Meat Science Commons^™

The Focus My Millennial Generation Needs, Cassie Lapaseotes

Range Beef Cow Symposium

Generations

It’s no question that in today’s job market there are a variety of challenges especially when it comes to managing a workforce with multiple generations. The underlying problem especially in agriculture is trying to fit an increasingly nontraditional workforce into a largely traditional workplace. Each generation has been influenced by particular experiences that create specific preferences, expectations, beliefs, and work styles. It is important to understand characteristics of each generation to be successful in today’s workplace.

Incorporating A Yearling Stocker Enterprise To The Cow/Calf Operation: Buy, Sell, Or Hold?, Mark Frasier

Range Beef Cow Symposium

Many progressive cow/calf producers have considered adding a yearling stocker enterprise to their business model. There are significant benefits to diversification; yearling cattle can help to optimize available forage and balance the financial viability of a livestock operation. At the same time however, managing the dynamics of a secondary enterprise will add complexity and potentially elevate risk to the combined operation. The added dimension of market livestock will help a ranch utilize their forage resources more efficiently, but yearling cattle have different needs than cows and different objectives and require a dissimilar skill set than required to successfully wean a …

Effects Of Grazing On Grass, Casey A. Matney

Range Beef Cow Symposium

What is grazing? Grazing is the consumption of herbaceous plants by herbivores. Herbaceous plants include forbs (non-woody broadleaf flowering plants), grasses, and grass-like plants (sedges and rushes). Probably the most important and most identifiable herbaceous plant for grazing is grass (Family – Poaceae). There are well over 100 species of grass present on the rangelands of eastern Colorado, and approximately 10,000 grass species can be found across the globe. Grasses account for about a quarter of the earth’s vegetation and make up the preponderance of food (plant parts and seed) for both people and grazing animals. Management of grasses is …

Managing Compromised And Weak Calves, Franklyn B. Garry, Jason E. Lombard

Range Beef Cow Symposium

Take Home Messages

Many things can cause calves to be weak at birth, but dystocia is the single most common cause of compromised calves. Calves born without assistance experience hypoxia (low arterial blood oxygen), acidosis, and frequently hypothermia. Dystocia calves experience the same changes but to a greater degree. Dystocia has an immediate and prolonged effect on the health and productivity of calves. Perinatal mortality due to weakness and dystocia accounts for about half of all calf deaths through weaning and is not due to infectious disease. Simple interventions such as providing calves with mechanical breathing assistance, oxygen, colostrum, and …

High Altitude Disease, Pap, Feedlot Hypertension, And Respiratory Issues, J. M. Neary, F. B. Garry, T. N. Holt, G. M. Krafsur, P. S. Morley, R. D. Brown, K. R. Stenmark, R. Mark Enns, M. G. Thomas

Range Beef Cow Symposium

Right-heart failure (RHF) due to pulmonary hypertension, more commonly known as brisket disease or high altitude disease, is a complex disease that is becomingly increasing problematic for the cattle industry–regardless of altitude. The disease became known as high altitude disease because until the mid-1960s RHF was only reported at altitudes over 7,000 ft. Today, RHF is still problematic in high altitude cow-calf operations and is occurring with increasing incidence in feedlot cattle. The clinical signs are commonly mistaken for chronic pneumonia, which complicates disease diagnosis and reporting. Moreover, cattle treated for pneumonia have 2 to 3 times greater risk of …

How To Use Commercially Available Genomic Predictions, Michael G. Gonda

Range Beef Cow Symposium

Genomic predictions for commercial cattle can be used to select replacement heifers, design mating strategies, and market calves. Presently, two companies (Igenity and Zoetis) offer genomic tests for commercial cattle. Like expected progeny differences (EPDs) on young bulls, these genomic tests do not perfectly predict genetic merit. However, these tests will be useful for identifying genetically superior and inferior animals for the traits tested. Some tests are useful only for predominantly Black Angus (≥ 75%) cattle, while other tests can be used on all Bos taurus beef breeds and crossbreds. Further, some tests are designed specifically for producers who are …

Mentoring And Managing Employees To Ensure Husbandry And Assure Consumers, Tracey Erickson

Range Beef Cow Symposium

Building your team…

1. Share Purpose, Mission and Vision
2. Train Employees – onboarding
3. Communicate and Evaluate
4. Include employees – farm planning and direction
5. Celebrate Success

Cow Supplementation: Getting The Best Bang For Your Buck, Ken Olson

Range Beef Cow Symposium

How do we get the best bang for the buck?

• 2 aspects:

1. Biology: Use the right feeds to provide the right nutrients
2. Economics: price the best feeds to provide the right nutrients

Vegfa: Just One Of Multiple Mechanisms For Sex-Specific Vascular Development Within The Testis?, Kevin M. Sargent, Renee M. Sargent, Renata Spuri Gomes, Andrea S. Cupp

Department of Animal Science: Faculty Publications

Testis development from an indifferent gonad is a critical step in embryogenesis. A hallmark of testis differentiation is sex-specific vascularization which occurs as endothelial cells migrate from the adjacent mesonephros into the testis to surround Sertoli-germ cell aggregates and induce seminiferous cord formation. Many in vitro experiments have demonstrated that Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor A (VEGFA) is a critical regulator of this process. Both inhibitors to VEGFA signal transduction and excess VEGFA isoforms in testis organ cultures impaired vascular development and seminiferous cord formation. However, in vivo models using mice which selectively eliminated all VEGFA isoforms: in Sertoli and germ …

Evaluating Equations Estimating Change In Swine Feed Intake During Heat And Cold Stress, R. R. White, P. S. Miller, M. D. Hanigan

Department of Animal Science: Faculty Publications

The objectives of this study were to evaluate heat stress feed intake models for growing swine using a data set assembled from the literature and to develop a series of new equations modeling the influence of the thermal environment and interactions between the thermal environmental and other factors on feed intake. A literature survey was conducted to identify studies assessing intake responses to temperature. The resulting data set comprised 35 studies containing 120 comparisons to thermoneutral intake. Intake as a fraction of thermoneutral intake (FFI) was the primary response variable, where a value of 1 represented no change from thermoneutral …

Prediction Of Plant Height In Arabidopsis Thaliana Using Dna Methylation Data, Yaodong Hu, Gota Morota, Guilherme J. M. Rosa, Daniel Gianola

Department of Animal Science: Faculty Publications

Prediction of complex traits using molecular genetic information is an active area in quantitative genetics research. In the postgenomic era, many types of -omic (e.g., transcriptomic, epigenomic, methylomic, and proteomic) data are becoming increasingly available. Therefore, evaluating the utility of this massive amount of information in prediction of complex traits is of interest. DNA methylation, the covalent change of a DNA molecule without affecting its underlying sequence, is one quantifiable form of epigenetic modification. We used methylation information for predicting plant height (PH) in Arabidopsis thaliana nonparametrically, using reproducing kernel Hilbert spaces (RKHS) regression. Also, we used different criteria for …

Evaluation Of Reduced Subsets Of Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms For The Prediction Of Age At Puberty In Sows, Katherine L. Lucot, Matthew L. Spangler, Melanie D. Trenhaile, Stephen D. Kachman, Daniel C. Ciobanu

Department of Animal Science: Faculty Publications

Genomic information could be used efficiently to improve traits that are expensive to measure, sex limited or expressed late in life. This study analyzed the phenotypic variation explained by major SNPs and windows for age at puberty in gilts, an indicator of reproductive longevity. A genome-wide association study using 56,424 SNPs explained 25.2% of the phenotypic variation in age at puberty in a training set (n = 820). All SNPs from the top 10% of 1-Mb windows explained 33.5% of the phenotypic variance compared to 47.1% explained by the most informative markers (n = 261). In an evaluation population, consisting …

Dietary Strategies For Mitigation Of Methane Production By Growing And Finishing Cattle, Anna C. Pesta

Department of Animal Science: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Interest in reducing methane (CH₄) emissions by cattle has increased recently. Loss of feed energy as CH₄ represents both an environmental concern and an energetic loss to the animal. Manipulation of dietary composition has proven to be an effective mitigation strategy. Experiments were conducted to evaluate the effect of several dietary characteristics on CH₄ production in growing and finishing cattle, and to develop a novel, non-invasive method for quantifying emissions from animals in a production setting. Short-term gaseous emissions of CH₄ and carbon dioxide (CO₂) were measured and the CH₄:CO_{2 …}

Activity Of The Porcine Gonadotropin-Releasing Hormone Receptor Gene Promoter Is Partially Conferred By A Distal Gonadotrope Specific Element (Gse) Within An Upstream Enhancing Region, Two Proximal Gses And A Retinoid X Receptor Binding Site, Rebecca Cederberg, Jacqueline Smith, Emily A. Mcdonald, Chanho Lee, Amy R. Perkins, Brett R. White

Department of Animal Science: Faculty Publications

Background: Regulation of gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) receptor (GnRHR) numbers on gonadotropes within the anterior pituitary gland represents a critical point for control of reproductive function. Binding of GnRH to its receptor regulates follicle stimulating hormone (FSH) and luteinizing hormone (LH) release and levels of this G-protein coupled receptor on the surface of gonadotropes determines their sensitivity to GnRH pulses. While transcriptional regulation of this gene has been studied in mice, rats, humans and sheep, little is known about its regulation in the pig, an important agricultural species and human research model.

Methods: We isolated 5118 bp of 5′ flanking …

A Prototype On-Line Aotf Hyperspectral Image Acquisition System For Tenderness Assessment Of Beef Carcasses, Govindarajan Konda Naganathan, Kim Cluff, Ashok Samal, Chris Calkins, David D. Jones, Carol Lorenzen, Jeyamkondan Subbiah

Department of Food Science and Technology: Faculty Publications

A prototype on-line acousto-optic tunable filter (AOTF)-based hyperspectral image acquisition system (λ = 450– 900 nm) was developed for tenderness assessment of beef carcasses. Hyperspectral images of ribeye muscle on stationary hanging beef carcasses (n = 338) at 2-day postmortem were acquired in commercial beef slaughter or packing plants. After image acquisition, a strip steak was cut from each carcass, vacuum packaged, aged for 14 days, cooked, and slice shear force tenderness scores were collected by an independent lab. Beef hyperspectral images were mosaicked together and principal component (PC) analysis was conducted to reduce the spectral dimension. Six different textural …

Effects Of Feeding Distillers Grains Throughout Different Phases Of Production On Shelf Life Of Ground Beef, Brandy D. Cleveland

Department of Animal Science: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

These studies analyzed the effects of feeding distillers grains on the shelf life of cooked and raw ground beef, and how the addition of postmortem or dietary antioxidants impact shelf life.

For study one, cattle were assigned to backgrounding diets containing low or high concentrations of wet distillers grains (WDGS) and either corn gluten feed or modified wet distillers grains (MDGS) during finishing. For study two, cattle were fed one of five finishing diets; corn, wet distillers grains (WDGS), WDGS + vitamin E, WDGS + Ethoxyquin/TBHQ, or WDGS + vitamin E + Ethoxyquin/TBHQ.

Shoulder clods from each dietary treatment were …

The Influence Of The Bovine Fecal Microbiota On The Shedding Of Shiga Toxin-Producing Escherichia Coli (Stec) By Beef Cattle, Nirosh D. Aluthge

Department of Food Science and Technology: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

During the past three decades, Shiga toxin-producing E.coli (STEC) have emerged as an important food safety concern. Although initially E. coli O157 was the main focus, recent outbreaks and resulting investigations have shown that certain non-O157 STEC are as much a threat to food safety as their O157 counterparts. To the beef industry, STEC have been of particular concern due to the frequent association of beef and beef products as vehicles of STEC infection. As a result, along with E. coli O157, six non-O157 STEC serogroups (known as the ‘big six’) are now regulated as adulterants in certain raw beef …

Corn Plant Maturity Effect On Yield And Nutritional Quality: Corn Silage Inoculation On Performance Of Cattle Fed Silage With Or Without Live Yeast Added, Cassandra A. Row

Department of Animal Science: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Corn plots were serially harvested over two years to evaluate nutrient, digestibility, and yield change as plants matured from half-milk line through black layer. In yr 1 (2013), two corn plots were used, one short season (102 d), and one normal season (111 d). Year two used two Pioneer hybrids (111 d; 112 d). Silage yield and silage DM increased quadratically as maturity increased (P ≤ 0.01). Percent NDF increased quadratically (P = 0.01), and NDF-digestibility decreased linearly (P < 0.01) as maturity increased. This study suggests there is a delicate balance between plant maturity, nutrient content, and silage yield. A finishing study using 320 yearling steers (initial BW = 417 ± 22.7 kg) evaluated the effect of using a silage inoculant or not on performance and carcass characteristics. Treatments were designed as a 2×2×2 factorial arrangement with factors being no inoculant (CON) or use of inoculant (Buchnerii spp.; B500) at silage harvest, silage fed at 15 or 40% of diet DM, and presence (LEV) or absence (noLEV) of Levucell SC yeast product fed at 14.2 g/hd/d. Performance data were analyzed with pen as the experimental unit, with 5 pens/treatment. There was a three-way interaction for final live BW, HCW, ADG, and G:F (P < 0.05). Feeding corn silage at 40% inclusion instead of 15% inclusion increased DMI and decreased G:F. At 15% silage inclusion, the B500 LEV treatment had the lowest ADG. At 40% silage inclusion all treatments were similar for ADG (P ≥ 0.06). When including silage at 15%, using B500 inoculant, the addition of LEV did not …

Impact Of Wet Distillers' Grains Plus Solubles And Antioxidants On A Basic Mechanism Of Beef Tenderization, Michael D. Chao

Department of Animal Science: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Feeding high levels of wet distillers grains plus solubles (WDGS) increases polyunsaturated fatty acid (PUFA) levels in beef. Perhaps, WDGS in feedlot diets increases PUFA concentration in the SR membrane, thereby altering membrane integrity, resulting in more rapid calcium leakage and improved tenderness. Feeding antioxidants may mitigate such effects. In the first study, effects of feeding 50 % WDGS on SR membrane composition, free calcium concentration and tenderness were studied. The SR membrane from steers fed WDGS were more tender, had higher free calcium concentration, had more PUFA, more phosphatidylcholine (PC), less phosphatidylethanolamine (PE) and less total phospholipids when compared …

Characteristics Of Trailer Thermal Environment During Commercial Swine Transport Managed Under U.S. Industry Guidelines, Y Xiong, Angela Green, Richard S. Gates

Department of Animal Science: Faculty Publications

Transport is a critical factor in modern pork production and can seriously affect swine welfare. While previous research has explored thermal conditions during transport, the impact of extreme weather conditions on the trailer thermal environment under industry practices has not been well documented; and the critical factors impacting microclimate are not well understood. To assess the trailer microclimate during transport events, an instrumentation system was designed and installed at the central ceiling level, pig level and floor-level in each of six zones inside a commercial swine trailer. Transport environmental data from 34 monitoring trips (approximately 1–4 h in duration each) …

Sphingolipids Are Required For Efficient Triacylglycerol Loss In Conjugated Linoleic Acid Treated Adipocytes, Wei Wang, Michael E. Fromm

Department of Animal Science: Faculty Publications

Conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) reduces adiposity in human and mouse adipocytes. This outcome is achieved through a variety of biological responses including increased energy expenditure and fatty acid oxidation, increased inflammation, repression of fatty acid biosynthesis, attenuated glucose transport, and apoptosis. In the current study, profiling of 261 metabolites was conducted to gain new insights into the biological pathways responding to CLA in 3T3-L1 adipocytes. Sphinganine and sphingosine levels were observed to be highly elevated in CLA treated adipocytes. Exogenous chemicals that increased endogenous ceramide levels decreased lipid levels in adipocytes, and activated AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK) as well as …

Genome-Wide Analysis Of Tnf-Alpha Response In Pigs Challenged With Porcine Circovirus 2b, C. A. Kreikemeier, T. B., K. L. Lucot, Thomas E. Burkey, Daniel C. Ciobanu

Department of Animal Science: Faculty Publications

Tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α) is a pro-inflammatory cytokine with a role in activating adaptive immunity to viral infections. By inhibiting the capacity of plasmacytoid dendritic cells to produce interferon-α and TNF-α, porcine circovirus 2 (PCV₂) limits the maturation of myeloid dendritic cells and impairs their ability to recognize viral and bacterial antigens. Previously, we reported QTL for viremia and immune response in PCV₂- infected pigs. In this study, we analyzed phenotypic and genetic relationships between TNFα protein levels, a potential indicator of predisposition to PCV₂ co-infection, and PCV₂ susceptibility. Following experimental challenge with …

Repercussions Of Growth Path On Carcass Characteristics, Meat Colour And Shear Force In Alentejana Bulls, P Costa, J A. Simoes, A S.H. Costa, J P.C. Lemos, D Navas, J F. Hocquette, C R. Calkins, R J.B. Bessa

Department of Animal Science: Faculty Publications

The aim of this study was to evaluate the carcass and meat characteristics of eight muscles from bulls with distinct growth paths. A total of 40 Alentejana male calves were allocated to two distinct feeding regimes. In the continuous growth (CG) system, the animals were fed concentrates plus hay and were slaughtered at 18 months of age. On the other hand, in the discontinuous growth (DG) system, the animals were fed hay until 15 months of age; the cattle were then fed the same diet provided to the CG group from 15 to 24 months of age. The DG reduced …

Loss Of Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor A (Vegfa) Isoforms In Granulosa Cells Using Pdmrt-1-Cre Or Amhr2-Cre Reduces Fertility By Arresting Follicular Development And By Reducing Litter Size In Female Mice, Kevin M. Sargent, Ningxia Lu, Debra T. Clopton, William E. Pohlmeier, Vanessa Brauer, Napoleone Ferrara, David W. Silversides, Andrea S. Cupp

Department of Animal Science: Faculty Publications

Because VEGFA has been implicated in follicle development, the objective of this study was to determine the effects of granulosa- and germ cell-specific VEGFA loss on ovarian morphogenesis, function, and female fertility. pDmrt1-Cre mice were mated to floxed VEGFA mice to develop granulosa-/germ cell-specific knockouts (pDmrt1-Cre;Vegfa^-/-). The time from mating to first parturition was increased when pDmrt1-Cre;Vegfa^-/- females were mated to control males (P = 0.0008) and tended to be longer for heterozygous females (P < 0.07). Litter size was reduced for pDmrt1-Cre;Vegfa^-/- females (P < 0.007). The time between the first and second parturitions was also increased for heterozygous females (P < 0.04) and tended to be increased for pDmrt1-Cre;Vegfa^-/- females (P < 0.07). pDmrt1-Cre;Vegfa^-/- females had smaller ovaries (P …

Estimation Of Breed-Specific Heterosis Effects For Birth, Weaning, And Yearling Weight In Cattle, Lauren N. Schiermiester, R. M. Thallman, Larry Kuehn, Stephen D. Kachman, Matthew L. Spangler

Department of Animal Science: Faculty Publications

Heterosis, assumed proportional to expected breed heterozygosity, was calculated for 6834 individuals with birth, weaning and yearling weight records from Cycle VII and advanced generations of the U.S. Meat Animal Research Center (USMARC) Germplasm Evaluation (GPE) project. Breeds represented in these data included: Angus, Hereford, Red Angus, Charolais, Gelbvieh, Simmental, Limousin and Composite MARC III. Heterosis was further estimated by proportions of British × British (B × B), British × Continental (B × C) and Continental × Continental (C × C) crosses and by breed-specific combinations. Model 1 fitted fixed covariates for heterosis within biological types while Model 2 fitted …

Technical Note: Collection And Preparation Techniques Change Nutrient Composition Of Masticate Collected From Esophageally Fistulated Cattle, Jacqueline A. Musgrave, J. V. Judy, K. H. Jenkins, T. J. Klopfenstein, L. A. Stalker

Department of Animal Science: Faculty Publications

Two experiments determined effects of collection and preparation techniques on nutrient composition of masticate samples from esophageally fistulated cattle. In Exp. 1, 12 esophageally fistulated cattle were maintained on 2 precollection diets, high CP (24% CP; n = 6) or low CP (7.7% CP; n = 6), for 8 d. On d 9, the esophageal plug was removed, screen bottom bags were attached, and each cow was offered fresh grass. Immediately after fresh grass sample collection was complete, dry grass (hay) was offered and a sample was collected. Blood samples were collected and analyzed for serum urea nitrogen concentration. Masticate …

Mineral Composition Of Beef Cattle Carcasses, Andrea K. Watson, Jana L. Harding, Matt P. Mccurdy Curdy, Matt J. Hersom, Kristin E. Hales, Clint R. Krehbiel, Galen E. Erickson

Nebraska Beef Cattle Reports

Mineral retention was measured in 76 beef steers. Cattle were grown at different rates of gain and then finished on a common diet. Calcium and P retention were not affected by treatment and were similar between the growing and finishing periods averaging 4.2 g P and 10.8 g Ca /100 g protein gain across both experiments. As ADG during the growing period was decreased, K, Mg, and S mineral retention during the finishing period were increased. Expressing mineral retention as g/100 g protein gain reducedvariation due to animal size and ADG and suggests that current NRC predictions are accurate.

Anaerobic Digestion Of Feedlot Manure, Andrea K. Watson, Adam L. Shreck, Amy M. Schmidt Schmidt, Terry J. Klopfenstein, Galen E. Erickson

Nebraska Beef Cattle Reports

Cattle diet can impact manure quality and quantity but has minimal impacts on methane production from anaerobic digestion of manure. Quality of manure, measured as OM, does affectmethane production and is largely impacted by the environment cattle are housed in and methods used to collect manure. As the amount of ash contamination of manure was increased, or OM content of the manure was decreased, organic matter degradation and methaneproduction were decreased. With adequate daily cleanout of ash from digesters, open-lot beef cattle manurecan be used for anaerobic digestion.

Mineral Composition Of Serial Slaughter Holstein Carcasses, Andrea K. Watson, Trent J. Mcevers, Lee-Anne J. Walter Walter, Nathan D. May, Jacob A. Reed, N. Andy Cole, Ty E. Lawrence, James C. Macdonald, Galen E. Erickson

Nebraska Beef Cattle Reports

Carcasses of 115 Holstein steers were divided into lean, bone, internal cavity, hide, and fat tissues for analysis of P, Ca, K, Mg, and S retention. Every 28 days, five steers from each of two treatments, fed Zilmax for 20 days prior to harvest or not fed Zilmax, were harvested. There were no differences due to treatment or days on feed when mineral retention was expressed as g/100 g of protein gain. Expressing mineral retention relative to protein gain reduced variation due to rate of gain and animal size.

2015 Beef Cattle Report (Complete)

Nebraska Beef Cattle Reports

Table of Contents

Cow/Calf

Impact of Heifer Development System on Subsequent Gain and Reproduction 5

Genetic Parameter Estimates for Calving Difficulty and Birth Weight in a Multibreed Population 8

Estimation of British- and Continental-Specific Heterosis Effects for Birth, Weaning, and Yearling Weight in Cattle 10

Using Sugar Beet Pulp to Replace Wheat Straw when Limit Feeding Late Gestation Beef Cows 12

Supplementing Cow-Calf Pairs Grazing Smooth Bromegrass 14

Effects of Calf Age at Weaning on Cow and Calf Performance and Feed Utilization in an Intensive Production System 16

An Economic Analysis of Conventional and Alternative Cow-Calf Production Systems 19

Effect …