Improving integrated management decisions for corn and soybean farmers through use of a mobile scouting application (app)

Scouting efforts by farmers, field agronomists and crop advisors diagnose field issues experienced throughout a growing season. Modern crop scouting tools include the use of mobile scouting applications (apps) on smartphones or tablets. These apps allow scouts to document observations while viewing issues within a field. Throughout the 2014 to 2018 growing seasons, over 1,000 scouting notes were recorded and summarized using Pioneer’s Encirca® View mobile scouting app, primarily documenting issues in corn and soybean fields in central Iowa. This summary of field scouting notes shows the frequency of various field issues, correlates data to certain weather patterns, and evaluates the use of a mobile scouting app. Weather-related stresses and diseases were the most commonly documented agronomic issues. The most common disease issues, northern corn leaf blight and gray leaf spot, followed expected temperature and precipitation trends. Ultimately mobile scouting apps provide value to both the crop scout and the farmer in terms of convenience and efficiency. However, the mobile app needs to be used consistently throughout the full growing season to optimize value with future use

Managing Dairy Heifer Growth Investment

Accelerated prepubertal growth rates can lower heifer raising costs but may put heifers at risk for impaired mammary development and have been found to be detrimental decreased to milk production in the first lactation. The tradeoff between heifer raising costs and milk production loss is examined in a capital budgeting model. Monthly annuity net present value of a heifer investment through the first lactation is assessed for heifers calving at 20, 22, 24, 26 and 28 months of age. A 24 mo AFC base case strategy with 9009.5 kg subsequent first lactation milk yields $7.34 in returns per month. Accelerated growth resulted in higher returns ($12.77/mo for 20 mo AFC; $9.86/mo for 22 mo AFC) when milk production is not affected as total raising costs decline relative to the base case. Slower growth resulted in lower returns ($5.12/mo for 26 mo AFC; $3.15/mo for 28 mo AFC). When milk production declines, revenues decline as do feed and marketing costs which are a function of milk produced. Adjusting for factors, breakeven milk production losses were 10.6 % for 20 mo AFC and 5.3 % for 22 mo AFC relative to the 24 mo AFC base. These results were not sensitive to the assumed discount rate, heifer feed costs or discount rate. Other operation-specific heifer management factors including calving season, reproduction, herd size/expansion considerations and, in the longer-term, heifer facilities investments may be more significant economically than the differences found in this analysis.Heifer growth, Economics, Investment, Livestock Production/Industries,

Milk production and energy metabolism in ruminants fed 2-ketoisocaproate

Three trials were conducted to examine the effect of dietary 2-ketoisocaproate (KIC) supplementation on milk production and energy metabolism in ruminants. In the first two trials, 10 goats were fed either 0 or 1.1% calcium-KIC for 2 wk and 12 cows were fed either 0 or.75% sodium-KIC for 3 wk. Supplementation with KIC significantly increased milk fat content, milk fat yield, and 4% fat-corrected milk yield in cows by an average of 5, 10, and 8%, respectively, for the treatment period. In cows, response of milk fat yield to KIC was 14% during wk 1 of treatment but diminished to 7% by wk 3. Milk yield and milk protein yield tended to be greater in cows fed KIC, but milk production efficiency and body weight were unaltered in either species. In goats, supplementation with KIC had no significant effects on milk production or composition, but trends toward increased milk fat and protein content were observed;In the third trial, 30 mixed-breed growing lambs were fed a control diet or ruminally-protected leucine, KIC, or isovalerate at a molar equivalent of.05% leucine in the diet. Lambs were fed their respective diets for about 13 wk and slaughtered upon reaching 50 kg body weight. During wk 8, plasma glucose and acetate turnover rates were measured. Perirenal lipid deposition was decreased in lambs fed KIC by 45% (P \u3c.01) and tended to be decreased in lambs fed leucine by 29%. KIC also tended to decrease backfat thickness (25%, P \u3c.09). Leucine tended to decrease growth rate and efficiency of feed conversion when compared with KIC. Plasma glucagon concentration was less for lambs fed leucine, KIC, and isovalerate than for controls during wk 4 but not wk 8. Acetate flux tended to be greater in lambs fed KIC and leucine than in those fed isovalerate. Dietary treatment did not alter glucose concentration or flux or acetate concentration or oxidation rate;In summary, feeding KIC acutely stimulated milk fat production in lactating cows and decreased lipid deposition and plasma glucagon concentration in growing lambs. In growing lambs, the effect of KIC on lipid deposition was greater than that of either leucine or isovalerate. These results indicate that KIC may alter lipid metabolism in ruminants so that nutrients are partitioned away from body lipid stores and toward milk production

Computer networking among faculty members: the effects of computer networking on faculty communication and culture

Because computer networking has become an important communication medium for faculty members, this study was conducted to explore the effects of computer networking upon faculty communication and culture. Members of research universities I astronomy departments (N = 180) were surveyed to find out how computer networking affected their communication and shared disciplinary and institutional cultures;Results showed that computer networking was most used for exchange between research partners. In addition, computer networking decreased the use of the telephone and conventional mail but had no effect on other traditional media. Computer networking also increased communication between remote colleagues. The effect of computer networking on faculty culture was minimal. However, in the slight differences which did appear, high level computer networkers defined the discipline and institution with a slightly different set of constructs. Moderate level computer network users held significantly different beliefs about the actual and ideal states of the discipline and institution. High level computer networkers were the least satisfied with the current state of their institutions. The low and high level computer networking groups showed more difference between the beliefs and ideal states they hold for their discipline and institution and their beliefs of other\u27s beliefs and ideal states. The computer groups varied most on the cooperation construct and on their beliefs and ideal states of the institution

Engaging community planners and local elected officials with local food systems producers to integrate local food systems into community plans and policies

Researchers examined three key obstacles to making progress in local food systems from a planning and land use perspective that could be handled by applying community planning tactics

Short communication: relationship between body growth and mammary development in dairy heifers

Our objective was to determine if prepubertal rate of body weight (BW) gain, independent of diet, was related to mammary development of dairy heifers. Data from two studies recently conducted at Michigan State University were used to identify factors, within a dietary treatment group, that would account for variation in first lactation milk production or amount of mammary parenchymal DNA at the time of puberty. Factors analyzed for variation in milk production during first lactation were: postpartum BW, prepubertal BW gain, gestational BW gain, postpartum BW gain, body condition score (BCS) at breeding, and BCS at calving. Factors analyzed for variation in mammary parenchymal DNA at puberty were: BW at slaughter, age at puberty, prepubertal BW gain and body protein and body fat content at slaughter. For both analyses, prepubertal BW gain did not account for any of the variation in mammary development. The only significant covariate for the milk production model (r2 = 0.44) was BCS at breeding. Similarly, the only significant covariate in the parenchymal DNA model (r2 = 0.22) was body fat content at slaughter. These results suggest that, within a dietary treatment, heifers that grow faster do not have impaired mammary development, and increased body fatness may be a better predictor of impaired mammary development than BW gain

Short communication: relationship between body growth and mammary development in dairy heifers

Our objective was to determine if prepubertal rate of body weight (BW) gain, independent of diet, was related to mammary development of dairy heifers. Data from two studies recently conducted at Michigan State University were used to identify factors, within a dietary treatment group, that would account for variation in first lactation milk production or amount of mammary parenchymal DNA at the time of puberty. Factors analyzed for variation in milk production during first lactation were: postpartum BW, prepubertal BW gain, gestational BW gain, postpartum BW gain, body condition score (BCS) at breeding, and BCS at calving. Factors analyzed for variation in mammary parenchymal DNA at puberty were: BW at slaughter, age at puberty, prepubertal BW gain and body protein and body fat content at slaughter. For both analyses, prepubertal BW gain did not account for any of the variation in mammary development. The only significant covariate for the milk production model (r2 = 0.44) was BCS at breeding. Similarly, the only significant covariate in the parenchymal DNA model (r2 = 0.22) was body fat content at slaughter. These results suggest that, within a dietary treatment, heifers that grow faster do not have impaired mammary development, and increased body fatness may be a better predictor of impaired mammary development than BW gain

A Study of Outcomes Following Collaborative Medical Doctor/Physical Therapist Primary Care Service for Musculoskeletal Problems

Background and Purpose: Collaborative medical doctor/physical therapist primary care services are not described in the literature. The 2 purposes of this observational study were to describe a collaborative medical doctor/physical therapist primary care service, and to describe simple, one question, outcomes including patient acceptable symptom state (PASS), global rating of normal function (GRNF), and success of treatment (SOT) at intake, 1 to 7 days, and 45 to 60 days follow-up. Methods: Patients were seen for 1 to 2 visits and typically received exercise, hands on treatment, ie, manual therapy, and education. Medical doctor/physical therapist collaborative encounters and provider training are described. Outcome measures were recorded at the first visit, via phone once between 1 to 7 days and once between 45 to 60 days. Descriptive data was calculated at each time point. Findings: Examples of collaborative diagnosis and treatment opportunities are tabulated. A total of 31.9% of patients were PASS Yes at intake (n=402). At 1 to 7 days (n=157; 50.3%) and 45 to 60 days (n=93; 55.9%), the proportion of PASS Yes patients were higher. There was little difference in the GRNF scale at any follow-up. At 45 to 60 days, the SOT question indicated most patients (45.7%) reported “improved” and 29.3% of patients reported as “partly cured” or “cured.” Clinical Relevance: Collaborative opportunities for diagnosis and treatment in primary care are provided. A model using the PASS, GRNF, and SOT questions for judging the urgency which a service needs modification to meet patient needs is proposed. Conclusion: A collaborative medical doctor/physical therapist model is a viable option to improve primary care services. This descriptive data suggests some level of success, however, there is little relevant data for comparison

Predicting Patients Acceptable Symptom State at Short Term Follow Up of a Collaborative Primary Care PT/MD Service

Hypothesis: Patient Reported Outcome Tools will predict a patient’s acceptable symptom state (PASS

Evaluation of the National Research Council (2001) dairy model and derivation of new prediction equations. 1. Digestibility of fiber, fat, protein, and nonfiber carbohydrate

Evaluation of ration balancing systems such as the National Research Council (NRC) Nutrient Requirementsseries is important for improving predictions of animal nutrient requirements and advancing feeding strategies. This work used a literature data set (n = 550) to evaluate predictions of total-tract digested neutral detergent fiber (NDF), fatty acid (FA), crude protein (CP), and nonfiber carbohydrate (NFC) estimated by the NRC (2001) dairy model. Mean biases suggested that the NRC (2001) lactating cow model overestimated true FA and CP digestibility by 26 and 7%, respectively, and under-predicted NDF digestibility by 16%. All NRC (2001) estimates had notable mean and slope biases and large root mean squared prediction error (RMSPE), and concordance (CCC) ranged from poor to good. Predicting NDF digestibility with independent equations for legumes, corn silage, other forages, and nonforage feeds improved CCC (0.85 vs. 0.76) compared with the re-derived NRC (2001) equation form (NRC equation with parameter estimates re-derived against this data set). Separate FA digestion coefficients were derived for different fat supplements (animal fats, oils, and other fat types) and for the basal diet. This equation returned improved (from 0.76 to 0.94) CCC compared with the re-derived NRC (2001) equation form. Unique CP digestibility equations were derived for forages, animal protein feeds, plant protein feeds, and other feeds, which improved CCC compared with the re-derived NRC (2001) equation form (0.74 to 0.85). New NFC digestibility coefficients were derived for grain-specific starch digestibilities, with residual organic matter assumed to be 98% digestible. A Monte Carlo cross-validation was performed to evaluate repeatability of model fit. In this procedure, data were randomly subsetted 500 times into derivation (60%) and evaluation (40%) data sets, and equations were derived using the derivation data and then evaluated against the independent evaluation data. Models derived with random study effects demonstrated poor repeatability of fit in independent evaluation. Similar equations derived without random study effects showed improved fit against independent data and little evidence of biased parameter estimates associated with failure to include study effects. The equations derived in this analysis provide interesting insight into how NDF, starch, FA, and CP digestibilities are affected by intake, feed type, and diet composition