Virtual Issues

Sustainable Animal Agriculture for Developing Countries 2023

The papers contained within this Special Issue of Animal Production Science were presented at the 9th biennial conference of Sustainable Animal Agriculture for Developing Countries (SAADC23), held in Vientiane, Laos in 2023. The meeting created a forum for collaboration among animal scientists, producers, and policy makers from developing countries, fostering the exchange of experiences and the development of sustainable animal agriculture practices.

Guest Editors
Wayne L. Bryden (University of Queensland)

ADSS 2022: A Changing Climate for Dairy Science

This special issue of Animal Production Science brings together a collection of research and review papers presented at the 2022 Australasian Dairy Science Symposium. The Australasian Dairy Science Symposium is the largest meeting of dairy scientists in the southern hemisphere and has a unique focus on pastoral dairy systems. The theme of the 2022 symposium was ‘A Changing Climate for Dairy Science’ so while this special issue includes papers on a range of topics including dairy cattle welfare, extension and adoption pathways, impacts of heat stress, supplementary feeding, artificial breeding technologies and novel milking schedules a common theme throughout the papers is addressing the challenges faced by the Australian and New Zealand dairy sectors.

Guest Editors
Keith Pembleton (University of Southern Queensland)
Callum Eastwood (DairyNZ Ltd)
James Hills (University of Tasmania)

Equine Science in Australasia II

An Equine Science special issue of an Animal Production Science was published in 2020 and this is the second special issue. Both reflect a journey that began in 2006 with the first Australian Equine Science Symposium (AESS). Since then there have been six biennial symposia that have provided a platform for equine researchers to enjoy a collegial atmosphere dedicated to the horse. However, the COVID-19 pandemic forced the cancellation of the 2020 and 2022 conferences but provided a stimulus to ensure a collection of manuscripts were published. As in the first special issue, the papers in this issue reflect the strength and diversity of Australasian Equine Science.

Guest Editors
Chris W. Rogers (Massey University)
Wayne L. Bryden (University of Queensland)

Animal Production Science in the 21st Century

Animal Production Science celebrates 60 years of publication in 2021 and to celebrate, we are marking this milestone with this selection of key review papers published in the journal over the last decade, highlighting research breakthroughs, social and economic issues that have influenced primary producers, and the practice of animal production.

The journal was first published in 1961 under the banner Australian Journal of Experimental Agriculture and Animal Husbandry, becoming simply Australian Journal of Experimental Agriculture in 1985. In those early years the journal published papers that covered all aspects of agricultural science, both plant and animal. In 2009 it was renamed Animal Production Science to reflect its international growth and a scope which had evolved to focus on livestock and food production.

Review articles featured in this virtual issue include topics such as genetics and genomics, physiology, endocrinology and reproduction, nutrition and metabolism, production systems, behaviour and wellbeing, technology, education and the changing face of animal production science. We believe the work represented in this selection has and will continue to act as a catalyst for future research, and be influential in the field of animal production.

Wayne Bryden
Editor-in-Chief

Animal Breeding and Genomics

New genomic technologies have revolutionised our approach to animal breeding and increased the rate of genetic change. This virtual issue brings together a selection of research articles that review research progress and updates our knowledge of the delivery of livestock genomics research applications, specifically for the beef and dairy cattle and sheep industries globally.

The application of genomic technologies has been difficult in the extensive industries (e.g. beef, dairy and sheep) because of the need to accurately predict performance of animals across multiple breeds. This requires access to denser single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) panels and many more animals than those required for single/major breeds such as those in the intensive industries (e.g. pig and poultry). High density SNP panels only became available to scientists in the beef industry in late 2010, meaning that prediction equations based on those panels are just now being developed.

Regardless of the pace of change and the very different ways that the technologies are being used by the different industries, each industry has experienced tumultuous changes and has had to adapt to many new challenges thrown up by those changing technologies. Through shared learning, DNA-based technologies will continue to revolutionise the way that livestock businesses breed and manage their animals to improve the productivity and profitability of their enterprises.