Food Animal Production is the ARS national research program that supports scientific needs for delivering a nutritious, high quality, safe and satisfying diet to the American public and people worldwide.  Production efficiency and product quality form the basis for profitability and global competitiveness of the U.S. livestock and poultry industry.  Increasing efficiency of animal production allows food to be produced with fewer inputs and generating less animal wastes. Greater production efficiency will be necessary to meet demands of the increasing world population, especially if food supplies were threatened.  Preserved germplasm enables animal agriculture to respond to changing cultural, regulatory, and ecological environments.

COMPONENTS: 

 Reproductive Efficiency

• Environmental effects
• Fertile gamete production
• Gamete and embryo storage, sexing, cryopreservation, and use
• Embryo, fetal, and neonatal development and survival
• Interactions of endocrine and immune systems

 Conserve, Characterize, and Use of Genetic Resources

• Characterizing genetic resources
• Preserving genetic resources
•  Information systems 

Genetic Improvement

• Develop breeding objectives
• Accelerate selection response
• Improve health and well-Being
• Transgenic livestock and poultry 

Genomic Tools

• Comprehensive maps
• Genotyping systems
• Tools and reagents
• Genomic enhancement systems
• Bioinformatics and statistical analysis tools

Nutrient Intake and Use

• Regulating gene function
•  Interactions affecting reproduction
• Microbial effects
• Minimizing production losses
• Nutrient use and feed evaluation       

 Growth and Development

•  Regulating feed intake
• Tissue growth and development

 Product Quality

• Interactions of genetics and nutrition
• Biological mechanisms controlling variation
• Predicting product quality or defects

 Integrated Systems

• User Information Packages