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The Effects Climate Change Has on Agriculture and Livestock

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Climate change is one of the major issues surfacing earth over the past century. The earth’s temperature has increased over the years; having effects on the economic and life sources of people, especially through agricultural production and livestock’s. According to the Oxford dictionary, climate change is a change in global climate patterns apparent from the mid late 20th century. There are numerous factors that are solely responsible for this change which are both natural and man-made causes. Climate change has led to a decrease in quality and quantity of plant produce and livestock as a result of heat stress, drought and an increase in diseases.
According to Health and Safety executive, HSE, UK, heat stress is a component of climate change “that causes the body temperature to fail”, and is a global problem which affects agriculture and livestock. The effect of heat stress on Livestock’s has become greater for animals such as dairy cows and beef cattle. When animals are under distress due to temperature rise, they usually cut back on their feeding practices; have a rise in body temperature and faces weight loss. Milk production, milk fat, protein content and the progression of breeding has been also affected, especially in dairy cows. When heat stress occurs, dairy cows tend to reduce the intake of dry matter in order to control their heat production from increasing through the process of metabolism and digestion (M. Donnelly, 2012). The University of Minnesota noted that

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