National adoption of a uniform system of feeding standards for livestock.

Abstract

Proc. Aust. Soc. Anim. Prod. (1978) 12: 40 . NATIONAL ADOPTION OF A UNIFORM SYSTEM OF FEEDING STANDARDS FOR LIVESTOCK N.McC. GRAHAM* Efficient feeding of livestock involves, amongst other things, application of information about (a) the value of the available feeds as sources of energy, and (b) the energy requirements of animals for particular forms and levels of production. Of course, in the progression from hand feeding to grazing, useful information becomes scarcer and the possibility of exercising control over feeding becomes more remote. Although the majority of Australian ruminant livestock are towards the 'difficult' end of this spectrum, the extent and strategic importance of hand feeding should not be under-rated and the pig and poultry industries In any case, in which hand feeding is the rule, are not insignificant. knowledge of the principles and practice of energy feeding standards is universally recognized to be an essential ingredient in those branches of tertiary education concerned with nutrition. Extensive enquiries confirmed this and revealed that absence of national agreement on which of. many systems of feeding standards to teach in depth had generated a great deal of confusion and a poor level of useful knowledge amongst students, extension personnel, etc. The! Australian Standing Committee on Agriculture and its Animal Production Committee moved to remedy this situation almost a decade ago, urging the adoption of uniform nomenclature for feeds, standardization of analytical methods and establishment of a computer bank of data on the composition and value of feeds. More recently, the A.P.C. set up an Expert Panel on Australian Feedstuffs to assist in the attainment of these objectives. A substantial majority of informed opinion evidently favours national adoption of feeding standards based on metabolizable energy as described bythe British Agricultural Research Council in 1965. However, the 1965 A.R.C. publication has not been successful as a practical guide and several attempts have been made to fill this gap, the most recent one being by the British Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (MAFF 1976). I and others contend that while the Bulletin does not meet all,or even most of our local requirements, it is the best 'primer' we are likely to get in the near future, and that a series of extension publications on drought feeding, supplementary feeding of the dairy cow, etc., could be based on it; some people consider that it has serious shortcomings for Australian use. The present symposium could not have come at a more appropriate time, with authoritative statements by experts in both fundamental and practical aspects, so that there can be some definitive outcome from the debate. However, I do not think it would be productive on this occasion to enter upon an unrestrained enquiry into which of all extant systems of feeding standards is the best; our aim should be critical appraisal of one. MAFF (1976). 'Energy All owances and Feeding Systems'for Ruminants.' Tech. Bull. 33. (H.M.S.C. : London). * C.S.I.R.O., Division of Animal Production, P-0. Box 239, Blacktown, N.S.W., Australia. 40.