First Step in Recovering Flooded Pastures and Hay Ground

Flood waters are receding, but the challenges in recovery for farmers and livestock producers are just beginning. We recommend producers get out in their fields as soon as possible to assess the damage to pastures and hay ground, then check out possible disaster assistance. Look for three things in the assessment: debris, silt on the forage, and thinned or dead forage plants. Debris includes wire, metal and trash that may be injurious to animal health and is usually found along fence lines and in the corners of fields

Training Livestock to Avoid Specific Forage

This fact sheet provides the basics of aversion training for livestock

Volatile Components of Wet and Modified Corn Distillers Grains—A Survey

Wet and modified distillers grain has been noted as tohaving a more net energy per unit than the dried equivalent.This difference seems to be due to the presence of volatilecompounds present in the liquid fraction that are lost duringdrying

Supplemental Potassium in Feedlot Rations: Influence of Source and Level on Animal Performance, Digestibility, and Ionophore Action

The work represented in this publication was performed with one major goal in mind--that the results and knowledge obtained herein would be applicable and beneficial to the cattle feeding industry. From this perspective, the objective was met. Scientifically, this research may have raised as many questions as it addressed. Reviewing the past 2 1/2 years of work, there are several changes I would make 1n the design of the experiments. Conducting the performance trial in the warm season months may have offered some insight into the issue of heat stress and potassium needs. Monitorin& water intake might have provided more information on water turnover, rumen volumes, and the effect of potassium level. In the last trial, stalling animals in pens, rather than the metabolism crates, might have allowed for greater feed intakes, which would more closely parallel feedlot conditions.Animal Scienc

Factors Affecting Preconditioned Calf Price Premiums: Does Potential Buyer Competition and Seller Reputation Matter?

Feeder-calf prices are determined by the interaction of many factors. This study uses transaction data from Iowa preconditioned and regular feeder-calf auction sales to quantify the impact of a wide variety of factors, several of which have not been used in previous studies on feeder-calf prices. Notably, market premiums for preconditioned sales versus regular sales, feedlot capacity utilization, and seller reputation are found to be significant factors affecting feeder-calf prices. Estimated coefficients are then used to predict prices to demonstrate how this information can be used in making management and marketing decisions

Equity and Justice for People with Traumatic Brain Injury in Minnesota\u27s Criminal Justice System: Achieving Effectiveness, Efficiency and Equity

Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) is a silent epidemic in Minnesota’s correctional system. People with TBI in corrections have significant needs related to their TBI that are not being met. These unmet needs threaten their personal safety and the safety of others in correctional settings and society at large; and threaten their ability to maintain their status as productive members of their communities upon release, negatively affecting the well-being of entire communities

Opportunities and Challenges for Dairy Steer Production in Northwest Iowa

A dairy steer survey, co-sponsored by Iowa State University Extension and the Iowa Institute for Cooperatives, was mailed to 635 cattle producers in northwest Iowa to assay the potential opportunities and challenges of feeding dairy steers. Replies from 177 surveys were summarized. Thirty-seven percent cited profitability as the major reason they had fed dairy steers. In comparing beef and dairy steers, reduced feeder calf cost was cited as an advantage with dairy steers. However, market access, finished market price and feed efficiency of dairy steers rated poorer than with beef steers. The biggest challenge to dairy steer production was market access, followed by weather and increased health problems. This survey indicates that while there may be opportunities for dairy steer production in northwest Iowa, the number one impediment is restricted market access and, hence, the finished market price

Step Two in Flood Recovery of Pastures Is Renovation

As flood waters recede, the renovation of flooded pastures is just beginning. Now is a good time to check pasture plants for survival. Forage production is a function of the plant species, and their density and growth. Evaluate live plants (plant vigor), plant density, and desirable species versus weeds

An Evaluation of Effective Fiber in Beef Feedlot Finishing Diets

A study was designed to collect a database of Iowa feedlot rations for determination of effective neutral detergent fiber (NDF) in complete diets from fiber analysis and particle size determination of individual feed ingredients and compare this with particle size determination of mixed wet rations. Seventy-one beef finishing total mixed rations were collected by ISU Extension Beef Field Specialists across Iowa. Producers were asked to complete a form assessing the acidosis risk associated with each ration. The average NDF of these diets was 25.9%. Of the total mixed rations 1.33 % remained in the top tray (\u3e.75 in.), 47.27 % remained in the middle tray (\u3e.31 in.), and 50.88 % was smaller than the .31 in screen. The effective NDF (eNDF) calculated from the eNDF of the ingredients averaged 10.56%. Estimated eNDF from total diet NDF and the percentage of the total diet in the top and middle trays averaged 12.47%. The calculated eNDF from non-grain sources alone averaged 3.6%. The percentage of digestive deads was weakly related to the percentage of the ration in the bottom tray (r=.19), the percentage in the top tray (r=- .46) and the effective NDF of the ration (r=-.23). The percentage of bloat was related to the total NDF of the diet (r=.28) and the effective fiber from non-grain sources (r=-.23). The number of off-feed incidences was related to the dry matter of the ration (r=.38), the apparent eNDF (r=-.28) and the percentage of ration in the bottom tray (r=.24). This study confirms that there is some relationship between effective NDF of the diet, effective NDF from non-grain sources or diet particle size; and acidosis indicators. These relationships are weak, however, indicating that other factors such as feedbunk management, feed processing, feed presentation and feed mixing likely also play a role in the incidence of acidosis in feedlot cattle