On July 24th, Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins released Secretary Memorandum: SM 1078-015 which outlines the Department of Agriculture’s Reorganization Plan. Secretary Rollins had indicated such a plan was being developed earlier in the year. While NIFA and ERS were relocated during the first Trump administration, it is expected that the changes will impact all of USDA’s research agencies.

The hypothesis for the experiment was that feeding intact protein from soybean meal (SBM) to growing pigs instead of a combination of corn, SBM and synthetic amino acids (AA) results in greater nitrogen retention and digestible energy without affecting metabolizable energy in the diet. Feeding diets differing in SBM and synthetic AA to growing pigs placed in metabolism crates, it was possible to collect urine and feces from pigs and based on that, the digestibility of energy and nitrogen was calculated.

Mare milk is the primary source of nutrients for neonatal foals and contains various carbohydrates. The primary carbohydrate is lactose, which is an important source of calories for foals. Milk also contains carbohydrates referred to as oligosaccharides. Oligosaccharides are chemically and structurally more complex than lactose and are believed to be important in the gastrointestinal development of neonates.

Cottonseed (CS) is a readily available resource in the southeast of the United States and has been used by farmers for decades to supplement their livestock. Nevertheless, there is conflicting evidence about the negative or positive effects this resource can have on their animals.

Beef cattle breed societies worldwide maintain pedigree information on their registered animals tracing back many generations. This extensive data facilitates the estimation of the expected relationship between individual pairs. Concurrently over recent decades, advancements in genotyping technologies have allowed for precise calculations of the actual relationships among any given pairs and the genetic diversity in the entire population.

Selection for larger litter sizes has heightened sow milk production demands, increasing metabolic heat production and sensitivity to heat stress, particularly during hotter summer months. This can compromise both sow welfare and piglet growth. Genomic selection for enhanced heat tolerance offers a promising solution, but past approaches have often reduced productivity by focusing on lowering heat gain resulting in decreased metabolic activity.

Enhancing the sustainability of pasture-based sheep systems by reducing methane emissions and increasing production is a global priority. In the current study, lambs grazed one of 5 differing sward types, namely, a perennial ryegrass monoculture or one of 4 binary sward mixtures, perennial ryegrass and white clover, perennial ryegrass and red clover, perennial ryegrass and chicory or perennial ryegrass and plantain.

The interest in natural antioxidants has increased because they are considered to be safe, and have greater application potential for consumer’s acceptability of milk products. Polyphenol compounds being a source of natural antioxidants, which have received substantial attention because of their antioxidant activities for consumers. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of red yeast rice polyphenol extract on apparent digestibility, antioxidant activity, milk production, and fatty acid in lactating dairy goats.

Plant fibers are an important component of animal feed, and the effective degradation of fiber materials is crucial for the health of ruminant animals. Chestnut tannin (CHT) can effectively enhance the antioxidant capacity of animals and reduce methane emissions; however, there is currently limited research on its effect on fiber degradation rate in ruminant animals. This study investigated the effects of different concentrations of CHT on ruminal cellulose-degrading bacteria and cellulase activity in sheep through both in vivo and in vitro experiments.

Ambient temperature is one of the major environmental factors that affect the voluntary feed intake (VFI) and metabolizable energy intake (MEI) of pigs. When pigs are exposed to above their upper critical temperature, they may reduce VFI, consequently decreasing their growth performance of pigs. To overcome insufficient energy and nutrient intake due to reduced VFI, energy- and nutrient-fortified diets are formulated considering the reduced VFI and fed to pigs.

Economic considerations are crucial for livestock producers when deciding whether to adopt new interventions or management strategies. However, research studies often lack consistent, thorough, and well-described economic analyses, making it difficult for stakeholders to make informed decisions. To improve guidance for future economic assessments, economic analysis strategies were reviewed, an example using controlled trial data was performed, and recommendations for future conduct were provided.

Despite existing methods to determine forage nutritive value, most extensive beef producers in the Southeastern United States do not submit forage samples for laboratory analysis, citing expense and labor challenges. In response to these challenges, we evaluated the ability of a low-cost, easy-to-use spectral sensing system to predict the forage nutritive value of grass pastures.

Replacing conventional proteins with hydrolyzed proteins in diets for companion animals has demonstrated clinical and nutritional benefits, such as improved digestibility and reduced fermentation products in the large intestine. Based on this, the current study evaluated the effects of 2 protein sources (hydrolyzed chicken liver (HCL) and poultry byproduct meal) and 3 crude protein concentrations (24%, 32%, and 40%) on digestibility, fecal and urinary characteristics, fecal fermentative end products, and palatability of healthy adult cats.

On June 23rd, the House Appropriations Committee approved its version of FY 2026 agriculture appropriations by at vote of 35-27. The House bill provides a total discretionary allocation of $25.523 billion, which is $1.163 billion (4.2%) below the Fiscal Year 2025 enacted level. The House bill does not follow the Administration’s request for major cuts to USDA research, education and economics programs.

The publications committee is working to meet the needs of the society. Over this past year, two topics have arisen with respect to the publication of manuscripts in the society’s journals. The committee would like to get your input on these topics that could dramatically impact the American Society of Animal Science.

Efficient beef production is crucial for meeting global food demands. Most of the feed consumed by beef cows is used for essential bodily functions like breathing, maintaining heart rate, and regulating body temperature. The remaining energy is partitioned into milk production, body weight gain, and pregnancy.

Fifty-five first lactation sows were used to evaluate how the dietary standardized ileal digestible (SID) Lys-to-net energy (NE) ratio affected nitrogen use by the sow and piglet growth performance. Sows were randomly assigned to one of five diets that had equally spaced and increasing SID Lys-to-NE ratios from 2.85 and 5.51 g SID Lys/Mcal NE that were fed for a 24-d lactation.

Supplementing prebiotics, particularly plant polysaccharides, in pet food is currently regarded as an important approach to enhancing gut health. Polysaccharides can produce abundant short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs) in the large intestine, thereby benefiting health.

This study explores how different levels of rein tension affect the stress response and heart activity in horses, focusing on the differences between younger and older horses. We aimed to understand whether the experience of older horses makes them less sensitive to rein tension compared to younger ones.

This study assessed the effects of outdoor access, which is required to produce “Label Rouge” slow-growing chickens, compared to indoor rearing, which is used in genetic selection for health reasons. Chickens were reared either indoors or with outdoor access after 28 d of age for 2 consecutive summers (2022 and 2023), a season when farmers often observe lower performance.