Perceptions and Preferences of Extension Programming and Sources Among Extension Users and Non-Users: 10 Kansas Counties

County Extension personnel are challenged to serve the public while facing changing population density and diversity. Moreover, needs and satisfaction vary among Extension clients and non-clients. With this in mind, 10 of the most populous counties in Kansas, with the aid of a university researcher, conducted an evaluation to determine programming needs of both clients and non-clients. Findings indicate that non-clients and clients prioritize programming differently and prefer different delivery mechanisms. The results have allowed these counties to tailor their programming and marketing efforts to these two unique groups, while also serving as a basis for a collective marketing plan

Exposure of prepubertal beef bulls to cycling females affects neither age at puberty nor ability to pass an initial breeding soundness examination

Age at puberty is a crucial factor influencing a young bull’s ability to pass a breeding soundness examination (BSE) at a year of age, and reducing that age may prove beneficial to beef producers. For beef females, exposure to mature bulls is known to hasten the onset of puberty and also can reduce the duration of postpartum anestrus. Relatively little research has evaluated the effects of female exposure on beef bull sexual development. Bulls are thought to use visualization rather than olfaction as their primary and preferred way to detect estrus in females. The purpose of this study was to determine whether continuous, long-term fence-line exposure of prepubertal beef bulls to estrouscycling beef females influences a bull’s age at puberty and subsequent ability to pass a BSE

Perceptions and attitudes of cow-calf producers toward emerging technologies and policy issues in the beef cattle industry

Master of ScienceDepartment of Animal Sciences and IndustryDale A. BlasiThe proposed U.S. National Animal Identification System (US-NAIS) has generated many concerns among beef cattle producers. The goal of the NAIS is to utilize 48-hour traceback in the event of an animal disease outbreak. The traceback would identify all animals that have had contact with the diseased animal, while linking an animal to its premises of origin. According to the Diffusion of Innovation theory, getting a new idea adopted, even when it has clear advantages, is often very difficult. However, by adopting innovations relatively sooner than others in their system, the theory demonstrates marked benefits for innovators and early adopters, as well as a widening of the socioeconomic gap. In this study beef producer demonstrated understanding, acceptance and adaptability to implement the US-NAIS. Participants for the study were selected in the spring of 2006 from a mailing list of cow-calf producers with more than 100 head of cows. BEEF Magazine provided the mailing list and a random sample of 1,000 producers was selected. The results show a knowledge gap between the proposed system and producer understanding. Producers were also divided on support for the proposed system. When ranking their level of support on a scale of 1 to 6, with 1 being strongly supportive and 6 being strongly opposed, 49% of producers showed some level of support and 48% showed some level of opposition, with a mean of 3.53 (s.d. 1.67). Data also highlights a lack of understanding of the regulations and implementation procedures among producers. The results of this study brought considerable insight into the current practices and perceptions of beef cattle producers, and will be used to develop educational materials to improve their understanding of this proposed program