Animal Nutrition and Feeding

Didactic Unit: Animal Nutrition

Lectures
The role of nutrition in livestock production system (2 hours)
Carbohydrates: Structural and intracellular structure, digestion and absorption in polygastric and in monogastric. (5 hours)
Protein: protein and non-protein nitrogen, essential amino acids, biological value, rumen degradability. (5 hours)
Lipids: structure, digestion and absorption in polygastric and in monogastric. Condition. (4 hours)
Digestibility and influencing factors, ileal digestibility - ideal protein (2 hours)
Energy - The nutritional value and the level of nutrition - (2 hours)
Energy systems polygastric and monogastric (2 hours)
Macro-micro elements: nutritional considerations (2 hours)
Lipo-soluble vitamins: nutritional considerations (2 hours)
Anti-nutritional factors and contamination of food (1 hour)
Water (1 hours)
Terminology / examination (4 hours)
Practical activity
Formulation (4 hours)
Omega-3 and CLA (4 ore)
Databases and bibliographic analysis (2 ore)
Greenhouse gas, Carbon foot print, LCA (2 ore)
Laboratory of chemical analysis (4 hours).

Didactic Unit: Feed
Lectures
Feeds for farm animals: classification and introductory concepts of nutritional value (1 hour)
The nutritive value of animal feeds: sampling, food constituents and nutrients, food analysis (3 hours)
The nutritive value of animal feeds: anti-nutritional factors ( 1 hour)
The nutritive value of animal feeds: mycotoxins (1 hour)
Forages: nutritional evaluation of grasses, legumes, hays, silages (3 hours)
Energy concentrates: chemical and nutritional characteristics (2 hours)
Protein concentrates: chemical and nutritional characteristics (3 hours)
Fibrous concentrates: chemical and nutritional characteristics (2 hours)

Practical activity
Analysis of foods: sampling, proximate analysis of foods, other analytical procedures, NIRS, detection of GMOs in foods ( 4 hours)
Laboratory of food analysis: chemical analysis (4 hours)
Laboratory of food analysis: detection techniques for GMO traceability (4 hours)
Seminars:
· GM foods. Production and diffusion of GM crops: maize, soybeans (2 hours)
· GM crops and livestock: food safety issues (2 hours)

Didactic Unit: Feed and premix industry
GOALS of THE DIDACTIC UNIT
Knowledge of plant layout and manufacturing operations of feed and premix industry. Knowledge
of quality assurance. Feed and premix formulation by hand and by software.
COURSE DETAILS:
Ex cathedra lectures
Feed production in Italy, in the EU and worldwide (1 hour)
Plant layout and manufacturing operations of feed and premix industry (4 hours)
Feed and premix formulation for monogastrics (4 hours)
Feed and premix formulation for ruminants (4 hours)
Economical valuation of feed and premix production (3 hours)
Practical work
Visits to feed and premix manufacturing plants (8 hours)
Practical work at the Research and Teaching Centre for Animal Production at the Lodi site (8 hours)
Feed particle size analysis lab (2 hours)
Feed microscopy lab (2 hours)

Didactic Unit: Nutritional strategies to mitigate the environmental impact
GOALS OF THE DIDACTIC UNIT
Evaluation of the overall impact of livestock activities on climate and environmental changes through the analysis of the main environmental indicators.
Evaluation of animal management and nutritional strategies to mitigate the environmental impact of farms and make them compatible with sustainable development of agriculture.

Lectures
Assessment of livestock production on climate change; footprints used to measure the environmental impact ( 1 hours)
Climate change: the actions of governments and international institutions (1 hours)
Contribution of livestock CO2 emissions (2 hours)
Contribution of livestock emission of nitrogen (2 hours)
Contribution of livestock emission of methane (2 hours)
Contribution of livestock emission of phosphorus (2 hours)
Animal breeding and management of water resources (1 hours)
Measures to reduce the negative environment impact of dairy farms (1 hours)
Measures to reduce the negative environment impact beef farms (1 hours)
Measures to reduce the negative environment impact of pig farms (1 hours)
Measures to reduce the negative environment impact of poultry farms (1 hours)
Environmental impact and sustainability of aquaculture (1hours)

Pratical activity
EU documents, FAO, Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change , European Environmental Agency, United Nation Environment Programme ( 8 hours)
Analyse of the carbon footprint (CF) of milk production farms (8 hours)