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Beef Tips

Category: March 2018

“Clean-Up” Now Pays Off Later in the Season

Posted on by Sandy Johnson

By Herschel George, Watershed Specialist and Pat Murphy, Biological and Agricultural Engineering

It’s mid-winter and we are looking forward to moving cattle to new grass!  New grass means an opportunity to stop feeding hay and getting the cattle out of the muddy conditions.  New grass season is also the time to “Clean-Up” the manure and waste hay around the winter feeding site(s).

Feeding site maintenance can improve cattle health and performance, protect groundwater and surface water, reduce odor, and reduce insect populations. It does take some time and effort to properly clean feeding sites, but the benefits far outweigh the negatives. Continue reading ““Clean-Up” Now Pays Off Later in the Season” →

Tally Time – Determine Estrous Response to Optimize Artificial Insemination Expenses

Posted on by Sandy Johnson

by Sandy Johnson, Extension Beef Specialist, Colby, KS

For an increasing number of producers, artificial insemination (AI) and estrus synchronization are tools that help them reach their production goals and allow them to take advantage of genetic choices only available through AI.  Reduced risk of calving difficulty from use of high accuracy calving ease sires on replacement heifers is a great advantage to AI users.

Fixed-time AI protocols have allowed producers to eliminate the time and expense of heat detection and still achieve industry-acceptable pregnancy rates to AI.  However, information about estrous status at AI may allow producers to target expenditures for AI more effectively.  While this may seem hard to understand coming from someone who has spent years talking about fixed-time AI, let me share some research that will explain further. Continue reading “Tally Time – Determine Estrous Response to Optimize Artificial Insemination Expenses” →

Feet and Leg Traits are Moderately to Lowly Heritable in Red Angus Cattle

Posted on by Emily Meinhardt

Objective: The goals of this study were to identify feet and leg indicator traits to be used in beef breed genetic evaluations and develop a scoring method that can be easily adopted by cattle producers.

Description: Data were analyzed on 1,885 Red Angus cattle, and after editing, 1,720 records were used for analysis. Feet and leg phenotypes were obtained from August 2015 through September 2017 for 14 traits shown in the following table. Trained livestock evaluators collected measurements using an electronic tablet with offline data storage capabilities. Heritability estimates for all 14 traits were calculated from two different measurements of scale, the original 1-100 scale (1 and 100 are extreme, 50 is desirable), and scores truncated to a 1-9 scale (1 and 9 are extreme, 5 is desirable). Genetic parameters were estimated using maximum log likelihood procedures. Continue reading “Feet and Leg Traits are Moderately to Lowly Heritable in Red Angus Cattle” →

Restricting Intake and Increasing Energy Improves Efficiency in Newly Received Growing Cattle and Zelnate Has No Effect

Posted on by Emily Meinhardt

Objectives: Study effects of two limit-fed diets formulated to provide two levels of dietary energy and offered at two different intake rates to target similar gains and analyze the efficacy of a novel DNA-immunostimulant administered on arrival.

Study Description: A 56-day pen study was conducted utilizing 370 Angus × Brahman heifers shipped from Florida (1,455 mi) to study the effects of limit-feeding at 2 intakes based on prior research conducted at the Kansas State University Beef Stocker Unit, Manhattan, KS, to achieve similar gains and effects of Zelnate under the dietary conditions. Continue reading “Restricting Intake and Increasing Energy Improves Efficiency in Newly Received Growing Cattle and Zelnate Has No Effect” →

Consumer Juiciness Acceptability Supports the Beef Marbling Insurance Theory

Posted on by Emily Meinhardt

Objective: The objective of this study was to determine whether increased marbling reduces the negative impact that increased degree of doneness has on consumer palatability scores.

Study Description: Beef strip loins were collected to represent five quality treatments [Prime, Top Choice, Low Choice, Select, and Select enhanced; n = 12 pairs/quality grade] and fabricated to 1-in steaks. Steaks were cooked to one of six degrees of doneness: very-rare (130°F), rare (140°F), medium-rare (145°F), medium (160°F), well-done (170°F), or very well-done (180°F). Consumers (n = 360) rated each steak for juiciness, tenderness, flavor, and overall liking on 100-point continuous line scales, and whether each trait was acceptable or unacceptable. Continue reading “Consumer Juiciness Acceptability Supports the Beef Marbling Insurance Theory” →

Sericea Lespedeza Control from Growing-Season Prescribed Burning Causes No Collateral Damage to Non-Target Species

Posted on by Emily Meinhardt

Objective: The objective of this study was to evaluate the effects of 4 consecutive years of prescribed fire applied to native tallgrass range in either April, August, or September on forage biomass production, soil cover, and basal plant cover.

Study Description: Nine fire-management units (14 ± 6 acres) were burned at 1 of 3 prescribed times: early spring (April 1), mid-summer (August 1), or late summer (September 1). Plant species composition and soil cover were assessed annually each July using a modified step-point technique. Continue reading “Sericea Lespedeza Control from Growing-Season Prescribed Burning Causes No Collateral Damage to Non-Target Species” →

Syngenta Enhanced Feed Corn (Enogen) Containing an Alpha Amylase Expression Trait Improves Feed Efficiency in Growing Calf Diets

Posted on by Emily Meinhardt

Objective: To determine the response of growing calves when fed Enogen Feed (Syngenta) corn, containing an alpha amylase expression trait.

Description: A total of 384 English crossbred steers having an average weight of 538 lb and originating from Texas were used to determine the effects on performance when fed Enogen Feed corn as either whole shelled or processed as dry-rolled at ad libitum intake. Continue reading “Syngenta Enhanced Feed Corn (Enogen) Containing an Alpha Amylase Expression Trait Improves Feed Efficiency in Growing Calf Diets” →

Trends in Source and Age Verification for Beef Calves Sold via Summer Video Auction from 2010 Through 2017

Posted on by Emily Meinhardt

Objective: The objective of this study was to quantify the effect of source and age verification status on the sale price of beef calf lots sold via summer video auctions from 2010 through 2017 while adjusting for all other factors that significantly influenced sale price.

Study Description: Information describing factors about lots sold through a livestock video auction service (Superior Livestock Auction, Fort Worth, TX) was obtained from the auction service in an electronic format. These data were collected for 36,570 lots of beef calves that were sold via 61 summer sales from 2010 through 2017. A model was developed for each year to quantify the effects of all factors describing beef calf lots that significantly affected sale price. Continue reading “Trends in Source and Age Verification for Beef Calves Sold via Summer Video Auction from 2010 Through 2017” →