When environmental pollution becomes a restricting factor in livestock nutrition, there is a danger of over-compensating. In poultry production, this could have damaging effects on welfare. There is thus a need to re-assess phosphorus requirements in practice.

What is the unique property of fishmeal that makes it so useful in enhancing animal performance? Scientists in the UK have uncovered some of the secrets of this unique high performance protein. Using their research they have developed treatments for vegetable proteins to get the best feed value out of plant proteins.

Since the European ban of most traditional antimicrobials and growth promoters in animal feed, many alternatives have been discovered, tested and commercialised. Safe, innovative and powerful plant extracts can fit perfectly into today's animal husbandry and will play important roles in the sustainable husbandry practices of the future.

Feeding grains and forages contaminated with Fusarium mycotoxins results in harmful metabolic changes that reduce production efficiency of broilers, pigs and other species. Mycotoxin-binding substances are a popular choice for commercial applications, as they prevent intestinal absorption of the toxins. However, care must be taken to prevent binding of nutrients as well.