Preconditioning Feeder Calves

Each year more than million quality feeder calves are sold in South Dakota. These sales contribute significantly to agricultural income in the state, the sale of cattle and calves comprising about 50% of the total. Under the leadership of the South Dakota Beef Cattle Improvement Association (BCIA) and the South Dakota Extension Service, an organized, certified feeder calf preconditioning program has been initiated and is available as an optional management/marketing tool for South Dakota cow-calf producers. The program is designed to assure the highest standards of quality, health and performance once South Dakota feeder calves reach the feedlot

Agricultural Research at the Antelope Range Field Station: A Progress Report

South Dakota State College research workers, with the help of the Field Station Advisory Council and the cooperation of the South Dakota Department of Game, Fish, and Parks, began planning and establishing experimental projects at the Antelope Range Field Station in 1947. The Range Station consists of 7,920 acres of range Janel in east-central Harding County. A large part of this tract, 6,680 acres, is under the control of the state office of School and Public Lands; 1,120 acres are owned by the Department of Game, Fish and Parks; and 120 acres are privately owned by a neighbor. Prior to 1946 the preserve area was leased for grazing to private interests. The 1957 Legislature authorized the exchange of the 1,120 acres owned by the Game, Fish and Parks Department for School and Public Lands located elsewhere in the state. Negotiations to accomplish the land exchange are in progress at the time of this writing. The station lies 2 miles south of Highway No. 8 on the west side of the Slim Buttes. The land is rolling prairie, deeply cut in some places by intermittent streams, and unsuitable for most agricultural purposes except grazing. This area was originally organized as an antelope preserve and for many years was operated as such under the control of the Game, Fish and Parks Department. In the fall of 1946, at the request of livestock men of western South Dakota, representing the Western South Dakota Sheep Growers\u27 Association, the Cooperative wool Growers\u27 of South Dakota, the Black Hills\u27 Protective Association, Harding County Livestock Improvement Association, South Dakota Purebred Sheep Breeders Association, and the South Dakota Stockgrowers\u27 Association, the Game, Fish and Parks Commission entered into an agreement to permit the South Dakota State College Agricultural Experiment Station to use the Antelope Range Preserve as a livestock experiment field station for range research in problems dealing with beef cattle, sheep, and antelope. Representatives of the organizations formed an advisory council to assist in developing the station and suggesting problems that needed research study. The orginal advisory committee and the animal husbandry department research men compiled a list of 21 major problems that would be suitable for development at the Antelope Range Field Station, although not all of these could be handled at once. Actual research work was started in 1947. The first experimental livestock with which the ranch was stocked were sheep, but within the first year a cow herd was added. Of the 21 problems suggested, parasitism in sheep, stocking rate and rotational grazing studies with sheep, supplements for wintering pregnant ewes, and beef cattle breeding research were the ones undertaken and upon which sufficient data have been collected to warrant publication of the results. Many of these studies are still underway. One of the early goals was to discover basic information on compatibility of sheep and antelope grazing on the same range in respect to carrying capacity of the range, parasites common to both species, and the host parasite interrelationships. Unfortunately this work has yielded little information because of difficulties in handling antelope either in captivity or under controlled conditions on range pastures. The other experiments have been carried forward and the results to date are reported in this bulletin

Addressing Childhood Obesity in Georgia: Past, Present, and Future

Background: The Trust for America\u27s Health ranks Georgia 17th (16.5%) in the nation for childhood obesity prevalence among youth aged 10-17 years. Georgia has a long history of addressing childhood obesity at the state, regional, and local levels. This report outlines the historical efforts in childhood obesity in Georgia from the mid-1990’s to the present, summarizes current childhood obesity prevention and management strategies, and provides childhood obesity-related data relevant to the current strategies. Methods: Childhood obesity-related efforts in Georgia from 1996 to the present are documented, along with how these efforts led to the creation of Georgia Shape. The Georgia Shape Childhood Obesity Prevention Initiative, created by Governor Nathan Deal in 2012, established a statewide, 10-year plan of action to address childhood obesity. It convenes more than 125 governmental, philanthropic, academic and business community partners quarterly to work towards reducing the incidence of childhood obesity and overweight in Georgia. Evidence supporting the Georgia Shape objectives is described, along with current program and policy efforts that may allow achievement of its goal of having 69% of Georgia’s children in a healthy weight range by the year 2023. Results: Georgia\u27s obesity rate for low-income, 2- to 4-year old children has decreased. Over the 2013-2015 school years, there has been no increase in BMI at the population level among school age children and youth, and the percentage of boys and girls with increased aerobic capacity has improved. Future efforts should focus on middle and high school students; engaging and educating parents of young children; and state policies that support safe, daily physical activity and access to healthy, local food. Conclusions: A long history of childhood obesity activities in Georgia has led to a strategic plan of action, with contributions from many stakeholders. These efforts aim to reduce the prevalence of childhood overweight and obesity in Georgia over 10 years

Lithological influences on contemporary and long-term regolith weathering at the Luquillo Critical Zone Observatory

Lithologic differences give rise to the differential weatherability of the Earth’s surface and globally variable silicate weathering fluxes, which provide an important negative feedback on climate over geologic timescales. To isolate the influence of lithology on weathering rates and mechanisms, we compare two nearby catchments in the Luquillo Critical Zone Observatory in Puerto Rico, which have similar climate history, relief and vegetation, but differ in bedrock lithology. Regolith and pore water samples with depth were collected from two ridgetops and at three sites along a slope transect in the volcaniclastic Bisley catchment and compared to existing data from the granitic Río Icacos catchment. The depth variations of solid-state and pore water chemistry and quantitative mineralogy were used to calculate mass transfer (tau) and weathering solute profiles, which in turn were used to determine weathering mechanisms and to estimate weathering rates. Regolith formed on both lithologies is highly leached of most labile elements, although Mg and K are less depleted in the granitic than in the volcaniclastic profiles, reflecting residual biotite in the granitic regolith not present in the volcaniclastics. Profiles of both lithologies that terminate at bedrock corestones are less weathered at depth, near the rock-regolith interfaces. Mg fluxes in the volcaniclastics derive primarily from dissolution of chlorite near the rock-regolith interface and from dissolution of illite and secondary phases in the upper regolith, whereas in the granitic profile, Mg and K fluxes derive from biotite dissolution. Long-term mineral dissolution rates and weathering fluxes were determined by integrating mass losses over the thickness of solid-state weathering fronts, and are therefore averages over the timescale of regolith development. Resulting long-term dissolution rates for minerals in the volcaniclastic regolith include chlorite: 8.9 × 10‾¹⁴ mol m‾² s‾¹, illite: 2.1 × 10‾¹⁴ mol m‾² s‾¹ and kaolinite: 4.0 × 10‾¹⁴ mol m‾² s‾¹. Long-term weathering fluxes are several orders of magnitude lower in the granitic regolith than in the volcaniclastic, despite higher abundances of several elements in the granitic regolith. Contemporary weathering fluxes were determined from net (rain-corrected) solute profiles and thus represent rates over the residence time of water in the regolith. Contemporary weathering fluxes within the granitic regolith are similar to the long-term fluxes. In contrast, the long-term fluxes are faster than the contemporary fluxes in the volcaniclastic regolith. Contemporary fluxes in the granitic regolith are generally also slightly faster than in the volcaniclastic. The differences in weathering fluxes over space and time between these two watersheds indicate significant lithologic control of chemical weathering mechanisms and rates