Managing Dairy Heifer Growth Investment

Accelerated prepubertal growth rates can lower heifer raising costs but may put heifers at risk for impaired mammary development and have been found to be detrimental decreased to milk production in the first lactation. The tradeoff between heifer raising costs and milk production loss is examined in a capital budgeting model. Monthly annuity net present value of a heifer investment through the first lactation is assessed for heifers calving at 20, 22, 24, 26 and 28 months of age. A 24 mo AFC base case strategy with 9009.5 kg subsequent first lactation milk yields $7.34 in returns per month. Accelerated growth resulted in higher returns ($12.77/mo for 20 mo AFC; $9.86/mo for 22 mo AFC) when milk production is not affected as total raising costs decline relative to the base case. Slower growth resulted in lower returns ($5.12/mo for 26 mo AFC; $3.15/mo for 28 mo AFC). When milk production declines, revenues decline as do feed and marketing costs which are a function of milk produced. Adjusting for factors, breakeven milk production losses were 10.6 % for 20 mo AFC and 5.3 % for 22 mo AFC relative to the 24 mo AFC base. These results were not sensitive to the assumed discount rate, heifer feed costs or discount rate. Other operation-specific heifer management factors including calving season, reproduction, herd size/expansion considerations and, in the longer-term, heifer facilities investments may be more significant economically than the differences found in this analysis.Heifer growth, Economics, Investment, Livestock Production/Industries,

Improving integrated management decisions for corn and soybean farmers through use of a mobile scouting application (app)

Scouting efforts by farmers, field agronomists and crop advisors diagnose field issues experienced throughout a growing season. Modern crop scouting tools include the use of mobile scouting applications (apps) on smartphones or tablets. These apps allow scouts to document observations while viewing issues within a field. Throughout the 2014 to 2018 growing seasons, over 1,000 scouting notes were recorded and summarized using Pioneer’s Encirca® View mobile scouting app, primarily documenting issues in corn and soybean fields in central Iowa. This summary of field scouting notes shows the frequency of various field issues, correlates data to certain weather patterns, and evaluates the use of a mobile scouting app. Weather-related stresses and diseases were the most commonly documented agronomic issues. The most common disease issues, northern corn leaf blight and gray leaf spot, followed expected temperature and precipitation trends. Ultimately mobile scouting apps provide value to both the crop scout and the farmer in terms of convenience and efficiency. However, the mobile app needs to be used consistently throughout the full growing season to optimize value with future use

Milk production and energy metabolism in ruminants fed 2-ketoisocaproate

Three trials were conducted to examine the effect of dietary 2-ketoisocaproate (KIC) supplementation on milk production and energy metabolism in ruminants. In the first two trials, 10 goats were fed either 0 or 1.1% calcium-KIC for 2 wk and 12 cows were fed either 0 or.75% sodium-KIC for 3 wk. Supplementation with KIC significantly increased milk fat content, milk fat yield, and 4% fat-corrected milk yield in cows by an average of 5, 10, and 8%, respectively, for the treatment period. In cows, response of milk fat yield to KIC was 14% during wk 1 of treatment but diminished to 7% by wk 3. Milk yield and milk protein yield tended to be greater in cows fed KIC, but milk production efficiency and body weight were unaltered in either species. In goats, supplementation with KIC had no significant effects on milk production or composition, but trends toward increased milk fat and protein content were observed;In the third trial, 30 mixed-breed growing lambs were fed a control diet or ruminally-protected leucine, KIC, or isovalerate at a molar equivalent of.05% leucine in the diet. Lambs were fed their respective diets for about 13 wk and slaughtered upon reaching 50 kg body weight. During wk 8, plasma glucose and acetate turnover rates were measured. Perirenal lipid deposition was decreased in lambs fed KIC by 45% (P \u3c.01) and tended to be decreased in lambs fed leucine by 29%. KIC also tended to decrease backfat thickness (25%, P \u3c.09). Leucine tended to decrease growth rate and efficiency of feed conversion when compared with KIC. Plasma glucagon concentration was less for lambs fed leucine, KIC, and isovalerate than for controls during wk 4 but not wk 8. Acetate flux tended to be greater in lambs fed KIC and leucine than in those fed isovalerate. Dietary treatment did not alter glucose concentration or flux or acetate concentration or oxidation rate;In summary, feeding KIC acutely stimulated milk fat production in lactating cows and decreased lipid deposition and plasma glucagon concentration in growing lambs. In growing lambs, the effect of KIC on lipid deposition was greater than that of either leucine or isovalerate. These results indicate that KIC may alter lipid metabolism in ruminants so that nutrients are partitioned away from body lipid stores and toward milk production

Computer networking among faculty members: the effects of computer networking on faculty communication and culture

Because computer networking has become an important communication medium for faculty members, this study was conducted to explore the effects of computer networking upon faculty communication and culture. Members of research universities I astronomy departments (N = 180) were surveyed to find out how computer networking affected their communication and shared disciplinary and institutional cultures;Results showed that computer networking was most used for exchange between research partners. In addition, computer networking decreased the use of the telephone and conventional mail but had no effect on other traditional media. Computer networking also increased communication between remote colleagues. The effect of computer networking on faculty culture was minimal. However, in the slight differences which did appear, high level computer networkers defined the discipline and institution with a slightly different set of constructs. Moderate level computer network users held significantly different beliefs about the actual and ideal states of the discipline and institution. High level computer networkers were the least satisfied with the current state of their institutions. The low and high level computer networking groups showed more difference between the beliefs and ideal states they hold for their discipline and institution and their beliefs of other\u27s beliefs and ideal states. The computer groups varied most on the cooperation construct and on their beliefs and ideal states of the institution

Maximizing efficiency of rumen microbial protein production.

Rumen microbes produce cellular protein inefficiently partly because they do not direct all ATP toward growth. They direct some ATP toward maintenance functions, as long-recognized, but they also direct ATP toward reserve carbohydrate synthesis and energy spilling (futile cycles that dissipate heat). Rumen microbes expend ATP by vacillating between (1) accumulation of reserve carbohydrate after feeding (during carbohydrate excess) and (2) mobilization of that carbohydrate thereafter (during carbohydrate limitation). Protozoa account for most accumulation of reserve carbohydrate, and in competition experiments, protozoa accumulated nearly 35-fold more reserve carbohydrate than bacteria. Some pure cultures of bacteria spill energy, but only recently have mixed rumen communities been recognized as capable of the same. When these communities were dosed glucose in vitro, energy spilling could account for nearly 40% of heat production. We suspect that cycling of glycogen (a major reserve carbohydrate) is a major mechanism of spilling; such cycling has already been observed in single-species cultures of protozoa and bacteria. Interconversions of short-chain fatty acids (SCFA) may also expend ATP and depress efficiency of microbial protein production. These interconversions may involve extensive cycling of intermediates, such as cycling of acetate during butyrate production in certain butyrivibrios. We speculate this cycling may expend ATP directly or indirectly. By further quantifying the impact of reserve carbohydrate accumulation, energy spilling, and SCFA interconversions on growth efficiency, we can improve prediction of microbial protein production and guide efforts to improve efficiency of microbial protein production in the rumen

Engaging community planners and local elected officials with local food systems producers to integrate local food systems into community plans and policies

Researchers examined three key obstacles to making progress in local food systems from a planning and land use perspective that could be handled by applying community planning tactics

A case study of the carbon footprint of milk from high-performing confinement and grass-based dairy farms

Life cycle assessment (LCA) is the preferred methodology to assess carbon footprint per unit of milk. The objective of this case study was to apply a LCA method to compare carbon footprints of high performance confinement and grass-based dairy farms. Physical performance data from research herds were used to quantify carbon footprints of a high performance Irish grass-based dairy system and a top performing UK confinement dairy system. For the USA confinement dairy system, data from the top 5% of herds of a national database were used. Life cycle assessment was applied using the same dairy farm greenhouse gas (GHG) model for all dairy systems. The model estimated all on and off-farm GHG sources associated with dairy production until milk is sold from the farm in kg of carbon dioxide equivalents (CO2-eq) and allocated emissions between milk and meat. The carbon footprint of milk was calculated by expressing the GHG emissions attributed to milk per t of energy corrected milk (ECM). The comparison showed when GHG emissions were only attributed to milk, the carbon footprint of milk from the IRE grass-based system (837 kg of CO2-eq/t of ECM)¬ was 5% lower than the UK confinement system (877 kg of CO2-eq/t of ECM) and 7% lower than the USA confinement system (898 kg of CO2-eq/t of ECM). However, without grassland carbon sequestration, the grass-based and confinement dairy systems had similar carbon footprints per t of ECM. Emission algorithms and allocation of GHG emissions between milk and meat also affected the relative difference and order of dairy system carbon footprints. For instance, depending on the method chosen to allocate emissions between milk and meat, the relative difference between the carbon footprints of grass-based and confinement dairy systems varied by 2-22%. This indicates that further harmonization of several aspects of the LCA methodology is required to compare carbon footprints of contrasting dairy systems. In comparison to recent reports that assess the carbon footprint of milk from average Irish, UK and USA dairy systems, this case study indicates that top performing herds of the respective nations have carbon footprints 27-32% lower than average dairy systems. Although, differences between studies are partly explained by methodological inconsistency, the comparison suggests that there is potential to reduce the carbon footprint of milk in each of the nations by implementing practices that improve productivity

Cost of the Diet: a method and software to calculate the lowest cost of meeting recommended intakes of energy and nutrients from local foods

Background When food is available, the main obstacle to access is usually economic: people may not be able to afford a nutritious diet, even if they know what foods to eat. The Cost of the Diet method and software was developed to apply linear programming to better understand the extent to which poverty may affect people’s ability to meet their nutritional specifications. This paper describes the principles of the method; the mathematics underlying the linear programming; the parameters and assumptions on which the calculations are based; and then illustrates the output of the software using examples taken from assessments. Results The software contains five databases: the energy and nutrient content of foods; the energy and nutrient specifications of individuals; predefined groups of individuals in typical households; the portion sizes of foods; and currency conversion factors. Data are collected during a market survey to calculate the average cost of foods per 100 g while focus group discussions are used to assess local dietary habits and preferences. These data are presented to a linear programming solver within the software which selects the least expensive combination of local foods for four standard diets that meet specifications for: energy only; energy and macronutrients; energy, macronutrients and micronutrients; and energy, macronutrients and micronutrients but with constraints on the amounts per meal that are consistent with typical dietary habits. Most parameters in the software can be modified by users to examine the potential impact of a wide range of theoretical interventions. The output summarises for each diet the costs, quantity and proportion of energy and nutrient specifications provided by all the foods selected for a given individual or household by day, week, season and year. When the cost is expressed as a percentage of income, the affordability of the diet can be estimated. Conclusions The Cost of the Diet method and software could be used to inform programme design and behaviour change communication in the fields of nutrition, food security, livelihoods and social protection as well as to influence policies and advocacy debates on the financial cost of meeting energy and nutrient specifications

Short communication: relationship between body growth and mammary development in dairy heifers

Our objective was to determine if prepubertal rate of body weight (BW) gain, independent of diet, was related to mammary development of dairy heifers. Data from two studies recently conducted at Michigan State University were used to identify factors, within a dietary treatment group, that would account for variation in first lactation milk production or amount of mammary parenchymal DNA at the time of puberty. Factors analyzed for variation in milk production during first lactation were: postpartum BW, prepubertal BW gain, gestational BW gain, postpartum BW gain, body condition score (BCS) at breeding, and BCS at calving. Factors analyzed for variation in mammary parenchymal DNA at puberty were: BW at slaughter, age at puberty, prepubertal BW gain and body protein and body fat content at slaughter. For both analyses, prepubertal BW gain did not account for any of the variation in mammary development. The only significant covariate for the milk production model (r2 = 0.44) was BCS at breeding. Similarly, the only significant covariate in the parenchymal DNA model (r2 = 0.22) was body fat content at slaughter. These results suggest that, within a dietary treatment, heifers that grow faster do not have impaired mammary development, and increased body fatness may be a better predictor of impaired mammary development than BW gain

A Study of Outcomes Following Collaborative Medical Doctor/Physical Therapist Primary Care Service for Musculoskeletal Problems

Background and Purpose: Collaborative medical doctor/physical therapist primary care services are not described in the literature. The 2 purposes of this observational study were to describe a collaborative medical doctor/physical therapist primary care service, and to describe simple, one question, outcomes including patient acceptable symptom state (PASS), global rating of normal function (GRNF), and success of treatment (SOT) at intake, 1 to 7 days, and 45 to 60 days follow-up. Methods: Patients were seen for 1 to 2 visits and typically received exercise, hands on treatment, ie, manual therapy, and education. Medical doctor/physical therapist collaborative encounters and provider training are described. Outcome measures were recorded at the first visit, via phone once between 1 to 7 days and once between 45 to 60 days. Descriptive data was calculated at each time point. Findings: Examples of collaborative diagnosis and treatment opportunities are tabulated. A total of 31.9% of patients were PASS Yes at intake (n=402). At 1 to 7 days (n=157; 50.3%) and 45 to 60 days (n=93; 55.9%), the proportion of PASS Yes patients were higher. There was little difference in the GRNF scale at any follow-up. At 45 to 60 days, the SOT question indicated most patients (45.7%) reported “improved” and 29.3% of patients reported as “partly cured” or “cured.” Clinical Relevance: Collaborative opportunities for diagnosis and treatment in primary care are provided. A model using the PASS, GRNF, and SOT questions for judging the urgency which a service needs modification to meet patient needs is proposed. Conclusion: A collaborative medical doctor/physical therapist model is a viable option to improve primary care services. This descriptive data suggests some level of success, however, there is little relevant data for comparison