Browsing by master's degree program "Master's Programme in Agricultural Sciences"

Due to climate change, extreme weather phenomena are becoming more common, making food production increasingly challenging. Simultaneously, emissions must be reduced, biodiversity loss prevented, and food produced in an energy and cost-effective manner. With the increasing challenges in food production due to climate change, proactive measures must be taken, which is why it is important to develop and implement new cultivation methods promoting more sustainable food production. One such method is intercropping, a new-old cultivation approach that improves both the sustainability and yield stability of agricultural ecosystems. This master’s thesis discusses the differences in greenhouse gas emissions from intercropping and monocultures during a single growing season. The study compares the intercropping of oats (Avena sativa L.), peas (Pisum sativum L.), and camelina (Camelina sativa) with the monocultures of the respective crops. The study examines the temporal variation of emissions, the cumulative and yield-scaled emissions, and the factors affecting them. The research data was collected as part of the Diversilience and the LuoVaMix projects in a field experiment in Hyvinkää in 2022. The experiment included five different experimental treatments, two of which were intercropped with three species, and three of which were monocultures. CO2, CH4, and N2O emissions were measured using closed static chamber method every other week. Additionally, information on plant and soil properties and weather conditions were measured in the experimental area. No significant differences were observed in greenhouse gas emissions between the treatments and no significant differences were found in cumulative emissions for any of the greenhouse gases studied over the growing season. Yield-scaled greenhouse gas emissions as CO2-equivalents were lowest in the monoculture oats, which also had the highest yield. The results of this study increase knowledge of greenhouse gas emissions from three-species intercropping during the growing season.

The background of the research was a societal need to find a compensatory for peat, which is widely used as a horses’ bedding material in Finland. It is estimated that exploitation possibilities and availability of peat is decreasing in the future. Because of the horses' welfare, it is needed to be researched what kind of bedding material would be as agreeable material for horses as peat is. In this research, the effects of two different bedding materials, reed canary grass pellets and peat, on horses' resting and sleeping behavior were investigated. The research was a part of the UNIHEPO-project, and it was executed in Ylä-Savo Vocational College, in Hingunniemi unit, at Kiuruvesi in November-December in 2022. The study consisted of two 21-day experimental periods. In the first period individual pens were littered by reed canary grass pellets of 15 centimeters. In the second period individual pens were littered by 15 centimeters of peat. Altogether 16 clinically healthy riding horses were involved, and they were kept in the same individual stalls. Horses’ behavior was recorded by videocameras, and their rest and sleep behavior were observed from both periods’ two (2) first and last days between 4 pm and 6 am. The average total duration of horses’ rest and sleep behavior were determined by dividing horses’ total duration of behavior by the number of behavioral periods. The differences between bedding materials were tested by linear repeated measurement to mixed models. The results of the research gave more information about horses’ rest and sleep behavior and how reed canary grass pellets affect horses' rest and sleep behavior compared to peat litter. The results showed that horses' rest behavior was longer on peat. Reed canary grass pellets increased horses’ activity of the neck and decreased the length of laying down periods during the first days of the period. On peat horses’ total duration of sleep was found to be longer and the rest that appeared to be paradoxical sleep was also longer. The horses laid on lateral and sternal recumbency more often and longer on peat periods. Results show that in the future more research is needed to be done into other bedding materials and their effects on horses’ rest and sleep behavior to promote horses’ wellbeing.

Grazing is a species-typical behavior for cows. In Finland, some dairy farms graze their cows, but grazing is decreasing as herd sizes increase. However, consumers demand more welfare to dairy cows, and many Dairies have started paying an additional price for milk if farms graze their cows. The research was carried out as part of the GRAZE-WEL project, in which the University of Helsinki and the Natural Resources Institute Finland are involved. The study viewed at the welfare of dairy cows on 15 Finnish practical dairy farms, of which 8 were freestalls and 7 were tiestalls. Of the farms in the study, all tiestalls grazed their cows in accordance with the law, and 4 freestalls grazed. A welfare assessment visit was carried out to the farms twice during the study, before and after the possible grazing season, so that the effects of grazing could be compared. During the welfare assessment visit, cow`s body condition class, cleanliness, knee and hock lesions and degree of lameness were classified. Average results were calculated and analyzed using the SAS statistical program`s generalized linear mixed model. The housing types studied were tiestall with grazing, freestall with grazing and freestall without grazing. The body condition of cows of all housing types decreased during the summer. The effect of classification time on body condition was statistically significant. Cows in both housing types with grazing were cleaner at the end of the grazing season than before the grazing season. The cleanliness of the cows was significantly affected by the time of classification. Knee and hock lesions decreased during the grazing season only in tiestall cows. The common factor of housing type and classification time had a significant effect on the classification results of knee and hock lesions of tiestall cows and non-grazed freestall cows. The lameness of cows decreased during the summer only in cows with tiestall housing. Tiestall cows benefited the most from grazing, as their welfare results improved in all areas during the summer. The welfare results of grazed freestall cows during the indoor feeding season were better than those of other housing types and remained the most consistent throughout the study.

Linear scoring of livestock and farm animals has been in use since the 1980’s. In Europe, the first linear evaluations in horse breeding were conducted in 1989. In Finland, the linear evaluation was introduced into breeding evaluation of warmblood horses in 2015. So far, there is only a limited amount of research available about the heritabilities calculated from linear evaluation. Some of the studies have shown that the judge has a statistically significant effect on the linear conformation evaluation of the horse. The heritabilites from these studies have varied within different researches. The highest siginificant heritabilities have been found for conformation traits. For now, only warmblood horses are being evaluated linearly in Finland. The aim of this study was to estimate the heritabilities of the leg and movement traits from show data between 2015 – 2019 and to estimate the genetic correlations between different traits. All in all 26 traits were analyzed in the study. There were 915 horses in the data. Observations were gathered from 29 different shows in Finland. Both geldings, mares and stallions were represented in the data, mares being the largest group of gender. From one singular age group, the two – year- old mares had the greatest amount of observations. Based on the year of birth, horses born in 2015 had the most observations. The year of birth did not, however, have any significance on the results. Both the age and the gender of the horse did have a statistic significance on the results. Also the location of the show and the year of observation had some significance. Heritibilities of leg traits based on this data were extremely low, ranging between 0,00 – 0,11. The heritabilities of type and movement traits ranged between 0,00 and 0,28. Standard errors of heritabilities ranged between 0,09 – 0,14. Genetic correlations between the traits ranged between weak to strong. Standard errors of genetic correlations ranged between 0,04 – 0,13. To get reliable heritability parameters, more data and research is needed about the linear scoring of horses.

Tutkielman tavoitteena oli hankkia tietoa karjakohtaisesta elinikäistuottavuudesta ja siihen kytkeytyvistä tekijöistä Suomessa. Aineisto kerättiin valiolaisilta Tuotosseurantaan kuuluvilta maitotiloilta. Varsinainen tutkimusaineisto koostui yli 120 lehmän tiloista ja aineiston lopullinen määrä oli 191 tilaa. Tutkimusosuus koostui kahdesta osiosta. Tilastoanalyysia varten luotiin uusi yhdistetty muuttuja EKM/elinpäivä maitoa meijeriin, jossa yhdistettiin käytettävissä olevia tuotosindi-kaattoreita. Monimuuttujaisen lineaarisen regressioanalyysimallin avulla testattiin valittujen hyvinvointi- ja tuotosindikaattoreiden yhteyttä luotuun vastemuuttujaan. Tilasto-osuuden jälkeen toteutettiin tapaustutkimus haastattelemalla kymmentä yrittäjää heidän korkeiden elin-ikäistuottavuustietojensa taustoista. Tilastoanalyysissa havaittiin lypsytavan, poistettujen lehmien keski-iän, keskituotoksen, kokonaisjalostusarvon, lehmien ja ensikoiden poistoprosenttien ja poikimavälin selittävän reilun kolmasosan tilojen välisestä vaihtelusta tutkimusaineiston tiloilla. Lypsytapa nousi tuloksissa merkittävimmäksi selittäväksi tekijäksi siten, että asemalypsytiloilla EKM/elinpäivä maitoa meijeriin oli keskimäärin noin 1,56 kg suurempi kuin automaattilypsytiloilla. Taustalla voivat olla automaattilypsytilojen vaatimukset lehmien jalka- ja utarerakenteen suhteen. Näiden eläimen rakenteeseen yhdistyvien tekijöiden heikko laatu oli myös tapaustutkimuksessa usein poiston taustalla. Tilakohtaisessa tapaustutkimusosuudessa tärkeimmiksi tekijöiksi elinikäistuottavuuden taustalla nousivat matala hoitokynnys, ennakoiva eläinterveydenhuolto ja varhainen puuttuminen jo sairauden subkliinisessä vaiheessa. Toisaalta haastatteluissa kävi ilmi myös yrittäjien myönteinen suhtautuminen työhönsä, arvostus lehmiään kohtaan ja korkea motivaatio panostaa eläinten terveyteen ja hyvinvointiin. Tähän tutkimukseen luotua yhdistettyä muuttujaa EKM/elinpäivä maitoa meijeriin voidaan tietynlaisena osatuottavuusmittarina. Sen avulla voidaan kuitenkin tarkastella karjakohtaisen kestävyyden ja tuottavuuden yhdistelmää ja niiden muodostumista. Nykyaikaisen maitotilan toiminnassa voidaankin ajatella yhdistyvän kolme osa-aluetta: taloudellinen kannattavuus, ekologisuus ja eläinten hyvinvointi. Toisaalta eri osa-alueet voivat myös tukea toisiaan, kun tilan toiminta on oikein johdettua ja toimenpiteet osataan kohdistaa oikein ja eri osa-alueiden toimintamekanismeista ja kytköksistä toisiinsa on riittävästi tietoa. Vaikka elinikäistuottavuutta ei tässä tutkimuksessa kytketty taloudelliseen kannattavuuteen, voidaan kestävien, pitkäikäisten lehmien ajatella avaavan mahdollisuuksia myös jalostusvalinnan tehostamiseen. Maidontuotantoon voidaan valita vain parhaiden lehmäyksilöiden vasikat, kun uudistustarve pienenee ja jalostukseen käytettävät lehmät voidaan valita suuremmasta joukosta eläimiä. Tutkimus tulee tällaisenaan Valion Voimalehmä-hankkeen käyttöön.

Residual feed intake (RFI) is a measurement method used in animals to determine feed efficiency. Improving feed efficiency has been found to be more cost-effective than maximizing daily gain. Determining the feed efficiency is laborious as the measurement periods are long and expensive. The problem is the limited capacity of the measuring devices in relation to the number of animals, because the animals daily dry matter intake (DMI), average daily gain (ADG) and metabolic body weight (MMBW) must be measured over a sufficiently long continuous period. The aim of the study was to optimize the measurement of residual feed intake to reduce workload. In this case, the costs of measurement would be lower, and the utilization rate of measuring equipment would be improved. The study sought a critical limit on the amount of data required. Measurements were removed from the data until it was found that the reliability of the results was affected. The hypothesis was that the fewer measurements and the shorter the measurement period, the greater the risk of error in the results. The study material included 105 dairy bulls and the experiment lasted 56 days. DMI was measured for each animal and the animals were weighed once a week during the experiment, a total of nine times (double weighings at the beginning, middle and end of the measurement period). The growth curves were used to calculate the ADG and MMBW of the animals. In addition, the area of the area of the cross-section of the longissimus muscle (M.longissimus dorsi) and the thickness of the back fat of each bull were measured with an ultrasound device at the end of the experiment. RFI was calculated for seven different measurement periods. The original 56-day period was shortened to seven days at a time until the period was 28 days. Ultrasound measurements were added to the 56-day measurement period model only. In addition, the number of weighing was reduced from nine to five and three times from the original 56-day model. The addition of ultrasound measurements weakened the statistical model compared to the initial 56-day measurement period. The animal RFI results changed the most in the 28-day and 35-day models. The reliability of the results decreased the least in the 49-day and five-weighing models. The ADG and MMBW averages remained almost the same in the models until 35 days. The shorter the measurement period, the more the DMI values changed. Based on the results, shortening length of the RFI measurement period to 42 days had no market effect on the results. A 42-day measurement period is enough for DMI, but a longer measurement period is recommended for ADG. Three weighings did not change the ADG as much as the 49-day measurement period and was more reliable than the 42-day measurement period. Adding longissimus muscle and back fat to the RFI model did not improve the reliability of the model and thus did not provide added value. Based on this study, ultrasonic measurements are not required to determine RFI, and the workload can also be reduced by shortening the measurement period or reducing weighing times.

Weed diversity has been found to have many positive effects on the field ecosystem. Diverse weed communities benefit crops by reducing competitive pressure from individual weeds and maintain ecosystem services. Organic fields have been found to have quantitatively more weed species than conventionally cultivated fields. This study compared the difference in weed diversity, which refers not only to the number of weed species but also to the evenness of their abundance, between organic and conventionally cultivated fields. The differences in diversity between organic fields and the factors influencing these differences were also examined. The study used data collected by the Natural Resources Institute Finland (Luke) from spring cereal field weed surveys, which have been collected since the 1960s. The fifth three-year monitoring, the data of which are used in this study, was carried out between 2020 and 2022 and included 90 organic fields, for which conventionally cultivated counterparts from the same areas were selected for this study. For each field plot, 10 sampling points were randomly selected. The number of weed species found and the number of individuals were counted from the sampling points. Biomass samples of weeds and cereals were collected from four sampling points out of the ten. The results compared organic fields with conventionally cultivated fields and looked at differences in organic fields in relation to geographical location, different farming practices and how long the field had been under organic cultivation. Weed diversity was assessed using three different variables: the average number of weed species and the Shannon diversity indexes H' and E, which describe species abundance and evenness. Differences in weed species and diversity were found between organic and conventionally cultivated fields. More weed species were found quantitatively in organic fields, but the evenness of weed species in the plots was similar for both production methods. The prevalence of the most common weed species was higher in organic fields compared to conventionally cultivated fields. Differences in diversity and dry matter content of cereals between organic fields were influenced by geographical location. Among the cropping practices, the use of undersown crops reduced species evenness and fertilization increased dry weight of cereals. The time the organic field had been in organic production did not affect weed diversity or dry weight of the cereals.

Tomaatit ovat tärkeimpiä luomutuotteita Suomessa. Pohjoismaisissa oloissa luomutomaatteja kasvatetaan pääasiassa kasvihuoneissa rajoitetussa kasvualustassa. Luomukasvihuonetuotanto eroaa tavanomaisesta tuotannosta eniten kasvinravinteiden käytössä. Tutkimuksen tavoitteina oli selvittää luonnonmukaisen kasvualustojen ja kasvinravitsemuksen vaikutusta tomaatin satoon ja sadon laatuun. Kasvihuonetutkimuksessa kirsikkatomaatilla (Solanum lycopersicum) tutkittiin kolmea kaupallista luomukasvualustaa ja kahta kokeeseen suunniteltua luomujakojuurikasvualustaa, joita verrattiin tavanomaiseen kivennäislannoitettuun kontrollialustaan. Luomukasvualustoja lannoitettiin pelkästään siipikarjanlannasta valmistetuilla kiinteillä lannoitteilla. Jakojuurialustat erosivat toisistaan vain lannoituksen määrän suhteen. Kokeessa seurattiin kasvualustojen ravinnepitoisuuksia, sadon määrää ja laatua ja tomaattien vegetatiivista kasvua. Kasvualustoista kerättiin satoa 28 viikon ajan. Yhtä kaupallista kasvualustaa lukuun ottamatta kaikki luomukasvualustat tuottivat yhtä suuren sadon kuin kivennäislannoitettuun kontrolli. Heikoimmat sadot ja vegetatiivisen kasvun tuotti kasvualusta, jonka rakenne ei tukenut lisättyjen ravinnepanosten liukenemista ja mineralisoitumista kasveille helposti käytettävään muotoon. Kontrolli tuotti tilastollisesti eniten kauppakelvottomia hedelmiä. Kasvualusta ja lannoiteratkaisut eivät vaikuttaneet hedelmien liukoisten kuiva-aineiden pitoisuuteen, mutta kontrollin hedelmien titrautuva happamuus oli 25 – 30 % luomukasvualustoja suurempi kasvukauden alussa. Titrautuvan happamuuden kasvu alentaa tomaattien sokeri/happo -suhdetta, mikä viittaa kontrollissa olevan huonomman makuisia tomaatteja. Kokeessa käytetyt jakojuurialustat eivät eronneet tilastollisesti toisistaan sadon määrän, laadun tai vegetatiivisen kasvun suhteen. Kasvualustan rakenne on erityisen tärkeää lannoituksen onnistumisen kannalta. Luomukasvualustoilla ja luomulannoituksella voidaan saada samansuuruinen ja laadukkaampi sato tavanomaiseen tuotantoon verrattuna, jos kasvualustan ravinteiden riittävyydestä pidetään huoli.

During the lactation cycle of dairy cows, the feeding strategy can influence the milk yield and the animal's welfare. During early lactation in particular, major changes occur in the metabolism of cows. The cow's body condition score at calving affects early lactation period, as fatter cows mobilize their tissue reserves abundantly due to lower dry matter intake and thus more severe negative energy balance. Excessive mobilization of fat tissue stores can manifest as a metabolic disorder called ketosis. The well-being of the cow and successful feeding has a positive effect on the milk yield and thus also on the economic profitability of the farm. The aim of this study was to examine how concentrate feeding of dairy cows should be implemented throughout the lactation, when lower than usual proportion of concentrate is fed (about 35% of diet dry matter). In the feeding trial, the effects of the concentrate feeding schemes on milk yield of cows during the early and late lactation were investigated. The study also investigated the effects of the concentrate feeding model on the cow's energy balance and the change in live weight and body condition score. The study compared feeding a flat rate of concentrate throughout the lactation to distributing concentrate unevenly according to the lactation stage. The research was carried out in the experimental dairy barn of the Natural Resources Institute in Finland in Jokioinen as two different sub-experiments, where cows in the early and late lactation formed their own experimental groups. Both groups consisted of 20 Nordic Red dairy cows. Early lactation cows started the experiment immediately after calving, unlike cows in the late lactation, which started their experiment all at the same time (approx. 213 days after calving). All cows were fed a total mixed ratio with a concentrate content of 25% in dry matter, the concentrate proportion in the whole diet was adjusted in concentrate stations. The experimental groups were randomly divided into two different groups. The concentrate proportion in early lactation cows was 35% or 45% of the total dry matter intake, and 35% or 27% for late lactation cows. Cows in the early lactation were given 2 dl of propylene glycol per day. Timothy-meadow fescue silage from 1st cut with a D-value of 697 g/kg dry matter was used as forage in the diet. The feeding trials lasted eight weeks. During the trials, the milk yield, feed consumption and live weight of the cows were measured daily. The body condition score of all animals were determined at the beginning and end of the experiment. In addition, blood samples were taken from the cows in the early lactation at production weeks 1, 3 and 6 to determine plasma beta-hydroxybutyrate (BHB) and non-esterified fatty acids (NEFA) concentrations. Based on the current study, it was concluded that in a grass silage-based feeding model, it is the best to emphasize the feeding of concentrate at the beginning of lactation and give less concentrate in late lactation. However, there were no health benefits from a higher proportion of concentrate in terms of energy balance at early lactation when compared to a lower rate of concentrate. Emphasis on concentrate distribution at early lactation is more profitable feeding strategy compared to flat concentrate rate due to increased milk yield and financial results. In addition, the lower live weight gain achieved in the end-lactation with lowered concentrate feeding rate has advantages for the cows' next calving and the beginning of the subsequent production period.

Ilmastonmuutos on ajankohtainen ilmiö, joka tulee muuttamaan maataloutta maailmanlaajuisesti, minkä takia sen kokonaisvaltainen ymmärtäminen on tärkeää maataloustieteiden opiskelijoille. Ilmastonmuutos on monimutkainen ilmiö ja sen oppiminen on havaittu vaikeaksi. Ilmastonmuutoksen ja siihen liittyvien vuorovaikutussuhteiden ymmärtämiseksi tarvitaan systeemistä ajattelua, joka on ajattelun taito ja lähestymistapa monimutkaisten ja suurien kokonaisuuksien ymmärtämiselle. Tutkielman tavoitteena oli kartoittaa maataloustieteiden ensimmäisen vuoden opiskelijoiden(N=55) systeemisen ajattelun tasoa opintojen alussa sekä systeemisen ajattelun kehittymistä ensimmäisen opiskeluvuoden aikana ilmastonmuutoksen vaikutuksista kasvintuotantoon Suomessa. Lisäksi tutkielmassa kartoitettiin, millaisia virhekäsityksiä aiheeseen liittyen opiskelijoilla esiintyi tutkimuksen aikana. Tutkielman tuloksien mukaan maataloustieteiden opiskelijoilla oli heikot systeemisen ajattelun taidot ilmastomuutoksen vaikutuksista kasvintuotantoon opintojen alussa. Tuloksissa opiskelijoiden systeemisen ajattelun havaittiin kehittyvän ensimmäisen opiskeluvuoden aikana. Tuloksien mukaan opiskelijoilla esiintyi joitakin virhekäsityksiä liittyen ilmastonmuutokseen, joista keskeisimpänä havaittiin usealla opiskelijalla oleva virhekäsitys valon määrän lisääntymisestä ilmastonmuutoksen seurauksena. Tutkimuksen tuloksia voidaan hyödyntää tulevaisuudessa maataloustieteiden opetuksen suunnittelussa ja kehittämisessä, jossa systeemisen ajattelun sisällyttäminen opetukseen on tärkeää vaikeiden ilmiöiden oppimisessa. Lisäksi opetuksessa olisi tärkeää tunnistaa opiskelijoiden mahdollisia virhekäsityksiä ja pyrkiä saamaan opiskelijat tietoisiksi näistä aiemmista virhekäsityksistään, mikä auttaa heitä kehittämään tieteellistä ymmärrystään.