Recipient Organization
UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS
2001 S. Lincoln Ave.
URBANA,IL 61801
Performing Department
(N/A)
Non Technical Summary
In beef cattle feedlot and cow-calf production systems, structural conformation and mobility are important contributors to profitability and animal welfare. While beef producers have always understood the importance of structural conformation, no improvement has been made in this area due to challenges in accurately and consistently assessing structure. The central hypothesis is that a novel, video-based approach will characterize structural conformation in cattle and serve as the basis for lameness prevention, management, and greater longevity in beef cattle systems. First, a robust gait analysis system will be developed for the first time in beef cattle to describe structural conformation of beef steers. Subsequently, we will validate the gait analysis system in an on-farm implementation using a large group of beef steers. In the objective focused on educational activities, high school students, high school teachers, and undergraduate students will be directly trained in precision livestock management and image analysis to become the next generation of animal scientists. Expected results include a robust system to evaluate structural conformation in beef cattle in addition to what aspects of structural conformation are the most important for cattle profitability and mobility in a feedlot production setting. Long-term impacts will include improved structural conformation in the US beef herd that will result in greater animal productivity and longevity.
Animal Health Component
40%
Research Effort Categories
Basic
30%
Applied
40%
Developmental
30%
Goals / Objectives
Objective 1. Develop a robust, kinematic gait analysis system to describe structural conformation in beef cattleObjective 2. Train high school and undergraduate students in precision techniques and image analysis to become the next generation of animal scientistsObjective 3. Validate on-farm implementation for a novel gait analysis system to improve cattle growth
Project Methods
The two research objectives will be achieved using primarily three experiments. For objective 1A, a group of 60 steers will be used for gait analysis using a marker-based optical motion capture analysis system to measure more than 10 structural conformation phenotypes that describe cattle structural confirmation for the first time in beef cattle. This data will serve as ground truth, gold standard and be used to improve marker-less, depth video approaches in subsequent experiment. After structural conformation assessment, cattle growth performance and mobility will be followed during the remainder of the finishing experiment. In Objective 1B individual structural conformation phenotypes will be described in the improved kinematic gait analysis in a larger cohort of steers (more than 150 steers). Cattle will be evaluated over time and in tandem with declining mobility with days on feed. Individual structural conformation phenotypes and their change temporally will be related to cattle performance and mobility. Structural conformation phenotypes will be analyzed to determine which phenotypes are the strongest indicator of desirable structural conformation. In objective 3, results from objective 1 will be validated using an on-farm implementation approach. A large contemporary group of cattle (more than 200 steers) will be assessed using the kinematic, gait analysis system developed in objective 1. Approximately 50% of the steers with the poorest structural conformation will be selected for the experiment and assigned to 2 treatments: housed on slatted floors for entire 180 day finishing phase or housed on slatted floors for first 120 days and then in dirt floor pens for the final 60 days. Steer performance and mobility during the finishing phase will describe the ability of the gait analysis system to mitigate lameness and improve growth performance in feedlot cattle.Objective 2 will focus on training high school and undergraduate students in precision livestock techniques and image analysis to become the next generation of animal scientists. High school students will participate in annual summer workshops focused on cattle gait analysis. High school vocational agriculture teachers will be trained in principles of precision livestock management and provided a curriculum module developed by the project team. Undergraduate students will learn the principles of scientific method and first-hand skills with precision tools while assisting with research. Over the 3 years, hundreds of high school students will participate in summer workshops and several thousand students will learn precision livestock management curriculum. Additionally, at least 9 undergraduate students will be trained in precision animal management and image analysis. Students will learn fundamental techniques of the precision animal science field through an active tinker and test approach.