Perspective on Growth and Development
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40 PERSPECTIVE ON GROWTH AND DEVEIOPMENT* H. B. HEDRICK University of Missouri, Columbia, Missouri The production of meat and all other food is almxt entirely dependent upon the growth process. The growth phemmenon is the heart of the livestock and meat industry both frm the standpoint of animal growth and the production of most of the raw materials which animals convert to meat and other usable by-products. A basic understmding of growth has potential for direct application to problems that confront world fmd production. The need for increased food production and availability were never greater than at the present time. When food is scarce, its availability becomes a highly emotional issue and has great influence on world economic and political issues. Thus, the growth of animals and plants is an underlying factor that influences many major world problems. Many people of the world advocate that foregoing meat would free grain for the hungry. The truth of the matter is that animals cannot be ignored if one is to consider seriously the food-population-environment problem. Animls are providers of meat and by-products for the human population. A very important factor in favor of animal agriculture is man's dependence on an almost endless list Df by-products obtained from animals which are used for food, clothing and health aids. Some pharma- ceuticals originally Dbtained from meat animals can be manufactured, but meat animals remain the best source for many of these products. For example, insulin, needed by many diabetics to regulate their blood sugar, is obtained from the pancreas of meat animals. Those who advocate foregoing meat fail to realize, either intentionally or through lack of knowledge, man's dependence upon animals for numerous by-products. The meat packing industry has long been noted for its efficiency in the processing and utilization of by-products. A large portion of the world's land is unsuited for intensive agriculture. Consequently, a ruminant livestock industry is essential to providing food for an increasingly hungry world. In the future these animals must become increasingly greater converters of plant resmrces which are not usable directly by man. The possibility of increased allocations of available feed grains to human food poses problems for future swine and poultry production. To meet this challenge alternative sources of protein and energy for use by these animals must be sought. An important research challenge to animal agriculture is to increase the efficiency of all animals to convert feed grains, roughages and other materials to meat and by-products. * Presented at the 28th Annual Reciprocal Meat Conference of the American Meat Science Association. 41 To meet these challenges, an understanding of the growth process is essential. Not all aspects of growth are completely understood, particularly the mechanisms involved in initiation of growth, regulation of growth rate and termination at maturity. However, much that is known about animal growth remains to be applied at the production level. The attainment of scientific infornration concerning growth, which abounds at the present time, can trace its ancestry to earliest recorded history. For example, as early as the fifth century B.C., Greek physicians developed a method for the study of growth which is employed by scientists today. A hen was set upon a number of eggs and each day one of the eggs was opened and the changes that took place were observed. This miraculous transformation of the white and yellow mass of a hen's egg into a respectable befeathered chick all in 21 days must have been as exciting to the early Greeks as it is to today's school child. Early work concerned with the body composition and growth of meat animals dates back to the often cited study of beef animal composition of Lawes and Gilbert (1859). During this same general time period German workers were studying the development of adipose tissue (cited by Bell, 1909). In the U .S ., concerted research work on growth and development began in the early part of the present century. Among the earliest investigations conducted in the U.S. on growth and developnent was the comprehensive one initiated at the University of Missouri in 1907 as a part of the "Use of Food" investigations. H. J. Waters received the credit for the general plan of the experiment which he outlined as "an experiment to determine: (a) if an immature animal can use its stored fat to protect growth when sparsely nourished, and to what extent the body fat may be relied upon to supplement a limited ration to insure the continuation of the process of growth; (b) what changes occur in the composition of the body of immature animals when fed for a considerable time on a maintenance ration, and also what changes occur when such animals are kept on a ration above maintenance, but not in sufficient quantity to supply the maximum growth of which the animal is capable. The investigation initiated by Waters and other investigations conducted at Missouri yielded numerous publications detailing body composition of beef animals during growth and development, and energetic efficiencies related to meat and milk production. During the past 50 years, U .S . Agricultural Experiment Stations, medical schools, research organizations, and various research groups from other countries, princi- pally in Europe, have turned out a deluge of publications concerned with growth and development. When Samuel Brody published his book "Bioenergetics and Growth" in 1945 he cited over 2000 references most of which were related to growth and development and energetic efficiencies of animals. The flow of information is likely to continue in the future because there is still much to be learned about this important phenomenon. 42 In general, what do we know about growth and development of meat animals and what aspects of these processes should we be concerned with in the future? The variation that exists among animals is due to heredity and environment. Heredity provides the necessary potential for growth and development and the environment will maximize or minimize this potential. Other hypotheses of grmth regulation have been suggested which possibly would not be included under the heredity-environment means of growth regulation. An extensive search of the literature will reveal that hypotheses abound as to how growth is regulated in tissues and organs. These hypotheses include inhibitors; stimulators; combinations of inhibitors and stimulators; organs and tissues controlling their own growth; a central control center for controlling growth of the entire body; functional demand determinlng growth of an organ or tissue; etc. The establishment of a cmplete explanation of how growth is regulated remains a task for the future. When this is accomplished we should have an answer for the cause and cure for cancer and for dystrophic conditions which plague mankind, in addition to being able to control growth and development of meat animals. The importance of heredity in meat animal production is paramount. Robert Bakewell's recommendation was to breed the best to the best because like begets like. Your contribution to the future of mankind you carry in your "genes" is an old pun to illustrate this point. This is quite timely since l'jeans" are common attire for both boys and girls. Animals within a given breed and among breeds may vary in growth rate, body composition, growth efficiency, and reproductive performance when placed In a suitable environment and given an adequate diet because of variations in hereditary constitution. Those animals that have preferred characteristics should be identified and their numbers increased while those with less desirable characteristics should be decreased in numbers. Because of diverse environmental conditions which exist in the U.S. and the world, there is no one type of animal best suited for all conditions. Although heredity dictates maximum growth and development possible, nutrition governs the rate of normal growth and the extent to which development is attained. The utilization of ingested nutrients is partitioned among various tissues and organs according to their meta- bolic rate and physiological importance. Maintenance and function of vital physiological systems take precedence over muscle growth and fat deposition. The order of precedence is first tissues comprising vital organs and physiological processes, second bone, third muscle, and lastly fat deposition. When the nutritive supply is plentiful all tissues of the body receive sufficient nutrients for maintenance and for normal growth and fattening. However, if the nutrient supply is limited, the tissues are affected in reverse order of physiological importance. Severe restrictions of nutrients will result in body tissues of less importance being utilized to maintain those of more vital importance. The various tissues and organs of the body of a growing animal which have been retarded in development by a restricted environment may exhibit remarkable compensatory growth when changed to a favorable environment. It is 43 posslble to control the rate at which different tissues and ~rtsof the body grow and develop by: altering the nutritional level of the animal and selecting the time at which the nutritional level is altered. The stage of postnatal growth over which the nutritional treatment is imposed will affect the nature of the response. The efficiency of meat animals to convert feed consumed into meat is generally related to the level of feed intake, rate of gain and body weight. A balanced diet consisting of water, protein, energy, minerals and vitamins is necessary for animals to attain their maximum inherent growth and development. The dietary requirements differ among species and vary during the various stages of growth and development. Although a vast amount of research has been conducted to determine the dietary requirements of meat animals and more is known about the dietary requirements for meat animals than for man, much is not known about this important aspect of meat an-1 production.