This month’s feature collection showcases three Board Invited Reviews exploring the biology of lactation from three different perspectives. These include the impact of circadian rhythms on production efficiency, the impact of early heat stress on future cow performance, and a holistic look at how extending lactation length impacts the dairy cow’s whole production cycle and management.

The beef cow utilizes about 74% of total feed energy required to produce beef. Therefore, a more thorough understanding of feed intake, weight gain, and feed efficiency traits in the beef cow is fundamental to reducing cost and improving the environmental footprint of beef production.

Methionine supplementation can improve immune function in transition dairy cattle. Our objective was to determine if supplemental methionine could improve health and performance of newly received growing cattle.

Reducing dietary crude protein (CP) content reduces nitrogen excretion to the environment and undigested protein availability to enteric pathogens in the hind gut resulting in reduced postweaning diarrhea and improved gut health. To meet the amino acid requirements in low CP diets, supplementation of essential amino acids in nursery diets is necessary, and the availability of more feed-grade crystalline amino acids allows low CP diets to be practically formulated.

This study tested the effects of a mildly cooked human-grade diet and a feed-grade extruded kibble diet on the fecal microbiome, skin and coat health measures, and expression of genes related to inflammation and oxidative stress in healthy adult dogs.

Feeding pigs supplemental fat to increase caloric density is a common practice in the swine industry. However, dietary fats are also a key determinant of pork fat composition and may influence product quality.

Dry-corn milling biorefineries have the opportunity to install technology to fractionate corn prior to fermentation, which creates a product stream of fibrous bran that can be fed to cattle. The objective of this study was to determine the effects of replacing dietary corn with corn bran and condensed distillers solubles (CBCDS) or wet-corn gluten feed (WCGF) on growth performance, efficiency of dietary net energy (NE) utilization, and carcass characteristics in finishing steers.

The United States White House announced for the first time in more than 50 years, that it will hold a conference on hunger, nutrition, and health. The conference is set to be held on September 28, 2022, along with the publication of a National Strategy containing actions the federal government will take to drive solutions to these challenges.

The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) has announced it will invest $121 million in infrastructure to combat climate change in rural parts of America. Over 280 projects throughout 49 states, Guam, and Puerto Rico will be funded.

During a Zoom call, the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced $400 million in funding to create USDA Regional Food Business Centers. The Regional Food Business Centers will provide coordination, technical assistance, and capacity building to help farmers, ranchers, and other food businesses access new markets and navigate federal, state, and local resources.

The United States Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) has announced $21.9 million in awards to 111 grant programs through the Meat and Poultry Inspection Readiness Grant Program (MPIRG). This additional funding brings the total funding to $54.6 million.

The United States Government Accountability Office (GAO) recently published the results of an investigation into the United States Department of Agriculture’s (USDA’s) Coronavirus Food Assistance Program (CFAP), noting fraud is likely. During the pandemic, USDA through the CFAP provided producers with $31 billion for various commodities.

The White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) issued a memorandum directing federal agencies to ensure peer-reviewed articles originating from federally funded research are freely available upon publication. This guidance is to be implemented no later than the start of 2026 and applies to data that is necessary to validate scientific findings reported in the publications.

According to a new report by Rabobank, the third quarter outlook for the global beef market remains robust. Most beef retail prices continued their upward trend in quarter two or remained steady.

Representative Andrew Clyde (R-GA), along with 34 members of Congress sent a letter to the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack, requesting the USDA to postpone a poultry plant safety study. The letter contains a list of over 20 questions the congressmen would like answered before September 30th.

The Livestock Regulatory Protection Act would ban the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) from issuing permits under the Clean Air Act for any carbon dioxide, nitrogen oxide, water vapor, or methane emissions resulting from biological processes associated with livestock production. While the EPA has not proposed any so-called “cow-taxes” on greenhouse emissions from livestock operations, there is a concern that a move in that direction could be imminent.

ASAS and EAAP are long term partners. In September of 2022, ASAS Sent 14 speakers to give presentations at the 2022 EAAP meeting. Here you can read a few highlights from speakers and ASAS Sponsored symposia.

Predicting how greenhouse gases can warm the planet is critical to finding short- and long-term solutions to global warming. At the European Federation of Animal Sciences meeting in Porto, Portugal, September 5-9, 2022, ASAS member, Frank Mitloehner from the University of California – Davis, discussed why we should rethink how methane from animal agriculture impacts global warming.

Research over the past decade have provided critical information on the factors that drive enteric methane emission in ruminants. At the European Federation of Animal Sciences meeting in Porto, Portugal, September 5-9, 2022, ASAS member, Alexander Hristov from Pennsylvania State University focused on nutritional strategies that can mitigate enteric methane emissions.

Ruminants play a key role in the food system because they can convert fiber-rich plants into highly nutritious food for humans. However, there is a growing concern about livestock production because of its negative environmental impact, mainly due to enteric methane (CH4) emissions but also as a result of N excretion leading to nitrate (NO3−) leaching and ammonia (NH3) and nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions.