Feedstuff Evaluation contains the proceedings of the 50th University of Nottingham Easter School in Agricultural Sciences, held at Sutton Bonington in July 1989. The book presents papers discussing a wide range of topics on the accurate evaluation of feedstuffs for livestock. Initially, systems of expressing the nutritive value of feeds are considered. Modifications to feeding value as influenced by animal factors including intake and palatability are discussed. Specific dietary ingredients, being plant polysaccharides, fats, minerals and vitamins are detailed. Prediction of the nutritive value of compound feeds and individual feeds through classical wet chemistry and the more recent NIR is assuming considerable importance in the rapid evaluation of diets. Associated with these developments is an appreciation of the relevance of both inter- and intra-laboratory variation in determinations. Finally, the need to collate information into an interactive data-base is being actively pursued. It is evident that safety of animal feeds is becoming an increasingly topical issue and the last session considered the relevance of naturally-occurring toxic factors, residues, mycotoxins and, finally, animal pathogens.Veterinarians, farmers, farm administrators, and those involved in every aspect of nutrient supply to animals will find the compendium very insightful and informative.

PrefaceAcknowledgements1 Comparison of Energy Evaluation Systems of Feeds for Ruminants2 The Evaluation of Feedstuffs Through Calorimetry Studies3 Apparent and The True Metabolizable Energy of Poultry Diets4 Protein Degradation of Ruminant Diets5 Animal Performance as the Criterion for Feed Evaluation6 Protein Evaluation in Pigs and Poultry7 Influence of Palatability On Diet Assimilation in Non-Ruminants8 The Importance of Intake in Feed Evaluation9 Chemical Evaluation of Polysaccharides in Animal Feeds10 Nutritional Significance and Nutritive Value of Plant Polysaccharides11 Chemical Analysis of Lipid Fractions12 Variability in the Nutritive Value of Fats for Non-Ruminants13 The Evaluation of Minerals in The Diets of Farm Animals14 Evaluation of Vitamin Content in Ingredients and Compound Diets15 Prediction of The Dietary Energy Value of Diets and Raw Materials for Pigs16 Predicting The Dietary Energy of Poultry Feeds17 Predicting The Nutritive Value of Compound Feeds for Ruminants18 Evaluation and Prediction of The Nutritive Value of Pastures and Forages19 The Application of Near Infra-Red Spectroscopy to Forage Evaluation in the Agricultural Development and Advisory Service20 Consequences of Inter-Laboratory Variation in Chemical Analysis21 Development and Application of a Feed Database22 Naturally Occurring Toxic Factors in Animal Feedstuffs23 Estimation and Relevance of Residues in Animal Feeding Stuffs24 The Occurrence, Detection and Significance of Mycotoxins in Animal Feeding Stuffs25 Animal Pathogens in FeedList of Poster PresentationsList of ParticipantsIndex