The FAO has projected that from 2001 to 2050, global meat and milk production will double and given the expected expansion, adequate feed supply is crucial to sustaining the global livestock industry. Feed prices have remained high as the effect of climate change has negatively impacted on world feed grain production with decreased crop yields in many regions. Another factor is the shift in the use of corn as feed and food to biofuel production.

The future of sustainable livestock production thus lies in producing more from less by enhancing feed efficiency as in the poultry industry. In addition, livestock production especially from the ruminant sector is estimated to contribute about 18% of all greenhouse gas emissions, a major factor in climate change. Changing ruminant feeding strategies and enhancing efficiency can help to curb methane emissions.

To ensure a sustainable and more efficient livestock production, collaborative research efforts and finding positive ways to deal with the public perception of the livestock industry is crucial. The present high feed prices and effects of climate change offer an opportunity for scientists, academicians, policy makers and representatives from the feed, poultry and livestock industry to look at past and present research work on feed production and utilization, speculate on future directions, explore new ideas, and come out with practical, effective and economical suggestions for feed substitution, enhancing feed efficiency and sustainable livestock production.

The previous three International Conferences on Animal Nutrition has helped to foster strong linkages and networking between industry participants and their counterparts in research, academia, regulatory and policy-making agencies for the betterment of the industry.

The fourth ICAN “Sustainable Feeds - Maximixing Productivity and Profitability” is organized by MARDI and the programme for ICAN 2010 includes a strong focus on recent advances in nutrition as well as on broader topics on feed substitution and production, natural alternatives to AGPs, enzymes supplementation, feed and food safety, novel feeds, feeding strategies to mitigate methane production and new feed processing technologies.