Scrapie is an invariably fatal, infectious disease of adult sheep and goats characterised by degeneration of the central nervous system. It is one of the Transmissible Spongiform Encephalopathies (TSE), a disease family which includes Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE) in cattle, Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD) in deer, and Kuru and variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease (vCJD) in humans. Scrapie was first discovered in European sheep in the early 18th Century and is now present in many sheep populations worldwide.

Diet related chronic conditions such as cardiovascular disease (CVD), cancers and diabetes are the main sources of morbidity and mortality in westernized societies, being responsible for approximately 64% of deaths in men and 73% of deaths of women within the EU (Peterson et al., 2005). The amount and composition of dietary fat is recognised as an important determinant of the initiation and progression of these chronic conditions.

During pregnancy, the developing fetus obtains all its iron from the mother. At birth in humans, the neonate has a total of about 1g of iron. The mother can provide up to 600 mg of iron from cessation of menstruation and from increased absorption, with about 300 to 400 mg coming from maternal stores. It is clear, therefore, that maternal absorption, both before and after pregnancy, to build up and replenish iron stores respectively, and to provide iron directly for the fetus, is critical for normal growth and development.

Meat is frequently associated with a “negative” health image due to its “high” fat content and in the case of red meat is seen as a cancer-promoting food. Therefore a low meat intake, especially red meat is recommended to avoid the risk of cancer, obesity and metabolic syndrome. However, this discussion overlooks the fact, that meat is an important source for some of micronutrients such as iron, selenium, vitamins A, B12 and folic acid. These micronutrients are either not present in plant derived food or have poor bioavailability. In addition, meat as a protein rich and carbohydrate “low” product contributes to a low glycemic index which is assumed to be “beneficial” with respect to overweight, the development of diabetes and cancer (insulin resistance hypothesis). Taken together meat is an important nutrient for human health and development. As an essential part of a mixed diet, meat ensures adequate delivery of essential micronutrients and amino acids and is involved in regulatory processes of energy metabolism.

Pig breeding companies have been using DNA markers for selection for nearly 15 years, since the introduction of the test for the “Halothane gene”. Other tests have been developed and are used by the industry, although the total number in use was probably less than 100 at the end of 2005. However, large numbers of SNPs have now been identified in the pig and these are being used for relatively high density genome scans (using 1,000s of markers). It is anticipated that significantly more use will be made of DNA markers in the next decade. This paper will provide specific examples of the impact made by markers on the pork chain.

Since the 1970’s, several developments have raised high expectations for the use of molecular genetic technology to enhance selection in livestock through application of marker-assisted selection (MAS). These include the discovery of technologies that enabled identification and genotyping of large numbers of genetic markers, and research and statistical methods that demonstrated how these technologies can be used to identify genomic regions that control quantitative traits and how the resulting quantitative trait loci (QTL) can be used in MAS. Yet, to date, the application of MAS in livestock has been limited (see e.g. review in Dekkers 2004). Recent further advances in technology, including genome sequencing and the associated discovery and identification of large numbers of single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) that can be used as genetic markers, combined with the development of high-throughput SNP genotyping that allows the genotyping of large numbers of individuals for large numbers of SNPs at substantially reduced costs, have however stimulated a renewed interest in the large-scale application of MAS in livestock.

The last ten years or so have seen a major, concerted international research efforts to produce genome maps for the dog. One of the major driving forces behind the research was to provide the tools required to track down and identify mutant gene alleles that are responsible for canine inherited disease. Early phases of map development involved the cloning and characterisation of 1000s of canine microsatellite sequences and the production of microsatellite-specific primer pairs that could be used to amplify specific microsatellite loci. Microsatellites were then mapped to their individual chromosomal loci using a combination of meiotic linkage analysis in standard canine reference families and radiation hybrid mapping. Molecular cytogenetics has also been used to gain a clearer picture of the canine karyotype and how it relates to the human karyotype.

Over the last century, research in food-animal agriculture has focused predominantly on improving productive efficiency through gains in yield and animal well-being. Impressive gains have been and will continue to be achieved, and Sir John Hammond has been among the leading contributors through his own work and his influence on scientists that followed, including myself. Nutritional quality is an important consideration in food choices and the contribution of animal-derived foods in supplying essential nutrients has been recognized for some time. However, the last decade has seen increased consumer interest in the link between diet and health, and as a result scientists are increasingly asked to clarify the role of specific foods and food components in health maintenance and disease prevention. The term ‘functional foods’ has been adopted to describe foods or food components that have beneficial effects on human health beyond that expected on the basis of nutritive value. Traditionally, functional food components in fruits and vegetables have been featured for their health promoting properties, but recent investigations have identified an impressive list of bioactive components present in animal-derived foods that have beneficial effects on health-related variables in studies with biomedical models. A recent National Academy of Sciences report titled “Frontiers in Agriculture Research” identified research on bioactive food components as a key area for future research to enhance human health through nutrition.

This paper will review the factors that will, over the next 10-15 years, determine the sustainability of UK livestock farms. Based on an analysis of the industry as it is today and an assessment of the likely impacts of CAP reform, I will argue that there is likely to be a greater plurality of enterprise. For those farms wishing to compete in a global market at commodity prices, cost efficiency will remain paramount, but there will also be incentives driving towards greater vertical and horizontal integration. Such farms are likely to comply with best practice, but would not see the delivery of environmental goods as an essential part of the farm’s outputs. I will consider for such producers what advantages may accrue from the rapid deployment of new technology. Under these circumstances, quality considerations will emphasise reliability and safety over taste and (possibly) health benefits, with the need to remain competitive on price remaining paramount. Efficiency gains will only bring a brief benefit to producers, with competition rapidly forcing the benefits further down the food chain.

Climate change and environmental issues have emerged as major present drivers of UK animal agriculture. However, the longer-term vision for a profitable, sustainable future is for the food industry (food production, processing, retailing catering and marketing) to become more integrated in terms of providing good food for consumers who place more emphasis on healthy diets (Curry Report 2002). BSAS has seen considerable change in the types of animal science that have been reported at its meetings over the last 50 years, from the emphasis on greater production in the 1950s and 60s to greater efficiency in the 70s and 80s to better quality products in more recent times. However, whilst the animal industry has come a long way in terms of the quality of its products, it has had to face a series of ‘scares’ over recent years that have eroded consumer confidence in these products and the farmer’s share of a basket of food staples (down 25% from 1988). Nowadays total farm income in the UK (£3 billion per year) is tiny when considered in terms of consumer expenditure on food, drink and catering (£152 billion per year).

The understanding of growth and development of skeletal muscle is one of the most important goals in animal and meat science. The major component of a given muscle is the constituent muscle fibres. Muscle mass is therefore largely determined by the number of muscle fibres and the size of those fibres.

Muscle phenotype is central to the quantity and quality of meat production. Quantity is a function of muscle hyperplasia and hypertrophy. Hyperplastic growth in utero is a function of myocyte proliferation and differentiation, and post-natal growth is primarily the result of hypertrophy of existing and replaced muscle fibres. Quality is a more complex trait and is assessed by a variety of objective and subjective parameters, such as colour, pH, tenderness, odour and juiciness. It is increasingly evident that fibre type composition is a major determinant of meat quality. Favourable meat traits, such as tenderness, have been found to associate with the greater abundance of oxidative fibres. Therefore, knowledge of the molecular events that affect hypertrophy (or atrophy), hyperplasia (or hypoplasia), and fibre type-specific expression is of fundamental agricultural importance.

Meat quality, including eating quality, can be modified by production factors such as breed and diet and by various processing factors considered here. Tenderness, the most important and variable aspect of meat quality, is more affected during processing and, in the UK, the major retailers normally specify the post-slaughter conditions that are applied.

Producing high quality pork has become a major goal of swine industries worldwide. Pork quality is a very broad term that encompasses many aspects including hygienic, technological, and organoleptic attributes. From an economic perspective, two critical components of pork quality are muscle colour and water-holding capacity. There is evidence that the incidence of pork colour and water-holding capacity defects are increasing in many countries. For example, slaughter plant surveys carried out in the US suggested that between 1993 to 2003 the incidence of Pale Soft Exudative (PSE) pigmeat increased from less than 10% to above 15% of carcasses, despite a major effort by all sectors of the industry to reduce this problem. This review will focus on nutritional approaches to enhancing the colour and waterholding capacity of pork.

In seasonal production systems feed requirements for production are matched to pasture supply, thus feed efficiency and achieving a single concentrated seasonal calving pattern are likely to be more important than in non-seasonal systems. Breeding objectives and choice of breeds are discussed, using New Zealand (NZ) as an example.

The ability of an individual to change the phenotype in response to changes in the environment is called phenotypic plasticity or environmental sensitivity. Plasticity has a genetic basis can be observed at the biochemical, physiological, behavioural, and other levels of the organism. Plasticity is often described by reaction norms, which describe the phenotypic expression of a genotype as a function of the environment Differences in plasticity between individuals (genotypes) will result in genotype by environment interaction (GxE), i.e. the difference between the expected phenotypic values of two genotypes is not the same in two environments. If the difference changes sign, we have reranking of genotypes.

The responses of poultry (broilers, laying hens and broiler breeders) to nutrients, discussed here, are in economically important outputs such as body weight (or protein) gain, breast meat yield, egg output, food intake and conversion efficiency, numbers of chicks produced per hen, etc. Of interest are the (usually) curvilinear responses of populations (flocks), which are the result of integrating the responses of the individuals making up that population. Populations of birds therefore do not have ‘requirements’ for nutrients: what nutritionists seek are the optimum economic dietary contents of each nutrient, and for this they need to know how populations respond to increasing dietary contents of the essential nutrients. Descriptions of such responses, whilst taking account of the marginal costs and revenues, are therefore invaluable in determining how to maximise or minimise the objective function chosen for any given commercial operation. Clearly, being able to predict these nutrient responses may be seen as the foundation of a successful nutritionist.

Since the early attempts of Whittemore and Fawcett (1974) a lot of progress has been made in our ability to predict the responses of pigs to nutrients. There are several simulation models that predict the performance of pigs under ideal environmental conditions when they are given access to a defined amount of food of a certain composition. Some of these models form the basis of a number of decision support systems used by the industry. A smaller number of models are able to predict the food intake of pigs, as well as their performance on foods of different compositions. These models agree that the pig needs to be described by two dimensions, at least, that relate to its maximum capacity to deposit lean tissue and its genetically determined level of fatness. The issue of whether pigs differ genetically in the manner that they partition limiting nutrients is a more contentious one.

Prediction of animal responses to supplementary nutrients has long been recognized as a problem in nutritional science (Kellner, 1926) that has still not been solved (Hanigan et al. ,2005). Another substantial problem is how to incorporate genetic differences into nutritional models (McNamara and Baldwin, 2000). These two problems are linked as their biological basis lies in the relative priorities of different life functions (growth, reproduction, health, etc.) and how they change both through time and under genetic selection. The purpose of this paper is to present recent developments in describing this biological basis and evidence in support of the concepts involved, using the cow as an example species.

Current feed evaluation systems for dairy cattle aim to match nutrient requirements with nutrient intake at pre-defined production levels. However, these systems were not developed to address, and are not suitable to predict, the responses to dietary changes in terms of production level and product composition, excretion of nutrients to the environment, and nutrition related disorders. Quantitative research into ruminant digestion and metabolism has expanded greatly (Dijkstra et al., 2005) but has not (yet) given rise to practical, easy-to-use response systems. The change from a requirement to a response system to meet the needs of various stakeholders requires prediction of the profile of absorbed nutrients and its subsequent utilisation for various purposes. This contribution will examine the challenges to predicting the profile of nutrients available for absorption in dairy cattle and will provide guidelines for further improved prediction with regard to animal production responses, environmental pollution and animal health.