Keeping science in environmental regulations: the role of the animal scientist

Environmental issues continue to be one of the biggest challenges faced by livestock producers. Whereas issues of the past have focused on manure nutrient impacts on water quality with some regulatory activity addressing odors, emerging issues are more diverse. To address emerging air quality issues, such as ammonia emissions, antibiotic transfer, human health impacts of emissions from animal agriculture, and estrogens in the environment, scientists with expertise in physiology, genetics, animal management, and nutrition will need to be enlisted. The objectives of this review are to highlight some of the prominent environmental regulatory activity that has occurred nationally in the past few years, to outline some of the emerging environmental issues, and to move members of the animal science profession toward thinking about what they can contribute toward addressing these issues. Animal scientists are uniquely qualified to engage in environmental research, education, and policymaking because of our comprehensive understanding of the complexity of whole-farm management and the interactions between animal management and manure management. Animal science departments have the opportunity to train students to be leaders in addressing environmental issues related to animal production, provided departments incorporate environmental education into curricula. Animal scientists can contribute greatly to the many areas of research that address emerging and current environmental issues, helping to ensure that policy is science-based and mitigation strategies are feasible.