritional value. The hybrids studied were Hykor, Perun and Paulita. In the study I also investigated if leaf proportion of the crop could be useful for predictions of the crop content of metabolizable energy. The cultivars were grown in plots within a variety trial with ryegrasses.

Food consumption generates externalities such as carbon dioxide emissions, which contribute to global warming. The principal issue is that emissions are not covered by the "polluter pays principle". For this reason, new policy instruments need to be tested and implemented to correct the externalities. In food production, Beef and dairy production has the largest environmental impact in terms of carbon emissions. As food is a necessity, simply reducing production will not solve the problem.

Persistent pink in Beef patties and hamburgers is a problem in the meat industry that has been known for a few decades. It is a costly problem as it can give rejections of food by consumers. Studies around the world have tried to solve the problem but it still remains a mystery. There are many different theories of what is causing the red colour. Some of the most likly theories are reducing hemocromes, high microbiological loads, contamination of nitrite or organic/non organic substanses, DFD meat etc.

To be a farmer and have suckler cows is a difficult combination especially considering the economy. Because of the increased feed costs, the margins have become tighter. The meat price from Beef cattle has increased a little when this text is written (spring, 2008), but not so much that it covers the cost for feed etc. I have a small suckler cow production on approximately 30 cows and 2 bulls plus followers as a part-time business. The herd is tied in the old dairy stable built in the late seventies.

The corn plant came to Europe with Christopher Columbus in the 14th century and have ever since bin cropped here, but corn haven?t bin very common in Scandinavia until recently. The mainly use for this crop silage but even corn for grain is cropped in Europe. Corn for grain is a common part of feed in Beef and chicken farming. In Sweden corn for grain is pretty rare but almost 1000 hectares are used for this crop, Lantmännen Sverige is the biggest buyer of corn at the moment.

Av det nötkött som produceras i Sverige råder det stor variation ur kvalitetssynpunkt. Konsumenten kan idag inte garanteras ett nötkött med önskade egenskaper vid varje inköpstillfälle, trots att köttet kommer från samma typ av styckningsdetalj. För att kunna konkurrera med den ökade importen av nötkött och för att kunna erbjuda konsumenten ett nötkött med förbättrad och jämn ätkvalitet finns nu ett gemensamt intresse inom den svenska köttbranschen att bedöma marmoreringsgraden av svenskt nötkött. Köttets marmorering utgörs av det intramuskulära fettet som visat sig ha positiv effekt på köttets sensoriska egenskaper. Studiens syfte var att kartlägga internationella erfarenheter och tillvägagångssätt för marmoreringsbedömning på nötkött samt att belysa det svenska slakteriledets perspektiv inför en ny svensk kvalitetsklassificering avseende nötköttets marmoreringsgrad. Denna studie kan ses som en delstudie i branschorganisationen Svenskt kötts projekt vars mål är att skapa ett system för klassificering av nötkött avseende köttets grad av marmorering för att möta konsumenters önskemål och för att stärka kvaliteten på svenskt nötkött. Utifrån litteraturen har fyra internationella klassificeringssystem studerats där marmoreringsbedömning utgör ett viktigt kvalitetsattribut vid klassificering av slaktkroppen.

Extensive cattle management was reintroduced in Sweden during the 1950´s and 60´s. Usually this term refers to suckler cows for meat production that is kept outdoors all year around. Suckler cow farms tend to become fewer but bigger over time. Still however most of the farms with Beef cows are small. Extensive animal husbandry can lead to animals becoming shy which leads to difficulties when they are handled due to veterinary treatments, marking, transport etc.

This master thesis is about the collaboration between the custom dairy heifer grower and thedairy producer.The custom dairy heifer grower is a rather unusual strategy of reproductive management inSweden compared to other countries like U.S. and Denmark where the specialization withindairy production gone much further. In these countries the research also has reached muchfurther within this type of industry. However in Sweden there has been research made in thearea of collaboration, but then only within collaborations in the industries of crop production,dairy production and pork meat.The down going trend of profitability within dairy production together with poor profitabilityin the Beef industry could partly remedy if more collaborations around heifer contractingwould arise. But since the industry still is of a rare kind in Sweden the knowledge about howthese types of collaborative arrangements works and their contracts are put together is poor.By that the aim of this master thesis is formulated as follows: "how is usually thecollaborative arrangement between the dairy producer and custom dairy heifer growerdesigned".

In many developing countries, among them Vietnam, contamination of agricultural land is a major issue that has public health implications. A fast growing population, rapid urbanization and industrialization have led to air and water emissions of potentially toxic elements (PTEs), such as cadmium (Cd). Earlier studies have shown that individuals with low iron (Fe) and zinc (Zn) status absorb larger quantities of Cd than those of adequate nutritional status. The purpose of this study was to investigate and compare the Fe and Zn intake from the foods consumed by women (15-45 years) in selected households in two agricultural villag-es in the Red River delta in Vietnam. In one of the villages the residents were involved in metal (mainly Fe) recycling activity, whereas in the other village the residents had agricul-tural production as main source of income. Interviews, followed by food intake calcula-tions, were performed.

The structural rationalization of the agricultural sector in Sweden has led to many expansive, professional companies orientated towards growth. The agricultural sector is a very capital-intense sector and is characterized by the need for large sums of capital in form of buildings, inventory and arable land. The capital need is especially large for companies who have an ambition of growth and development of the company in the near future. The study is built upon six cases that all can be categorized as large agricultural farms with a turnover exceeding 20 million Swedish crowns. The companies are located in the middle and in the south of Sweden and are in the sector of primary production with focus on dairy-, pork-, egg-, chicken-, Beef-, vegetables- and grain production as well as in the business of refining milk towards consumers. The study aims to identify the motives and driving forces that lies behind the growth of a farm-based company. The agricultural companies' motive for growth is studied based on which factors that influence the ambition to grow and to what extent these factors accord to the picture given by earlier research of small companies outside the agricultural sector.

Hemoplus® (Sarstedt, Nümbrecht, Tyskland) is a guaiac-based fecal occult blood test developed for human medicine. Guaiac-based tests make use of the pseudoperoxidase activity of hemoglobin so the test is not specific for human hemoglobin and can therefore be used in veterinary medicine. Peroxidase-containing foods such as meat (hemoglobin and myoglobin) can cause false-positive results of the test. To ensure that a positive result is not caused by diet, it has been suggested that canine patients should be fed a meatless diet for a few days prior to fecal occult blood testing. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of commercial dog food on guaiac-based tests. In this study fecal samples from healthy dogs were analyzed with Hemoplus®.

The top selection of Swedish Beef bulls are evaluated yearly by Svensk Köttrasprövning AB at Gismestad. The bulls are selected from six different breeds; Angus, Blonde d´Aquitaine, Charolais, Hereford, Limousin and Simmental, and are kept on straw bedding apart from a concrete alley in front of the feeding area during the six months of evaluation period. The bulls are evaluated according to their fertility scores, growth, exterior and temperament and the exterior, body posture and claw conformation reflect important qualities for their longevity. In spite of good values for fertility, it has been noticed in the last years that the fertility results and longevity have been unsatisfactory and claw and/or bone disorders have been suspected as a contributory cause. Persson et al. (2007) studied breeding bulls from Gismestad and other places, which had been slaughtered due to poor fertility (no pregnancies in the herd during their last year in service).

The purpose of this candidate thesis is to obtain an overall picture of how many prohibitions against owning or taking care of animals that were announced in Sweden in the years 2006-2008 and on what basis these judicial decisions were taken. What is the situation for the person behind the judicial decisions? Is there a so-called risk category where preventive actions to solve the problem can be taken at an earlier stage?The first Swedish animal welfare legislation came into force in 1944. Previously there was a law of 1857 that only prohibited the maltreatment of farm animals. In 1988 the existing animal welfare law was revised into an in principle new law (1988:534).As early as in the Royal Majesty?s government bill (1944:43) to the 1944 animal welfare legislation, there was a proposal that issued prohibition for those having been convicted of aggravated cruelty to animals.

In June 2013 a debate concerning the consumers? right to a label of origin on food packages was held in the Swedish parliament (www, Riksdagen, 2014). The debate was sparked by some food scandals where labelling was falsely used, claiming something that was not true ? the horse-meat scandal, frozen strawberries infected by Hepatitis A, pork sold as Beef, etc. These cases were not only wrong in terms of food safety, but also fraudulent and threating consumers? right to fair origin labelling.