The influence of weather conditions on the average yield of honey in one apiary over a period of 30 years in the UK has been studied. In highly significant multiple regression equations weather variables accounted for over 80% of the variation in annual average honey yield. Weather in March, May and June had the major effects. Implications and applications of the equations are considered.

Fresh cattle dung from four farms with different feeding strategies was used to create artificial dung pats in a continuously grazed pasture in order to compare the rejection of herbage growing around the pats, the effect on undisturbed herbage growth under cages and pat decomposition. The first farm was an extensive organic farm (ORGE) with young steers grazing on a biodiverse sward. The second was an intensive organic farm (ORGI) with dairy cattle grazing on a grass/clover sward during the day and fed low-protein forages indoors. The third dung used was from an integrated farm (INT), where the feeding strategy was aiming for high dung quality by including straw in the diet. The fourth examined dung was from a conventional farm (CONV) aiming for a high milk production per cow, where fertilized grazed grass was the main component of the diet. A human smell test was performed to rank the odour of the four dungs.

After 6 weeks of continuous grazing with dairy cattle, herbage yield around INT pats tended to be lowest, whilst undisturbed herbage yield in and around caged INT pats was highest (P<0·05). Therefore, it could be concluded that rejection was lowest for INT. The CONV pats gave highest rejection (P<0·05). However, herbage yield around the dung pats under grazing showed no significant correlation with both the human smell test and the contents of total-N and sugar in the rejected herbage.

The feeding strategy had a significant effect on the decomposition of dung pats under the cages. After 6 weeks, the most liquid and least fibrous dung (CONV) showed highest decomposition (P<0·05), whilst decomposition of the most solid and fibrous dung (ORGE) tended to be lowest. However, no relationship was found between the decomposition of dung and the rejection of herbage around the dung pats.

When combining a number of parameters determined in the experiment and comparing them using index figures for dung quality in terms of rejection, herbage growth and decomposition, the index figures of ORGI (102) and especially INT (113) were above average (100), while those of ORGE (94) and CONV (90) were below average. The difference between ORGI and INT might be explained by the addition of straw to the diet in the latter. The study showed that there are possibilities to improve dung quality by altering feeding strategy.

The contents of phenolic compounds, protein precipitation capacity (PPC) and in vitro gas production of tropical browse species were evaluated. The stoichiometric relationship between in vitro gas measured on incubation of tannin-containing browses in buffered rumen fluid and calculated from short chain fatty acid (SCFA) production was investigated. Crude protein (CP) contents in the browses ranged from 54 to 300 g/kg dry matter (DM). Total phenol (TP), tannins (T) and condensed tannins (TP and T as tannic acid equivalent; CT, as leucocyanidin equivalent) ranged from 17–250, 7–214, and 0–260 g/kg DM respectively, and PPC from 0 to 1066 μg BSA precipitated/g DM. CP content of browses was negatively correlated with TP, T, CT and PPC. A significant correlation was observed between per cent change in gas production on addition of polyethylene glycol (PEG) and the contents of phenolics (r = 0.76 for both TP and T). Addition of PEG to tannin-containing browses increased in vitro gas production. PPC was significantly correlated with TP (r = 0.87; P<0.001), T (r = 0.83; P<0.001), and CT (r = 0.41; P<0.05). A good relationship (R2 = 0.94; P<0.001) was observed between measured in vitro gas production and that calculated from SCFA. The molar proportions of SCFA were not affected by the inclusion of PEG (P>0.05). The relationship between in vitro gas measured on incubation of browse leaves and that calculated from SCFA allows prediction of SCFA from gas production.

Progress in politics and science often happens by serendipity, and an unforeseen effect of the 2001 foot and mouth epidemic will be its impact on bovine tuberculosis in three areas. Cattle TB will be much worse, increasing the risk to public health, and ‘the highly emotive and complex issue’ of badgers and TB may be resolved after 30 years controversy. A critical reappraisal of these three areas is worthwhile.

Large areas of the Central Asian Republic of Kazakhstan are classified as desert and semi-desert rangelands and are subjected to severe climatic extremes. The sparse vegetation of these rangelands supports mainly grazing sheep, which are raised for wool and meat production. These two products are important to the national economy and the livelihood of the rural population. The extremes of climate cause periodic shortages of fodder availability that, together with the lack of drinking water and adequate animal shelters, can cause severe animal loss, particularly during the winter but also in other seasons. Desert rangeland improvements have been instigated by the introduction and planting out of palatable drought-resistant fodder shrubs to augment the natural species, many of which appear to have survived only because they are unpalatable and/or inedible. To determine the edibility of 15 natural species, Karakul sheep were observed grazing and/or browsing them and identified those species that were edible. It was predicted that the sheep would selectively browse from shrubs with low phenolic concentration, high estimated metabolizable energy content, high crude protein content and low fibre content. To test this prediction, the shrub foliage was analysed and edibility by sheep was related to chemical composition and estimated metabolizable energy content. Six of the 15 plant species were edible. The only significant factor in determining whether plants were eaten was total phenolic content – plants eaten had a content of 17·7±6·3 g/kg DM whereas plants not eaten had a content of 66·4±129·6 g/kg DM. Metabolizable energy, protein and fibre contents did not affect edibility of the plants.