The present review compared features of the UK system for predicting energy requirements in beef cattle with a number of feeding systems developed from research institutes consortiums around the world. In addition, energy requirements for maintenance calculated from studies conducted at the Agri-Food and Biosciences Institute (AFBI) in Northern Ireland since the 1990s were compared with compiled data from recent peer-review papers published over the last decade (2009–2020). The mean metabolisable energy requirement for the maintenance (ME_m) of growing cattle was 0.672 MJ/kg^0.75 according to values obtained from calorimetry studies conducted at AFBI. This value is respectively 8.2 and 19.5% greater than the ME_m values obtained by the Agricultural and Food Research Council (AFRC), and the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine (NASEM) equations, but it is in close agreement with the Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique (INRA) approach, when assuming a Bos taurus bull (300 kg LW) and an efficiency for converting energy for maintenance (k_m) of 0.65. Most of the literature data on energy requirements for the maintenance for this animal category were obtained from studies conducted with Bos indicus animals and their crossbreds in Brazilian conditions with this confirming lower requirements of these animals when compared to pure Bos taurus cattle. A simulation of the total ME requirements calculated for an Angus × Friesian steer (LW = 416 kg) offered good quality grass silage, indicated that both AFRC and NASEM systems overestimate (38.5 and 20.5%, respectively) the observed efficiency of converting ME for growth (k_g). When the total ME requirements (maintenance + growth) were assessed, both systems underpredicted total ME requirement in 15.8 and 22.1 MJ/d. The mean ME_m requirements for suckler cows obtained from the literature (0.596 MJ/kg^0.75) is on average 19.1% greater than predictions given by both AFRC and INRA (lactation) equations when considering a 550 kg cow and a k_m value of 0.72. Although no differences in net energy requirements for maintenance (NE_m) were detected between dry and lactating suckler cows, as expected the later displayed greater variation as a result of differences in milk production. On this regard, the INRA model recognise increased NE_m requirements for lactating animals compared to dry cows. The re-evaluation of the concept of diet metabolisability and the analysis of existing data on compensatory growth responses are recommended for future updates of the British system (AFRC) having in to account the particularities of grass-based systems in the UK.

Cattle production necessitates potentially dangerous human–animal interactions. Cattle are physically strong, large animals that can inflict injuries on humans accidentally or through aggressive behaviour. This study provides a systematic review of literature relating to farm management practices (including humans involved, facilities, and the individual animal) associated with cattle temperament and human’s on-farm safety. The Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) was used to frame the review. Population, Exposure, and Outcomes (PEO) components of the research question are defined as “Bovine” (population), “Handling” (exposure), and outcomes of “Behaviour”, and “Safety”. The review included 17 papers and identified six main themes: actions of humans; human demographics, attitude, and experience; facilities and the environment; the animal involved; under-reporting and poor records; and mitigation of dangerous interactions. Cattle-related incidents were found to be underreported, with contradictory advice to prevent injury. The introduction of standardised reporting and recording of incidents to clearly identify the behaviours and facilities which increase injuries could inform policy to reduce injuries. Global differences in management systems and animal types mean that it would be impractical to impose global methods of best practice to reduce the chance of injury. Thus, any recommendations should be regionally specific, easily accessible, and practicable.

Fully slatted concrete floors are prevalent in beef cattle housing. However, concerns have been raised about welfare of cattle accommodated on slats. The objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of diet and floor type on the intake, performance and cleanliness of dairy-origin bulls from a mean age of 8 months to slaughter at 15.5 months old. Forty-eight bulls, which had a mean initial live weight of 212 kg (SD=23.7), were allocated one of four treatments which consisted of two floors and two diets, arranged in a 2×2 factorial design. The floors evaluated were a fully slatted concrete floor and a fully slatted concrete floor covered with rubber; while the diets offered were either a high concentrate diet or a grass silage-based diet supplemented with concentrates. Over the entire experimental period, floor type had no significant effect on intake. Interestingly, however, when bulls were offered concentrates ad libitum, those accommodated on rubber covered slats consumed more concentrates than those accommodated on concrete slats. No effect of floor type on intake was noted when bulls were offered the grass silage supplemented with concentrate diet. There were no significant interactions between floor and diet on animal performance. Animals accommodated on rubber covered slats had a significantly better performance than those accommodated on concrete slats, as assessed by live weight at slaughter and live weight gain/day (P<0.01) and estimated carcass gain/day (P<0.05). The diet offered had no significant effect on animal performance. Bulls accommodated on rubber covered slats were significantly cleaner than those accommodated on concrete slats on day 97 (P<0.001), but there was no significant effect of floor type when measured at other time points in the experiment. It is concluded from this study that diet has an important role to play in assessing bulls’ responses in performance to the effect of covering concrete slatted floors with rubber. Bulls offered a high concentrate diet had a higher concentrate intake, higher performance but a similar feed conversion ratio (FCR) when accommodated on rubber covered slats compared to those accommodated on fully concrete slatted floors. Animals offered this intensive diet were less efficient (as measured by a higher FCR) than those offered a supplemented grass silage-based diet.

Fully slatted concrete floors are labour-efficient, cost-effective and thus common in beef cattle housing. However, the welfare of cattle accommodated on them has been questioned. The objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of floor and diet on hoof health and lying behaviours of housed dairy-origin bulls, from a mean age of 8 months to slaughter at 15.5 months old. Forty-eight bulls, which had a mean initial live weight of 212 (SD = 23.7) kg, were allocated to one of four treatments, which consisted of two floors and two diets arranged in a 2 × 2 factorial design. The floors evaluated were a fully slatted concrete floor and a fully slatted concrete floor overlaid with rubber, while the diets offered were either a high concentrate diet or a grass-silage-based diet supplemented with concentrates. The mean total duration of the study was 216 days. Floor had no significant effect on claw measurements measured on day 62 or 139. However, bulls accommodated on slats overlaid with rubber had a tendency to have a higher front toe length measured pre-slaughter than those accommodated on concrete slats (P = 0.063). Floor had no significant effect on the net growth of toes or heels during the duration of the study. The number of bruises (P < 0.01) and the bruising score (P < 0.05) were significantly higher on day 62 in bulls accommodated on fully slatted concrete floors than on concrete slats overlaid with rubber, but there was no significant effect of floor on these parameters on day 139 or at the measurement taken pre-slaughter. There was a tendency for bulls accommodated on concrete slats to have a higher probability of having sole bruising at the end of the experiment than those accommodated on slats overlaid with rubber (P = 0.052). Diet had no significant effect on toe length or heel height, number of bruises, or overall bruising score at any time point of the study. There was little evidence in the current study to suggest that bulls lying on fully slatted concrete floors could not express lying postures similar to those on concrete slats overlaid with rubber.

With the world's population expected to reach 9 billion by 2050, there are growing concerns about the increasing inclusion of human-edible (HE) feedstuffs in the diets of ruminant livestock. Two experiments (a smaller scale study involving late lactation cows and a larger scale study involving early lactation cows) examined the impact of varying the human-edible fraction (HEF) of the concentrate on the performance of dairy cows offered grass silage-based diets. Changes in HEF were achieved by replacing the cereal and soybean meal component of the concentrate with byproduct feed ingredients, including sugar beet pulp, rapeseed meal, and distillers dark grains. The ingredient composition of the concentrates offered was similar in both experiments. Experiment 1, a 2-treatment, 2-period (duration of 4 wk each) balanced changeover design experiment involved 20 mid lactation Holstein dairy cows (mean 157 DIM, SD 7.0). Diets were offered as a total mixed ration comprising grass silage and concentrates (65:35 DM ratio), with the concentrate component of the diet having either a low HEF (0.18HE) or a high HEF (0.54HE) on a fresh basis. In experiment 2, 32 early lactation Holstein cows (mean 50 DIM, SD 4.9) were used in a 3-period (4-wk duration) partial Latin square design study. Cows were offered grass silage supplemented with 1 of 4 concentrate types (12 kg/d) differing in the proportions of HE ingredients which were offered via an out-of-parlor feeding system. The HEF of these concentrates were 0.17, 0.28, 0.38, and 0.48 (fresh basis). Reducing the HEF of the concentrate in experiment 1 increased total DMI and milk yield and decreased milk fat and protein concentration, but had no effect on ECM yield. Decreasing the HEF of the concentrate had no effect on total feed conversion rate but improved edible food conversion rate (eFCR; daily HE feed output per daily HE input), and net food production (NFP; daily HE feed output - daily HE input). In experiment 2, reducing the HEF of the concentrate tended to decrease feed intake, but increased milk yield and ECM yield. Decreasing the HEF of the concentrate had no effect on either milk fat or protein concentration but increased both milk fat and protein yield. Reductions in the HEF of the concentrate resulted in a linear decrease in the total SFA concentration of milk and a linear increase in the MUFA and PUFA content of milk. Total DM and OM digestibility coefficients showed a linear increase with increases in the HEF in the concentrate. Cows offered concentrate with a lower HEF had a higher eFCR and NFP. In conclusion, reducing the HEF of the concentrate component of grass silage-based diets by replacing cereals and soybean meal with byproduct feeds effectively improved human-edible feed conversion efficiency.