Agriculture Commons^™

Drought Risk Management For Beef Cattle Farms, Stephen F. Higgins, Lee Moser, Kylie Schmidt

Agriculture and Natural Resources Publications

One of the most challenging aspects of owning and operating any farming operation is dealing with uncertainty. Uncertainty on the farm comes in many forms; livestock health, feed prices, fuel prices, market prices, and weather to name a few. Over the past decade, the prevalence and impact of drought on agriculture has dramatically increased, thus adding further uncertainty to farmers’ decision-making processes. Drought and the associated loss of productivity is a real risk scenario that all farmers must face. With this inherent risk, one must protect their farm and the environment it impacts through a sound decision-making process that factors …

Livestock Grazing On The Grand Staircase Escalante National Monument: The Historical And Cultural Importance To The Region, Kevin Heaton, Gil Miller

All Current Publications

The results of a survey of GSENM permit holders document that livestock grazing has influenced the history and culture of Kane and Garfield Counties of Utah, and any reduction or elimination of grazing would directly affect the history and culture of the GSENM region.

Livestock Grazing On The Grand Staircase Escalante National Monument: Its Importance To The Local Economy, Gil Miller, Kevin Heaton

All Current Publications

Livestock grazing on the GSENM provides significant economic benefits to Garfield and Kane Counties. If all Active and Suspended AUMs were utilized, there would be increased economic benefit. If ranching on the GSENM were lost, the economic sustainability in the Garfield-Kane Economic Region would be greatly reduced.

Dzuds, Droughts, And Livestock Mortality In Mongolia, Mukund Palat Rao, Nicole K. Davi, Rosanne D. D'Arrigo, Jerry Skees, Baatarbileg Nachin, Caroline Leland, Bradfield Lyon, Shih-Yu Wang, Oyunsanaa Byambasuren

Agricultural Economics Faculty Publications

Recent incidences of mass livestock mortality, known as dzud, have called into question the sustainability of pastoral nomadic herding, the cornerstone of Mongolian culture. A total of 20 million head of livestock perished in the mortality events of 2000–2002, and 2009–2010. To mitigate the effects of such events on the lives of herders, international agencies such as the World Bank are taking increasing interest in developing tailored market-based solutions like index-insurance. Their ultimate success depends on understanding the historical context and underlying causes of mortality. In this paper we examine mortality in 21 Mongolian aimags (provinces) between 1955 and 2013 …

Inbreeding In Sheep, Debra K. Aaron

Agriculture and Natural Resources Publications

Inbreeding is broadly defined as the mating of individuals that are related. Strictly speaking, however, all animals within a breed are related. So, in a sense, every purebred sheep producer practices some degree of inbreeding. In most cases this relationship is very slight. Therefore, inbreeding is more practically defined as the mating of individuals more closely related than the average of the breed. This practice includes mating brother to sister, sire to daughter and son to dam.

Basic Sheep Genetics, Debra K. Aaron

Agriculture and Natural Resources Publications

Genetics is the science of heredity. It seeks to explain differences and similarities exhibited by related individuals. The application of genetics to livestock improvement is known as animal breeding. The objective of this fact sheet is to provide a refresher course on basic genetics and to show how knowledge of genetics can be used to improve sheep production.

Keeping And Using Flock Performance Records, Debra K. Aaron

Agriculture and Natural Resources Publications

Performance records serve as the cornerstone of any good livestock management program. Unfortunately, the task of collecting, maintaining and using performance records is the one area of livestock production in general that gets the least attention. This fact sheet provides ten reasons why all sheep producers need to keep performance records on their flocks. Then, some ways of maintaining and using those records are discussed.

Crossbreeding Considerations In Sheep, Debra K. Aaron

Agriculture and Natural Resources Publications

Crossbreeding is the mating of individuals from different breeds. To a certain extent, it is a simple concept, but embarking upon a crossbreeding program, in sheep or any other livestock species, involves long-term decisions.

The primary benefits of a crossbreeding program are heterosis and breed complementarity.

Integrating Teff Into Livestock Operations, Allen Young, Earl Creech, Dale Zobell, Clark Israelsen, Jong-Su Eun

All Current Publications

This fact sheet describes teff, a relatively new forage crop that is attracting interest. Teff can be harvested multiple times during a growing season, used as emergency forage, has potential for double cropping and grazing.

Training Livestock To Avoid Specific Forage, Beth Burritt, Morgan Doran, Matt Stevenson

All Current Publications

This fact sheet provides the basics of aversion training for livestock.

Characteristics Of White-Tailed Deer Visits To Cattle Farms: Implications For Disease Transmission At The Wildlife-Livestock Interface, Are R. Berentsen, Ryan S. Miller, Regina Misiewicz, Jennifer L. Malmberg, Mike R. Dunbar

Zoonotics and Wildlife Disease: Publications

Bovine tuberculosis (bTB) is endemic in free-ranging white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) in MI, USA. Currently, the rates of farm visitation by deer and co-use of forage resources by cattle and deer are poorly understood. To evaluate the extent deer and livestock may share forage resources, we investigated farm, yard, and cattle-use area visitation by white-tailed deer and compared visitation with common livestock management practices. We fitted 25 female white-tailed deer near the bTB-infected zone in Michigan’s Lower Peninsula with global positioning system collars. Livestock management practices associated with farm visitation included presence of confined feeding pastures, number of …

Practical Reproduction Strategies For Utah Beef Ranches, Kevin Heaton, Trent Wilde, Mark Nelson, Dale Zobell

All Current Publications

This fact sheet identifies opportunities for beef cattle producers to improve herd reproduction.

Diseases At The Livestock–Wildlife Interface: Status, Challenges, And Opportunities In The United States, Ryan S. Miller, Mathew L. Farnsworth, Jennifer L. Malmberg

Zoonotics and Wildlife Disease: Publications

In the last half century, significant attention has been given to animal diseases; however, our understanding of disease processes and how to manage them at the livestock–wildlife interface remains limited. In this study, we conduct a systematic review of the scientific literature to evaluate the status of diseases at the livestock–wildlife interface in the United States. Specifically, the goals of the literature review were three fold: first to evaluate domestic animal diseases currently found in the United States where wildlife may play a role; second to identify critical issues faced in managing these diseases at the livestock–wildlife interface; and third …

Animal Housing Legislation, Kelli Kirtley

Student Papers in Public Policy

Legislation relating to animal housing has been a recent topic of interest in the policy arena. Relatively speaking, it is considered a novel issue; however, this legislation has existed for several years. It is only recently that public outcry has turned the attention of policymakers to confined animal housing.

Judging Market Goats, Matthew M. Marshall

Agricultural Education and Communication

The purpose of this project was to develop a judging guide for FFA members who participate in Livestock Judging Contests. One of the classes to be judged is Boer goat market wethers. Resources from breeders, industry judges, and handouts were utilized. The PowerPoint that was created can be used as a tool for students to learn the basics of market goat judging. This can also be a useful guide for students who are interested in selecting market goats as a supervised agricultural experience project.

Seroprevalence Of Brucellosis In Livestock Within Three Endemic Regions Of The Country Of Georgia, Eliso Mamisashvili, Ian T. Kracalik, Tinatin Onashvili, Lela Kerdzevadze, Ketevan Goginashvili, Tamar Tigilauri, Marina Donduashvili, Marina Nikolaishvili, Irma Beradze, Marina Zakareishvili, Maka Kokhreidze, Makvala Gelashvili, Nino Vepkhvadze, S. Elizabeth Rácz, Philip H. Elzer, Mikeljon P. Nikolich, Jason K. Blackburn

Harold W. Manter Laboratory of Parasitology: Faculty Publications

Brucellosis is the one of most common livestock zoonoses in Georgia, resulting in significant economic losses. Livestock were sampled in three regions of Georgia (Kakheti, Kvemo Kartli, Imereti). Districts that historically reported high numbers of brucellosis related morbidity were selected for serological, bacteriological and molecular surveys. Surveying efforts yielded samples from 10,819 large and small ruminants. In total, 735 serological tests were positive on Rose Bengal and 33 bacterial isolates were recovered and identified as Brucella melitensis or Brucella abortus by microbiology and AMOS-PCR. A Bayesian framework was implemented to estimate the true prevalence of the disease given an imperfect …

Managing Livestock Using Animal Behavior: Mixed Species Stocking And Flerds, D. M. Anderson, Ed L. Frederickson, R. E. Estell

Agriculture Faculty and Staff Scholarship

Mixed-species stocking can foster sound landscape management while offering economic and ecological advantages compared with mono-species stocking. Producers contemplating a mixed-species enterprise should reflect on several considerations before implementing this animal management strategy. Factors applicable to a particular producer's landscape must be considered together with goals and economic constraints before implementing mixed-species stocking. A major consideration when using mixed-species stocking is how to deal with predation losses, especially among small ruminants. An approach being adopted in some commercial operations capitalizes on using innate animal behaviors to form cohesive groups of two or more livestock species that consistently remain together under …

How A Lagoon Works For Livestock Wastewater Treatment, Rhonda Miller Ph.D., Jennifer Major, Penny Trinca

Agriculture

No abstract provided.

Beef, Dairy, Equine, Poultry, Hogs, Sheep, And Goats, Kenneth H. Burdine, A. Lee Meyer

Agricultural Economics Presentations

No abstract provided.

Changes In Hay Yield And Quality Of Bulbous Barley At Different Phenological Stages, Ferat Uzun

Turkish Journal of Agriculture and Forestry

The objective of this study was to determine the changes in hay yield and quality components at different phenological stages of a bulbous barley (Hordeum bulbosum L.) population handpicked from natural flora during 2003-2007 in Samsun, Turkey. The phenological stages of bulbous barley during spring-summer (grazing maturity, early heading, heading, and milk-dough) and autumn (early growing) were investigated. Significant differences were observed in hay yield, relative feed value (RFV), crude protein (CP), acid and neutral detergent fiber (ADF and NDF), Ca, Mg, K, P, Mn, Fe, and Zn concentrations, and K(Ca + Mg)^{-1} and Ca P^{-1} ratios of DM, depending …

Training Livestock To Leave Streams And Use Uplands, Usu Extension

All Current Publications

Cattle can damage streams and surrounding vegetation—riparian areas—by breaking down banks decreasing water quality, and reducing wildlife living in the stream and on the land.

Global Economics Of Nutrient Cycling, Bert H. Janssen, Oene Oenema

Turkish Journal of Agriculture and Forestry

This paper briefly discusses global human requirements of protein nitrogen (N) from crops and animals, and then estimates the need for fertilizer N as a function of N use efficiency, and the recycling of N from animal manure and sewage wastes. These estimates are based on various assumptions and simple calculations. Results suggest that globally only 1% of N input is retained, 28% is lost to the wider environment, and some 70% is potentially available for recycling via manure and sewage. In addition, large amounts of nutrients recycle via crop residues. In practice, only a fraction of this potential is …

Evaluation Of Lifetimewool: 2008 National Farmer Survey Results, Anne Jones, Andrew Van Burgel, Gus Rose

All other publications

Key components of the lifetimewool evaluation plan were two National producer surveys to quantify change in the knowledge, attitudes, skills and aspirations over the duration of the project. In 2005, 2032 wool producers were surveyed to establish a benchmark for ewe and pasture management practices, knowledge and willingness to change. At that time, 93% of those who were surveyed said that they were willing to be resurveyed in 2008 at the completion of the project. This has allowed lifetimewool to compare individual producers’ changes in practices, knowledge and willingness over the three years that the communication and adoption phase of …

Teaching Risk Management Principles To Livestock Producers Through Production-Oriented Workshops, C Kim Chapman

All Current Publications

This bulletin explains how to effectively marry risk management education, which producers do not have a natural affinity for, and production-oriented education, which is usually very popular with producers. The Beehive Master Beef Manager Program is used as a model.

Ua66/5/2 Newsletter, Wku Department Of Agriculture

WKU Administration Documents

Newsletter regarding programs, events, students and alumni of the WKU Agriculture department.

Ua66/5/2 Newsletter, Wku Department Of Agriculture

WKU Administration Documents

Newsletter regarding programs, events, students and alumni of the WKU Agriculture department.

Watch The Drinking Water Quality Of Calves Reared In Individual Hutches, R. D. Wiedmeier

All Current Publications

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

Interview With Oscar Lozano, Dayton Meat Company, 2006 (Audio), Oscar Lozano

All Sustainability History Project Oral Histories

Interview of Oscar Lozano by Brad Schuler on August 14th, 2006.

The interview index is available for download.

Raising A Bucket Calf, Robert Pate

All Current Publications

The 4-H Bucket Calf Project is designed for youth up through the summer of their 8th grade year.

Basic Show Steer Feeding And Care, Darrell Rothlisberger

All Current Publications

The junior livestock program is a unique opportunity to use live animals to help youth develop. Youth learn something about agriculture and livestock production and develop an appreciation for the livestock industry.