Grazing Sheep in Organic Vineyards: An <i>On-Farm</i> Study about Risk of Chronic Copper Poisoning

Many winegrowers and sheep breeders are interested in wintertime grazing in vineyards, as an agroecological alternative to mowing or herbicide spraying, and additional supply of forage. Still, strong concern is raised by the use of copper-based fungicides, particularly in organic vineyards, since co...

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Autores principales:	Martin Trouillard, Amélie Lèbre, Felix Heckendorn
Formato:	article
Lenguaje:	EN
Publicado:	MDPI AG 2021
Materias:	copper sheep vineyards organic winegrowing molybdenum agroforestry Environmental effects of industries and plants TD194-195 Renewable energy sources TJ807-830 Environmental sciences GE1-350
Acceso en línea:	https://doaj.org/article/a3fb3fd93ced42a8a71935222b987ef2
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spelling	oai:doaj.org-article:a3fb3fd93ced42a8a71935222b987ef22021-11-25T19:05:00ZGrazing Sheep in Organic Vineyards: An <i>On-Farm</i> Study about Risk of Chronic Copper Poisoning10.3390/su1322128602071-1050https://doaj.org/article/a3fb3fd93ced42a8a71935222b987ef22021-11-01T00:00:00Zhttps://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/13/22/12860https://doaj.org/toc/2071-1050Many winegrowers and sheep breeders are interested in wintertime grazing in vineyards, as an agroecological alternative to mowing or herbicide spraying, and additional supply of forage. Still, strong concern is raised by the use of copper-based fungicides, particularly in organic vineyards, since copper is known to induce chronic toxicosis in sheep. We conducted an <i>on-farm</i> study with n = 12 1-year-old Merinos × Mourerous ewes grazing the cover vegetation of vineyard plots during wintertime, in order to check whether this agricultural practice might be harmful to sheep. Our results indicate that most copper found in the cover vegetation originates from fungicide spraying <i>versus</i> plant uptake from the soil, and that rain-induced washing-off and plant growth-triggered dilution of copper are crucial to reach close-to-safe grazing conditions. Furthermore, we found that while sheep remained globally healthy during the 2 months of the experimental period, the plasma activity of Glutamate Dehydrogenase increased by 17.3 ± 3.0 U/L upon vineyard grazing (<i>p</i> < 0.001), reflecting liver storage of copper. We also discovered that the dynamics of molybdenum in sheep plasma are strongly affected by exposure to copper, suggesting a possible adaptation mechanism. Overall, our results suggest that winter grazing of sheep in organic vineyards is reasonably safe, but that care should be taken about grazing period duration. More research should be conducted with respect to long-term copper accumulation, spring and summer grazing, and possible protective mechanisms against copper chronic poisoning.Martin TrouillardAmélie LèbreFelix HeckendornMDPI AGarticlecoppersheepvineyardsorganic winegrowingmolybdenumagroforestryEnvironmental effects of industries and plantsTD194-195Renewable energy sourcesTJ807-830Environmental sciencesGE1-350ENSustainability, Vol 13, Iss 12860, p 12860 (2021)
institution	DOAJ
collection	DOAJ
language	EN
topic	copper sheep vineyards organic winegrowing molybdenum agroforestry Environmental effects of industries and plants TD194-195 Renewable energy sources TJ807-830 Environmental sciences GE1-350
spellingShingle	copper sheep vineyards organic winegrowing molybdenum agroforestry Environmental effects of industries and plants TD194-195 Renewable energy sources TJ807-830 Environmental sciences GE1-350 Martin Trouillard Amélie Lèbre Felix Heckendorn Grazing Sheep in Organic Vineyards: An <i>On-Farm</i> Study about Risk of Chronic Copper Poisoning
description	Many winegrowers and sheep breeders are interested in wintertime grazing in vineyards, as an agroecological alternative to mowing or herbicide spraying, and additional supply of forage. Still, strong concern is raised by the use of copper-based fungicides, particularly in organic vineyards, since copper is known to induce chronic toxicosis in sheep. We conducted an <i>on-farm</i> study with n = 12 1-year-old Merinos × Mourerous ewes grazing the cover vegetation of vineyard plots during wintertime, in order to check whether this agricultural practice might be harmful to sheep. Our results indicate that most copper found in the cover vegetation originates from fungicide spraying <i>versus</i> plant uptake from the soil, and that rain-induced washing-off and plant growth-triggered dilution of copper are crucial to reach close-to-safe grazing conditions. Furthermore, we found that while sheep remained globally healthy during the 2 months of the experimental period, the plasma activity of Glutamate Dehydrogenase increased by 17.3 ± 3.0 U/L upon vineyard grazing (<i>p</i> < 0.001), reflecting liver storage of copper. We also discovered that the dynamics of molybdenum in sheep plasma are strongly affected by exposure to copper, suggesting a possible adaptation mechanism. Overall, our results suggest that winter grazing of sheep in organic vineyards is reasonably safe, but that care should be taken about grazing period duration. More research should be conducted with respect to long-term copper accumulation, spring and summer grazing, and possible protective mechanisms against copper chronic poisoning.
format	article
author	Martin Trouillard Amélie Lèbre Felix Heckendorn
author_facet	Martin Trouillard Amélie Lèbre Felix Heckendorn
author_sort	Martin Trouillard
title	Grazing Sheep in Organic Vineyards: An <i>On-Farm</i> Study about Risk of Chronic Copper Poisoning
title_short	Grazing Sheep in Organic Vineyards: An <i>On-Farm</i> Study about Risk of Chronic Copper Poisoning
title_full	Grazing Sheep in Organic Vineyards: An <i>On-Farm</i> Study about Risk of Chronic Copper Poisoning
title_fullStr	Grazing Sheep in Organic Vineyards: An <i>On-Farm</i> Study about Risk of Chronic Copper Poisoning
title_full_unstemmed	Grazing Sheep in Organic Vineyards: An <i>On-Farm</i> Study about Risk of Chronic Copper Poisoning
title_sort	grazing sheep in organic vineyards: an <i>on-farm</i> study about risk of chronic copper poisoning
publisher	MDPI AG
publishDate	2021
url	https://doaj.org/article/a3fb3fd93ced42a8a71935222b987ef2
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Grazing Sheep in Organic Vineyards: An <i>On-Farm</i> Study about Risk of Chronic Copper Poisoning

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