Processed Corn Silage Effects on Digestibility and Production of Growing Beef Replacement Heifers

Forage is generally the principle feedstuff in feedlot diets for growing cattle and, as such, its nutritive value will determine weight gain, feed intake and feed efficiency. In feedlot diets for growing cattle, corn silage can constitute up to 60% of the diet (DMB)

Watch the Drinking Water Quality of Calves Reared in Individual Hutches

Those involved in livestock production have often observed the relationship between drinking water intake, dry matter intake and performance

Grassy Weeds

Grassy weeds are a problem in all field crops. They must be identified at early stages of growth so they can be controlled before crop yields are seriously threatened. Control measures are not the same for all grassy weeds, so accurate seedling identification is essential. Most grassy weeds and grain crops look very much alike in the seedling stages. However, if you look closely (a small hand lens helps) you can pick out the unique vegetative characteristics of each weed and crop seedling. Rudiments of the seed coat are helpful to distinguish crop seedlings from grassy weeds; however, seed coat is often absent. The vegetative characteristics that identify grasses are labeled in Fig 1. A summary of the unique characteristics of each species I given in Table 1

Bunk attendance of feedlot cattle monitored with radio frequency technology

Bunk attendance of 72 feedlot cattle (412 ± 23.6 kg) was monitored for 86 d using radio frequency technology. Late morning and late afternoon were confirmed as primary ad libitum feeding periods. The system detected differences (P \u3c 0.005) in feeding behaviour in response to level of feeding and frequency of meals

Internal markers and water balance in sheep fed straw-based diets

Pour les rations à base de paille, on a évalué l’efficacité, dans la prévision de la digestibilité, de trois marqueurs. On a aussi cherché les relations entre l’utilisation des nutriments et le bilan hydrique de l’animal. Quatre types de paille ont été apportés à des agnelles à deux niveaux d’ingestion. L’insoluble chlorhydrique était le meilleur estimateur de la digestibilité. La lignine (ADL) était un marqueur satisfaisant. Tous les marqueurs étaient particulièrement efficaces pour l’estimation de la digestibilité de l’hémicellulose. Le mélange des échantillons fécaux proportionnellement aux volumes des déjections a augmenté la précision de l’estimation de la digestibilité des MAT mais pas celles de la MS et de la MO. La restriction de l’ingestion a amélioré l’estimation. La portion de l’eau bue qui est perdue via les fèces était négativement corrélée avec la digestibilité de la paroi cellulaire (NDF) et avec la portion de l’eau bue perdue dans l’urine. L’humidité des fèces était négativement corrélée avec la teneur de la ration en MAT. La restriction de l’ingestion a réduit la consommation d’eau et a augmenté la fraction de cette eau perdue dans l’urine

Comparative Productivity of Five Cool-Season Pasture Grasses Under Intermittent Flood Irrigation Grazed by Beef Cow-Calf Pairs Using Management Intensive Grazing Practices

Utah State University is engaged in studies to determine management practices that can be employed under intensive irrigated pasture to increase productivity and viability of beef and dairy producers in Utah. One of these initiatives was a study comparing five cool-season grasses grazed by beef cow-calf pairs over a 4-year period

Early Priming Minimizes the Age-Related Immune Compromise of CD8+ T Cell Diversity and Function

The elderly are particularly susceptible to influenza A virus infections, with increased occurrence, disease severity and reduced vaccine efficacy attributed to declining immunity. Experimentally, the age-dependent decline in influenza-specific CD8+ T cell responsiveness reflects both functional compromise and the emergence of ‘repertoire holes’ arising from the loss of low frequency clonotypes. In this study, we asked whether early priming limits the time-related attrition of immune competence. Though primary responses in aged mice were compromised, animals vaccinated at 6 weeks then challenged >20 months later had T-cell responses that were normal in magnitude. Both functional quality and the persistence of ‘preferred’ TCR clonotypes that expand in a characteristic immunodominance hierarchy were maintained following early priming. Similar to the early priming, vaccination at 22 months followed by challenge retained a response magnitude equivalent to young mice. However, late priming resulted in reduced TCRβ diversity in comparison with vaccination earlier in life. Thus, early priming was critical to maintaining individual and population-wide TCRβ diversity. In summary, early exposure leads to the long-term maintenance of memory T cells and thus preserves optimal, influenza-specific CD8+ T-cell responsiveness and protects against the age-related attrition of naïve T-cell precursors. Our study supports development of vaccines that prime CD8+ T-cells early in life to elicit the broadest possible spectrum of CD8+ T-cell memory and preserve the magnitude, functionality and TCR usage of responding populations. In addition, our study provides the most comprehensive analysis of the aged (primary, secondary primed-early and secondary primed-late) TCR repertoires published to date