Grace Opadoyin Tona

By Grace Opadoyin Tona

This study reviews the current and future trends in the improvements being made in livestock nutrition and feed resources. There had been continuous improvements in global livestock production for past decades. Most of the improvements have been in response to increasing human populations, urbanization, income growth, production system efficiency, and environmental sustainability. To meet up with the increasing global demand for livestock products was the role earmarked to be played by animal nutritionists in a manner that there would be optimization of feed efficiency to achieve more livestock products from less feed. There has been the development and adoption of biotechnological applications such as the feeding of genetically modified plants and the use of in-feed additives such as antibiotics. In the past decades, the livestock feed industry had been centered on the use of antibiotics as livestock growth promoters. However, there has also been the negative development of microbial antibiotic resistance with various countries promulgating laws and regulations to ban and discourage in-feed antibiotic applications in the livestock feed industry. Thus, present and future improvements in livestock nutrition and feed resources are now being directed at the use of approved probiotics and the application of nanotechnology in livestock nutrition and feeding.

Part of the book: Animal Husbandry and Nutrition

By Grace Opadoyin Tona

Bovine meat and milk play a major role in the diet of humans and they have positive impact on global food security. The aim of this review work was to investigate the impact of bovine sources of meat and milk on food security in the low, medium and high income countries. Bovine source meat and milk could have impact on the nutritional, health, work, income, educational and recreational needs of humans. However, the feeding needs of bovine are mainly met with forage materials which do not compete with human foods. The beef and dairy cattle are raised mainly under the extensive system of production in the low and medium income countries, while the intensive system of production is that which is adopted majorly in the high income developed nations. The production of healthy beef and milk products may be observed to go a long way in preventing disease occurrence in both the cattle and the human consumers. The raising of fewer numbers of more genetically productive breeds of cattle under the intensive, semi-intensive and extensive systems of production could also have positive impact on global food security, sustainability and the mitigation of green house gas (GHG) emissions.

Part of the book: Bovine Science

By Grace Opadoyin Tona

The global livestock agriculture, including the beef and dairy cattle production systems, has undergone several transformations from traditionally less productive into more productive intensive systems. This research work reviews the various tools and techniques that have enhanced the development of more intensive beef and dairy cattle production worldwide. There is advancement from the extensive grazing on rangelands, into the more intensive systems of production under confined housing in the semi-intensive and intensive systems. Several investments would be required in the form of housing, feeding, breeding and genetic improvement, health and animal welfare and policy designs by the low-income livestock farmers, commercial livestock farmers and the larger livestock industries and governmental agencies. The increasing global population made it imperative to seek for more intensive and sustainable systems of beef and dairy cattle production in order to meet the human need for the production of cost-effective animal protein sources in the form of beef and bovine milk.

Part of the book: Intensive Animal Farming