Obesity is a common problem in domestic cats. Fat in dry-extruded pet food may be a risk factor for feline obesity. Additionally, the utilization of various carbohydrates in domestic cats has garnered attention. This study explored the impact of varying fat levels and starch sources on body weight, glucose metabolism, and gut microbiota composition in healthy adult cats.

Recording data for long years is common in animal breeding and genetics. However, the larger the data, the higher the computing cost of the analysis, especially with genomic information. This study aimed to investigate the impact of removing data, namely, genotypes, phenotypes, and pedigree, on the computing performance and prediction ability of genomic breeding values.

Animals from a crossbred beef cattle population were sequenced at low depth (i.e., 0.5×) and different subsets of selected imputed variants were investigated relative to their ability to explain variation in birth weight (BWT) and post-weaning gain (PWG).

Bile acids plays an important role in regulating lipids metabolism in animals and human. Dairy cows fed high-grain (HG) diet generally suffer abnormal lipids metabolism. However, if there is a relationship between the bile acids metabolism and abnormal lipids metabolism in dairy cows fed HG diet is unclear.

In vitro gametogenesis (IVG) is the ability to mimic the reproductive cycle in a dish and presents a paradigm shift for producing viable gametes and healthy offspring in animal agriculture.

Climate change presents multiple challenges to the livestock industry including the need to examine animal and environmental management practices to enhance efficiency, reduce greenhouse gas emissions from animals and manure, reduce water and other resource use, and pressure to eliminate meat and livestock products from diets.

The rumen microbiome is essential to animal nutrition and health, but current genetics resources to study this community are incomplete.

Goats serve as a valuable source of income in agriculture, supplying both milk and meat. Their adaptability to diverse environments makes them a viable choice among rural households for livestock, especially in harsh environments. Research has been dedicated to refining goat feeding systems and determining their nutritional requirements.

Livestock production in the Intermountain West of the United States (U.S.) largely depends on grazing access to U.S. government-owned “public lands”, which also provide habitat for many of North American’s iconic wildlife species.

Genetic selection is a viable option to help improve calf health. Producer recorded calf disease data comprised of 69,695 Holstein calf disease records for respiratory problems (RESP) and diarrhea (DIAR). Across analyses, heritability estimates for RESP and DIAR ranged from 0.02 to 0.07, indicating the potential for selection.

The National Milk Producers Federation (NMPF) and the International Dairy Foods Association (IDFA) have submitted public comments on the United States Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA’s) draft guidance for plant milk-alternative labeling.

The United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is seeking public comments on a new report, which discusses a potential framework for establishing a public-private partnership (PPP) to collect and analyze antimicrobial use (AMU) data from food-producing animals. The report was created for the FDA by the Reagan-Udall Foundation (the Foundation) and summarizes the work completed over a multi-year cooperative agreement funded by the FDA.

A group of pork producers have filed a lawsuit in Massachusetts against the Act to Prevent Cruelty to Farm Animals (Question 3). Passed by voters in November 2016, Question 3 imposes confinement requirements on out-of-state pork producers and prohibits the sale of pork meat within the state from offspring of an animal confined in a manner inconsistent with Massachusetts' requirements, regardless of where in the nation the animal was raised.

A new bipartisan bill has been introduced to improve nutrition in older adults. The Senior Nutrition Taskforce Act of 2023 would establish an interagency taskforce to address hunger and help seniors, as well as adults with disabilities, better access healthy foods.

United States Representatives Jimmy Panetta (D-CA) and Mike Kelly (R-PA) have reintroduced the Preserving Family Farms Act of 2023. The bill would modify tax law, allowing farmers and ranchers to pay estate taxes based on the value of their land for agricultural use.

Two resolutions to nullify the Biden Administration’s Endangered Species Act listings have passed the Senate and the House of Representatives and will now go to the President’s desk for signature. The two listings would nullify the lesser prairie chicken listing and the northern long-eared bat listing. Matters of the Endangered Species Act are typically left to the United States Fish and Wildlife Service and the National Marine Fisheries Service, to decide which animals and plants to list as endangered or threatened and how to rebuild their populations.

United States Senators Tammy Baldwin (D-WI) and Chuck Grassley (R-IA) introduced a new bill, designed to increase the transparency and oversight of foreign ownership in America’s agricultural industry. The Farmland Security Act of 2023 builds on the Farmland Security Act of 2022, by ensuring that all foreign investors who buy American agricultural land report their holdings and strengthens the penalties for those who evade the required filing.

Through the Agriculture Resilience Initiative (AGRI)- Ukraine, the United States announced it will provide $250 million in aid to Ukrainian agriculture producers and farmers. AGRI- Ukraine is an initiative started last year to support Ukrainian agriculture exports and combat global food security issues exacerbated by the Russian invasion.

The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) has announced a partnership with attorney generals in 31 states and the District of Columbia to enhance competition and protect consumers in food and agricultural markets, including in grocery, meat, and poultry processing, and other markets. The partnership will assist state attorneys general in tackling anticompetitive market structures in agriculture and related industries that are raising prices and limiting choices for consumers and producers.

There is a high demand for Australian sheep to be exported to the Middle East, and for live export voyages which depart during an Australian winter, heat, and humidity increase rapidly as ships cross the equator and approach destination countries. Concern about sheep becoming heat stressed during these voyages has increased, and industry attention has focused on the potential role of stocking density in determining heat stress risk in this context.