Life Sciences Commons^™

A New Species Of Neoscelis From Jalisco, Mexico (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae: Cetoniinae), Alan D. Mudge, Brett C. Ratcliffe, Richard L. Westcott, Felipe A. A. Noguera

University of Nebraska State Museum: Entomology Papers

Neoscelis coracina Mudge et Ratcliffe sp. n., from Jalisco, Mexico, is described and illustrated. Intraspecific variation is discussed, and diagnostic characters separating N. coracina sp. n. from N. dohrni (Westwood, 1855) are given. The key to males of New World Goliathini is revised. Notes on habitat, behavior, and collecting N. coracina sp. n. are included. A new state record is provided for N. dohrni.

Soil Organic Carbon Content And Composition Of 130-Year Crop, Pasture And Forest Land-Use Managements, Dean A. Martens, Thomas E. Reedy, David T. Lewis (Retired)

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Faculty Publications

Conversion of former agricultural land to grassland and forest ecosystems is a suggested option for mitigation of increased atmospheric CO₂. A Sharpsburg prairie loess soil (fine, smectitic, mesic Typic Argiudoll) provided treatments to study the impact of long-term land use on soil organic carbon (SOC) content and composition for a 130-year-old cropped, pasture and forest comparison. The forest and pasture land use significantly retained more SOC, 46% and 25%, respectively, compared with cropped land use, and forest land use increased soil C content by 29% compared with the pasture. Organic C retained in the soils was a function …

The Dynastine Scarab Beetles Of Costa Rica And Panama (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae: Dynastinae), Brett C. Ratcliffe

Bulletin of the University of Nebraska State Museum

The 157 species of dynastine scarab beetles that occur in Costa Rica and Panama are comprehensively reviewed. Keys, descriptions, distributions, and notes on biology are provided for all species as well as illustrations and maps. The larvae of Enema endymion, Heterogomphus chevrolati, and Dynastes hercules are described for the first time. Also included are synopses of the higher-level taxa, a glossary, a gazetteer of place names, and a species checklist.

The following new species are described: Cyclocephala alazona, C. enigma, C. labidion, C. marylizae, C. mustacha, C. stockwelli, C. una mas (all Cyclocephalini); Irazua dilicra (Oryctini); Amblyoproctus centroamericanus, Hemiphileurus curoei, …

Evaluation Of Gene Expression In Pigs Selected For Enhanced Reproduction Using Differential Display Pcr: Ii. Anterior Pituitary, G. R. Bertani, C. D. Gladney, R. K. Johnson, Daniel Pomp

Department of Animal Science: Faculty Publications

The objective of this study was to identify differentially expressed genes in the anterior pituitary (AP) of sows selected for enhanced reproductive phenotypes. Selection in the Index (I) line was based on an index of ovulation rate and embryo survival, whereas random selection was used in the Control (C) line. Average numbers of fully formed piglets at birth were 12.5 ± 1.5 and 9.9 ± 2.0 for Line I and C sows used in this study, respectively. In order to induce luteolysis and synchronize follicle development, sows were injected (i.m.) with 2 mL of prostaglandin F_2α analog between d …

The National Pork Producers Council Maternal Line National Genetic Evaluation Program: A Comparison Of Six Maternal Genetic Lines For Female Productivity Measures Over Four Parities, J. S. Moeller, R. K. Johnson, J. W. Mabry, T. J. Baas, O. W. Robison

Department of Animal Science: Faculty Publications

Litter (n = 8,424) and female performance records were collected in two breed-to-wean production units in order to evaluate genetic line differences for sow longevity and maternal performance over four parities. Lines evaluated were American Diamond Genetics, Danbred North America, Dekalb-Monsanto DK44, Dekalb-Monsanto GPK347, Newsham Hybrids, and National Swine Registry. Females within a line were derived from a minimum of 65 sires, 197 dams (three dams per sire), and a maximum of three daughters per dam, except in the GPK347, which were produced using semen from 12 Nebraska Index boars mated with Dekalb-Monsanto Line 34 females. All lines expressed 100% …

Phenotype Of The Triplo-Lethal Locus Of Drosophila Melanogaster And Its Suppression By Hyperoxia, Laura K. Smoyer, Douglas R. Dorer, Kenneth W. Nickerson, Alan C. Christensen

Papers in Microbiology

The Triplo-lethal locus (Tpl) of Drosophila is both triplo-lethal and haploinsufficient, but the function of the locus is unknown. We have examined Tpl-aneuploid embryos and find that, in both trisomics and monosomics, the midgut shows extensive cell death and the tracheae are abnormal. Shortly thereafter, all tissues die. PCR-based genotyping of individual embryos and larvae show that this phenotype occurs in the trisomics after hatching and in the monosomics before hatching. Weak alleles of the interacting gene Su(Tpl) delay the death of Tpl trisomics, but they still show the same tracheal and midgut phenotypes before dying. Hyperoxia (45% oxygen) …

How Will Cattlemen Deal With The Future?, Marc Vanacht

Range Beef Cow Symposium

Powerful forces are driving the US Beef Value Chain toward fundamental change. Longer term this obviously will affect Rocky Mountain cattlemen. There are also forces and mechanisms in the system that favor inertia and will try to make change slow and incremental. However, as this change occurs, technology will be amongst its key enablers. Many technical issues still need resolving before cattlemen will be able to fully benefit. Technology cycle times are accelerating. Solutions might be closer at hand than many people expect!

Direct Marketing Beef: Pros And Cons, Do’S And Don’Ts, C. J. Mucklow, Robbie Baird Levalley

Range Beef Cow Symposium

Many ranchers are trying to direct market beef, including ranchers in western Colorado. Our experience with these ranchers and others is outlined in this presentation. There are many valid reasons to use direct marketing. One specifically is to supplement ranch income. Of course, there are also reasons not to direct market beef. Examples include: increased liability, low economic returns initially, and very time consuming.

Four main items should be addressed before you begin a direct marketing beef program:
1) You must have a niche that will differentiate your beef products.
2) Prepare a well-written business plan that actually forecasts a …

Reproduction On The Ranch, C. A. Lents, R. K. Peel, G. E. Seidel Jr., G. D. Niswender

Range Beef Cow Symposium

It is generally acknowledged that reproductive parameters are the most important components of a profitable beef operation. Research in beef cattle reproduction has led to a number of management strategies, each of which could improve efficiency of production and profitability. However, to make good decisions regarding applicability of these strategies to a specific operation requires a thorough cost:benefit:feasability analysis. Whether a strategy is appropriate for a given enterprise will be determined by the goals of the owner/manager and the human, animal, land and fiscal resources available. The following are a few of the most important considerations when making decisions regarding …

Traceback, Verification And Animal Identification On The Ranch: “Big Brother Or Best Buddy?”, Jack C. Whittier

Range Beef Cow Symposium

Ranchers operate in a markedly different environment today than they did just five to ten years ago. As communication and technological advances have evolved, so have opportunities and challenges. Almost instantaneous news stories impact world markets. Food consumers hold food manufacturers to a higher and higher standard as detection methods improve the ability to identify risks. Genetic management and production practices are influenced by better information than ever before possible. These factors combine to bring a new set of circumstances to the ranch gate.

This paper will endeavor to describe the factors, circumstances, challenges and opportunities that revolve around “Traceback, …

Beyond Epds – Genomics: Practical And Economic Considerations, Ronnie D. Green

Range Beef Cow Symposium

Genetic improvement in livestock has a truly amazing history, with the beef industry having been blessed with many of the major scientific innovations that have occurred along the way. In recent years, it has been nearly impossible to miss seemingly daily news reports about exciting discoveries in the new field of molecular genetics and genomics. While most of these reports have focused on the unraveling of the human genome and its implications for human health, there has been significant spillover in to plant and animal agriculture as well. At times over the past 15 years, it has seemed to many …

The Journey To Recovery Of The Range After Drought, Roger N. Gates, A. J. "Sandy" Smart, Patrick Reese

Range Beef Cow Symposium

A destination is implicit in considering a journey. While travel may be an end in itself, the notion of a journey most often incorporates a substantial change from current location or present conditions. This is particularly true for a “journey to recovery.” It is essential to have a clear destination and a carefully planned route in order for the journey to have the desired outcome. Yogi Berra is reported to have captured the importance of knowing one’s destination this way: “If you don’t know where you are going, you might wind up someplace else.”

A realistic understanding of drought is …

Effects Of Water Quality On Beef Cattle, Trey Patterson, Pat Johnson

Range Beef Cow Symposium

Producers often invest a great deal of time and money in developing nutrition and grazing strategies for their cattle. It is often taken for granted that if water is available, cattle productivity can be maintained. This is not always the case. The quality of water available to cattle can have substantial impacts on productivity. Much of the water available to cattle in South Dakota, and other parts of the United States, is not sufficient in quality to sustain performance and health of cattle.

Field observations from our laboratory since 1999 have shown both surface and subsurface water to be high …

Strategically Feeding Protein And Energy During Wintering And Managing Cow Condition, Don C. Adams

Range Beef Cow Symposium

Concepts of managing cow body condition score (BCS) during the fall and winter are discussed. A key time in the year-long management of spring calving cows is late summer and fall. If cows are thin at the beginning of winter grazing, they are likely to be thin in the spring at calving. Fall weaning date and protein supplements in the fall and/or winter are key tools for managing cow BCS. Applications of weaning and supplementation in different extended grazing systems are presented. Strategic weaning and supplementation can have significant effects on economic net returns of the ranch.

Making Sense Of Mineral Supplementation, Cody L. Wright

Range Beef Cow Symposium

Mineral nutrition is one of the most complicated and least understood components of nutrition. For years, producers and researchers alike have known about the need for mineral supplementation; however, development of mineral supplements to meet the requirements of grazing cattle often becomes a difficult and challenging problem due to 1) changes in animal requirements with stage and level of production, 2) difference in forage supply of minerals, and 3) methods to supply cost-effective supplemental minerals that ensure adequate intake and bioavailability (Greene, 1999).

New Tools For Estrous Synchronization – Costs And Benefits, Doug D. Zalesky, Ryon S. Walker

Range Beef Cow Symposium

Estrous synchronization has become a powerful tool in managing breeding seasons to compliment niche markets. Synchronization of estrus, along with the use of AI, has become a popular technology that can introduce new sire genetics along with control of the breeding and calving season. Cattle producers have long searched for methods to efficiently and effectively synchronize females for artificial insemination without compromising conception or pregnancy rates versus conventional natural service breeding. Over the past 40 years, research scientists have developed and tested many synchronization protocols to synchronize estrus and ovulation in beef and dairy cattle with a goal to consistently …

Supplementing Fat To The Cow Herd, Bret W. Hess

Range Beef Cow Symposium

Range livestock operations are continually challenged with the need to maintain sustainable production systems. Improvements in the herd’s biological efficiency are important considerations for the sustainability of beef cattle production. In a broad sense there are two levels at which improvements can be made, the cow and the calf. Considering that the majority of income for the typical cow-calf operation comes from the sale of the calf being produced, the calf would be a logical production unit to target for improvement. However, the key factor influencing total calf production is reproductive efficiency of the cow herd. Sound nutritional programs are …

Managing To Alleviate Calf Scours: The Sandhills Calving System, David R. Smith, Dale Grotelueschen, Tim Knott, Steve Ensley

Range Beef Cow Symposium

Diarrhea remains an important cause of illness and death of young beef calves. The economic effects of calf scours can be profound. Some beef cattle herds annually experience death rates of 5 to 10 percent or greater, sometimes with up to 100 percent of calves being ill. Economic costs to the disease include loss of performance, mortality, and the expense of medication and labor to treat sick calves. In addition, herd owners and their employees often become disheartened after investing long hours to treat scouring calves during an already exhausting calving season.

Management practices can have a profound effect on …

The Two Best And Worst Decisions I Have Made In My Operation, Barry H. Dunn

Range Beef Cow Symposium

Since hindsight is always 20:20, important decisions made over a long career in the ranching business have gained a clarity that was surely missing while in the midst of making them. Or have they? With the destinations of the chosen paths clear, but the destinations of those paths not taken only a distant memory of what might have been, rationalization becomes a powerful force in evaluation. While ranch managers search for the perfect lenses to gain strategic advantages for the future, the lenses used to view the past are often clouded with blame, self-doubt, and perhaps, jealousy. And many times, …

The Economic Benefits And Potential When Using Current And Future Epd – Economically Relevant Traits, R. Mark Enns, Dorian J. Garrick

Range Beef Cow Symposium

Expected Progeny Differences (EPD) have been widely adopted by the US Beef Industry over the last several decades. During this time and especially over the last 8 years, the number of EPD published by breed associations has increased dramatically from 5 in some cases to over 15. The assumption has been that by adding additional EPD producers could better characterize the genetic potential of prospective replacements (Bourdon, 1998) and therefore, to make more appropriate selection decisions that would improve or at least maintain profitability. No matter the number of available EPD, making the jump from genetic change through use of …

Selecting For Carcass Marbling And Muscling – Benefits And Pitfalls, James A. Gosey

Range Beef Cow Symposium

Large premiums for Choice quality grade carcasses versus Select carcasses and substantial discounts for Yield Grade 4 carcasses provide incentive for beef cattle breeders to select for carcass traits. Marbling may only account for a small share of the variation in palatability of cooked beef products and is less important than tenderness, but it serves as an "insurance policy" for eating satisfaction and is more easily measured. Thus breeders have responded to increased consumer demand for beef quality and consistency by selecting for marbling as it is one of the few tools available to them. Without doubt, success of programs …

Use Of Irrigated Pastures And Economics Of Establishment And Grazing, Jerry D. Volesky, Richard T. Clark

Range Beef Cow Symposium

The use of irrigated pasture is a potential option for many livestock producers. Irrigated cool-season species, for example, can be used as complementary forage to warm season rangeland (Nichols et al. 1993) or mitigate some of the effects of drought. Irrigated pasture can result in high animal production per acre; however, achieving the high production levels requires excellent grazing management with high water and fertilizer applications (Nichols and Clanton 1985; Gray et al. 2001). There are a number of management considerations associated with irrigated pasture. This includes practical details such as field selection, species and variety selection, seeding methods, and …

Value And Use Of Corn Milling By-Products In The Cow Herdv, Richard J. Rasby, Galen E. Erickson, Terry J. Klopfenstein, Don C. Adams

Range Beef Cow Symposium

There are many different grain by-products available for cow/calf producers to use in rations. Grain by-products such as wheat mids, soy hulls, and cottonseed hulls have been available for many years and have been used effectively in cow diets and supplements. More recent grain by-products have come from the production of fructose (wet or dry corn gluten feed) or ethanol (wet or dry distillers grains). This paper will focus on by-product of corn milling industry. This paper will discuss the wet and dry milling process, product quality, nutrient quality, and research on use by beef cattle.

Macro Influences On The Beef Business, Wayne D. Purcell

Range Beef Cow Symposium

There are many major economic focuses at work in the sector. In late 2003, a start to the herd building phase of the cattle cycle is imminent. Export markets are coming back after faltering during 2002, and beef demand, domestic and international, is growing again. We have not seen the combination of heifer holdback to build the herd, which will reduce per capita beef supplies, and increased demand for beef since the early 1970’s. Unless corn prices surge, and this is unlikely, calf prices will go above $1.00 and generally stay there for the next several years—perhaps as long as …

Developing Replacement Heifers: Recent Research Findings On Target Weights And Fat Supplementation, Richard N. Funston, Gene H. Deutscher

Range Beef Cow Symposium

Proper development of replacement heifers is critical. Heifers should be managed to reach puberty early, conceive early in the first breeding season, calve unassisted, and breed back early for their second calf. This development needs to be accomplished at low costs without sacrificing performance. Previous studies (Patterson et al., 1992) indicate puberty can be expected to occur at a genetically predetermined size among individual animals; and only when heifers reach predetermined target weights can high pregnancy rates be obtained. Recommended guidelines generally have been 60 to 66% of mature weight in beef heifers, depending on frame size (Patterson et al., …

Feeding And Managing Cows On High Grain Diets, Steve Paisley

Range Beef Cow Symposium

Increasing land prices, rising lease rates, restrictive grazing leases, intensified operations, as well as drought-related hay availability have all led to an increase in the use of alternative wintering programs for beef herds. While limit-fed grain rations have the potential to reduce wintering costs provided the programs are closely managed, additional herd management and feeding precision is needed to help ensure success. Several recent University studies have investigated different scenarios for limit-feeding high concentrate diets to heifers and adult cows. In addition, there have been several fact sheets, newsletters, and research reports discussing limit-fed high grain wintering rations for adult …

Early And Fence Line Weaning Of Calves: Producers’ Experience, Harlow W. Hill

Range Beef Cow Symposium

The reason I have been invited to speak today is because of our success with our early weaning program at Maddux Cattle Company for the last several years. I grew up in the western Sand Hills around Alliance, Nebraska. In the Sand Hills, the tradition was to wean in November. Once or twice I can remember us weaning early so we weaned in October. I left there 25 years ago and came to Maddux Cattle Company in southwestern Nebraska owned by Jack Maddux. I came on the job the 15th of September and the calves were already weaned. I shook …

Body Mass Of Late Quaternary Mammals (Data Set), Felisa A. Smith, S. Kathleen Lyons, S.K. Morgan Ernest, Kate E. Jones, Kansas State University, Tamar Dayan, Pablo A. Marquet, James H. Brown, John P. Haskell

School of Biological Sciences: Faculty Publications

The purpose of this data set was to compile body mass information for all mammals on Earth so that we could investigate the patterns of body mass seen across geographic and taxonomic space and evolutionary time. We were interested in the heritability of body size across taxonomic groups (How conserved is body mass within a genus, family, and order?), in the overall pattern of body mass across continents (Do the moments and other descriptive statistics remain the same across geographic space?), and over evolutionary time (How quickly did body mass patterns iterate on the patterns seen today? Were the Pleistocene …

In-Field Labeling Of Western Corn Rootworm Adults (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae) With Rubidium, Timothy M. Nowatzki, Bradley Niimi, Kelli J. Warren, Sean Putnam, Lance J. Meinke, David C. Gosselin, F. Edwin Harvey, Thomas E. Hunt, Blair D. Siegfried

Department of Entomology: Faculty Publications

Field and laboratory studies were conducted in 2000 and 2001 to determine the feasibility of mass marking western corn rootworm adults, Diabrotica virgifera virgifera LeConte, with RbCl in the field. Results showed that application of rubidium (Rb) in solution to both the soil (1 g Rb/plant) and whorl (1 g Rb/plant) of corn plants was optimal for labeling western corn rootworm adults during larval development. Development of larvae on Rb-enriched corn with this technique did not significantly influence adult dry weight or survival. Rb was also highly mobile in the plant. Application of Rb to both the soil and the …

The Prairie Naturalist Volume 35, No.4 December 2003

The Prairie Naturalist

HOME RANGE AND MOVEMENTS OF EASTERN AND RIO GRANDE WILD TURKEY FEMALES IN NORTHEASTERN

SOUTH DAKOTA ▪ C. P. Lehman, L. D. Flake, and A. P. Leif

THE BAT FAUNA OF SOUTHEASTERN SOUTH DAKOTA . J. E. Lane, C. L. Buck, and R. M. Brigham

FIRST REPORT OF THE NORTH DAKOTA RARE BIRD COMMITTEE ▪ D. Svingen and R. E. Martin

BREEDING CHRONOLOGY OF DABBLING DUCKS IN MINNEDOSA, MANITOBA ▪ A. M. Wells and H. H. Prince

A LIVE COLLECTION OF A PISTOLGRIP FROM NEBRASKA ▪ S. C. Schainost

NEW NESTING DATES FOR SOME BREEDING BIRDS IN NORTH DAKOTA ▪ …