Future research priorities for animal production in a changing world

Abstract

Scollan, N. D., Greenwood, P. L., Newbold, C. J., Yanez Ruiz, D. R., Shingfield, K. J., Wallace, R. J., Hocquette, J. F. (2010). Future research priorities for animal production in a changing world. ? Animal Production Science, 51 (1), 1-5. IMPF: 00.83 Sponsorship: Cocoa Research UKThis paper reports the outcomes from an International Workshop on 'Animal Production in a Changing World' held in Clermont-Ferrand (INRA-Theix, France) on 9-10 September 2009 in which 35 participants from 15 different countries participated. The main objective was to discuss the main challenges within the livestock sector: its environmental impact and role in global climate change; balancing the need for increased production of animal products coupled with a lower footprint and addressing societal needs in terms of product quality for the consumer. Five key lectures presented the main drivers of animal agriculture: population growth, environmental impact, mitigation and adaptation options, efficiency of production and quality of animal products. The key lectures highlighted the synergies between research needs and strategies dedicated to improving food quality and safety and those devoted to decreasing the environmental impact of ruminant livestock production. After the lectures two discussion groups were set up to discuss the main research priorities in relation to reducing environmental footprint and improving product quality. The main remarks from the group working on product quality were that the existing knowledge is not fully applied, the priorities with regards to quality differ between developing and developed countries and that, as one component in assessing food quality, an environmental index needs to be established taking into account carbon footprint, water and energy use. The discussion within the group working on environmental issues highlighted the importance of focusing on whole life cycle analysis in the mitigation area, while the adaptation strategy should be based on selection for profitable animals under different production systems. In summary, a fundamental shift in designing our production systems is required to help ensure present needs for animal products are met without compromising future generations.Peer reviewe

Características da carcaça e da carne de bovinos não-castrados ou castrados terminados em confinamento e alimentados com três níveis de concentrado

“…A pecuária bovina no Brasil tem preconizado a produção de carcaças bem acabadas, porém com quantidade menor de gordura, seguindo a especificação mínima necessária para o resfriamento, sem o comprometimento da carne nos frigoríficos, mas ao mesmo tempo seguindo a tendência mundial de consumo de carne magra para a manutenção do bem-estar em nível de saúde pública (SCOLLAN et al, 2011). Isto se deve ao fato dos consumidores estarem mais conscientes em relação à própria saúde, exigindo produtos com melhores padrões de qualidade.…”

Opportunities for predicting and manipulating beef quality

“…nutritional value signals of beef into the supply chain (Pethick et al, 2011;Scollan, Greenwood, Newbold, Yáñez Ruiz, Shingfield, Wallace et al, 2011), in addition to the existing ones that are for the moment quite negative, so that the consumer may have a more balanced overall view of nutritional quality of beef. A sequential aggregation (similar to the one proposed for animal welfare in Botreau, Bracke, Perny, Butterworth, Capdeville, van Reenen et al, 2007) should be proposed from simple measures possible to perform routinely (for instance, composition in fatty acids and amino acids), to healthiness sub-criteria (for instance, for fat, protein, vitamins, minerals) to an overall assessment of the criterion "healthiness".…”

A glimpse of the future in animal nutrition science. 1. Past and future challenges

“…Many contemporary issues in animal agriculture have already been identified and thoroughly discussed (CAST, 2010;NASEM, 2016;Owens et al, 2014;Pethick et al, 2011;Poppi and McLennan, 2010;Scollan et al, 2011;Tedeschi et al, 2015), including perspectives for regionalized beef industries (Arelovich et al, 2011;Bell et al, 2011;Galyean et al, 2011;Hocquette and Chatellier, 2011;Millen et al, 2011). Additional issues exist, including the identification of bacteriophages to beneficially alter the ruminal microbiome, consortium formation for big data analysis, and water quality and scarcity (Roche et al, 2009).…”