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1997

Animal Sciences

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Full-Text Articles in Life Sciences

Quantitative Assessment Of Fishing Mortality For Tautog (Tautoga Onitis) In Virginia : Preliminary Report, Geoffrey G. White, James E. Kirkley, Jon A. Lucy Dec 1997

Quantitative Assessment Of Fishing Mortality For Tautog (Tautoga Onitis) In Virginia : Preliminary Report, Geoffrey G. White, James E. Kirkley, Jon A. Lucy

Reports

Tautog (Tautoga onitis) have become a popular food and sport fish from Massachusetts to Virginia over the past ten years. Tautog are a long lived (30 years), late maturing (3-4 years), slow growing species. Although the maximum age recorded in Virginia is 31 years, recent studies have found that over 95% of the population is less than 12 years old (Hostetter and Munroe, 1993; White et aL, 1996). Adult tautog inhabit hard bottom wreck and reef environments, which are limited in Virginia's waters and are easily located and re-located by fishermen. Tautog are known to migrate inshore-offshore in New England …

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International Markets, Merlyn Carlson Dec 1997

International Markets, Merlyn Carlson

Range Beef Cow Symposium

The potential for International Beef Marketing is both a dynamic and exciting agenda. However, it has been tempered by concern for safety of the food supply. We all recognize a growing percentage of United States beef producers income is tied to beef exports. All preliminary figures point to US. Beef Exports for calendar year 1997 will meet or exceed 1996 levels with an impressive $3 billion sales (wholesale value) or 13 percent of the U.S. beef supply.

Export opportunities are growing for the beef industry, not only from population growth but also from a booming growth in disposable income which …

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Future Of International Markets – Beef Cattle, Norman L. Dalsted Dec 1997

Future Of International Markets – Beef Cattle, Norman L. Dalsted

Range Beef Cow Symposium

As cattle producers are slowly working their way through the downturn in the current "infamous" cattle cycle what will the next century bring. At the turn of the last century the cattle industry was in its infancy relative to the position it currently holds in the U.S. agricultural sector. Some experts often refer to the cattle business as a mature, well established entity indicating that cattle producers, processors, and packers represent an established, stable component of the agricultural sector. However, the dynamics of this industry are anything but stable to the individual cattle producer. Thus, as we enter the 21st …

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Beef Quality Assurance–Past, Present, Future, Gary C. Smith, J. D. Tatum, K. E. Belk Dec 1997

Beef Quality Assurance–Past, Present, Future, Gary C. Smith, J. D. Tatum, K. E. Belk

Range Beef Cow Symposium

The Beef Quality Assurance Task Force (BQATF) was formed in early 1986 when three NCBA (then, the National Cattlemen's Association) Policy Committees independently directed NCBA to address "the growing issue of consumer concern about the safety and wholesomeness of beef." It was believed that the cattle industry's efforts aimed at improving beefs image as a healthful food with regard to its nutrient profile could not stand alone, and that lingering consumer concerns about drug and chemical residues in beef could negate any progress made in the diet/health area. Consequently, the BQATF (then, the Beef Safety Assurance Task Force) was formed …

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Realities Of Cow Herd Genetics: Expectations And Impact, Don Marshall Dec 1997

Realities Of Cow Herd Genetics: Expectations And Impact, Don Marshall

Range Beef Cow Symposium

Beef cattle production in the United States remains largely a segmented rather than integrated industry. The needs and goals of the various segments of the production chain, with respect to production specification targets, are often different and sometimes conflicting. The resulting inadequate response of the industry to consumer needs has occurred at the same time as intensified competition from pork and poultry products, each of which has contributed to the decline of beef consumption.

Seedstock and commercial cow-calf producers represent particularly important links in the beef production chain because they have primary control of the genetics and produce the ''raw …

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Bull Genetics: Purebreds, Composites, Full-Sibs And Half-Sibs, James A. Gosey Dec 1997

Bull Genetics: Purebreds, Composites, Full-Sibs And Half-Sibs, James A. Gosey

Range Beef Cow Symposium

Expected Progeny Differences (EPD's) are currently calculated for a range of traits important to ranch profitability. These EPD's are mostly used for bull selection within a breed. The list of traits for which EPD's are available is certainly not complete; notable exceptions are reproduction and fitness traits plus some measure of tenderness. Across-breed EPD adjustments are available to provide a basis for comparing bulls of different breeds. EPD's for composite bulls can be calculated but are mostly confined to within herd data without the benefit of data base sharing between breeds. The perceived desire for uniformity and consistency may encourage …

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Selection Emphasis For Carcass Traits, John Crouch Dec 1997

Selection Emphasis For Carcass Traits, John Crouch

Range Beef Cow Symposium

Carcass evaluation for the Angus breed was conceived by Dr. Richard Willham and co-researchers at Iowa State University in 1972 as part of the original sire evaluation program. This very structured program consisted of random mating schemes throughout several commercial herds using the same set of bulls. These sires were later referred to as the original set of reference sires for the Angus breed and served as foundation benchmarks for future evaluation.

This structured sire evaluation program is still in place. While it has been refined and altered by Dr. Doyle Wilson to fit today's needs, the basic principles are …

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Bovine Viral Diarrhea, Hana Van Campen Dec 1997

Bovine Viral Diarrhea, Hana Van Campen

Range Beef Cow Symposium

Bovine viral diarrhea (BVD) is a common viral infection of cattle worldwide. The viruses responsible for BVD are classified as pestiviruses, a group of viruses that includes BVDV type I and type II, Border disease virus of sheep and hog cholera virus. Although BVD was first recognized as a disease of cattle 50 years ago, the genetics and epidemiology of BVD viruses have only been well-described in the last 10 years. These scientific advances have increased the accuracy of diagnostic testing for BVD and clarified the diseases caused by BVD viruses.

BVD is a confusing topic because the viruses cause …

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Addressing The Beef Tenderness Problem, Chris R. Calkins Dec 1997

Addressing The Beef Tenderness Problem, Chris R. Calkins

Range Beef Cow Symposium

We've all heard time and again the importance of beef tenderness to customer satisfaction. Research continually supports this concept. In the Beef Customer Satisfaction report from the National Cattlemen's Beef Association, tenderness was highly correlated to consumer ratings of their satisfaction with the product (r=.85), as was flavor desirability (r=.86). Recent focus group participants in a session discussing beef quality were quick to identify tenderness as one of the primary descriptors to quality. There is no doubt that tenderness is a critical characteristic of beef and providing product which does not meet consumer expectations will definitely reduce satisfaction with the …

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Overview Of A Tqm Approach For Improving Beef Tenderness, J. D. Tatum, M. H. George, K. E. Belk, G. C. Smith Dec 1997

Overview Of A Tqm Approach For Improving Beef Tenderness, J. D. Tatum, M. H. George, K. E. Belk, G. C. Smith

Range Beef Cow Symposium

Steers and heifers comprising the U.S. "fed" beef supply are highly variable in biological type, age, and management background (most are grain-finished, but they are started on feed at different ages, given different growth promoting implants, fed for differing periods of time, and slaughtered at different ages). The beef industry's current system for ensuring acceptable product tenderness involves "mass inspection" (USDA Quality Grading) of completed products (carcasses) at the end of the production process. Although this system results in general categorization according to tenderness differences, product value is lost due to inaccuracy of sorting methodology (Quality Grades account for approximately …

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Reproductive Toxicology: Pine Needles And Plant Estrogens, R. E. Short, S. L. Kronberg, E. E. Grings, J. P. Rosazza, S. P. Ford Dec 1997

Reproductive Toxicology: Pine Needles And Plant Estrogens, R. E. Short, S. L. Kronberg, E. E. Grings, J. P. Rosazza, S. P. Ford

Range Beef Cow Symposium

Reproductive rate or efficiency, the number of live offspring produced from a herd of a specified number each year, is the main determinate of biological and economic efficiency of a beef cattle enterprise. Reproduction is a complex and continuous process that starts before birth and continues through puberty and a series of endocrine and behavioral events that include estrous cycles, breeding, conception, gestation, parturition, and lactation. The culmination of reproduction is live offspring produced for sale or for reentering the herd as replacements. Whenever any of these events are interfered with, reproductive rate and economic efficiency will decrease. In most …

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B-Maturity: Factors Affecting Physiological Maturity, J. Brad Morgan Dec 1997

B-Maturity: Factors Affecting Physiological Maturity, J. Brad Morgan

Range Beef Cow Symposium

The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) approved a change in its grading system in 1996 that became effective January 31, 1997. All carcasses with overall maturity scores of "B'' (from cattle approximately 30 to 42 months of age at slaughter) and with Slight or Small degrees of marbling are excluded from the U.S. Choice and U.S. Select quality grades. In fact these carcasses will only be eligible for the U.S. Choice grade if they possess a minimum of Modest amount of marbling (Figure 1).

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"Bull Fertility: Bse, Abnormalities, Etc.", Glenn H. Coulter Dec 1997

"Bull Fertility: Bse, Abnormalities, Etc.", Glenn H. Coulter

Range Beef Cow Symposium

Unlike the dairy breeder or feedlot operator, the beef breeder derives their entire income from calves born into the herd, making fertility unquestionably the most important trait to be considered in a breeding program. Economically, reproductive merit is 5 times more important to the cow-calf producer than growth performance and 10 times more important than product quality (e.g. carcass quality)20, at least until value based marketing becomes a reality. These figures refer to the relative importance of these traits for the beef herd in total and are further magnified when discussing the bull component alone as a result of the …

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Calving Difficulty, Robert G. Mortimer Dec 1997

Calving Difficulty, Robert G. Mortimer

Range Beef Cow Symposium

The recognition of abnormal calving (dystocia) comes FIRST from a basic understanding of normal calving. From this understanding, the establishment of guidelines for observation of cattle and for intervention will reduce calf losses. In Colorado, as part of a pilot program of the National Animal Health Monitoring System (NAHMS), two-thirds of the costs of disease losses were associated with death loss. From a subset of 73 of the 86 NAHMS herds in studied in 1986- 87 in 24,396 births, 4.5% of the calves were lost. Of the 4.5% losses, 34% were attributed to dystocia related losses. In addition, losses attributed …

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Empowering People, Burke Teichert Dec 1997

Empowering People, Burke Teichert

Range Beef Cow Symposium

Empowerment is a function of systems, attitudes and access. A ranching system is a grouping of subsystems which includes biological, climatic, business, financial and managerial processes. The system may be structured to enable and encourage or to impede empowerment of the team members. Access to ideas, research, training, tools, mentoring, modeling, etc. is vital to high level empowering. If the system is right, then the attitudes of the people involved will determine how much empowerment will take place.

Bosses and managers don't empower people. They enable and facilitate, but people at all levels of reporting are responsible for their own …

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Networking People, Barry H. Dunn Dec 1997

Networking People, Barry H. Dunn

Range Beef Cow Symposium

The word networking was one of the buzzwords of the eighties. More recently, it has become one of the hot topics of the swine industry. Networking has been defined as a means of gaining access to a set of advantages which by yourself, or with your own resources, you would not be able to acquire. So networking is about working with other people to gain an advantage. The advantage might be in marketing, information, purchasing, labor, or capital investments. There are examples of successful networks in every human endeavor. History is full of examples. But what does networking have to …

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Fink Beef Genetics, Galen Fink Dec 1997

Fink Beef Genetics, Galen Fink

Range Beef Cow Symposium

Started in 1977 as a purebred Angus program based totally upon artificial insemination (AI), Fink Beef Genetics has been dedicated to breeding predictable performance for beef producers. It is a family-owned business that I operate with my wife Lori and our daughter Megan.

Recognizing the Angus breed for its maternal strength, we built our program by stacking generations of proven sires and great Angus cow families. The direct influence of landmark sires such as AAR New Trend and Emulation N Bar 5522 headline their foundation. The most important tool used in building our herd has been high accuracy EPDs of …

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Pricing/Formula Grids: Which Fit And Which Don't Fit, Dillon M. Feuz Dec 1997

Pricing/Formula Grids: Which Fit And Which Don't Fit, Dillon M. Feuz

Range Beef Cow Symposium

Over the last couple of years there has been a much greater emphasis on improving the quality and consistency of beef. Cattle producers, breed associations, feed suppliers, and beef packers have all initiated new value based pricing methods. Grid pricing, formula pricing, and strategic alliances are examples of these new value based pricing methods. While these pricing methods may differ substantially in the carcass and management traits they seek to reward or penalize, they all have one common feature: price is established on each individual animal.

The goals of these new pricing methods are to price cattle based on their …

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Grazing Animal Diets: When To Supplement, Doug Zalesky Dec 1997

Grazing Animal Diets: When To Supplement, Doug Zalesky

Range Beef Cow Symposium

Despite the fact that we live and operate in the age of technology, the age old question of precisely when to start or when to end supplementation of grazing animals remains. Often the determination of when to begin and when to end supplementation is not based on sound nutritional and/or economic reasons. Currently no one technology or gadget is available that precisely determines when that window of needed supplementation exists. Tradition and the educated guess method has served to make that decision.

The use of such programs as SPA (Standardized Performance Analysis) has allowed producers to more accurately determine the …

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Matching Calving Date With Forage Nutrients: Production And Economic Impacts, Richard T. Clark, Don C. Adams, Gregory P. Lardy, Terry J. Klopfenstein Dec 1997

Matching Calving Date With Forage Nutrients: Production And Economic Impacts, Richard T. Clark, Don C. Adams, Gregory P. Lardy, Terry J. Klopfenstein

Range Beef Cow Symposium

Reducing costs while maintaining production is one way to improve the economic performance of a cow-calf operation. In large parts of the beef cattle production area, feed cost is a major factor in determining overall economic efficiency. Harvested forages and purchased feed make up the majority of the total feed cost. A major goal of our work has been to research cow-calf production systems that improve the economic and overall sustainability of the cow-calf operation. Given that feed costs are such an important component of most cow-calf operations we have focused our research on ways to reduce those costs without …

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Market Outlook, Mike Miller Dec 1997

Market Outlook, Mike Miller

Range Beef Cow Symposium

Content:

Total Cattle Inventory

Heifers as % of Total Feedlot Placements

Cow Slaughter

Total Cow Numbers

Feeder Cattle and Calf Supply

Steer and Heifer Slaughter

Beef Production

What Will the 1997 Corn Market Look Like?

1997 Corn Production and Price Situation

Seasonal Fed Cattle Price

Seasonal 750-lb Feeder Steer Price

Average Cow/Calf Profit (Loss)

Cow/Calf Producer Profitability

US Average Choice Fed Steer Price, 1970-1997

Cattle Prices

The Cattle Cycle

Profit Trends by Industry Segment During the Four Phases of the Cattle Cycle

1997 Outlook

1998 Outlook

1999 Outlook

2000 Outlook

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Future Of The Beef Industry, Wayne D. Purcell Dec 1997

Future Of The Beef Industry, Wayne D. Purcell

Range Beef Cow Symposium

Where we have been and where we are today will largely dictate what the future will look like. The loss of market share has been widely chronicled, but it needs to be reviewed again in the context of establishing the current situation. This fact-based downsizing of the industry demands that we ask why it has occurred. There is discussion on both sides of the issue, but again, good science and the facts suggest much of the long-run problem has been on the demand side. The cycle is complete, then, when we ask why we have demand problems. If we can …

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Introduction To The Symposium On Double-Crested Cormorants: Population Status And Management Issues In The Midwest, Stephen J. Lewis, D.V. (Chip) Weseloh Dec 1997

Introduction To The Symposium On Double-Crested Cormorants: Population Status And Management Issues In The Midwest, Stephen J. Lewis, D.V. (Chip) Weseloh

Symposium on Double-Crested Cormorants: Population Status and Management Issues in the Midwest

Populations of double-crested cormorants (Phalacrocorax auritus) have increased dramatically in the last 2 decades, particularly in the Great Lakes and the Southeastern United States. Their food habits and propensity for killing the trees in which they nest and roost have made cormorants the subject of much controversy. Cormorants affect—or are perceived to affect—sport fishing, aquaculture operations, vegetation, and other colonial waterbirds. Anglers, aquaculturists, resort operators, lakehome owners, politicians, and others are calling for a solution to these problems. This symposium was convened to provide information that will help conservation agencies and others make sound resource management decisions about …

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The Problems Of Being Successful: Managing Interactions Between Humans And Double-Crested Cormorants, Douglas Siegel-Causey Dec 1997

The Problems Of Being Successful: Managing Interactions Between Humans And Double-Crested Cormorants, Douglas Siegel-Causey

Symposium on Double-Crested Cormorants: Population Status and Management Issues in the Midwest

The natural history, behavior, and ecology of double-crested cormorants (Phalacrocorax auritus) predispose this species for conflict with human sport and commercial fisheries. Cormorants breed early in life, have large broods, are efficient predators even in marginal conditions, seem to be able to adjust colony sizes quickly in response to local conditions, and have limited requirements for feeding and nesting habitats. A survey of the past history of successes and failures in managing cormorants reveals that economic impact is greatest with aquaculture and least in sport fisheries. Research during the past 5 years suggests that some control methods like …

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Impact Of Double-Crested Cormorant Predation On The Yellow Perch Population In The Les Cheneaux Islands Of Michigan, Glenn Y. Belyea, Susan L. Maruca, James S. Diana, Philip J. Schneeberger, Steve J. Scott, Richard D. Clark Jr., James P. Ludwig, Cheryl L. Summer Dec 1997

Impact Of Double-Crested Cormorant Predation On The Yellow Perch Population In The Les Cheneaux Islands Of Michigan, Glenn Y. Belyea, Susan L. Maruca, James S. Diana, Philip J. Schneeberger, Steve J. Scott, Richard D. Clark Jr., James P. Ludwig, Cheryl L. Summer

Symposium on Double-Crested Cormorants: Population Status and Management Issues in the Midwest

The Michigan Department of Natural Resources, in conjunction with the University of Michigan and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, initiated a research study to determine the impact of double-crested cormorants (Phalacrocorax auritus) on the yellow perch (Perca flavescens) population in the Les Cheneaux Islands area of northern Lake Huron. Aerial and nesting colony counts were conducted to monitor cormorant abundance. Creel census counts and tagging of 8,400 perch were used to study perch abundance. We collected 373 cormorants to study food habits via stomach-content analysis. We found that (1) cormorants fed heavily on yellow perch …

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Double-Crested Cormorant Culling In The St. Lawrence River Estuary: Results Of A 5-Year Program, J. Bedard, A. Nadeau, M. Lepage Dec 1997

Double-Crested Cormorant Culling In The St. Lawrence River Estuary: Results Of A 5-Year Program, J. Bedard, A. Nadeau, M. Lepage

Symposium on Double-Crested Cormorants: Population Status and Management Issues in the Midwest

Modeling indicated that lowering the doublecrested cormorant population from 17,361 to 10,000 pairs could be attained only by a combination of techniques: culling breeding birds in arboreal colonies to lower breeding stock and egg spraying in accessible ground nests to lower recruitment. The 5-year program was launched in 1989; culling was halted 4 years later because the population had fallen below the threshold of 10,000 breeding pairs. A greater vulnerability of males to shooting (203:100) probably accounted for the faster-than-predicted drop in numbers. Egg spraying spanned the entire 5-year period, during which 25,095 nests were treated with inert mineral oil. …

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Front Matter And Contents Dec 1997

Front Matter And Contents

Symposium on Double-Crested Cormorants: Population Status and Management Issues in the Midwest

Symposium on Double-Crested Cormorants: Population Status and Management Issues in the Midwest

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Nesting Populations Of Double-Crested Cormorants In The United States And Canada, Laura A. Tyson, Jerrold L. Belant, Francesca J. Cuthbert, D.V. (Chip) Weseloh Dec 1997

Nesting Populations Of Double-Crested Cormorants In The United States And Canada, Laura A. Tyson, Jerrold L. Belant, Francesca J. Cuthbert, D.V. (Chip) Weseloh

Symposium on Double-Crested Cormorants: Population Status and Management Issues in the Midwest

Double-crested cormorants (Phalacrocorax auritus) are receiving increasing attention in North America because of depredations at aquaculture facilities and alleged impacts on sport and commercial fisheries. We obtained recent (most since 1994) estimates for the number of nesting double-crested cormorants in the United States and Canada from published references and by conducting telephone interviews with State and Provincial biologists. Using published data, we also determined annual rates of change in the number of cormorants since about 1990. The estimated minimum number of nesting pairs (colonies) of double-crested cormorants was 372,000 (852). Most cormorants nested in the Interior region (68 …

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Changes In The Status, Distribution, And Management Of Double-Crested Cormorants In Wisconsin, Summer W. Matteson, Paul W. Rasmussen, Kenneth L. Stromborg, Thomas I. Meier, Julie Van Stappen, Eric C. Nelson Dec 1997

Changes In The Status, Distribution, And Management Of Double-Crested Cormorants In Wisconsin, Summer W. Matteson, Paul W. Rasmussen, Kenneth L. Stromborg, Thomas I. Meier, Julie Van Stappen, Eric C. Nelson

Symposium on Double-Crested Cormorants: Population Status and Management Issues in the Midwest

We reviewed and summarized historical data and conducted population surveys from 1973 through 1997 to determine the breeding status and distribution of doublecrested cormorants (Phalacrocorax auritus) in Wisconsin. Breeding cormorants historically occupied large, isolated lakes and wetlands in northern Wisconsin, but there were no known nesting sites until 1919, when cormorants were reported nesting on Lake Wisconsin in south-central Wisconsin. From the 1920’s to the 1950’s, cormorants occupied 17 colony sites in 16 counties, though no more than 7 sites were occupied during any particular year. From the 1950’s to the early 1970’s, the number of cormorant nests …

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Diet Of The Double-Crested Cormorant In Western Lake Erie, Michael T. Bur, Sandra L. Tinnirello, Charles D. Lovell, Jeff T. Tyson Dec 1997

Diet Of The Double-Crested Cormorant In Western Lake Erie, Michael T. Bur, Sandra L. Tinnirello, Charles D. Lovell, Jeff T. Tyson

Symposium on Double-Crested Cormorants: Population Status and Management Issues in the Midwest

Sport and commercial fishing interest groups are concerned about potential impacts double-crested cormorants (Phalacrocorax auritus) may have on fish species. Our objectives for this study were to determine the diet of the cormorant in western Lake Erie and the diet overlap and competition for resources with piscivorous fish, such as walleye (Stizostedion vitreum.) The stomach contents of 302 double-crested cormorants collected in western Lake Erie consisted primarily of young-of-the-year gizzard shad (Dorosoma cepedianum), emerald shiner (Notropis atherinoides,) and freshwater drum (Aplodinotus grunniens). In the spring, freshwater drum were the most …

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