Demographics, Accuracy, and Impact of Feed Laboratories in the United States

Feed analysis is very important to modern society. In the United States feed analysis is used to optimize production of food animals. Feed analysis is also used as a tool to place value on crops. As important as feed analysis is to society, little research has been done that describes which feed laboratories are the most popular and why people use them. It has been thought by some patrons that different results from the same feed sample are obtained by different laboratories. Is this true? If so, what is the effect on those that use feed laboratories to produce animals, like beef cattle? Four studies were the used to answer the questions described above and to learn more about the feed laboratory industry. Study 1 was used find out more about the population of feed laboratories in the United States. Study 2 conducted surveys to discover more about which laboratories are popular and why people use certain feed laboratories. Study 3 was used to find out if all feed laboratories produce results which agree, even when the same feed sample is tested by different laboratories and when the laboratories do not know that they are being compared to each other. Study 4 was used to show how, when different analyses of the same feed are produced, it impacts animal production. In total, these studies provide evidence that there may be large variations between and within laboratories analyzing the same sample and these variations can have production and economic consequences

Review: Technical Aspects for the Utilization of Small Grain Straws as Feed Energy Sources for Ruminants: Emphasis on Beef Cattle

This publication defines Straw and provide information on straw composition, plant cell wall development, and treatments of straw for feed

Major Factors or Inputs Affecting Profitability of Beef Cow Herds in the Western United States

This publication discusses issues and areas that affect profitability of beef cow herds in the western United States

Grass-Fed vs. Conventionally Fed Beef

This publication defines grass-fed and conventionally fed beef and discusses the advantages and disadvantages to both

Utilization of Heterosis in a Beef Cow Herd

This publication defines heterosis in cows and gives information on the fundamentals, needs, and types of heterosis

Access to Better Education: The School Choice Experience of Families Served by Low-Performing Elementary Public Schools in Miami-Dade County

Public school choice education policy attempts to create an education marketplace. Although school choice research has focused on the parent role in the school choice process, little is known about parents served by low-performing schools. Following market theory, students attending low-performing schools should be the primary students attempting to use school choice policy to access high performing schools rather than moving to a better school. However, students remain in these low-performing schools. This study took place in Miami-Dade County, which offers a wide variety of school choice options through charter schools, magnet schools, and open-choice schools. This dissertation utilized a mixed-methods design to examine the decision-making process and school choice options utilized by the parents of students served by low-performing elementary schools in Miami-Dade County. Twenty-two semi-structured interviews were conducted with the parents of students served by low-performing schools. Binary logistic regression models were fitted to the data to compare the demographic characteristics, academic achievement and distance from alternative schooling options between transfers and non-transfers. Multinomial logistic regression models were fitted to the data to evaluate how demographic characteristics, distance to transfer school, and transfer school grade influenced the type of school a transfer student chose. A geographic analysis was conducted to determine how many miles students lived from alternative schooling options and the miles transfer students lived away from their transfer school. The findings of the interview data illustrated that parents’ perceived needs are not being adequately addressed by state policy and county programs. The statistical analysis found that students from higher socioeconomic social groups were not more likely to transfer than students from lower socioeconomic social groups. Additionally, students who did transfer were not likely to end up at a high achieving school. The findings of the binary logistic regression demonstrated that transfer students were significantly more likely to live near alternative school options