Animal & Animal Products Overview
Animal agriculture is a significant portion of U.S. agriculture. Related research, education and extension activities are continually changing to address new challenges and opportunities brought about by rapidly advancing technologies, evolving consumer demand, and the need to make positive contributions to environmental, human, and animal health. Efficient, science-based animal agriculture translates into affordable and high-quality food for the consumer. NIFA and its land-grant university partners collaborate with industry and other interested parties to develop and disseminate knowledge and methods to improve agriculturally relevant animal systems.
NIFA animal-related programs – which cover beef cattle, dairy cattle, poultry, swine, aquaculture, sheep, goats, and horses – encourage multi-disciplinary approaches and the integration of research, education, and extension. These activities are focused on approaches that are economically sound, socially acceptable, and environmentally advantageous. NIFA animal programs also contain a balance of discipline-based components, including animal reproduction, nutrition, genetics, physiology, environmental stress, product quality, management, health, well-being, and security.
Breeding, Genetics & Genomics:
Animal protein is essential in meeting escalating nutritional
needs around the world. NIFA Animal Breeding, Genetics & Genomics
research focuses on desirable genetic animal traits that
have revolutionized poultry, livestock, and fish production.
These genetic traits include animals that are leaner; have
increased disease resistance; or excel in growth rate or
the production of eggs, meat, milk, wool, or mohair. The
natural efficiency of an animal to use nutrients in its feed
could affect the nutrients in the manure and thus affect
Is it nature or
question for geneticists—has largely been answered
with an ambiguous YES! Understanding the interaction of genes
and environment is important for animal health, growth, productivity,
and well-being. NIFA supports work that will identify and
maintain economically profitable animal genotypes (and genes),
as well as projects integrating new knowledge of genotype
with real farm production and environmental factors that
affect animal production.
Animal disease is one of the greatest threats to animal
agriculture. Recent experiences with avian influenza, exotic
Newcastle disease, and bovine spongiform encephalopathy
(BSE or mad cow disease) in the U.S., and foot and mouth
disease and BSE in other countries, highlight the effects
of disease on food supply, human health and national economies.
role in the fight against animal disease includes its ability
to support its partners with funds to conduct small-scale
research needed to:
- Respond to disease.
- Support the best science through competitive peer review
and larger awards.
- Stimulate interstate cooperation for targeted animal
disease issues through multi-state committees and multi-million
dollar Coordinated Agricultural Project (CAP) competitive
- Focus funds on targeted diseases and national programs
of state and regional importance.
- Facilitate the dissemination of animal health information.
Animal Nutrition and Growth:
Inefficient nutrient intake by animals is financially and
environmentally costly in animal operations from livestock
farms to fish farms. It not only hurts animal growth, health,
and well-being, but it may also affect the safety and quality
of the food products. It may result in excess nutrients polluting
the environment in the form of odors or ground water contamination.
The primary objective of the Animal Growth and Nutrition
Program is to discover the nutritional, biological, and genetic
- Normal animal growth.
- Nutrient digestion and efficiency.
- Muscle and bone development.
A program goal is to discover how biological
factors affect animal products, the animal operation, and
the environment. NIFA provides national program leadership
and funding opportunities to conduct basic, applied, and
integrated research into:
- Improving animal nutrient efficiency, growth, food product
quality and safety.
- Reducing the impact of animal operations on the environment.
- Educating future livestock producers and professionals.
- Transferring research-based management practices to livestock
producers through extension and outreach efforts.
Animal Products: Americans
buy approximately $100 billion of animal products at the
farm gate, and several times that amount at retail each year.
These products include meat and meat products, poultry products
(meat and eggs), fish, shellfish, dairy products (milk and
cheese), and non-food products such as fiber (wool, mohair,
cashmere, and leather).
The quality and safety of animal products prior
to harvest are influenced by genetics, nutrition, and management
systems. After harvest they are affected by handling, processing,
storage, and marketing practices. NIFA funds research,
education, and extension activities related to animal products
including work in:
- Growth and development.
- Food science and technology.
- Food safety.
- Value-added products.
- Animal health.
- Human diet and health.
Animal Reproduction: Reproductive
efficiency is the major factor affecting profitability in
many livestock production systems. For example, the fertility
of domestic ruminants (cattle and sheep), even under optimal
conditions, is only about 50 percent. Inefficient reproduction
may be caused by numerous factors, including:
- Increased genetic selection for meat or milk production
- Early embryonic and fetal loss.
- Failure to reach puberty at an optimum age or an inability
of young females to conceive early in the breeding season.
- Environmental stressors such as temperature extremes
or changes in photoperiod (day and night cycle).
- Production of sperm with a low potential for fertilization.
- Limited sex drive.
NIFA provides national program leadership
and funding opportunities to conduct basic and applied research
to control animal reproductive efficiency, educate future
livestock and poultry producers and professionals, and transfer
research-based management practices to livestock and poultry
producers through extension and outreach efforts.
Evaluating farm animal well-being is a challenge to the
animal food industry and scientific communities. Scientists
study how to accurately measure an animal’s state
of comfort and well-being. For example, scientists study
animals in different environmental conditions that vary
in temperature, humidity, amount of daylight, bedding,
size and shape of living quarters, and the number of other
animals in the environment. They also work to understand
how animals react both behaviorally and biologically in
stressful situations, such as in transport, or when animals
must be restrained, such as during a medical evaluation
or treatment. These understandings are important to those
who work with animals as pets, livestock, or wildlife to
ensure the safety and well-being of both animals and humans
as they interact.
NIFA national program leaders facilitate
communication among industry, federal representatives, and
animal welfare organizations through stakeholder input, conferences,
and committees to identify the most critical animal welfare
and related issues that need NIFA research support.
NIFA interacts with scientists, industry,
producers, animal welfare organizations, and animal activists
in addressing animal well-being issues to enhance the food
animal industry by improving farm animal health and overall
living, transport and harvest environments. NIFA coordinates
solutions to animal health, production, well-being, and biosecurity
issues. Working with land-grant university researchers and
the animal food industry, this work is essential in providing
abundant, safe, nutritious, and affordable food in a way
that reflects respect for animals and nature.
is the rearing of fish and other aquatic animals for food.
In cooperation with our Land-Grant University System partners
and diverse stakeholders, the NIFA National Aquaculture
Program provides leadership for aquaculture research, technology
development, and extension educational programs that encourage
and support the progressive development in the U.S. aquaculture
The current NIFA aquaculture research and
extension base is highly diverse in terms of funding mechanisms,
areas of research, and species cultured. NIFA also provides
leadership, on behalf of the Secretary of Agriculture, to
facilitate the coordination of all federal programs in aquaculture
through the National Science and Technology Council's (NSTC)
Joint Subcommittee on Aquaculture.