Animal Frontiers Themed Issues
2024
Guiding principles of AI: application in animal husbandry and other considerations
Volume 14, Issue 6, December 2024
The current issue of Animal Frontiers is entirely dedicated to AI applied to animal farming and animal science sheds light on how advanced algorithms and machine learning can optimize productivity, animal welfare, and sustainability. By merging AI with animal science, researchers are paving the way for innovative solutions to age-old challenges, such as feed efficiency, animal health monitoring, and disease prevention. This special issue through ten remarkable articles explores these cutting-edge technologies, exploring into the potential impacts and future possibilities of AI in revolutionizing the animal farming industry.
Read the issue now
Current and future trends in managing internal parasites in forage-based livestock
Volume 14, Issue 5, October 2024
The aim of the current issue of Animal Frontiers is to consider sustainable strategies to control ecto- and endo-parasites of livestock animals raised on grass pastures or cage-free conditions.
Read the issue now
Global issues in aquaculture
Volume 14, Issue 4, August 2024
Periodically, the World Association of Animal Production (WAAP) commissions a special Animal Frontiers issue on global matters; in this issue, the spotlight is on aquaculture. Aquaculture, or the farming of aquatic organisms such as fish, molluscs, crustaceans, and aquatic plants, is important both now and into the future for several key reasons. Aquaculture will be critical to meeting the global food demand as the human population is projected to reach 10 billion by 2050.
Read the issue now
Companion animal nutrition: Where we are and where we're headed
Volume 14, Issue 3, June 2024
As pet ownership increases and owners become more passionate about their pets, there is an increasing demand for high-quality pet foods that support pet health. The pet food market often mimics the human food market as more pets are considered “part of the family.” As such, pet food formulations have been altered to support weight loss, gastrointestinal health, skin and coat health, and more. As the industry continues to emphasize functional foods, it is imperative that we continue to assess and improve products in terms of efficacy, safety, and production efficiency. This issue of Animal Frontiers focuses on companion animal nutrition.
Read the issue now
Value assessment of animal protein can help feed the future
Volume 14, Issue 2, April 2024
…The articles in this edition of Animal Frontiers continue the conversation surrounding value determination. Granted, this review is merely a snapshot of the global food production system and focuses mainly on beef with a nod to lamb production. The unique aspects of the ruminant species provide an interesting perspective, mainly due to their lack of consolidation or integration, when compared to other proteins such as poultry or pork.
Read the issue now
The wildlife–livestock interface: a general perspective
Volume 14, Issue 1, February 2024
This issue aims to bring together different aspects of wildlife–livestock coexistence, discussing the main positive and negative impacts on all the players implicated. To this end, six articles are compiled.
Read the issue now
2023
Meat protein alternatives: exotic species
Volume 13, Issue 6, December 2023
The present issue of Animal Frontiers aims to shed light on the production, processing, and quality traits of meat obtained from other species as compared to traits of meat from conventional species. This special issue tackles different important aspects of meat protein options beyond the conventional options (pork, poultry, beef, and lamb) such as capybara, camel, game, rabbit, kangaroo, donkey, and water buffalo meats.
Read the issue now
Livestock adaptation to climate
Volume 13, Issue 5, October 2023
This issue of Animal Frontiers, Livestock Adaptation to Climate, focuses on selected aspects of extensive livestock production: grassland and savanna, genetics of small stock and large stock, nutrition, and product quality.
Read the issue now
Insects as global opportunity
Volume 13, Issue 4, August 2023
The main aim of the current issue of Animal Frontiers is to provide an overview of the development of insects in the global food chain. This special issue tackles different important aspects of the application of insects and their nutrients in animal feed.
Read the issue now
Mammalian milk: The elixir of life from maternal care to modern dairy production
Volume 13, Issue 3, June 2023
This issue of Animal Frontiers “Mammalian milk: The elixir of life from maternal care to modern dairy production” focuses on mammary gland development, colostrum production, genetic selection, metabolism, and the evolution of milk production that have enhanced the modern dairy cow and the dairy industry.
Read the issue now
The societal role of meat—what the science says
Volume 13, Issue 2, April 2023
This Special Issue of Animal Frontiers aims to provide a synopsis of answers which represent the currently available best scientific evidence. The answers are given on major considerations pertaining to eating meat, including its impact on human nutrition and health, environmental sustainability, economic affordability, and ethical justification. To this end, we invited a broad group of leading international scientists to interpret the scientific evidence for the benefit of making it accessible to the communities of policy makers, industry practitioners, journalists, common consumers, and fellow scientists alike.
Read the issue now
Social aspects of livestock farming around the globe
Volume 13, Issue 1, February 2023
The aim of this issue is to bring together different aspects and views on social aspects of livestock production in order to open a discussion on the complex tasks that livestock perform in different parts of the world and on the resulting challenges. To this end, five articles are compiled in this issue covering a range of topics such as animal welfare, trust and deception when buying organic animal products, economic analyses of the industry, and more.
Read the issue now
2022
Camelids: an old family spread over four continents
Volume 12, Issue 4, August 2022
It is the objective of this special issue to offer to the readers of Animal Frontiers, some examples of the current questions and perspectives regarding camelids. With remarkable biological models as well as interesting producing animals and elements of remote ecosystems, the different questions regarding the species of this family could stimulate animal scientists to be more involved in “camelidology.”
Read the issue now
Horses as athletes: the road to success
Volume 12, Issue 3, June 2022
From Xenophon and the beginning of classical equitation, through the Medieval Ages and use of the horse in battle, to the Renaissance and Haute Ecole, to our modern uses of horses in polo, racing, jumping, driving, pleasure, and more, the horse has been hailed as an athlete in its own right. Over time, as the demands of the use have changed, our horses have become more specialized and adapted to each new challenge. While there are many factors that influence a horse’s athletic ability, this issue will focus on some of the many physical characteristics that allow the horse to perform in a wide variety of disciplines.
Read the issue now
Automation in the Global Meat Industry
Volume 12, Issue 2, April 2022
The goal of this issue was to explore the prospects for, and the current state of, automation in the global meat industry, including beef, pork, lamb, poultry, and fish. The intent was to stimulate discussion, get a better understanding of the opportunities and challenges to frame a direction for the future of automation in the meat industry.
Read the issue now
Animal welfare during transport and slaughter: an issue that remains to be solved
Volume 12, Issue 1, February 2022
This issue of Animal Frontiers addresses the debate on how animals must be treated and the slaughter and transport of animals for consumption. Although most people agree that animals should be protected, many questions, relative to under which conditions and to which extent animals may be used by humans for consumption, for pleasure, or other objectives, remain.
Read the issue now
2021
Solving new world animal science problems with a multidisciplinary approach
Volume 11, Issue 5, October 2021
This issue of Animal Frontiers addresses the key global challenges facing livestock production and highlights opportunities for co-learning and achieving greater impact by working together. Global demand for livestock products is increasing as populations grow and consumer demand increases with higher incomes. If we are to produce more meat, milk, and eggs, using less resources, and under increased regulatory and consumer pressure, we must understand that livestock systems are intimately interconnected with the environment and play an important role in supporting the livelihoods of billions of people across the supply chain.
Read the issue now
Charting a course to sustainability
Volume 11, Issue 4, July 2021
This issue of Animal Frontiers takes a look at sustainability as a framework for decision-making over time, rather than an obtainable target. Animal Frontiers has published several issues in which components of animal agriculture are examined in the context of a sustainable food system and this particular issue examines the current state of the science needed to create livestock production systems that assist in the creation of a sustainable system.
Read the issue now
Letter from the World Association for Animal Production
Volume 11, Issue 3, May 2021
This issue of Animal Frontiers on Animal Domestication is the first to be overseen by the World Association of Animal Production (WAAP). It marks the entry of this federation into the consortium that owns Animal Frontiers magazine. This magazine aims to be an interface between the world of science and its users, whether they are decision-makers, teachers, technicians, students, and even researchers in the animal sciences sector or in neighboring sectors and this first issue presents the history of animal domestications in the Neolithic and later.
Read the issue now
More than Meat: Contributions of Livestock Systems Beyond Meat Production
Volume 11, Issue 2, March 2021
The goal of this issue is to the highlight the ways that the livestock industry and products from livestock production can be more than just meat. There are many intangible benefits from livestock production such as direct and indirect employment opportunities in developed countries, use of livestock to help maintain rangelands for fire control, and the role of livestock production in youth development through programs.
Read the issue now
COVID-19 and How it Affects the World of Livestock
Volume 11, Issue 1, January 2021
One of the critical effects of the COVID-19 pandemic has been a negative impact on agricultural food production and distribution. This issue of Animal Frontiers will investigate the problems of pandemics and, specifically, COVID-19 on global animal agriculture.
Read the issue now
2020
The Future of Animal Protein: Feeding a Hungry World
Volume 10, Issue 4, October 2020
This issue includes contributions that address the challenges and opportunities faced by the animal protein industry as we strive to meet the upcoming obligation of feeding 10 billion people by 2050 with the same basic level of natural resources that are currently available for use today.
Read the issue now
The Future of Animal Science Departments
Volume 10, Issue 3, July 2020
This issue of Animal Frontiers is envisioned to be a reflection on the future of animal or veterinary science departments in institutions of higher education. The exercise of imagining the future is critical to shaping it and this issue encompasses the thoughts about the future from around the world.
Read the issue now
The Future of Phenomics
Volume 10, Issue 2, April 2020
Included in this issue of Animal Frontiers are seven review articles showcasing how phenomics will impact livestock production in the future. The contributions from Africa, Europe, Asia, and the Americas provide a global perspective of how livestock scientists view the automation of phenotype recording.Read the issue now
Read the issue now
The Future of Animal-Sourced Foods: Ethical Considerations
Volume 10, Issue 1, January 2020
To earn the public’s ongoing support, animal scientists must be trusted to align with the highest ethical values. In this special issue, ethics is studied mainly from a philosophical background and defined as the critical, systematic reflection on implicit and explicit moral assumptions of animal scientists. The aim is to offer a series of papers dealing with different proactive and constructive ways to deal with ethical conflicts.
Read the issue now
2019
Foods of Animal Origin: A Prescription for Global Health
Volume 9, Issue 4, October 2019
This issue is titled “Foods of Animal Origin: A Prescription for Global Health.” This phraseology was selected because “global health” can mean different things to different people. For example, it can mean the physical health of an individual to positively affect their ability to thrive, or global health can mean the environmental health of the planet and its ability to sustain all life. The balance between providing for human health without compromising environmental health must be addressed.
Read the issue now
Farm Animals are Important Biomedical Models
Volume 9, Issue 3, July 2019
This issue of describes several examples in which cattle, sheep, pigs, or chickens provide an excellent physiological model for studies related to human health or disease. While previous reports have discussed the use of domestic animals as dual-purpose models that benefit agricultural and biomedical research, this issue provides additional and novel examples of the value of farm animals for biomedical research.
Read this issue now
Modelling of Livestock Systems to Enhance Efficiency
Volume 9, Issue 2, April 2019
This issue of Animal Frontiers focuses on how mathematical models and data analytic technologies are being applied in animal production systems to improve the efficiency of production.
Read this issue now
Climate Change: Impact on Livestock and How Can We Adapt
Volume 9, Issue 1, January 2019
This issue of Animal Frontiers focuses on the effects of climate change (global warming) on livestock health, well-being, production and reproduction, and on possible adaptation and mitigation strategies that can be put in place to reduce negative impacts.
Read this issue now
2018
Global Innovations to secure a Safe Meat Supply
Volume 8, Issue 4, October 2018
The focus of this issue was food safety. In general, food safety is currently recognized as an integral constituent of food production, processing, distribution, and preparation in developed countries. However, as you will see in this issue this outlook was formerly not as concrete as it is today.
Read this issue now
"Meating" Nutritional Security and International Trade
Volume 8, Issue 3, July 2018
This issue derives from a recent International Livestock Congress (ILC) presented by the International Stockmen’s Educational Foundation (ISEF) in conjunction with the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo. David Klurfeld addresses “What is the role of meat in a healthy diet?” He describes the value of red meat as a nutrient-dense food that is a complete protein source containing all essential amino acids, iron, zinc, selenium, and B vitamins.
Read this issue now
Facing the Antimicrobial Resistance Challenge
Volume 8, Issue 2, April 2018
Antimicrobial resistance has emerged in the public eye as a serious threat for humanity and livestock agriculture. Based on World Health Organization reports, antimicrobial resistance is estimated to cost our global medical sector over 100 trillion dollars and cause 10 million human fatalities per year by 2050. Included in this issue of Animal Frontiers are six articles showcasing different approaches to reducing antimicrobial use in livestock production.
Read this issue now
Consumer Acceptance of Livestock Farming around the Global
Volume 8, Issue 1, January 2018
In this issue we look at livestock farming around the globe and how it faces several challenges, one being to achieve acceptability for production methods by its customers. In recent years, public and consumer awareness about the way food is produced has highly increased with animal production being surrounded by many concerns from a public and consumer point of view.
Read this issue now
2017
What is Meat: Perspectives of the American Meat Science Association and the International Community
Volume 7, Issue 4, October 2017
What is meat? It sounds like such a simple question to answer. While most people in the United States would point to items like steaks, hamburgers, bacon, and ham as being meat, what about chicken and fish? Are these meat or should they be classified as “poultry” and “seafood,” respectively? Included in this issue of Animal Frontiers is the position of the American Meat Science Association (AMSA) regarding the definition of meat.
Read this issue now
Developmental Programming: What Mom Eats Matters!
Volume 7, Issue 3, July 2017
In this issue of Animal Frontiers, we focus on fetal programming and the long-lasting effects of maternal nutrition during gestation on the offspring. The authors discuss the effects of maternal nutrition during gestation from a variety of aspects, including production efficiency, development of stem cells into muscle and fat, bone disease, and measures to identify the impact of poor maternal nutrition on developmental programming.
Read this issue now
GMO Crops in Animal Nutrition
Volume 7, Issue 2, April 2017
In the past two decades, genetically modified (GM) crops have brought significant benefits to both farmers and consumers but their cultivation remains at the centre of a global controversy. This issue focuses on the use of GM crops in animal nutrition and the implications faced in terms of regulation, trade, food security, and ethics.
Read this issue now
Precision Livestock Farming for the Global Livestock Sector
Volume 7, Issue 1, January 2017
The precision livestock farming (PLF) approach aims to monitor and manage animals in a continuous and fully automated way. The modern PLF technology (cameras, microphones, sensors, and internet) will bring the farmers' attention to the individual animals that need their help to solve a problem. This will change the life of farmers and their animals. This special issue aims to show the vision and potential of this technology as we have experienced and learned from the biggest PLF research project so far worldwide: the EU-PLF project 2012–2016.
Read this issue now
2016
The Use of Performance Enhancing Technologies in Global Livestock Production
Volume 6, Issue 4, October 2016
Previous editions of Animal Frontiers (January and July 2013) focused on the contributions of animal production to global food security, emphasizing both agriculture in developing countries and the application of technologies in animal production. This issue expands on those ideas with more detail regarding the use of performance-enhancing technologies in the production of meat from cattle, swine, small ruminants, poultry, and fish.
Read this issue now
Gut Microbiota, Diet and Health: Application to Livestock and Companion Animals
Volume 6, Issue 3, July 2016
This issue of Animal Frontiers explores the importance of the GI microbiota of several livestock and companion animal species as well as humans, with application to host metabolism, growth performance, and overall health. Depending on the situation, GI microbiota may enhance or hinder performance and/or host health.
Read this issue now
Microbiomes in Ruminant Production Systems
Volume 6, Issue 2, April 2016
Articles in this issue of Animal Frontiers discuss how “microbiomes in ruminant production systems” are being studied and optimized to address the sustainability of ruminant production systems.
Read this issue now
Animal Breeding in the Genomics Era
Volume 6, Issue 1, January 2016
This issue focuses on genomic selection, the developments that have occurred in its commercial application since the start of the century, as well as perspectives on challenges for developments in this field for years to come.
Read this issue now
2015
Land-use Challenges for Animal Agriculture
Volume 5, Issue 4, October 2015
This issue focuses on “Land-Use Challenges for Animal Agriculture.” What we know to be constant across the world is the need for nutritious foods and the importance of ecological benefits inherent to the grazing lands we use. However, the political views within and across nations of how these questions should be answered are controversial and diverse, which posed some challenge in addressing land use and animal agriculture on a worldwide basis in this issue.
Read this issue now
Communicating the Animal Sciences Effectively
Volume 5, Issue 3, July 2015
This issue of Animal Frontiers focuses on the challenges associated with how best to communicate animal science information with policymakers, the public, and students. Communicating effectively with these stakeholder groups is critical to the future of the livestock and poultry industries.
Read this issue now
Insects as a Source of Nutrients: Beyond the Western Prejudices
Volume 5, Issue 2, April 2015
The major goal of this issue of Animal Frontiers is to provide knowledge. Being aware of the potential of insects as food or feed ingredients is the first step towards acceptability.
Read this issue now
Animal Reproduction: From Brain Control of Reproductive Activity to Long Term Effects in Adult Offspring
Volume 5, Issue 1, January 2015
The objective of this issue is to highlight some of the new developments of research on animal fertility as well as some consequences of these evolutions on the application of reproductive biotechnologies for animal breeding, biodiversity conservation, and human medicine.
Read this issue now
2014
From Bison to Vicugna: Non-traditional Meat Animals
Volume 4, Issue 4, October 2014
This Animal Frontiers issue focuses on the role of non-traditional meat animals in food security and the agricultural economy. Non-traditional meat species (from six inhabited continents) were chosen as the focus of this issue because in many parts of the world, where adverse climate and scarcity of natural resources (i.e., water and forages) make production of conventional livestock nearly impossible, such animals provide protein-rich food for human nutrition and contribute to a thriving agricultural economy and food security.
Read this issue now
The Human-Animal Bond and Domestication
Volume 4, Issue 3, July 2014
In this issue, international authors discuss the science of the bond with our animals that seems to be such a natural part of our lives.
Read this issue now
Milk - Not just Another Food
Volume 4, Issue 2, April 2014
This issue of Animal Frontiers regroups articles summarizing the current state of knowledge on the nutritional value of milk and its potential role in disease causation and prevention. We hope this information will feed discussions or support the recommendations on the place that milk could or should have in a balanced diet.
Read this issue now
Public Health and Livestock: Emerging Diseases Food Animals
Volume 4, Issue 1, January 2014
This issue of Animal Frontiers focuses on four different emerging diseases across the globe, including peste des petis ruminants virus, Leopeopheirus salmonis, transmissible spongiform encephalopathy, and porcine epidemic diarrhea virus. In addition, Frederick Lantier underscores the necessity and the requirements for the development of appropriate animal models to empirically investigate emerging diseases in food animals.
Read this issue now
2013
Animal Fertility: The path that sperm and eggs travel to feed the world and improve human well-being
Volume 3, Issue 4, October 2013
This issue of Animal Frontiers provides an overview of the importance of research directed towards improving animal fertility including the unique set of challenges that animal scientists face when undertaking this endeavor and a sampling of some of our successes. It is a sex education class in which everyone has a vested interest because ultimately the topics being studied will help feed the world and improve our own well-being.
Read this issue now
The Contribution of Animal Production to Global Food Security: Part Two
Volume 3, Issue 3, July 2013
This issue looks in greater detail at the contribution of technological advances to global food security. During the past 40 years, development and adoption of new technologies has greatly enhanced livestock production by decreasing resource use and output of waste per unit of product produced. In order to meet the projected food demand by 2050, new knowledge of genomics, physiological processes, nutrient utilization, and animal well-being must lead to new management practices that are economically, environmentally, and socially sustainable.
Read this issue now
Biofuel
Volume 3, Issue 2, April 2013
“Is biofuel good or bad?” This issue will not provide a universal answer. The objective of this inquiry is to promote awareness and arouse the attention of the readers to the complexity of this simple question.
Read this issue now
The Contribution of Animal Production to Global Food Security: Part One
Volume 3, Issue 1, January 2013
This issue of Animal Frontiers focuses on the topic of food security. It takes a high-level perspective, exploring the relationship between people and animals (including fish) in developing countries, through trade and particularly in terms of nutrition.
Read this issue now
2012
Application of science, technology, and art in producing meat: A recipe for success
Volume 2, Issue 4, October 2012
This issue of Animal Frontiers is focused on meat production and processing across the globe. There are many important issues in food production and in meat production that relate to efficiency, quality, nutrition, preservation, and food safety. We specifically chose to focus on the connection of meat production in diverse cultures and the advances that will help us continue to improve meat quality and consumer acceptance.
Read this issue now
Farm animal welfare: a sticky situation
Volume 2, Issue 3, July 2012
In this issue of Animal Frontiers, scientists from around the world explore the many factors that contribute to addressing challenges to farm animal welfare that make it such a complicated issue to resolve.
Read this issue now
Animal Production and Water: A Difficult Association
Volume 2, Issue 2, April 2012
This issue of Animal Frontiers attempts to promote awareness of the impact of animal production on water availability and water quality. It highlights the lack of knowledge of the water requirements of animals.
Read this issue now
Animal Selection: The Genomic Revolution
Volume 2, Issue 1, January 2012
The scope of this issue of Animal Frontiers is to provide a worldwide overview and various perspectives on intermediate-term scenarios resulting from the application of genomic tools in different livestock species. Relevant technicians and scientists were invited to focus on the impact of the genomic revolution on the genetics industry and to forecast future developments
Read this issue now
