In our current industrialized culture, it can be difficult to imagine how different North America used to look. There are nearly 90 million beef and dairy cattle in the contiguous United States today, but that was not always the case. Before European colonization, many more elk, bison and deer dotted the landscape. And as they wandered the wilderness, these wild ruminants added to methane emissions.

According to a study published in the March issue of the Journal of Animal Science, pigs raised in group-farrowing systems may have better long-term body weight gain than pigs raised in confinement-farrowing systems.

A study published in the Journal of Animal Science shows that the concentrations of several blood variables, including glucose, antibodies, and red blood cells, can be indicators of life-threatening conditions in piglets. By considering these blood variables, as well as birth order and birth weight, producers could better identify at-risk piglets.

The genomes of cows that have difficulty reproducing often contain fragments of the male Y chromosome, according to a new study in press in the Journal of Animal Science. The researchers say this finding could help cattle producers identify subfertile females before investing time and resources on breeding attempts.