A primary goal of meat production is to efficiently produce safe, high-quality products. Competing interests within the goal complicate this seemingly simple aspiration. Consequently, it is necessary to emphasize efforts to enhance our comprehension of biological and molecular factors that influence quality, safety, and efficient meat production.

In beef × dairy steers, one copy of the F94L allele decreased steak angularity in the strip loin and fat-associated flavor attributes in tenderloin steaks, while tenderness was not impacted. Reduced strip loin steak angularity addresses inherent deficiencies in dairy and dairy-cross carcasses; thus, the F94L allele could improve the consumer and chef acceptability of beef × dairy strip loin steaks.

Pig thermal environment and especially chronic heat stress (HS) can affect animal growth and physiology, with potential impacts on carcass and pork quality. The effects of chronic HS during postnatal growth (GHS) on pork quality are controversial, but the effects of chronic HS during the pig prenatal period (PHS) or of combined PHS and GHS on carcass and meat traits are even less characterized.

Early life after birth is challenging for beef calves, but a successful transition from the uterus to the outside environment is necessary for calves to survive and thrive pre-weaning. Despite this, limited research has investigated how maternal undernutrition during pregnancy affects the vigor and metabolism of beef calves during early life.

Animal agriculture (including aquaculture) provides high-quality protein for improving human nutrition and health. The United States is the top producer of hybrid striped bass (HSB) in the world as both food and sport fish. Fishmeal has traditionally been used as the major protein feedstuff in HSB diets, but feeding fish with fishmeal is not sustainable in the industry.

Lameness is defined as impaired movement or deviation from normal gait. There are many factors that can contribute to lameness, including but not limited to: infectious disease, genetic and conformational anomaly, and toxicity that affects the bone, muscle, and nervous systems. Metabolic bone disease is another cause of lameness in swine production and can be caused by inappropriate levels of essential vitamins or minerals.

Stressors, including limited access to feed, heat stress, transportation, and disease are factors that reduce integrity of the gut epithelial barrier in livestock. Feeding Saccharomyces cerevisiae fermentation products (SCFP) mitigated immunological, aflatoxin, and subclinical mastitis challenges, heat stress, and grain-based subacute ruminal acidosis indicating it also could alleviate gut damage.

Barefoot racing is a common practice within the harness racing industry, as it may make a horse run faster. However, not all horses have hooves of sufficient quality to withstand the wear from the track surface during racing, creating a risk of hoof damage.

The elevated maternal serum bile acid (BA) levels in late gestation leads to accumulation of BA in fetal tissues, and thus increases the risk of fetal mortality and metabolic disease of offspring. It has confirmed that BA disordered and oxidative damage are intimately related.

Two mice lines obtained by divergent selection for birth weight residual variance were used to determine whether environmental factors could differently affect the homogeneous and heterogeneous lines. The maximum temperature 1 wk before parturition (MXTW) had the higher impact on the birth weight of the animals.

The objective of this study was to determine the effects of diet, restricted feeding and weight loss on body composition, voluntary physical activity, blood hormones and metabolites, and fecal metabolites and microbiota of overweight cats. Overweight cats were allotted to a control diet (OR) or weight loss diet (FT) and fed to lose ~1.0% body weight/week for 24 wk.

The ability to accurately and precisely predict microbial protein synthesis is crucial in predicting the supply of metabolizable protein in beef cattle. We updated a database previously used to predict microbial crude protein (CP) supply in beef cattle. Then we evaluated the utility of using total digestible nutrients (TDN) and different measures of energy intake to predict ruminal microbial protein synthesis.

Markers are elements supplied to an animal to help determine the digestibility of various feedstuffs. Studying digestibility allows us to improve how nutrients are used by animals and reduce production costs and environmental impact.

During fiber digestion in the rumen, enteric methane is produced. Methane is a potent greenhouse gas. Recently several studies have focused on developing synthetic compounds and their utilization as specific inhibitors of methanogenesis.

Approximately 60% to 80% of phosphorus (P) in feedstuffs of plant origin is stored in the form of phytic acid. Phytase is an enzyme used in swine diets to improve the digestibility of phytate-bound P. As phytase sources continue to advance, their efficacy must be evaluated.

Heat stress disturbs the body’s normal behavioral, immunological, and physiological functions through direct and indirect actions facilitated by alterations in energy balance. Overall, heat stress impairs animal productivity.

Grazing lands cover above one-third of Earth’s ice-free terrestrial surface, playing a key role as suppliers of ecosystem services, such as livestock feed production, water supply, erosion control, carbon storage, biodiversity conservation, etc. Since grasslands are reliant on weather, primarily rainfall and temperature, climate variability largely affects their performance.

A group of House Republicans recently sent a letter to Congress, calling for the opposition of the Ending Agricultural Trade Suppression Act (EATS Act). The bill would prohibit state laws that impose additional requirements on agriculture producers in other states.

The United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has published draft guidance for defining the appropriate duration of use in antibiotics used in the feed of food-producing animals and is seeking public comment. The guidance provides information to sponsors of certain antimicrobial animal drug products who are interested in voluntarily establishing appropriately defined durations of therapeutic administration to food-producing animals where none currently exist.

The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) has announced over $27 million in grants to underserved and veteran farmers, ranchers, and foresters. The funding will provide training, outreach, and technical assistance to help them own and operate successful farms, ranches, and forest lands.