Den vanligaste produktionsformen av nötkött sker i dikobesättningar, där kor och kvigor förväntas föda en kalv per år. I sådana besättningar är fertilitet hos djuren en viktig faktor, då förmågan att föda fram en kalv varje år påverkar inkomsten. I Sverige används naturlig betäckning i störst utsträckning, men ett alternativ är artificiell insemination. Syftet med detta arbete är att undersöka för- och nackdelar med artificiell insemination och varför det inte används i samma utsträckning inom dikobesättningar som hos mjölkkor, samt när det kan vara aktuellt att använda sig av. Den artificiella inseminationens påverkan på dräktighetsresultat varierar mycket i studierna, från 37 till 74 %, men det antyds att 50 % är ett gränsvärde där resultat över detta kan anses godtagbara. Ekonomiskt finns fördelar så som ökade kalvvikter och mindre förluster relaterat till kalvningssvårigheter, men nackdelar i form av ökade kostnader för veterinärtjänster och mediciner samt för arbete.

Multiple factors are involved in control of beef sensory quality so great variation can be induced. The perception of meat quality can be affected anywhere in the product chain. Both the environment and the set of genes of the animals have an effect on the final output. A problem facing the beef industry today is the significant variations in meat quality between individual animals, which is reflected in the uneven quality of the meat that reaches the consumer. If the quality of meat in stores varies significantly over time, the consumers? trust may decrease.

Animal welfare can be measured in several different ways; for example by using animal-based measurements. It has been shown that register data from the Swedish Official Milk Recording Scheme can be helpful when identifying herds at risk of having poor animal welfare, which led to a development of the advisory service of ?Ask the Cow? and the web report ?Animal Welfare Signals?. The aim of this project was to find out if register data from ?Animal Welfare Signals? can be used as a screening tool for detecting herds at risk of having poor animal welfare and in need of an ?Ask the Cow?.

After a workshop in Kuopio held in June 2006, Interbull decided to go forward with the development of a system for beef international genetic evaluation and a three year project called Interbeef was launched in June 2007. The participating countries are so far limited to Europe and the only trait evaluated at present is adjusted weaning weight (weight at 200 days). The results from a first international genetic evaluation have been shared with the countries but are not yet official. The evaluation is based on data from purebred Charolais and Limousin. To achieve good estimates of proofs in an international context it is important that methods for data validation and model selection are implemented.

There are various arguments for using total mixed rations (TMR) or not. Cows can easily become fat and thus poorly utilize the feed while it can be stated that TMR also has a positive effect on cows? health and wellbeing as the rumen environment is more constant than when separate feeding is applied. Studies do show that that especially low yielding cows kept in groups get fatter when fed TMR. The overfeeding implicates higher feeding costs. This study included 10 herds where 5 had TMR and 5 hade separate feeding of forage and concentrates.

Neospora caninum is an intracellular parasite that was first recognized in dogs in 1984. The parasite is now one of the most commonly diagnosed infectious causes of abortion in cattle word wide. N. caninum is transmitted to cattle in two ways. They may be infected from eating food contaminated with oocysts from a definitive host or they may be infected in utero from an infected mother. The infection is transmitted efficiently from cow to her offspring and this can occur for generations.

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.

The Swedish beef cattle population is growing when the dairy cattle become fewer. The fertility of the beef cows is important for the profitability in beef cattle production. Today there is no genetic evaluation for female fertility in Swedish beef cows. The purpose of this study was to see if calving interval can be used in the genetic evaluation as a measure of female fertility in beef cows. For this purpose the variation in calving interval for beef cows of different breeds and ages registred in KAP was studied.

Mastitis, inflammation in the udder tissue, caused by S. aureus is a big problem in dairy cattle production. It causes suffering for the cow and curing or replacing the infected cow is costly for the farmer. It is known that beef cattle also suffer from mastitis caused by S. aureus.

The release of green house gases and the environmental impacts humans have on the environment are huge and might cause irreversible changes to our earth. Meat is considered to have large impacts on the environment, especially beef meat and therefore there have lately been considerable discussions on the sustainable level of meat consumption and production. The main goal with this thesis is to study sustainable meat production and meat consumption in the county of Dalarna in Sweden. Indicators for sustainable meat production and meat consumption were developed and applied on three cases. Interviews were carried out with a municipality in the region that represents the consumer and three beef farmers that represents the producers.

Many dairy farms doesn?t keep their bull calves and cross cow calves, they sell them to breeders instead of raising them their self. It should be possible for the dairy farmers to do it them self?s. There is also a possibility to bread one calf from the cross heifers. The purpose of the investigation was to see if there is any economic possibility to breed beef cattle. I have used the same sample farm trough the hole study, because it would be easier to fallow the study.

The release of green house gases and the environmental impacts humans have on the environment are huge and might cause irreversible changes to our earth. Meat is considered to have large impacts on the environment, especially beef meat and therefore there have lately been considerable discussions on the sustainable level of meat consumption and production. The main goal with this thesis is to study sustainable meat production and meat consumption in the county of Dalarna in Sweden. Indicators for sustainable meat production and meat consumption were developed and applied on three cases. Interviews were carried out with a municipality in the region that represents the consumer and three beef farmers that represents the producers.

KRAV-certified organic dairy herds generally have a lower milk yield than conventional dairy herds. A high-level of milk yield requires a feeding regime with high amounts of concentrates, a factor known to contribute to the development of claw lesions (Bergsten, C. 2003). The aim of this study was to compare claw health between organic and conventional dairy herds in free and tie stall systems. The number of herds from different domestic animal health associations was chosen in proportion to the association´s total portion of Swedish dairy producing herds of each type, respectively.

If you keep cattle in a herd outside all year round on big varying grounds, their possibilityto perform their natural behaviour increases. This way of keeping cattle requires that youprovide them with their other needs, like shelter and a dry and clean resting place.According to the animal welfare authority´s regulations on livestock farming, only animalsthat are suited to stay outside during the cold season are allowed to be kept outside. Theyshould also have access to a shelter or another building that gives them protection from theweather and wind and provides a dry and clean resting place.Research has shown that as long as cattle do not get exposed to precipitation and wind theywill manage low temperature well. Some of the things that will affect how well the animalshandle different climates are the isolation ability of the fur, the animals´ body size and thefeed intake. A dry lying place that is both insulating and moisture absorbent is also of greatimportance.

Metabolic diseases in dairy cows are considered to increase the risk for claw lesions, most of all laminitis, sole haemorrhages and sole ulcers, but also to increase the risk for environmental claw lesions. The aim of this study was to compare claw health in 27 Swedish dairy farms, 18 with high incidence of metabolic diseases and 9 with low incidence. Data on claw health status was retrieved from recordings at routine claw trimmings and analysed on herd level regarding the prevalence of: any lesion, interdigital dermatitis, heel-horn erosion, sole haemorrhages, sole ulcer, lameness, abnormal claw shape, and other diseases (abscess in the white line, limb disorders, double sole, laminitic groove, white line disease, interdigital phlegmon, interdigital hyperplasia, toe abscess and verucose dermatitis). Mean prevalence of any lesion for herds with low incidence of metabolic diseases was 48 % and in herds with high incidence 41 %, and there was no statistical difference between the two groups. Mean prevalence for interdigital dermatitis was 2,0 % and 6.4 % in the low and high incidence groups, respectively (p.