Tony McDougal

Dorchester

Freelance Journalist at Freelance

Former Defra comms chief and farming political editor. Now living the dream on the Jurassic Coast, working in PR and journalism.

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Articles

Partners advance animal welfare with real-time data and sound analysis

6 days ago | poultryworld.net | Tony McDougal

FAI Farms and project partners The Lakes Free Range Egg Company, Newcastle University and Agri-Tech Centre UK have received Innovate funding for Flockwise, a 3-year project to further enhance the award-winning BirdBox technology. This will take health and welfare management in cage-free laying hens to a new level bringing better efficiency and productivity gains to farmers.
Global pig feed production dips amid regional struggles

6 days ago | pigprogress.net | Tony McDougal

Global animal feed production edged up by 1.2% in 2024 to reach 1.396 billion metric tonnes, according to Alltech’s Agri-Food Outlook. But while most livestock sectors saw gains, pig feed production recorded a decline of 0.6%, dropping to 369.3 million tonnes. The downturn was driven by reduced volumes in Africa, the Middle East, Asia-Pacific and Oceania — regions still grappling with the lingering effects of African Swine Fever and economic pressures.
Demand for poultry meat drives feed production

1 week ago | poultryworld.net | Tony McDougal

Increasing global demand for poultry helped boost world animal feed production last year, which grew by 1.2% to 1,396 billion metric tonnes. Despite the ongoing issues posed by high pathogenic avian influenza, economic uncertainties and climate fluctuations, figures released by Alltech in its Agri-Food Outlook showed animal feed production rising from 1.380 billion mt in 2023.
Surging poultry demand aided the rebound in global feed output

1 week ago | allaboutfeed.net | Tony McDougal

Increasing global demand for poultry helped boost world animal feed production last year, which grew by 1.2% to 1,396 billion metric tonnes. Despite the ongoing issues posed by high pathogenic avian influenza, economic uncertainties and climate fluctuations, figures released by Alltech in its Agri-Food Outlook showed animal feed production rising from 1,380 bn mt in 2023.
Transforming welfare and production of chickens through precision technologies

1 week ago | poultryworld.net | Tony McDougal

Traditional welfare assessments struggle to keep pace with farms housing up to 50,000 birds per house. This has prompted financial support for the Sensors, Monitoring, Analysis and Reporting Technologies (SMART) solutions to augment traditional human observation and subjecting scoring. Real-time monitoring by automating and tracking key welfare indications, such as behaviour, gait and vocalisation, is increasingly being tested, as witnessed through the SMART Broiler programme.
AI predicts dairy feed additive impact on methane emissions

2 weeks ago | dairyglobal.net | Tony McDougal

Reducing methane emissions from ruminants remains a major challenge for the dairy industry. Now, AI technology offers a breakthrough by predicting the effectiveness of feed additives. A new study validates this approach across 13 commercial farms, marking a major step toward more sustainable dairy production. Ruminant livestock production depends on microorganisms to ferment forages into valuable dairy and meat products.
Soy alternative protein options explored for egg sustainability goals

2 weeks ago | allaboutfeed.net | Tony McDougal

Developments in novel protein sources such as insect protein and single cell proteins have the most potential for reducing the egg sector’s carbon footprint. That was the core finding of Nuffield Farm scholar Alistair McBain, whose scholarship assessed the carbon footprint of different alternative proteins to assess their suitability to drive egg production towards net zero carbon emissions.
Alternative proteins to drive net zero egg production

2 weeks ago | poultryworld.net | Tony McDougal

Developments in novel protein sources such as insect protein and single cell proteins have the most potential for reducing the egg sector’s carbon footprint. That was the core finding of Nuffield Farm scholar Alistair McBain, whose scholarship assessed the carbon footprint of different alternative proteins to assess their suitability to drive egg production towards net zero carbon emissions.
Changes to RSPCA’s Laying Hen Standards confirmed

3 weeks ago | poultryworld.net | Tony McDougal

A long-running row between UK free-range egg producers and RSPCA Assured over the installation timeframe of windows for natural daylight to be introduced has finally come to an end. Following nearly 18 months of negotiations, the farm animal welfare assurance scheme has finalised new standards with industry. Although the requirement for natural daylight remains, the timeframe for installation has been relaxed.
AI predicts dairy feed additive impact on methane emissions

3 weeks ago | allaboutfeed.net | Tony McDougal

Reducing methane emissions from ruminant livestock remains a major challenge for the dairy industry. Now, AI technology offers a breakthrough by predicting the effectiveness of feed additives. A new study validates this approach across 13 commercial farms, marking a major step toward more sustainable dairy production. Ruminant livestock production depends on microorganisms to ferment forages into valuable dairy and meat products.