Progress 10/01/11 to 09/30/12
Outputs
Progress Report Objectives (from AD-416): 1: Produce a 12-month supply of pasture-based beef by expanding the harvest window with retention of acceptable meat quality. 2: Develop criteria for pasture raised beef that define �the window of acceptability�. 3: Identify management and nutritional strategies for minimizing weaning stress in calves. 4: Develop tools for pasture-based beef producers to assess and manage risk. Approach (from AD-416): Steers and heifers of different frame scores will be utilized to expand the harvest window to improve market accessibility. Livestock behavior will be related to metabolic stress markers to improve livestock well- being and management. Modeling will be utilized to minimize growth lag following grazing events during the entire production season as well as seasonal extremes. Responsibilities for each stage of the production stream are assigned to specific institutions to minimize redundancy and maximize resource-use efficiency. Risk analysis is conducted on each production stage. Outcomes include feasible strategies to produce high quality beef products, strategies to meet the energy and protein needs of grazing livestock twelve months a year, and production systems that yield higher profit margins for livestock producers. Fiscal Year 2012 Consolidated Appropriations Act (H.R. 2112) passed by Congress and signed by the President on November 18, 2011, authorized the closing of the office/laboratory at Beaver, West Virginia. The program at Beaver was terminated retroactively to October 1, 2011. Therefore, this project will be terminated after the Congressionally Mandated Specific Cooperative Agreements that are associated with this project are closed-out and terminated.
Impacts
(N/A)
Publications
- Scaglia, G., Swecker, W.S., Fontenot, J.P., Fiske, D., Fike, J.H., Abaye, A.O., Clapham, W.M., Hall, J.B. 2008. Forage systems for cow/calf production in the Appalachian region. Journal of Animal Science. 86:2032- 2042.
- Neel, J.P., Fontenot, J.P., Clapham, W.M., Duckett, S.K., Felton, E.D., Scaglia, G. 2007. Effects of winter stocker growth rate and finishing system on: I. Animal performance and carcass characteristics. Journal of Animal Science. 85(8):2012-2018.
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Progress 09/25/07 to 01/12/12
Outputs
Progress Report Objectives (from AD-416): 1: Produce a 12-month supply of pasture-based beef by expanding the harvest window with retention of acceptable meat quality. 2: Develop criteria for pasture raised beef that define �the window of acceptability�. 3: Identify management and nutritional strategies for minimizing weaning stress in calves. 4: Develop tools for pasture-based beef producers to assess and manage risk. Approach (from AD-416): Steers and heifers of different frame scores will be utilized to expand the harvest window to improve market accessibility. Livestock behavior will be related to metabolic stress markers to improve livestock well- being and management. Modeling will be utilized to minimize growth lag following grazing events during the entire production season as well as seasonal extremes. Responsibilities for each stage of the production stream are assigned to specific institutions to minimize redundancy and maximize resource-use efficiency. Risk analysis is conducted on each production stage. Outcomes include feasible strategies to produce high quality beef products, strategies to meet the energy and protein needs of grazing livestock twelve months a year, and production systems that yield higher profit margins for livestock producers. Fiscal Year 2012 Consolidated Appropriations Act (H.R. 2112) passed by Congress and signed by the President on November 18, 2011, authorized the closing of the office/laboratory at Beaver, West Virginia. The program at Beaver was terminated retroactively to October 1, 2011. Therefore, this project will be terminated after the Congressionally Mandated Specific Cooperative Agreements that are associated with this project are closed-out and terminated.
Impacts
(N/A)
Publications
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Progress 10/01/10 to 09/30/11
Outputs
Progress Report Objectives (from AD-416) 1: Produce a 12-month supply of pasture-based beef by expanding the harvest window with retention of acceptable meat quality. 2: Develop criteria for pasture raised beef that define �the window of acceptability�. 3: Identify management and nutritional strategies for minimizing weaning stress in calves. 4: Develop tools for pasture-based beef producers to assess and manage risk. Approach (from AD-416) Steers and heifers of different frame scores will be utilized to expand the harvest window to improve market accessibility. Livestock behavior will be related to metabolic stress markers to improve livestock well- being and management. Modeling will be utilized to minimize growth lag following grazing events during the entire production season as well as seasonal extremes. Responsibilities for each stage of the production stream are assigned to specific institutions to minimize redundancy and maximize resource-use efficiency. Risk analysis is conducted on each production stage. Outcomes include feasible strategies to produce high quality beef products, strategies to meet the energy and protein needs of grazing livestock twelve months a year, and production systems that yield higher profit margins for livestock producers. Tall fescue is a widespread and important cool-season forage grass species in the eastern United States. Reduced forage production during hot, dry, mid- to late-summer periods and animal toxicities associated with the presence of a fungal-endophtye limit the utility of tall fescue for some producers. We investigated interseeding teff, (Eragrostis tef (Zucc.) Trotter) a warm-season annual grass, into established fescue stands as a means to improve warm season forage production and potentially reduce effects of toxic fescue compounds on grazing livestock. Seed coating treatments and seeding method (drilling vs. broadcasting) were compared. Seed coating treatment and seeding method had no effect on teff, establishment, sward yield or quality. Over the three years that the study was conducted, the most significant factor for teff growth and yield within the fescue plots was temperature. Teff sward yields were greatest in 2010 as the probable result of the prolonged warm summer temperatures. Interseeding teff or other warm-season annuals into fescue- dominated swards has potential benefits as well as management challenges that warrant further investigation. Accomplishments 01 Developed a better model to describe adaptation of forage systems to climate change. ARS researchers at Beaver, WV, developed a technique utilizing Monte Carlo simulation to evaluate forage systems. The goal of the method is to develop sample distributions under varying environmenta conditions and produce probability expectations of forage or system success or failure. Conventional methods (such as Analysis of Variance regression analysis) to evaluate forage performance require numerous trials to evaluate whether one forage system is �better� than another. The modeling technique utilized by the study are much more efficient tha conventional techniques, produce a more-robust dataset and permits the development of probabilities for determining the success or failure of forage and/or management systems. This research greatly reduces the financial and time resources needed to evaluate forage systems and is capable of handling much more complex systems. Data produced from this technique and analysis are directly useful to farmers, researchers and policy makers. The technique would be extremely useful in translating results from genomic analysis to real-world agriculture.
Impacts
(N/A)
Publications
- Clapham, W.M., Fedders, J.M., Beeman, K., Neel, J.P. 2011. Acoustic monitoring system to quantify ingestive behavior of free-grazing cattle. Computers and Electronics in Agriculture. DOI: 10.1016/j.compag.2011. 01/009.
- Teutsch, C.D., Clapham, W.M., Fedders, J.M., Tilson, W.M. 2011. Nitrogen rate and application timing affect the yield and risk associated with stockpiling tall fescue for winter grazing. Forage and Grazinglands. DOI: 10/1094/FG-2011-0513-01-RS.
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Progress 10/01/09 to 09/30/10
Outputs
Progress Report Objectives (from AD-416) 1: Produce a 12-month supply of pasture-based beef by expanding the harvest window with retention of acceptable meat quality. 2: Develop criteria for pasture raised beef that define �the window of acceptability�. 3: Identify management and nutritional strategies for minimizing weaning stress in calves. 4: Develop tools for pasture-based beef producers to assess and manage risk. Approach (from AD-416) Steers and heifers of different frame scores will be utilized to expand the harvest window to improve market accessibility. Livestock behavior will be related to metabolic stress markers to improve livestock well- being and management. Modeling will be utilized to minimize growth lag following grazing events during the entire production season as well as seasonal extremes. Responsibilities for each stage of the production stream are assigned to specific institutions to minimize redundancy and maximize resource-use efficiency. Risk analysis is conducted on each production stage. Outcomes include feasible strategies to produce high quality beef products, strategies to meet the energy and protein needs of grazing livestock twelve months a year, and production systems that yield higher profit margins for livestock producers. Data were collected from alternative forage specie plots (Sub-objective 1. 2.3), compiled and the risks associated with their production and their ability to meet grazing livestock nutritional requirements was modeled. Second year population separation was conducted (Sub-objective 2.1.1, 36 month) with finishing being completed in November 2010. A study to validate the method for estimating intake and characterizing ingestive events in grazing livestock developed (Sub-objective 2.1.2) was conducted on 6 heifers. Additional acoustic hardware was incorporated to capture ingestive event signal less than 8 kHz. The new hardware permits separating �biting� from �mastication� events on the basis of the frequencies associated with the events. A design for hardware to replace acoustic recording to estimate and characterize ingestive events with processing these data in real time was developed and a prototype is under development. Samples collected during final 45 days of finishing in 2008 are being analyzed (Sub-objective 2.1.3, 36 month). A change was made with regards to finishing protocol for the 2010 grazing season and an attempt is being made to adapt sample collection procedures. Accomplishments 01 Estimating forage intake by beef cattle. Hardware and software to classify ingestive events and estimate intake in grazing beef cattle was developed by ARS scientists at Beaver, WV and has the capacity to record and classify grazing events for up to 5 hours. This system is first to solve the previously intractable problem of estimating forage intake directly. The estimates demonstrate a high degree of precision and are relatively inexpensive to make. 02 Short-term field studies are not sufficient to develop recommendations. Stockpiling tall fescue is a popular technique to increase forage availability to grazing livestock during winter months. A study was conducted by ARS scientists at Beaver, WV to evaluate the impact of one application or split applications of N rates (0, 40, 80, 120 lbs/A) on fescue yield and quality. Sixty years of historical weather data were used to model mean temperature and rainfall for August-November. The historical data showed that the weather during the years that the study was conducted was atypical of the historical data. These data show that short term studies need to be interpreted within the historical context provide recommendations that take into account the risks associated with management decisions. These data demonstrate that field recommendations can be very unreliable even when they are based upon relatively large da sets over many years. Field data interpretations are far more robust wh they are subjected to historical environmental context.
Impacts
(N/A)
Publications
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Progress 10/01/07 to 09/30/08
Outputs
Progress Report Objectives (from AD-416) 1: Produce a 12-month supply of pasture-based beef by expanding the harvest window with retention of acceptable meat quality. 2: Develop criteria for pasture raised beef that define �the window of acceptability�. 3: Identify management and nutritional strategies for minimizing weaning stress in calves. 4: Develop tools for pasture-based beef producers to assess and manage risk. Approach (from AD-416) Steers and heifers of different frame scores will be utilized to expand the harvest window to improve market accessibility. Livestock behavior will be related to metabolic stress markers to improve livestock well- being and management. Modeling will be utilized to minimize growth lag following grazing events during the entire production season as well as seasonal extremes. Responsibilities for each stage of the production stream are assigned to specific institutions to minimize redundancy and maximize resource-use efficiency. Risk analysis is conducted on each production stage. Outcomes include feasible strategies to produce high quality beef products, strategies to meet the energy and protein needs of grazing livestock twelve months a year, and production systems that yield higher profit margins for livestock producers. Significant Activities that Support Special Target Populations This research project was approved 9/07, and progress made during FY08 reflects the redirection of funding from the previous project to starting up new research and setting up new permanent forage systems. The research supports the research components in the 2007-2012 Food Animal Production National Program (NP 101) Action Plan: Component 2: Enhancing Animal Adaptation, Well-Being and Efficiency in Diverse Production Systems, Problem Statement 2C: Improving Efficiency of Nutrient Utilization and Conversion to Animal Products and Component 3: Measuring and Enhancing Product Quality, Problem Statement 3B: Characterization of Products from Non-Conventional Production Systems. This is a new project and progress is limited primarily to establishing new paddocks and forage systems at the ARS, WVU, VT sites. Heifers were halter-broken and trained to tolerate manure bags for use in a series of studies to estimate actual intake during pasture grazing. The heifers were recorded using a specialized halter armed with an audio flash recorder. Ingestive events were classified and quantified using a software plugin modified at the lab. Specific finishing systems (mixed pasture, triticale and teff) were designed and planted to meet the nutritional needs of finishing steers for finishing during three different periods in summer and fall. This research is conducted specifically to examine performance in steers of two different frame scores and three different harvesting dates. Significant Activities that Support Special Target Populations The project focuses on small farm research and under-served producers. Field days are held annually at the project�s farms and are attended by limited resource farmers interested primarily in direct marketing of pasture-finished meat. Invited presentations at the Northeast Pasture Grazing Consortium.
Impacts
(N/A)
Publications
- Duckett, S.K., Neel, J.P., Sonon, Jr., R.N., Fontenot, J.H., Clapham, W.M. 2007. Effects of winter stocker growth rate and finishing system on: II. 9- 10-11th rib composition, muscle color, and palatability. Journal of Animal Science. 85:2691-2698.
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