Planning regulations and industry guidelines need to keep pace with the intensification of dairy-farming systems into fully housed operations, to enable effective preparation and assessment of planning applications, and to ensure societal expectations of minimal environmental impact are met. Out-of-date planning provisions are hindering the approval of intensive dairy farms and many industry advisory publications fall short when applied to intensive dairy operations. Addressing these issues will assist with future planning-approval processes and optimising the effects of intensification on the environment.

The performance of four year groups of Brahman and F1 Senepol x Brahman steers was compared to determine whether crossbreeding with tropically adapted Bos taurus (eg. Senepol) bulls is a viable way for north Australian cattle producers with Brahman herds to produce animals that perform well under harsh northern conditions and are suited to both the South East Asian live export market and the Australian domestic market.

Breeding is the continuous process of raising, selecting and reproducing domestic animals with a view to modifying the genetic composition of future generations. The importance of correlation studies lies in the fact that selection for a given trait may elicit a response from another genetically correlated trait. In the present study we observed that by increasing productive traits, milk quality and reproductive traits may be compromised, warranting the adoption of selection indices that consider all traits simultaneously.

Multiple ovulation and embryo transfer in livestock was developed to accelerate the multiplication of superior animals and improve animal production. However, in sheep this biotechnology still has drawbacks, especially the high variability of response to ovarian superovulation (SOV). We could not identify a consistent pattern of response in ewes submitted to successive SOV, indicating that the selection of ewes based on a previous SOV response is not always feasible.

Oxygen is one of the most powerful regulators of embryo function, but for many in vitro embryo production studies it does not appear to be of concern. Low O₂ tension produced quality embryos in vitro with proper gene expression responsible for developmental potential. Low O₂ generated low reactive oxygen species and synthesised more glutathione due to activation of G6PD that upregulated GPX expression, in turn increased antioxidant capacity of embryos and protected them from oxidative damage and resulted better quality embryos.

Understanding and controlling nitrogen (N) utilisation efficiency in dairy goats is desirable to maximise farmers’ profits while minimising environmental N pollution. A mechanistic dynamic model was developed and validated as a research tool that can support more flexible decision systems. This model provides a framework to learn to manage N under different diets and lactation stages for dairy goats.

Fodder beet is fed to dairy cattle in temperate pastoral systems. The study of rumen fermentation parameters indicates that fodder beet should not exceed ~40% or ~60% of the dry matter in rations for lactating and non-lactating cows, respectively. These findings are important to develop evidence-based, safe feeding practices for this crop.

The environmental impact of beef production intensification is a growing concern in developing countries. Environmental impact declines with increased feed efficiency and productivity. Thus, restricted-feeding has the potential to improve the sustainability of beef production. Results indicate that using restricted-feeding (intake restricted to 85% of ad libitum dry matter intake) for the entire finishing phase in Brazilian feedlot systems reduced feed intake and phosphorus excretion, without impairing steer growth performance or carcass characteristics. Therefore, restricted-feeding may be a management tool available to reduce P pollution in Brazil.

Essential oils have been widely applied in food, medicine and the cosmetics industry. Carvacrol essential oils improve development of the small intestine of broilers, and can repair the intestinal damage caused by bacteria. Knowing the action of carvacrol essential oils on antimicrobial and anti-inflammatory opens the possibility of alternating antibiotics for poultry.

Although there are benefits of using only complete pelleted diets on the livestock productivity, there are adverse effects on fibre digestion. Therefore, the objective of this study was to introduce the addition of salt and AcidBuf into sheep diets. The results show that salt and AcidBuf supplementation improved weight gain, carcass characteristics and acid-base balance in growing lambs.

There is evidence that cattle vary in their ability to adapt to potential stressors within a feedlot environment, ultimately affecting animal welfare and production efficiency. Our findings suggest that temperament assessed before entry into the feedlot can potentially be used as an indicator of growth performance. This finding may aid producers in the early identification of individual cattle that would perform poorly in a feedlot environment, so that they could be managed using an alternative production strategy.

Feed preferences and intake are important determinants of the growth, health and reproductive success of animals, and also influence functioning of grazing ecosystems. Here, we compared the preference of weaned Boer goats for four native forage legumes (Otoptera burchellii, Crotalaria argyraea, Crotalaria podocarpa and Vigna lobatifolia) with each other and with Lucerne, and found that Crotalaria spp. were less preferred. Nonetheless, all the four native forage legumes have potential to contribute to ruminant nutrition and to sustainable utilisation of rangelands because of their adaptation to semiarid environments.

Organic beef production is increasing in interest among farmers and consumers worldwide, but it might present limitations compared with conventional fattening of calves. Comparing both systems, we found greater production per unit area in conventionally fertilised pastures than in organically managed ones (applying only manure) because 27% less animals could be managed in the latter. Under organic regulations, feeding yearlings with maize silage plus concentrate before slaughter provided acceptable gains and carcass traits, close to conventional feeding with concentrates.

The use of natural products in animal diets and their effect on meat has been studied as a natural alternative to improve quality. Our results provide new information about meat quality from animals supplemented with essential oils. The results show that low doses of essential oils blend do not influence the quality of the meat.