James France - Böcker

Bringing together the disciplines of agriculture, animal science, plant science and ecology, this book explores how mathematics can be used to understand and explain agricultural processes. It starts by providing a review of the mathematical models currently available to agriculturalists, and the philosophy behind, and objectives of, modeling. The book then applies these techniques to real-life problems faced by people managing crops and animals, including the influence of digestion on animal growth rates and levels of photosynthesis on crop yield.

Written by leading researchers from the USA, Canada and Europe, this is an essential reference tool for researchers and advanced students in animal nutrition. Farm livestock have evolved digestive systems that are capable of digesting fibrous materials and by-products unsuited for man. Throughout the world, production from farm livestock is concerned with providing food and clothing of animal origin for man. Animal production science underpins this goal and provides the scientific basis for livestock management practices. Feed evaluation concerns the use of methods to describe animal feedstuffs with respect to their ability to sustain different types and levels of animal performance. The main themes of the book are methods of feed evaluation, current feeding systems, and mechanistic mathematical modelling. No other title brings together methods, systems and models under one cover.

The first edition of this book, published in 1993, was very well received as providing a comprehensive review of the digestion and metabolism of ruminant animals. Since its publication, much new research has been conducted in the subject and knowledge has increased. This is incorporated in this second edition through the addition of five completely new chapters. These cover; the gas production technique in feed evaluation; calorimetry; the relationship between pasture characteristics and animal performance; feed processing; and the integration of data in feed evaluation systems. Other chapters have been fully expanded and updated as appropriate and Dr Dijkstra has also been enrolled as the lead editor. This book brings together quantitative approaches used in the study of mechanisms of ruminant digestion and metabolism.