From the Feed Trough: Essays and Insights on Livestock Nutrition in a Complex World

Book Synopsis: Did you know that if someone else had discovered vitamin K, it would be called vitamin C2 or even vitamin G? Or that sheep and cattle digest fiber with incredible efficiency? How about the fact that a well-known rat poison was named after a university? Or that the celluloid film originally used in Hollywood movies was derived from the plant fiber cellulose? Or that the calories listed on supermarket food labels don’t tell us how much energy we really digest? These and other interesting facts can be found in this absorbing and practical book about livestock nutrition by Woody Lane, PhD.

Based on his articles in The Shepherd magazine, From the Feed Trough: Essays and Insights on Livestock Nutrition in a Complex World is a collection of eighty-nine short essays about many aspects of ruminant nutrition. Targeted toward a diverse audience that ranges from students, teachers, and government employees to farmers, scientists, and agricultural agents, there is something for all levels of familiarity with the subject matter. Filled with insights and unique perspectives generally absent from textbooks and popular magazines, this book highlights a wide range of topics, from the basic principles of nutrition, practical field situations, and metabolic diseases to new research, forages, nutritional history, and downright fascinating stories.

Written with a no-nonsense approach to information and concepts, the book is an ideal companion to primary textbooks while remaining easy enough to understand and enjoy by anyone interested in farming and livestock. There are chapters on sheep, beef cattle, horses, and even humans. With its light and entertaining tone, the book leads readers on an enjoyable journey through the underlying principles of livestock nutrition as well as the surprising background stories behind each principle. The chapters cover a wide range of topics from basic nutrition to proteins and minerals and fats and fiber to practical field situations, particularly in sheep production. From the Feed Trough is a must-have for anyone involved in livestock nutrition and a captivating read for anyone with even a passing interest in the agricultural sciences.

Author Lane is a nationally-known consulting livestock nutritionist and forage specialist living in western Oregon, He is an expert on sheep and beef cattle nutrition, pasture management, and grazing techniques. He also teaches courses in livestock nutrition and forage management to ranchers. He helped to develop the classic SID Sheep Production Handbook, served as the operations manager for the American National Sheep Improvement Program, and created the instructional videos Lambing Time Management with veterinarian Don Bailey. Woody earned his doctorate and master’s degrees in animal nutrition at Cornell University and has published more than twenty-five research articles in peer-reviewed scientific journals. He currently writes the popular monthly column “From the Feed Trough . . .” for The Shepherd magazine.