Application of Dairy Nutrition Principles for Milk and Meat Production Using Traditional and Alternative Ingredients

Abstract

The expected increase in the world´s population has high-impact implications regarding animal production because more food of animal origin will need to be produced with an ever-shrinking availability of natural resources. Our knowledge and capacity to develop technologies that allow efficient utilization of animal feed resources for human food production will play a critical to sustain our future livelihood. As part of the technological advances in animal feed, we can evaluate forage resources to increase production, improve animal efficiency or a combination of both. Currently there are corn hybrid and other crops with favorable characteristics for forage production that allow for improved digestibility and animal performance. In addition, the development of different agro-industrial processes leads to the creation of byproducts that can be used in the production of meat and milk from cattle. An example of this is the production of ethanol and biodiesel with the subsequent production of distiller’s grains and glycerol for animal feed. Other technological advances in animal nutrition can be seen in the development of computer models for diet formulation, and technology applied to specific nutrients such as protected amino acids. This article presents current information on nutrition and feeding strategies for dairy and beef cattle using traditional ingredients, industrial byproducts and nutritional supplements that improve livestock production either in terms of yield, cost of production, or feed efficiency.