Animal nutrition and management in the 21st century: dairy cattle

Dairy producers strive to increase production and efficiency. Consumers want products that contain less fat and more protein. Negative impacts of pollutants from animal agriculture on the environment must be controlled. The foregoing can be accomplished by regulating metabolic processes of the dairy cow through nutrition and biotechnology. The application of genetic engineering techniques can increase production and its efficiency, change the composition of milk and improve prevention, diagnosis and treatment of disease. Competent nutrition, reproduction and health programs and improved information systems for managing and utilizing information will be required.