Nutrient synchrony (or the distribution of nutrients within a day) affects protein, glucose and fat metabolism and can ultimately impact on the utilization of nutrients in preruminant calves, concludes PhD student Joost van den Borne at Wageningen University in the Netherlands.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has granted an expanded dose range approval for Rumensin for improvement in feed efficiency and coccidiosis prevention and control in feedlot cattle. The approval increases the upper end of the dose range to 40 grams per ton, on a 90% dry matter basis.

Increased dietary salt can increases wool growth across a range of diets, according to CRC Salinity scientist Dr Dean Thomas of CSIRO Livestock Industries. This suggests the potential use of salt-accumulating vegetation, such as saltbush, in a grazing strategy to increase wool production efficiency.

A two-year project in Sorokoba Village, Fiji is being set up to improve livestock feed from sugar cane tops. This in return helps dairy farmers to yield higher milk and butter-fat content per cow.

The Department of Health (DOH) in Taiwan plans to relax a ban on ractopamine in livestock to permit low residue levels of the veterinary drug in pigs and cattle.

Grain based diets for dairy cows are getting more interest as fodder and land are getting more expensive. The Australian dairy industry has therefore launched a research project to find out whether feeding cows grain will increase the amount of milk they produce.