Proceedings of the 19th ASPA Congress, Cremona, June 7-10, 2011

The 19th Congress of the Animal Science and Production Association (ASPA), is held in the capital of one of the main European regions for animal production: Cremona. Despite its Gallic origin (Carra = rock), the name Cremona means big cream in modern Italian, in a clear allusion to milk. In this Congress, 153 oral presentations and 165 posters are presented, for a total of 318 scientific contributions. The Congress sessions with their relative number of papers are listed as follows: Animal breeding and genetics 87, Nutrition and feeding 57, Dairy production 40, Meat production 46, Animal welfare, Health and behaviour 37, Poultry and rabbit production 28 and Aquaculture 23. I would like to point out that 4 main lectures will be presented in the Animal breeding and genetics and Nutrition and feeding sessions (two in each), and that the Consiglio per la Ricerca in Agricoltura (Agricultural Research Council), the Agricultural Ministery research agency, which took charge of organizing the Congress, will award a prize for the best work here presented by young researchers. I would thank, first of all, Prof. Paolo Cescon, President of the Congress, for the contribution of all the CRA in organizing this event. I would also thank all the members of the Scientific Committee, dr. Riccardo Aleandri (President), dr. Fabio Abeni, dr. Fabiola Canavesi, dr. Giacinto Della Casa and dr. Marisanna Speroni, and of the Organizing Committee, dr. Giovanni Lo Piparo (President), dr. Stefania Barzaghi, dr. Maurizio Capelletti, dr. Giorgio Giraffa and dr. Luciano Migliorati. A special thanks to the secretary components, Maria Dissegna and Patrizia Re, assisted by Claudia Federici, Francesca Petrera, Miriam Odoardi, Maddalena Carli, Caterina Sanna, Stefania Marruso, Leonardo Boselli, Milena Rosi and Aldo Dal Prà. A special acknowlegment to Giacomo Pirlo, the real driving force organizing the Congress, a tireless and enthusiastic embroiderer of opportunities in scientific and technological applications. Indeed, I would like to congratulate and thank all those who have organized the meeting and have collaborated in reviewing the summaries for what they have done for ASPA and the Italian Animal Science. Finally, I acknowledge the institutional agencies, in particular the Ministry of Agricultural, Food and Forestry Policies (MIPAAF), the Regione Lombardia and the Comune di Cremona, and the main sponsors, namely De Laval, SIS NIR and Consorzio Agrario. Prof. Giuseppe Pulina, President of Animal Science and Production Association