Estimating Beef Cow Maintenance Efficiency with a Fasting Protocol

A fasting protocol seems to provide a simple means by which the maintenance efficiency of a cow in a given contemporary group could be assessed relative to her herd mates and provide a means by which the herdsman can screen, rank and select cows that are efficient in terms of maintaining themselves

Maintaining Food Safety through Quality

Food safety is a worldwide issue affecting millions of people who suffer from diseases caused by contaminated food. An estimated 76 million cases of foodborne disease occur each year in the United States. Policy makers are looking to enhanced quality management systems for tracing food back to its source. This report will give producers, researchers and consumers a summary of efforts by Iowa State University Extension in food safety, quality management systems and traceability of grain and livestock products.https://lib.dr.iastate.edu/extension_ag_pubs/1137/thumbnail.jp

Forestiera pubescens Nutt.

https://thekeep.eiu.edu/herbarium_specimens_byname/21086/thumbnail.jp

Forestiera pubescens Nutt.

https://thekeep.eiu.edu/herbarium_specimens_byname/21087/thumbnail.jp

Aloysia macrostachya Moldenke

https://thekeep.eiu.edu/herbarium_specimens_byname/18933/thumbnail.jp

Potential of Chemically Treated Corn Stover and Modified Distiller Grains as a Partial Replacement for Corn Grain in Feedlot Diets

Because treatment with calcium oxide (CaO) will increase the digestibility of corn stover, CaO-treated corn stover may be a cost-effective alternative to a portion of corn grain in beef feedlot diets. Single-pass harvested corn stover was ensiled either untreated or treated with 5% CaO on a dry matter (DM) basis. Ground baled stover, untreated stover silage, or CaO-treated stover silage were fed at 20% of the diet DM with modified distillers grains with solubles and corn grain at 40 and 35% of the DM and fed either during the growing phase or both the growing and finishing phases in comparison to a control diet containing baled stover, modified distillers grains with solubles, and corn grain at 5, 20, and 70% of the diet DM. The DM digestibilities of diets fed to sheep that contained the baled stover, untreated stover silage, and CaO-treated stover silage diets were 75.9, 75.5, and 83.2%, respectively. In the beef feeding trial, 210 steers (30 per treatment; mean weight 648 lb) were either fed the control diet to finish or fed the baled stover, untreated stover silage, CaO-treated stover silage diets for either the growing phase to 1,000 lb or to finish. Daily gains of steers fed the control treatment or the CaOtreated stover silage diet were greater than steers fed the CaO-treated stover silage diet during the growing phase or untreated stover silage diet to finish which were greater than steers fed the baled stover silage diets to finish or the untreated stover silage during the growing season. Steers fed the CaO-treated stover silage diet to finish had a lower feed-to-gain ratio than any other treatment. Steers fed the control treatment had a higher marbling score than those fed diets containing any of the corn stover treatments. Calcium oxide treated stover is a cost-effective replacement for a portion of the corn in feedlot diets

Storage Project of Wet Distillers Grains

On October 18, 2006, one load of wet distillers grains from Pine Lake Corn Processors LLC, Steamboat Rock, IA was delivered to the ISU McNay Research Farm southwest of Chariton, IA via walking-bed semi-truck. The analysis of that product is given in Table 1

Evaluation of Mixing Wet Distillers Grains with Ground Hay in a Bunker and Covering Modified Distillers Grains to Extend Storage Life—A Demonstration Project

The ethanol industry is rapidly expanding. As much as 40 percent of the energy cost is associated with drying of the feed co-products. Distillers grains are excellent sources of nutrients for the diets of beef cattle, but have a short shelf life. To expand the use of wet distillers feeds to more producers, longer term, low-cost storage methods are required. Studies done in 2006–2007 showed that bagging these products was an effective management practice, but was higher in cost than acceptable to some producers. Additionally, availability of bagging equipment is limited, thus encouraging other storage methodologies to be investigated