A Historical Review of the 4-H Beef of Merit Carcass Contest at the Iowa State Fair

A total of 1,033 head of steers competing in the Iowa State Fair Beef of Merit class from 1975 through 2000 were summarized. Those grading low Choice and higher averaged 55.4 percent, and the average yield grade was 2.44. Due to rule changes over time the quality grade and cutability shifted. In recent years with the emphasis placed on acceptable quality grade and carcass weight, the BOM cattle have improved dramatically in the percent grading Prime and upper Choice. However, with this change has been a reduction in the percent of cattle making yield grade 1 and 2. Growth rate increased through the late 1980s, but has remained static since that time

Past Cow-Calf Production Trends—Can They Tell Us Our Future?

There have been large changes take place in Iowa cow-calf production in the past and it is safe to assume there will be more changes coming down the road for all of us to deal with. Big changes in the past have left major impacts on this industry and we can certainly learn from them if we keep an open mind and reflect on how current situations might leave a similar impact on us down the road. This writing will try to discuss these in a short succinct manner, but in no particular order

A Survey of Forage Quality Following a Flood Year: 1994

A team of extension livestock specialists and county extension workers collected 362 forage samples from cooperating producers in 55 Iowa Counties. Summaries of the three forage types showed normal feed analysis for energy and protein. Micro minerals were also analyzed with 11% of samples being below National Research Council 1984 selenium and zinc requirements for beef

Distillers’ Grains for Cows: Boon or Bust?

The United States’, and especially Iowa’s, ethanol industry has increased dramatically resulting in millions of tons of the distillers grains co-products produced annually. For every one bushel of corn processed there is a yield of about 2.8 gallons of ethanol and about 17 to 18 pounds of distillers’ grains (DGs) on a dry basis. Although one cannot be certain of future markets, it appears that large quantities of DGs will be available to the livestock industry for many years. Will the DGs remain the same? No, as we speak many ethanol plants are changing their manufacturing techniques, extracting corn oil and other by-products, which change the nutrient content and density of the DGs

Standardized Performance Analysis (SPA) Summary for 1999-2000 Veterinary Medicine Students

Nine Iowa State University veterinary medical students completed SPA records on herds from Iowa, North Dakota and South Dakota. The Iowa herds were included in the SPA summary for Iowa, but the six North and South Dakota herds were summarized separately. These six herds had an average herd size of 371 cows and had a financial return to capital, labor and management of $175 per cow. Total financial cost per cow averaged$286 for these herds with a range of $211 to$388. Feed utilized averaged 4,442 pounds of dry matter per cow and the average pounds of calf produced per exposed female was 506 pounds

Feed Particle Separation Due to Feed Delivery and Time in Feed Bunk and Effects on Cattle Performance

By utilizing a Penn State feed particle separation box, consistency of feed wagon deliveries can be assessed and performance differences between pens explained in some situations. This study revealed a feed wagon that tended to unload a slightly higher level of the bulkier feed ingredients toward the end of the unloading process and thus those animals receiving the first portions tended to have a higher caloric intake per unit of ration and subsequent greater rate of weight gain because of this bias. We therefore consider it imperative to evaluate a feed wagon’s delivery characteristics prior to use in order to maintain an acceptable level of quality control in ration delivery

Relationship between Feed Efficiency Measures during the Heifer Development Stage and Measures Taken During First Lactation in Purebred Angus—Progress Report

Fifteen Angus first-calf heifers were evaluated for feed intake utilizing the Feed Intake Monitoring System developed at ISU. Average dry matter intake for the 142- day period was 4718 pounds with over a 3100 pound range in female feed intake. On a daily basis, the low to high spread in daily dry matter intake was 24.7 to 46.6 pounds

Impact of Contemporary Group Assignment on Sire Means in Feed Efficiency Testing

Designating correct contemporary groupings is important in reporting performance traits in beef cattle performance programs. An analysis of 166 bulls over a three-year period showed that grouping all cattle into one contemporary group each year lead to major errors in evaluating sires for their average feed intake, feed conversion and residual feed intake (RFI). Under this grouping strategy, sire progeny averages were estimated incorrectly; 58% of sire averages for dry matter intake were off by .5 lbs daily or more, 25% were off by .5 lbs or more in feed conversion and 67% were off by .5 lb or more for RFI. Also 25%, 29% and 33% were estimated with the wrong sign for dry matter intake, feed:gain ratio and RFI, respectively, which means sire progeny averages either received a positive sign for the trait rather than negative, or vice versa

Relationship Between Feed Efficiency Measures During the Heifer Development Stage and Measures Taken During First Lactation in Purebred Angus—Final Report (Report to the American Angus Association, St. Joseph, MO)

Angus first-calf heifers were evaluated for feed intake utilizing the Feed Intake Monitoring System developed at ISU. Average dry matter intake for the feeding period was 3877 pounds with difference in dry matter intakes from the lowest to the highest intake female averaging 2143 lbs over the three years of the study. During the study an average difference between the lowest and highest consuming firstcalf heifer was 22.3 lbs daily to 38.4 lbs. Mixed model procedures identified significant components of a residual feed intake (RFI) model to be : initial metabolic body weight, female average daily gain, pounds of milk produced daily, days since lactation initiation, and the interaction between milk production and lactation initiation. The correlation between yearling and first-lactation RFI ranged from .44 to .77 for the three years with only one year being significant at less than the .05 level. However, when the Student T-test was conducted the conclusion was that a significantly positive correlation existed between yearling and first lactation RFI

Relationship between Feed Efficiency Measures during the Heifer Development Stage and Measures Taken During First Lactation in Purebred Angus—Second Year Progress Report

Angus first-calf heifers were evaluated for feed intake utilizing the Feed Intake Monitoring System developed at ISU. Average dry matter intake for the feeding period was 3904 pounds with a 3100 pound difference in dry matter intakes from the lowest to the highest intake female in year one while in year two there was over a 1425 lb difference in dry matter intake. This quantified to low to high spread in daily dry matter intake was 17.5 to 46.6 pounds. Feed intake during first year lactations between negative and positive RFI groups appears small after two years of observation