Animal Sciences Commons^™

Computer Software Selection: Financial, Kory M. Bierle

Range Beef Cow Symposium

Over and over we as producers are told we need to know our cost of production. As the title of my college accounting book stated, accounting is the basis for business decisions.

The question comes up: how do we track these costs and make sense of all the numbers? As soon as we realize the importance of the office work and the need to get it done in a timely and efficient manner, we address how to get it done. What has been the answer for the past 20 to 25 years to help get the work done? That's right, …

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 …

Characterization Of Alliances, Mike Miller

Range Beef Cow Symposium

Content:

Today’s Cattle Market

Future Cattle Market

“Average” Grid

The Target

“Value” Checklist

Factors to Consider

Potential Trade Offs

The Bottom Line: Does It Increase Profit

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 …

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 …

Carcass Value Marketing, Dick Kjerstad

Range Beef Cow Symposium

A. Importance of individual source identification as it relates to carcass value

B. Criteria for USDA Quality Grades

C. Criteria for USDA Yield Grades

Innovative Marketing And Angus America, Douglas Hoff

Range Beef Cow Symposium

Marketing sounds easy, right? All that you have to do is sell when the market is high and buy when it's low. The problem is that only God could accomplish this! Even if we had the time to do the research required to make these predictions they're still, at best, only educated guesses. How does a cow/calf producer market in an innovative manner when he only has the option to go to a sale barn, an order buyer, or a feedlot with his years' work, just to get the same average price?

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 …

New National Research Council (Nrc) Beef Cattle Requirements - Range Application, Ivan G. Rush

Range Beef Cow Symposium

Beef producers have used experience and guidelines for many years to determine proper level of nutrition for their cow herd. In the early 1900s, research started to compare various feeding programs to determine which feeds or supplements worked best, and then comparisons were made on various levels of supplements to determine how much supplement was needed. In the 1920s, considerable research was conducted at the Valentine, Nebraska Experiment Station (no longer in existence) to see if calves wintered on sandhills range would benefit from cottonseed cake (cottonseed meal was large chunks or "cake" in the 1920s), and a series of …

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 …

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

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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …

Fish Losses To Double-Crested Cormorant Predation In Eastern Lake Ontario, 1992–97, Robert M. Ross, James H. Johnson

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

We examined 4,848 regurgitated digestive pellets of double-crested cormorants (Phalacrocorax auritus) over a 6-year period (1992–97) to estimate annual predation on sport and other fishes in the eastern basin of Lake Ontario. We found more than 51,000 fish of 28 species. Using a model that incorporates annual colony nest counts; fledgling production rates; adult, immature, and young-of-year residence times (seasonal); estimates of mean number of fish per pellet and mean fish size; and a fecal pathway correction factor (4.0 percent), we estimate total annual number of fish consumed by cormorants in the eastern basin of Lake Ontario to …

Double-Crested Cormorant Impacts On Sport Fish: Literature Review, Agency Survey, And Strategies, John L. Trapp, Stephen J. Lewis, Diane M. Pence

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

In response to concerns expressed by anglers, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service conducted an extensive review of published studies done throughout the United States and Canada on the impacts of double-crested cormorants (Phalacrocorax auritus) on sport-fish populations in open waters. The literature review indicated that fish species valued by sport and commercial anglers make up a very small proportion of the cormorants’ diet and that these birds have a minor effect on fish populations compared to the effects of sport and commercial fishing, natural predation, and other mortality factors. The Service sent a questionnaire to State agencies, …

Strategies To Reduce Double-Crested Cormorant Depredation At Aquaculture Facilities In Mississippi, David S. Reinhold, Charles A. (Bo) Sloan

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

Double-crested cormorant (Phalacrocorax auritus) depredation throughout the Southeastern United States has been on the increase over the past 20 years. The increase in depredation coincides with the growth of the aquaculture industry and an expansion of double-crested cormorant wintering populations throughout the Southeast. The U.S. Department of Agriculture–Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service–Wildlife Services plays a major role in reducing double-crested cormorant damage. Nonlethal harassment on farms, dispersal from night roosts, and lethal control have reduced double-crested cormorant depredation at aquaculture farms in Mississippi. However, the efficiency and compatibility of current methods of reducing double-crested cormorant depredation must …

Possible Effects Of Catfish Exploitation On Overwinter Body Condition Of Double-Crested Cormorants, James F. Glahn, Mark E. Tobin, J. Brent Harrel

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

Concurrent with the rapid growth of the Mississippi catfish industry during the 1980’s, there was evidence of similar growth of double-crested cormorant (Phalacrocorax auritus) populations wintering in the delta region of Mississippi. Observational and food habits studies indicate that this expansive industry, incorporating more than 100,000 acres of ponds, provides an enormous food base for overwintering populations estimated in recent years to exceed 50,000 birds. As much as 75 percent of the diet in certain roosting areas of the Mississippi delta consisted of catfish, and according to bioenergetic models cormorants can exploit as much as 940 metric tons …

Review Of The Population Status And Management Of Double-Crested Cormorants In Ontario, C. Korfanty, W.G. Miyasaki, J.L. Harcus

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

We prepared this review of the status and management of double-crested cormorants (Phalacrocorax auritus) in Ontario, with management options, in response to concerns expressed about possible negative impacts of large numbers of the birds on fish stocks, and vulnerable, threatened and endangered species. Double-crested cormorants are native to Ontario and were first recorded breeding on Lake of the Woods in northwestern Ontario in the late 1700’s. The birds spread eastward to colonize all of the Great Lakes by the 1930’s. A decline in cormorant populations on the Great Lakes from the 1950’s to the 1970’s has been attributed …

Information Needs For The Double-Crested Cormorant In Midwestern North America, As Identified By An Audience Survey , D.V. (Chip) Weseloh, Stephen J. Lewis

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

Double-crested cormorant (DCCO) research needs and data gaps were identified in the early 1990’s by Erwin (1995) and Nisbet (1995). Erwin (1995) recommended four areas of research: (1) large-scale banding and marking to determine age- and sex specific survival and fecundity, (2) studies of movements during migration and winter, (3) assessment of limiting factors such as contaminants and disease, especially in light of recent Newcastle disease in cormorants, and (4) evaluation of economic impacts of cormorants on cultured fishes and ways to reduce predation by fish-eating birds.

Appendix 1: Authors' Affiliations

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

Authors' affiliations

Synchronizing Estrus And Improving Subsequent Production And Performance With Prostaglandin F2 Alpha And Pregnant Mare Serum Gonadotropin, Bryan Kutz

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

Two-hundred-seventy-two sows were utilized in two trials to evaluate the effects of prostaglandin and pregnant mare serum on reducing weaning to estrus interval, increasing the degree of estrus synchrony and improving fertility at estrus resulting in improved pregnancy rates and subsequent litter performance. Sows were randomly allotted to treatments. In trial 1, sows were assigned to one of three treatments: T1 (n=18; l0mg of PGF2α /hd 24-48 hrs. after parturition), T2 (n=20; lOmg of PGF 2 α /hd at weaning) and controls (n=20). No differences (P>.05) were observed for survival rate and 21D litter wt. among treated and the …

Draft: Plan For The Management Of The Houtman Abrolhos Islands Fish Habitat Protection Area (Schedule 1), Abrolhos Islands Management Advisory Council, Fisheries Department Of Western Australia

Fisheries Management Papers

This document is a separate draft plan which has been prepared to meet the requirements of Section 117 of the Fish Resources Management Act 1994. It contains a description of the area; outlines the purposes for which the area is to be set aside; and lists the recommendations contained in Fisheries Management Paper No. 104, Management of the Houtman Abrolhos System, which relate to the management of the proposed Fish Habitat Protection Area.

Management Of The Houtman Abrolhos System, Abrolhos Islands Management Advisory Council, Fisheries Department Of Western Australia

Fisheries Management Papers

In November 1995 Cabinet resolved that the Minister for Fisheries would establish the Abrolhos Islands Management Advisory Committee (AIMAC) pursuant to Section 42 of the Fish Resources Management Act 1994. The role of AIMAC is to advise the Minister for Fisheries about the management of the Abrolhos Islands and the adjoining State Territorial Waters, as detailed in Section 2.2.3.1 of this report. The AIMAC has overseen the preparation of this report on behalf of the Minister for Fisheries. This draft report contains a brief description of the Abrolhos System and its special values. It also states goals and objectives for …

A Probable Nesting Of Clark's Nutcracker (Nucifraga Columbiana) In Nebraska,, Wayne Mollhoff

Nebraska Bird Review

This report provides details on the probable nesting of Clark's Nutcracker (Nucifraga columbiana) in Morrill, Scotts Bluff Co., Nebraska, in 1997. It also corrects an erroneous report of nesting in the Pine Ridge area of Nebraska (Silcock & Jorgensen 1997b).

A single Clark's Nutcracker was first noted corning to a suet feeder at the home of Ms. Edna C. Thomas in Morrill 8-9 Jan 1997. It came to the feeder at least weekly and was often seen daily. A second Clark's Nutcracker appeared during the second week of Feb. Initially, the bird already present was antagonistic towards it …

Index To Volume 65 Of The Nebraska Bird Review

Nebraska Bird Review

Index to Volume 65

Avocet, American 134

Alaska 53(2), 57

Albino 41

Alexander, George 35

Irene 35

Allen, Betty 36, 67

Alt, Jim 178

Anas Valisineria 58

Anhinga 7

Ani, Groove-billed 11

Anschutz, Steven Whooping Crane Sighting during March-May 132

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Zendeh, Soheil 126

Editor's Comments- Nebraska Bird Review (December 1997), Rosalind Morris

Nebraska Bird Review

EDITOR'S COMMENTS

This issue is the last of my six-year term as Editor of The Nebraska Bird Review. It has been a challenging and stimulating experience, and I have learned much about bird lore and publishing methods. My workload was lightened considerably when Ross Silcock took on the seasonal field reports in 1994, assisted initially by Richard C. Rosche and recently by Joel G. Jorgensen. Dr. R. G. (Rusty) Cortelyou volunteered to compile the index for each volume during my term. This is a time-consuming and detailed project, and I sincerely appreciate his contribution.

I am very pleased that Dr. …

Whooping Crane Sightings, August 1997-January 1998, Steven Anschutz

Nebraska Bird Review

Cooperation throughout the Whooping Crane flyway continues to be excellent, and special thanks go out to each participant. Between 1977 and 1988, 132 juvenile birds were color-marked on the breeding grounds, and 40 were accounted for during the winter of 1997-98. Fourteen color-marked Whooping Cranes were observed during the fall migration. All sightings of color-marked birds are maintained at the Grand Island office. The importance of observers looking closely for the colored leg bands cannot be overemphasized.

Based on observations of the breeding grounds during the summer of 1997, about 192 Whooping Cranes were expected to arrive at the Aransas …