Replacement beef heifers are often reared in drylots to facilitate feeding and management, or to intensify beef production as availability of grazing areas becomes limited. Our research group demonstrated that rearing heifers in drylots with high stocking density (14 m2/heifer) delayed puberty attainment compared with pasture-based systems, largely due to chronic stress associated with confinement.

Deoxynivalenol (DON) and zearalenone (ZEA) are among the most common mycotoxins that can contaminate feed and have detrimental impact on pig health. This study aimed to evaluate the effects of a diet containing DON and ZEA at 2.8 ± 0.3 and 1.20 ± 0.4 mg/kg, respectively, on the systemic and intestinal immune response in weaned pigs, as well as the ability of antioxidant (AOX) supplements such as vitamins, Se and quercetin to restore the normal immune status.

Beef cattle breeding programs often evaluate both growth performance and reproductive traits when selecting future breeding bulls. However, it is not always clear whether these two aspects of performance are closely related or largely independent.

Mosla chinensis is an aromatic herb used in traditional Chinese medicine; its essential oil has known antioxidant and antimicrobial properties. We investigated whether adding this essential oil to chicken diets at a range of inclusion levels could improve growth, antioxidant status, and meat quality in yellow-feathered chickens.

A significant portion of the world’s methane emissions come from agriculture, the majority of which are produced by ruminant animals. Accurate measurement of these emissions is therefore a critical focus for advancing sustainable farming practices. However, as it stands, there is no consensus in the literature regarding the optimal method to define methane emissions in sheep.

The Swedish Warmblood is a sport horse breed, valued for its performance, rideability, and temperament. To improve breeding, it is important to understand the genetic background of traits linked to sport performance. However, these traits are influenced by many genes, making them difficult to study.

Reducing enteric methane emissions from beef cattle is an important step toward making livestock production more sustainable. One potential strategy is to select animals that naturally produce less methane. However, methane emissions are often linked to other traits, such as how much animals eat or how fast they grow—traits that are already part of many national breeding programs.

Zinc is an essential micromineral for pigs, playing a critical role in various physiological reactions. Although multiple nutritional guides provide recommendations for dietary zinc, the swine industry commonly uses higher dietary zinc levels to improve growth performance in post-weaning diets, a practice that has been increasingly questioned in multiple countries.

Water is a vital nutrient for beef cattle, but we still lack accurate tools to predict how much water an individual animal needs each day. This matters because cattle are raised in a wide range of climates, and water availability is becoming less predictable with climate change.

Meeting the growing global demand for animal protein requires improving livestock productivity. However, diets designed to increase cattle performance can sometimes upset normal digestion and create environmental challenges. This study evaluated feed additives, including buffering agents and plant extracts (tannins and saponins), as tools to improve nutrient use and reduce digestive disturbances in cattle.

Zinc is an essential mineral added to livestock diets to support growth and efficient nutrient use. This study compared a novel zinc oxide product with zinc sulfate, a commonly used zinc supplement, to evaluate how effectively each source would be utilized by wethers.

Determining the available energy content of feed for animals is critical; however, in vivo methods are time-consuming, costly, and technically complex. This study evaluated an automated computer-controlled simulated digestion system (CCSDS), designed to simulate the digestive processes of growing pigs under laboratory conditions. The system was used to analyze 20 common pig feed ingredients.

The nutrition of sows during late pregnancy and lactation can influence the gut microbiota colonization of their piglets, which is important for their future growth performance. This study examined whether supplementing short-chain fructo-oligosaccharides (scFOS), a prebiotic fiber, in the diet of sows during the last weeks of gestation and the lactation period could improve the quality of the milk and support the growth of their piglet.

During the transition from milk to solid feed, the digestive system of young pigs is not yet fully developed. At this stage, the provision of highly digestible protein sources is critical, as inadequate protein digestion can disturb gastrointestinal function. Eggs contain high-quality protein, but raw eggs contain natural trypsin inhibitors that interfere with protein digestion.

On April 23rd, USDA announced the restructuring of the Research, Education and Economic Mission Area. The Mission Area is home to the Agricultural Research Service (ARS), Economic Research Service (ERS), National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) and the National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA).

Taking Stock - Special Edition, Foundation Week
May 22, 2026

The global livestock and poultry farming systems are navigating an unprecedented paradigm shift. Faced with the compounding pressures of rising global protein demand, climate change, labor shortages, and increasing societal scrutiny regarding animal welfare, the agricultural sector is rapidly turning to digital solutions.

Animal husbandry is currently undergoing an unprecedented structural transformation, driven by the growing adoption of advanced digital technologies and, in particular, artificial intelligence (AI). The urgency of tackling global challenges—such as environmental sustainability, animal welfare, economic competitiveness, and food security—requires a profound revision of traditional management models, making it necessary to take a major leap in the collection, analysis, and use of data.

Precision livestock farming (PLF) is undergoing a profound transformation, with its core driver shifting from traditional data collection to intelligent decision-support systems powered by artificial intelligence (AI). While early-stage PLF relied on simple sensors for discrete tasks like estrus detection, rapid advancements in the Internet of Things (IoT), sensor technology, and computing power now enable modern systems to gather vast, multidimensional data covering animal behavior, physiology, and their micro-environment (Alexy & Haidegger, 2022; Kaur et al., 2023).

Animal science is at a critical juncture, faced with the challenge of providing sustainable nutrition for a growing global population. Against this backdrop, Artificial Intelligence (AI) has emerged as a powerful transformative force, offering the potential to enhance efficiency, improve animal welfare, and reduce environmental footprints (Distante et al., 2025).