Recipient Organization
UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI
(N/A)
COLUMBIA,MO 65211
Performing Department
ANIMAL SCIENCES
Non Technical Summary
The greatest economic opportunity for beef producers in the U.S. is to capture value of the retail beef products they produce. Capture of this value is beginning to occur, and we expect it to increase in the future due to economic drivers, by producers forming new age cooperatives, or other business structures, that are vertically coordinated from the cow-calf enterprise through sales of the retail product. Research to be conducted will provide information identified as needed by independent beef producers. The research will enhance the potential success of independent beef producers to market value-added retail products rather than a lower-valued commodity.
Animal Health Component
50%
Research Effort Categories
Basic
50%
Applied
50%
Developmental
(N/A)
Goals / Objectives
The goal of this research program is to enhance the information base available to beef producers involved in vertically coordinated production systems. The expected outcomes of the proposed research is a reduction in feed input costs of the reproducing cow, increased use of artificial insemination programs, increased gain efficiency of growing cattle, enhanced carcass value, and development of an economic model that determines the actual value of product enhancement. The objectives are as follows: To evaluate stand longevity of birdsfoot trefoil. To evaluate annual ryegrass for winter grazing. To determine if indigestible neutral detergent fiber (INDF) is correlated to forage intake by feed cows and if INDF can be estimated by near-infra red spectroscopy. To determine if melegesterol acetate has estrogenic activity. To determine the follicular wave development following gonadotropin releasing hormone injection. To determine conception rate achieved by a timed
artificial insemination program. To determine the genetic relationship among feed intake and efficiency to descriptive measurements (weaning weight, yearling weight, backfat, marbling, and growth rate). To determine variables that contribute to serum concentrations of leptin. To determine if fatty acid composition of dietary lipid influences fatty acid and conjugated linoleic acid concentration of the carcass. To determine the effect of protein to energy ratio on feed efficiency of feedlot cattle. To determine the effect of pH and volatile fatty acid concentration on pathogenic E. coli populations in the colon of feedlot cattle. To develop a model that assesses the value of enhanced meat quality from beef. The goal, outcomes and objectives of the proposed research were identified by beef producers as a critical void of information or as a challenge limiting implementation of existing technology. The research will be coordinated in the disciplines of agronomy, economics, genetics,
nutrition, physiology, and reproduction. The focus of the proposed research is on the vertically aligned independent beef producer because we believe that producer-capture of the retail value is essential to the future of beef production in the U.S.
Project Methods
The greatest economic opportunity for beef producers in the U.S. is to capture value of the retail beef products they produce. Capture of this value is beginning to occur, and we expect it to increase in the future due to economic drivers, by producers forming new age cooperatives, or other business structures, that are vertically coordinated from the cow-calf enterprise through sales of the retail product. We have been involved in a startup cooperative venture (River Hills Meats) that is structured as a new age cooperative with the business plan to retail beef products. Evident from viewing this cooperative venture, as well as capturing input from a state-wide beef advisory group and the Missouri Cattlemen's Association, is that producers need production/management information that can be implemented into a coordinated system, they need information that allows product value and safety and profit margin to be enhanced, and they need information that allows them to
valuate economic consequences of production/management decisions. In our discussions beef producers have relayed that the timeliness of this information has great magnitude, with their economical survival at stake. The research proposed herein is novel in its objectives and will provide information that can be and is being implemented by varying systems of beef production. Additionally, the proposed research builds on the strong research base that has been implemented by progressive beef producers. Further justification for funding his proposal is that an industry-leading model of beef production will ensure identification of the most pertinent challenges facing beef producers and the immediate application of research information. The approach used in the proposed research received input from beef producers to establish research goals and objectives. This same collaboration will be used to disseminate research findings. In addition, we are collaborating with a newly developed producer
cooperative focused on retail meat sales. This collaboration allows us real-time evaluation of our research and immediate applications to production agriculture.