Australian farmers can participate in the carbon economy through a legislated greenhouse gas methodology when urea is replaced by nitrate in lick blocks fed to beef cattle. In this experiment, aimed at validating the methodology under field conditions, cattle provided with nitrate lick blocks consumed less supplement, and had lower rates of productivity compared with cattle offered conventional urea lick blocks. Farmers are advised to exercise caution when adopting the methodology in its current form.

Methane from ruminants contributes to ~40% of greenhouse gas emission produced by the agriculture and livestock sector annually. In our study, plants rich in secondary metabolite compounds, such as Leucaena, and oil inclusion to the animal feeding program reduced methane production up to 50%, with the additional benefit of improving the fatty acids profile without negatively affecting metabolism. In the modern ruminant industry, this feeding program strategy can be implemented to design an environmentally friendly livestock–agricultural industry.

Average daily gain of cattle grazing tropical grasses is usually low due to restricted nutrient intake. Aiming to increase the efficiency of these systems, sources and levels of supplements was studied to evaluate the effects on animal performance, metabolism and nutrient utilisation. Energy supplementation increased animal performance and beef productivity, enhanced rumen fermentation and improved nitrogen metabolism. These results could help farmers improve the efficiency of their systems and reduce the detrimental effects of excess nitrogen released in the environment.

Cassava bagasse is a by-product feedstuff with potential as a ruminant feed in tropical environments, but there is poor understanding regarding production responses from its inclusion in cattle diets. We found that when cassava bagasse inclusion in a concentrate mix was increased, cattle intake of the concentrate mix increased, but in a curvilinear fashion. We suggest that cattle will eat no more than a maximal limit of cassava bagasse intake, although the reasons why are not clear.

Preparation of total mixed ration to be provided to dairy cattle requires a good understanding of the nutritional composition of the feed resources. In order to overcome the difficulty of monitoring content of stored silage in the silo, we used NIR technology to measure DM and nutrient contents during feed extraction from the silo. The results indicate that NIRS can provide useful information for improving the total mixed ration.

This study aimed to verify whether long-term exposure to music was beneficial to piglets. The results showed that long-term exposure to music significantly increased playing and tail-wagging behaviours, and induced positive immunomodulation through increased interleukin-4 levels in piglets. This study suggests that long-term exposure to music promotes the positive mood of piglets but does not affect productive performance.