Animal Feed Formulation - Miller, Bill R.

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Résumé :
Students in animal science, industry personnel involved in the feeding of animals, and professionals working for feed-mixing companies will all benefit from this current, comprehensive package - a text on the economic and nutritional aspects of feed formulations that optimize nutritional content while minimizing costs. Animal Feed Formulation applies a well-tested, easy-to-use computer program called UFFDA that illustrates the principles of least-cost food formulation. Developed in a cooperative effort by the Departments of Poultry Science and Agricultural and Applied Economics at the University of Georgia, UFFDA is menu-driven software that has the editing capabilities of a spreadsheet program for altering the ingredient and nutrient matrix. The book begins by solving a simple ration-balancing problem, providing step-by-step instructions with the computer program that any user - even one without computer training - can readily follow. It then discusses specific feed formulation techniques in terms of their practical applications and economic implications. Included are such techniques as sensitivity analysis, parametric cost and nutrient ranging, optimum-density formulation, multi-blending, and risk analysis, among others. Applying these and other techniques using the special features of UFFDA, users can select the proper ingredients, adjust proportions among nutrients, determine which feeds might require scarce ingredients, consider the risks involved in dealing with ingredients with below-average compositions, and ultimately determine the costs and nutritional content of various feed formulations. The program can be applied to determining feed formulations for any animal, including sheep, beef and dairy cattle, swine, turkeys, broilers, catfish, and horses. Practitioners who are growing animals will be able to maximize the nutritional content of their feed while keeping costs down. Professionals working in feed-mixing companies will be able to maximize profits by offering products composed of low-cost ingredients that are also of good nutritional value. Students will gain a firm background in nutritional and economic concepts, insight into how to apply them to practical problems, and an understanding of the way good nutrition and good value can be achieved by applying the latest computer technology.

Sommaire:
Preface; Economic analysis: Animal feeding; Assumptions of least-cost analysis; What to expect from applying linear programming; Least-cost formulation: the basic linear-programming problem; Adding proportions between nutrients; Specifying ratios between nutrients; Dealing with infeasible solutions; Sensitivity analysis and choosing ingredients; Parametric cost ranging; Multiblending to determine in which feed a scarce ingredient should be used; Optimum-density formulation; Amino acid equivalent formulas; Nutrient factoring; Considering risk in feed formulation; Strategies for dealing with the risk of ingredients with below-average compositions; Formulating feeds for sheep: Sample sheep feed formulation problem; Calculating formulation results on an as-is basis; Formulating feeds for beef cattle: Formulating feeds for a desired level of gain; Specifying the amount of forage in a feed; Formulation based on expected gains from feed net-energy levels; Maximizing profit and optimizing net energy; How does feed cost affect probability and net-energy levels?; Toward more comprehensive models; Formulating feeds for dairy cattle: Maximum-production models for feed formulation; Formulating diets to maximize profits; Formulating feeds for swine: Do the producer's feeds meet National Research Council recommendations?; Substitution of ingredients; Parametric cost ranging of wheat; Nutrient requirements and ingredient-formulation values; Formulating feeds for turkeys; Formulating feeds for broilers; Formulating feeds for layers: Intake prediction; Constraints and temperature dependence; Additional considerations; Formulating feeds for catfish; Formulating feeds for horses; Appendixes: General features of the UFFDA program; Using UFFDA on a local area network; Units in a mathematical programming problem; Bibliography; Index.