Trends and Advances in Animal Nutrition Research

Animal nutrition encompasses the nutrition of all animal species; however, the primary focus is on farm animals. Research on farm animal nutrition has expanded exponentially over the past decade. This review evaluated over 2,000 research presentations from 9 major international conferences held in 2025, providing a comparative analysis between global farm animal nutrition trends and the current research landscape in Korea. Major research areas included utilization and efficacy of phytobiotics; the role and effects of biotic supplements including prebiotics, probiotics, and postbiotics; the requirements and the functional role of amino acids; and the requirements and the functional role of minerals. Enteric disease challenge models have been widely utilized to investigate how enteric infections alter nutrient requirements and affect the functional roles of nutrients in animal performance. The key topics in pig nutrition were related to amino acid requirements, functional amino acids, and low-crude protein diets. In poultry nutrition, utilization and efficacy of phytobiotics were the key topics. The key topics in ruminant nutrition included cow-calf feeding, proper feeding levels, and rumen functions. Driven by high feed costs, recent animal nutrition research in Korea has prioritized feedstuff evaluation alongside intestinal health optimization, focusing closely on the microbiota and the efficacy of biotic supplements. Notably, environmental sustainability in animal nutrition has grown into a key research focus in response to societal demands and government initiatives. From this review, animal nutrition research priorities exhibited dynamic shifts that were closely tied to target species and country-specific needs.