Monitoring ewe liveweight may help farmers make more profitable decisions with regard to the management of their sheep flock. This review brings together the relevant literature demonstrating why sheep liveweight is important, and identifies and assesses available technologies for monitoring sheep liveweight. The findings suggest that walk-over weighing, an emerging liveweight monitoring technology, offers considerable potential to provide sufficiently timely and accurate flock average liveweight data to aid farmer decision making.

A model of the sheep breeding industry examined the value of genomic information in sheep breeding programs. Benefits can be obtained by both the traditional three-tiered wool industry structure and studs using genomic information and selling directly to commercial producers, with most of the benefits retained by the commercial producers. The proportion of nucleus rams that use genetic tests must be optimised to achieve the maximum economic benefit.

Knowledge of genetic parameters of economic traits is very crucial to breeding plans. However, there is no information on genetic parameter estimates for many traits of Hainan Black goats. In this study, we estimated the genetic parameters of growth traits of Hainan Black goats using two different animal models of MTDFREML software. The results would greatly improve the breeding plans of Hainan Black goats.

The effects of Cr in pigs have been equivocal. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of different-sized particles of CrPic in gilts; the results showed that small-sized particles CrPic improves carcass characteristics when pigs fed a high fat diet. Dietary supplement with small-sized particle CrPic can provide beneficial effects, particularly in high-fat diets.

Effects of reduced dietary protein on performance and nitrogen (N) excretion were assessed to reduce the environmental impact of pig production. Pigs were given a control diet or a diet with reduced protein content, either with (LP1) or without (LP2) amino-acid supplementation. Compared with the control, N excretion was reduced (~18%) in LP1 and LP2, but the feed-conversion ratio was poorer, as was growth in LP2, but not LP1. This indicates the difficulty in maintaining consistently high performance when dietary protein levels are reduced.

The primary goal of this study was to assess the usefulness of rye-containing dry mixes (modern rye cv. Visello) for pig fattening. Feeding the mixes in which a proportion of barley was replaced with the rye grain has yielded significantly better results than barley-containing diets in terms of carcass quality and price. These observations warrant further studies of different rye cultivars to determine their utility in intensive pig farming.

The influence of pellet diameter and whole wheat inclusion on gizzard development and performance of broilers was investigated. Whole wheat and larger diameter pellets increased the energy utilisation and starch digestibility, but gizzard weights differed depending on the method of whole wheat inclusion. The data showed that improvements associated with whole wheat feeding cannot always be explained on the basis of gizzard development.

Nutritional approaches targeting improvement of animal performance and disease prevention are currently warranted and in this respect the dietary intake of beneficial microbes termed probiotics is being actively researched. The level of probiotic inclusion in broiler diets was shown to be relevant for benefits in performance, nutrient digestibility, gut microbiota composition and metabolic activities. Generally, this study supports further the role of probiotics for an improved gut function and as effective alternatives to dietary antibiotic growth promoters used in broilers.

Pork meat colour stability may differ between conventional and organic (not free-ranging) pig husbandry systems due to on-farm differences in feed ingredients and space allowance. Most objective measures of pork colour during ageing differed between husbandry systems, but canonical discrimination between conventional and organic pork based on colour was not possible. Three days of storage combined the best pork meat colour and haeminic pigment balance.

Pork makes a major contribution to worldwide meat consumption, and ways of improving meat quality are imperative. Variation in the rate of post-mortem pH decline is an important reason for variation in meat quality, but the mechanisms involved are not clear. In our research, we found that post-mortem energy status and metabolism might be important factors in the conversion of muscle to meat and might be important determinants of ultimate meat quality.

High potassium (K) in the diet of sheep and cattle has been implicated in the incidence of milk fever and grass tetany (hypomagnesaemia). The aim of this study was to determine the effect of a high K diet on calcium (Ca) absorption in sheep. The results demonstrate that increased dietary K decreased Ca absorption and decreased magnesium (Mg) status of the sheep. Therefore, levels of both Ca and Mg should be considered when feeding high-K diets to ruminants, to reduce the risk of hypomagnesaemia and hypocalcaemia and to improve livestock health and productivity.

Within mixed swards containing herbs and legumes, little is known about ewe grazing preference. Ewe diet selection and grazing preference was found to be intrinsically affected by species availability, access and palatability across seasons. Overall, a herb and legume sward may allow livestock to preferentially select specific plants to meet their nutritional requirements at a given time point.

Dual-purpose wheat may be grazed by late-pregnant and lactating ewes during the winter in southern Australia. Results from two experiments with ewes grazing wheat crops during the lambing period identified that wheat forage may contain insufficient calcium, magnesium and sodium to meet ewe requirements. Providing a loose-lick mineral supplement to ewes can increase liveweight gain in twin-born suckling lambs.

Algae are a novel protein source which could be grown on farm to provide a cheap protein supplement to cattle. Algae were compared to urea and sulfur as a nitrogen supplement and markedly increased intake and microbial protein production in cattle, more so than a simple urea and sulfur supplement. Algae are thus a new protein supplement which has the potential to markedly increase liveweight gain of cattle.

Tedera is a perennial pasture containing secondary compounds that has the potential to be utilised in the farm systems during the summer-autumn feed gap and reducing supplementary feeding. In our study, we showed that tedera was fermented without any adverse effects on digestibility or fermentability. These findings give further support for pursuing tedera as a fodder for growing regions of Australia.

New approaches to improve post-thawed sperm quality in rams are needed. The results of this study showed that Tris-based extender containing 1.5% (w/v) soybean lecithin can maintain post-thawed sperm quality better than other commercial extenders investigated. The findings may be beneficial to improve artificial insemination efficiency in sheep industry.