Ruminal acidosis is a metabolic disease affecting both beef and dairy cattle. It is typically associated with intakes of large amounts of fermentable, carbohydrate rich diets. An animal with mild clinical acidosis will be off their feed and may scour. More severe clinical signs of acidosis include decreased milk production and poor body condition score in dairy cows, and depressed growth rates in affected beef cattle despite adequate nutrition.

Nutritionists are now finding novel ways to mitigate acidosis based on new, in depth understanding of rumen fermentation kinetics. A low rumen pH is simply the product of an acidotic rumen environment. But the biological and chemical steps before the pH drop include alterations in microbial populations and the partitioning of hydrogen resulting from the breakdown of carbohydrates.