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Range Beef Cow Symposium Xxiii: Program & Brochure

Range Beef Cow Symposium

Registration Information

Lodging Information

General Information

Bull Pen Sessions

Commercial Booth Displays

Advance Registration

Program: Tuesday, December 3 -- Thursday, December 5

Systems Biology In Animal Breeding: Identifying Relationships Among Markers, Genes, And Phenotypes [Breeding And Genetics Symposium], John B. Cole, Ronald M. Lewis, C. Maltecca, S. Newman, K. M. Olson, R. G. Tait

Department of Animal Science: Faculty Publications

The Breeding and Genetics Symposium titled “Systems Biology in Animal Breeding: Identifying relationships among markers, genes, and phenotypes” was held at the Joint Annual Meeting of the American Society of Animal Science and the American Dairy Science Association in Phoenix, Arizona, July 15-19, 2012. The primary goal of the symposium was to demonstrate the use of high-density SNP genotypes to determine the complex regulatory relationships among genotypes and phenotypes but also to present methods for studying complex relationships among phenotypes. Case studies from mammalian and avian species were included to emphasize the broad applicability of these methods.

Effects Of Forage Species Or Concentrate Finishing On Animal Performance, Carcass And Meat Quality, S. K. Duckett, J. P.S. Neel, Ronald M. Lewis, J. P. Fontenot, W M. Clapham

Department of Animal Science: Faculty Publications

Angus-cross steers (n = 128; initial BW = 270 ± 3.8 kg) were used in a 3-yr study to assess effects of forage species grazed before slaughter versus concentrate finishing on carcass and meat quality. At the completion of the stockering phase, steers were randomly allotted to mixed pasture (MP; n = 36/yr) or corn-silage concentrate (CON; n = 12/yr) finishing treatments. At 40 d before harvest, MP steers were randomly divided into 3 forage species treatments: alfalfa (AL), pearl millet (PM), or mixed pasture (MP). Average daily BW gain was greater (P = 0.001) for CON than …

Index Selection In Terminal Sires Improves Lamb Performance At Finishing, G. C. Márquez, W. Haresign, M. H. Davies, Rainer Roehe, L. Bünger, G. Simm, Ronald M. Lewis

Department of Animal Science: Faculty Publications

Lamb meat is often perceived by consumers as fatty, and consumption has decreased in recent decades. A lean growth index was developed in the UK for terminal sire breeds to increase carcass lean content and constrain fat content at a constant age end point. The purposes of this study were 1) to evaluate the effects of index selection of terminal sires on their crossbred offspring at finishing and 2) to evaluate its effectiveness within terminal sire breeds. Approximately 70% of lambs marketed in the UK have been sired by rams of breeds typically thought of as specialized terminal sires. The …

Live Weight Parameters In Dorper, Damara And Australian Merino Lambs Subjected To Restricted Feeding, Tim Scanlon, Andre M. Almeida, Andrew Van Burgel, Tanya Kilminster, John Milton, Johan C. Greeff, Chris Oldham

Journal articles

Seasonal weight loss (SWL) is a serious constraint to ruminant production in tropical and Mediterranean climates. SWL is controlled using supplementation, costly and difficult to implement in extensive production systems; or alternatively, using breeds with a natural adaptation to tropical climates, namely hair and fat tailed sheep. Albeit a 15-year presence in Australia, little is known on how Dorper and Damara sheep compared to the most widely used sheep breed in Australia, the Australian Merino. In this trial, the responses of the Damara, Dorper and Merino breeds to nutritional stress were compared during a 42-day trial. Seventy-two ram lambs, 24 …

Characterization And Distribution Of Novel Non-Ltr Retroelements Driving High Telomere Rflp Diversity In Clonal Lines Of Magnaporthe Oryzae, John H. Starnes

Theses and Dissertations--Plant Pathology

The filamentous ascomycete fungus Magnaporthe oryzae is a pathogen of over 50 genera of grasses. Two important diseases it can cause are gray leaf spot in Lolium perenne (perennial ryegrass) and blast in Oryza sativa (rice). The telomeres of M. oryzae isolates causing gray leaf spot are highly variable, and can spontaneously change during fungal culture. In this dissertation, it is shown that a rice-infecting isolate is much more stable at the telomeres than an isolate from gray leaf spot. To determine the molecular basis of telomere instability several gray leaf spot isolates telomeres were cloned, which revealed two non-LTR …

Insect Communities In Soybeans Of Eastern South Dakota: The Effects Of Vegetation Management And Pesticides On Soybean Aphids, Bean Leaf Beetles, And Their Natural Enemies, Jonathan G. Lundgren, Louis S. Hesler, Sharon A. Clay, Scott F. Fausti

United States Department of Agriculture-Agricultural Research Service / University of Nebraska-Lincoln: Faculty Publications

Although most pests of soybeans, Gycine max (L.), in the Northern Great Plains are managed using pesticides, farm management practices that encourage biodiversity offer promising long-term, sustainable solutions for controlling insect and weed pests profitably. The recent invasion of the Northern Great Plains by the soybean aphid (Aphis glycines Matsumura; Hemiptera: Aphididae) has had potentially important implications for insect communities in soybeans of this region, although recent descriptions of this regional community are scarce. We describe how three pest management systems that vary in the intensity with which they rely on herbicides and insecticides (chemically intensive, reduced chemical, and …

The Buzz On Bees, Rebecca Ruiz

Lewis Honors College Capstone Collection

Apis mellifera, more commonly known as the honeybee, plays a pivotal role in the ecosystem and in the survival of the planet. Many do not understand, nor realize, that the honeybee offers a wide array of products and services besides sweet honey. Honeybees have become endangered at a time when their presence is vital and evidence indicates that they can be the means to a more sustainable future for our planet. Particularly focused on in this research are the ideas of honeybees’ essential presence in medical advances, their participation in global economics, and their involvement in the development of …

Alternative Methods Of Control For Phytophthora Nicotianae Of Tobacco, Anna M. Holdcroft

Theses and Dissertations--Plant Pathology

Kentucky is the nation’s leading producer of burley tobacco and the crop’s most economically important disease is black shank, caused by Phytophthora nicotianae (Pn). Current management is effective, however, problems with expense and pathogen persistence are issues. Two alternative methods for control of Pn were examined: biofumigation and soil application of an organic, yeast fermentation‐derived product (Soil‐Set). Field studies in 2009 and 2010 found no effect on populations of fungi, disease severity of Pn, and yield between mustard‐ and wheat‐amended plots. Experiments in the greenhouse suggested that survival of Pn was impacted by biomass rather than biofumigation. Biofumigation is not …

U.S. Drought Monitor, January 1, 2013, Richard R. Heim Jr.

United States Agricultural Commodities in Drought Archive

Drought map of the United States for January 1, 2013 (1/1/13) plus: United States crop areas experiencing drought (map), an approximate percentage of crop located in drought by state (bar graph), and the percentage of crop area located in drought during the past 52 weeks (line graph) for hay, cattle, and winter wheat.

2013-2014 Kentucky & Tennessee Tobacco Production Guide, Kenneth W. Seebold, Robert C. Pearce, William A. Bailey, Lowell P. Bush, Jonathan D. Green, Robert D. Miller, Laura A. Powers, William M. Snell, Lee H. Townsend, Mark Purschwitz, Larry G. Wells, John H. Wilhoit, Margarita Velandia, Steve Bost, Gene Burgess, Frank Hale, Darrell Hensley, Paul Denton, Neil Rhodes

Agriculture and Natural Resources Publications

Tobacco growers in Kentucky and Tennessee have faced many challenges during the past two years, including weather, labor availability, and rising production costs. However, there have been opportunities as well. Some buying stations have closed or moved, but new buyers have come into the market and contract volumes have been stable overall. Good quality burley tobacco is in relatively short supply, and this has offered opportunities to those who have been able to overcome weather and labor challenges and produce good crops. These changes have had different impacts in different regions of both states, based largely on where buying stations …

The Kentucky Agricultural Economic Outlook For 2014, William M. Snell, Kevin Heidemann, Steven G. Isaacs

Kentucky Agricultural Economic Outlook

No abstract provided.

The Influence Of The Agricultural Cluster On The Fayette County Economy, Alison Davis, Lori Garkovich, Leigh Maynard, James Allen, Shaheer Burney, Tarrah Dunaway

Community and Economic Development Initiative of Kentucky Reports

From the executive summary:

The project contains multiple studies that use different methods and information sources to gain a more complete picture of a complex topic. The studies contained in this report are:

I. Economic Impact of Agriculture in Fayette County, Kentucky
II. Interviews with Fayette County Business Leaders
III. The Impact of Equine Sales and Horse Racing Facilities on Non-Agricultural Industries

The purpose of the project is to gather evidence useful in guiding local policies and economic development strategies.

Transcriptome Characterization And Detection Of Gene Expression Differences In Aspen (Populus Tremuloides), Hardeep S. Rai, Karen E. Mock, Bryce A. Richardson, Richard C. Cronn, Katherine J. Hayden, Jessica W. Wright, Brian J. Knaus, Paul G. Wolf

Aspen Bibliography

No abstract provided.

Wolf Creek Ranch Aspen Monitoring Report, Paul C. Rogers, Allison Jones, James Catlin, James Shuler, Arthur Morris, Michael Kuhns

Aspen Bibliography

In the summer of 2012 we undertook a landscape assessment of aspen forest conditions at Wolf Creek Ranch (WCR) near Kamas, Utah. Using a geographic information system (GIS) coverage of predicted aspen coverage, fifty systematically selected field "plots" were located and mapped with aspen stands around WCR. Seven plots were eventually discarded from our survey due to lack of aspen cover. Volunteer field crews, mostly WCR homeowners, collected aspen data documenting tree sizes, height/age groups, diameters, reproduction, mortality, browse levels, and browse animal use levels.

Consumer Perceptions Of Poultry Production In Arkansas: Perceptions Analysis, Stuart Estes, Leslie D. Edgar

Discovery, The Student Journal of Dale Bumpers College of Agricultural, Food and Life Sciences

Poultry production holds an important place in Arkansas economically and as a food source. The importance of poultry production ultimately hinges on the demands of the consumer. With this in mind, this study surveyed consumers to assess their perceptions of poultry production in Arkansas. The instrument, used to survey consumers, was created by the researcher and an expert committee at the University of Arkansas. Consumers were interviewed through direct communication at grocery stores in northwest Arkansas. Data gathered from the study were analyzed for descriptive and correlational statistics. Two key findings were that consumers were unsure about the use of …

Assessment Of Students’ Crisis Communications Skill Increase Based On Classroom Instruction And Second Life™ Training, Gregory C. Jernigan, Jessica R. England, Leslie D. Edgar

Discovery, The Student Journal of Dale Bumpers College of Agricultural, Food and Life Sciences

Crisis communication training and skill development are critical to ensure the sustainability of the agriculture industry. The purpose of this study was to assess students’ perceptions of knowledge, ability, and skills on select crisis-related skills, tasks, and activities in order to identify the potential effectiveness of a Second LifeTM (SL) simulation. Pre- and post-test data were collected to determine the potential changes in skill in the seven crisis communication constructs of (a) related knowledge; (b) mass, group, and intrapersonal communications; (c) contingency planning; (d) use of related supplies and tools; (e) identifying learning and training needs; (f) related areas of …

Evaluation Of Cover Crops In High Tunnel Vegetable Rotation, Tyler A. Patrick, Neal Mays, Jason Mcafee, Curt R. Rom

Discovery, The Student Journal of Dale Bumpers College of Agricultural, Food and Life Sciences

Organic vegetable production within high tunnels allows for an extended growing season, crop protection, and environmental control. The USDA National Organic Program (NOP) standards mandate evidence that the soil has been maintained and improved over the course of production. Previous studies have indicated the potential of cover crops for reducing competitive vegetation, and improving soil quality, thus resulting in greater plant growth, nutrient uptake, and yield. However, there has been limited work in the confines of high tunnels as part of a tunnel-system rotation. Ten nitrogen-fixing and ten non-legume cover crops were established under a high tunnel and evaluated for …

Assessing Naturalistic Decision Making By Experienced And Inexperienced Interrogators In High Stakes Interviews, Amy Bethany Ross

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

The current thesis aimed to improve the ecological validity of human intelligence interrogation research. Although field practitioners and researchers have worked together to improve the scientific validity and practical execution of interrogation techniques, research has yet to understand how, when and why interrogators implement such techniques. This thesis investigated the active decision making processes of interrogators that occur during high value interrogations. The theory of Naturalistic Decision Making was used to capture the naturalistic characteristics of high value interrogations- ambiguity, time pressure and high stakes. To capture the decision-making processes that are associated with skilled performance, this research conducted in-depth …

Instructions For Authors, Discovery Editors

Discovery, The Student Journal of Dale Bumpers College of Agricultural, Food and Life Sciences

No abstract provided.