Featured Articles

  • Dec
    13
    Interpretive Summary: Heritability and variance component estimation for feed and water intake behaviors of feedlot cattle


    Feed and water intake are important aspects of cattle production to understand because they impact producer profitability and sustainability. While feed intake and, to a lesser degree, water intake have previously been studied, the associated feeding and drinking behaviors are relatively unknown and lack standardized phenotypes.

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  • Dec
    13
    Interpretive Summary: The role of inbreeding depression on productive performance in the Italian Holstein breed


    Inbreeding depression is a reduction in performance or health due to the mating of closely related individuals. The overall aim of this study was to investigate the level of inbreeding in the Italian Holstein dairy cow breed and quantify its negative effect on productive performances.

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  • Dec
    13
    Interpretive Summary: Associations between polymorphisms in the myostatin gene with calving difficulty and carcass merit in cattle


    The objective of the present study was to quantify the association between 21 known myostatin mutations with calving difficulty, carcass fat, carcass conformation, and carcass weight in 12 prominent cattle breeds. Out of all segregating myostatin variants, the nt821 deletion had the greatest observed association with calving difficulty when the homozygous deletion was carried by either the calf or the dam.

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  • Dec
    13
    Interpretive Summary: Blood transcriptomic differences in the immune response under stressful environmental according to stocking density in pigs


    Animal welfare in the pig industry is a worldwide trend, and appropriate livestock management can improve welfare. Balancing stocking density and productivity is crucial in intensive farming systems. This study used behavioral and physiological parameters to assess welfare levels related to stocking density.

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  • Dec
    07
    Interpretive Summary: Dietary Betaine improves the intestinal health and growth performance of heat-stressed growing rabbits in summer


    Due to the lack of functional sweat glands, rabbits find it difficult to release excess heat under high-temperature conditions, resulting in heat stress. This high-level temperature condition leads to substantial damage to growth performance and intestinal health resulting in significant financial losses for the meat rabbit industry.

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  • Dec
    07
    Interpretive Summary: Body, carcass, and steak dimensions of straightbred Holstein calves and Angus-sired calves from Holstein, Jersey, and crossbred beef dams


    Divergent selection of beef and dairy breeds has caused differences in skeletal size and muscularity. When calves from dairy systems enter the beef supply chain, variability in mature size and carcass composition are introduced. The objective of this study was to characterize morphometric differences in cattle populations with different proportions of beef and dairy genetics.

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  • Dec
    07
    Interpretive Summary: Timing of maternal nutrient restriction during mid- to late-gestation influences net umbilical uptake of glucose and amino acids in adolescent sheep


    Maternal undernutrition during gestation can lead to decreased fetal growth, decreased uteroplacental blood flow, and changes in nutrient supply to the fetus. However, it is unclear how the timing (mid-gestation vs. late-gestation) and duration (40 d vs. 80 d) of nutrient restriction influence nutrient supply to the fetus during mid- to late-gestation.

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  • Dec
    07
    Interpretive Summary: Removing maternal heat stress abatement during gestation modulated postnatal physiology and improved performance of Bos indicus-influenced beef offspring


    In dairy cattle, heat stress during late gestation negatively impacted offspring postnatal growth and immune function. The use of artificial shade is a management strategy that alleviates heat stress in environments with high temperatures and humidity.

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  • Dec
    07
    Interpretive Summary: Early- and mid-lactation milk traits are associated with piglet growth during lactation


    Early piglet health and growth are reliant upon milk from the mother. Increasing the gain of a piglet by 0.45 kg at weaning has been linked to finished pigs going to market earlier reducing environmental and financial inputs for producers.

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  • Dec
    07
    Interpretive Summary: Beef embryos in dairy cows: feedlot performance, mechanistic responses, and carcass characteristics of straightbred Holstein calves and Angus-sired calves from Holstein, Jersey, or crossbred beef dams


    Improved reproductive management has allowed dairy cow pregnancies to be optimized for beef production. The objectives of this study were to use an embryo transfer model 1) to investigate the effect of the dairy management system on beef genetics and 2) to directly compare the merit of Holstein and Jersey genetics for feedlot and carcass performance with modern beef genetics.

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  • Dec
    07
    Interpretive Summary: A computer vision image differential approach for automatic detection of aggressive behavior in pigs using deep learning


    Aggressive behavior in pigs is a major concern for the swine industry that negatively affects animal welfare. This study aims to provide an efficient automatic solution based on computer vision and supervised deep learning models able to distinguish between aggressive and non-aggressive behavior of pigs using video recordings.

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  • Nov
    30
    Infographic: Enhancing mathematical modeling skills for sustainable livestock production


    Mathematical modeling and data analytics are essential to assist in achieving sustainability in livestock production. Educating and training students and researchers in modeling techniques can prepare them for the development of successful mathematical models.

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  • Nov
    30
    Interpretive Summary: ASAS-NANP symposium: mathematical modeling in animal nutrition—Making sense of big data and machine learning: how open-source code can advance training of animal scientists


    Livestock production is undergoing a new revolution of incorporating advanced technology to inform animal management. As more and more technologies come to market, new challenges arise with developing a workforce trained to handle big datasets generated from these technologies and turning datasets into insight for livestock producers.

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  • Nov
    30
    Interpretive Summary: ASAS-NANP symposium: Mathematical Modeling in Animal Nutrition: The power of identifiability analysis for dynamic modeling in animal science: a practitioner approach


    When modeling biological systems, one major step of the modeling exercise is connecting the theory (the model) with the reality (the data). Such a connection passes through the resolution of the parameter identification (model calibration) problem, which aims at finding a set of parameters that best fits the variables predicted by the model to the data.

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  • Nov
    30
    Interpretive Summary: Effects of ensiling sugarcane tops with bacteria-enzyme inoculants on growth performance, nutrient digestibility, and the associated rumen microbiome in beef cattle


    Major challenges when ensiling sugarcane tops include fermentation that results in high quantities of alcohol and decrease in nutrient digestibility due to the accumulation of fiber components. Increased efforts to apply bacteria-enzyme inoculants in silage have the potential to improve nutrient digestibility.

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  • Nov
    30
    Interpretive Summary: Predicting microbial crude protein synthesis in cattle from intakes of dietary energy and crude protein


    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.

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  • Nov
    30
    Interpretive Summary: Supplementation of palmitoleic acid improved piglet growth and reduced body temperature drop upon cold exposure


    Reducing piglet mortality in the early days after birth is a significant challenge in the modern pig industry. The focus on achieving larger litter sizes has had a negative impact on piglets’ birth weight and their intake of colostrum. Additionally, piglets are born without easily oxidizable brown adipose tissue and have limited body reserves, making them more vulnerable to death due to their lower capacity for thermogenesis.

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  • Nov
    16
    Interpretive Summary: Heat shock protein 27 regulates myogenic and self-renewal potential of bovine satellite cells under heat stress


    This study aimed to elucidate the response of bovine satellite cells to heat exposure. Satellite cells were isolated from Holstein bulls and subjected to varying temperatures. Transcriptional, proteomic, and proliferative changes were assessed.

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  • Nov
    16
    Interpretive Summary: Temperature Fluctuations Modulate Molecular Mechanisms in Skeletal Muscle and Influence Growth Potential in Beef Steers


    In this study, we investigated the effects of severe temperature fluctuations on beef cattle and their cellular and physiological responses. Our findings demonstrate that even moderate temperature swings can cause thermal stress in cattle, leading to observable behavioral signs such as extended tongue protrusion, reduced appetite, excessive salivation, and increased respiratory rate.

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  • Nov
    16
    Interpretive Summary: Technical note: colorimetric methods for accurate determination of nutrient composition in beef cow colostrum and milk


    The purpose was to develop laboratory methods to measure lactose, fat, protein, and urea nitrogen in beef cow colostrum (first milk) and milk and to validate single-quarter colostrum yield as a predictor of total colostrum yield. Additionally, new methods were compared with Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), which is the primary method of dairy cow milk nutrient analysis.

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