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Sustainability Is the Future, and Dairy Is Key Part of the Solution

By Melvin Medeiros

COWS CAN BE SUSTAINABILITY SOLUTIONS

As a dairy farmer whose family business has been milking cows for 53 years, here’s what I think: The dairy cow is the most efficient animal on Earth today.

It can be a central source of energy for the human body, and it could be a net exporter of energy for society — with the right policies in place. California cows can be sustainability solutions.

Dairy farmers for generations have dealt with changing weather patterns and moisture challenges, and it’s made us proactive. Research shows that producing a gallon of milk in 2017 required 30% less water, 21% less land, had a 19% smaller carbon footprint, and produced 20% less manure than in 2007.

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Trending Video

What Happens When Pigs Adapt to High Soybean Meal Diets? - Gustavo Lima

Video: What Happens When Pigs Adapt to High Soybean Meal Diets? - Gustavo Lima



In this special rerun episode of The Swine Nutrition Blackbelt Podcast, Gustavo Lima, PhD candidate in Animal Science at Iowa State University, discusses how grow-finish pigs respond to high soybean meal diets. He explains the initial drop in feed intake, changes in backfat, later adaptation, energy efficiency, amino acid utilization, and the rise in nitrogen excretion at higher inclusion levels. Listen now on all major platforms!

Click here to read the full research article: https://academic.oup.com/jas/article/...

“Once they got adapted to the diet, they can handle higher levels of inclusion of soybean meal.”

Meet the guest: Gustavo Lima / gustavo-lima-a9867127 is a PhD candidate in Animal Science at Iowa State University whose work focuses on swine nutrition, ingredient characterization, energy metabolism, caloric efficiency, and applied data analysis. With more than 15 years of experience in swine production across Latin America, Gustavo also brings expertise in environmental control, performance evaluation, barn ventilation, and grow-finish housing. Learn more from Gustavo Lima on The Swine Nutrition Blackbelt Podcast, available on all major platforms.