The North American Meat Institute (Meat Institute) recently announced the launch of the Protein PACT Academic Advisory Council. The advisory council was formed to advise on research priorities and the latest evidence related to meat production and consumption.

House Ag Committee Chair Glenn “GT” Thompson (R-PA) and Ranking Member David Scott (D-GA) recently sent an open letter to 18 state governors calling for increased funding for 1890 Land-Grand Institutions. The 1890 land-grant institutions are historically black universities that were established under the Second Morrill Act of 1890. The United States of Agriculture’s (USDA’s) National Institute of Food and Agriculture’s (NIFA's) 1890 land-grant institutions programs are intended to strengthen research, extension, and teaching in the food and agricultural sciences by building the institutional capacities of the 1890 Institutions.

The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) has set August 23, 2023, as the date for the hearing to revise the Federal Milk Marketing Order (FMMO) system. If all goes to plan, an updated FMMO system could be actively benefiting farmers in late 2024.

Hemp products have become popular in the human food and health industry over the past few years. Due to this, a growing interest in using hemp ingredients in animal products has developed as well.

The most common nutritional disorder in dogs is overweight, and knowledge about dogs’ energy requirement is therefore important to adjust daily feed allowance. Changes in body weight may affect energy expenditure (EE) and, thereby, energy requirement. This study aimed to measure such potential changes under resting conditions in overweight dogs.

Pet obesity is becoming increasingly common and may have a negative impact on pet health. The exploration of measures to alleviate pet obesity is urgently needed.

Bovine respiratory disease (BRD) is the most common disease in feedlot cattle and costs the US cattle industry more than $2 billion annually. Such economical losses include mortality, wasted feed resources, pharmaceutical inputs, and decreased performance of morbid cattle.

The present study tested selected animal welfare indicators from different welfare assessment protocols, such as the Welfare Quality protocol (WQP) for pigs, with regard to test–retest reliability (TRR), consistency over time, in an on-farm study on rearing pigs. The WQP is based on the four welfare principles: 1) “good feeding”, 2) “good housing”, 3) “good health”, and 4) “appropriate behavior”, which are assessed by different welfare indicators.

As any reduction in dietary nutrients can negatively impact broiler productivity mitigating these effects is imperative. Dietary reductions in minerals, amino acids, and energy can all result in decreased growth and performance.

Sows that are housed in groups establish a social hierarchy to gain preferential access to needed resources, such as feed. The establishment and maintenance of this social hierarchy may lead to reduced welfare and performance for certain sows.

Although management methods, such as split-suckling and foster care, in pig production can improve piglet survival rates, these methods inevitably lead to neonatal maternal separation which is an early stress on the body, and can have serious negative effects on the body. In this experiment, we investigated the effect level of neonatal maternal separation on behavior, physiology, and growth performance of piglets.

A challenge of selection for disease resilience is that it is difficult to directly select pigs that have greater resilience to multiple diseases in the healthy nucleus herd environment which is essential for breeding programs. A possible alternative is to select an indicator trait or marker that can be measured in a healthy setting, is heritable, and is associated with the genetics of disease resilience.

The quality of alpaca fiber is mainly assessed by a low fiber diameter. However, the fiber diameter can greatly vary along the different body locations of the animal, the industry demands not only the fineness of the fiber but also the fleece uniformity.

Evaluating traits that allow breeders to increase production efficiency in beef production systems is important. The mouth size (MS) score is a trait easily measured and implemented by breeders. Our results showed that MS in Nelore cattle is a heritable trait, and it is favorably associated with growth traits, indicating that animals with larger mouth are heavier at weaning and gain more weight after weaning on pasture.

The pregnancy data of 658 female rabbits from the first to sixth parities (P1 to P6) under the same mating pattern were used to assess the rate of conception at different parities. The reproductive performance and follicular development of P1, P2, and P6 female rabbits were analyzed. The results showed that conception rate was dramatically reduced in P6.

This study was performed over two separate summers to evaluate natural exposure to heat and quantify the impact that providing shade has on stress measures, estimates of body temperature, and feedlot performance.

Barberry (Berberis vulgaris) leaf (BVL) is an agricultural by-product rich in plant secondary compounds such as alkaloids, flavonoids, anthocyanins, and tannin. The present study was aimed to first, evaluate in vitro nutritional value of BVL and second, explore the effects of BVL inclusion in finishing lambs diet (at levels of 0%, 7.5%, and 15% dry matter [DM] of diet), in partial replacement of alfalfa hay, on performance, carcass characteristics, and ruminal fermentation.

After weaning, pigs start to receive solid diets throughout nursery phase with high amounts of plant-based feedstuffs containing various antinutritional and allergenic compounds. Feed enzymes have been used in nursery diets to reduce or remove the negative impacts associated with these compounds.

Global oilseed production has been increasing due to the increased demand for oil as well as the increased demand for amino acids for livestock feeding. In addition to providing amino acids, sunflower meal (SFM) and sunflower expellers (SFE) also provide energy and other nutrients to the diets.

Pet food trends are constantly changing. Because consumers are often focused on dietary proteins, with ingredient sources, dietary inclusion levels, and processing methods being important, they are a popular research topic. Protein sources contain different amino acid (AA) profiles and vary in digestibility, affecting protein quality.