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In the past two decades, the use of grain to feed livestock in China has increased rapidly. A number of studies have examined demand and supply of grain for animal feed in China. Forecasts have been made. Generally, these projections have turned out to be well wide of the actual supply and demand. Further, forecasts of supply and demand for feed grains for the same time periods have differed greatly. Accurate forecasts of variables affecting supply and demand benefit both producers and consumers. Past forecasts of supply and demand of feed grain for livestock production in China are reviewed and reasons for discrepancies between projections are explored. Ways to improve projections of demand for and supply of grain for livestock feed in China are identified. Copyright (c) 2008 International Association of Agricultural Economists.

Cost‐effective macroporous alumina–mullite membrane supports are fabricated by sintering coarse α‐alumina and colloidal silica, using cornstarch as the foaming agent at 1550 °C for 2 h in air atmosphere. To evaluate the corrosion resistance of such membrane supports, the corrosion behaviors of the supports before and after corroding in the H2SO4 and NaOH solutions (80 °C) are systematically investigated. Interestingly, with increasing Al2O3/SiO2 ratio, the support presents numerous alumina grains and little glass phases, resulting in excellent corrosion resistance especially in acidic media. Benefiting from the alumina grains and little glass phases among the grain boundaries, lower mass loss, less variations in pore size and porosity, high residual strength, and an almost unchanged gas flux are obtained for a higher Al2O3/SiO2 ratio support. The porous support, herein, is suitable for microfiltration membranes used in harsh environments.