The long-term aim of this programme is to have sustained increases in sector productivity, improved animal health and well-being, and improved public and consumer perceptions of the importance of livestock for food production and thus continued social licence to operate.
This science programme has three areas of focus:
- Animal wellbeing: Developing accurate measurement tools for animal wellbeing, addressing the high mortality and morbidity of ewes and lambs prior and following birth and addressing the widespread drench failure in sheep and cattle systems
- Resilience to environmental volatility: Addressing the need for farm animals to adapt to future environments and accelerating genetic gain
- Rumen adaptation: Developing the ability to measure feed intake in real time on pasture and addressing the need for livestock and other ruminants to adapt their digestion system to future pasture composition and nutritive value.
