Cornell University: Bell Ranch Project

Dr. Bob Weaber has finished his PhD dissertation on the Commercial Ranch Project and has taken a position with the University of Missouri. However, Bell Ranch continues to work with Dr. John Pollak and his Animal Breeding Group at Cornell University on the genetics pilot project that has created a system for commercial ranchers with multiple sire pastures to economically progeny test herd sires with minimal management intrusion. Furthermore, the system could be used as a service/marketing tool for seedstock breeders to assist customers in profitability and increase captured genetic information. The web-based system utilizes calf DNA for parentage genotyping and then measures economically relevant traits in the calves for a sire progeny test. The database is structured in Microsoft Access and Excel with support software being developed by JP Pollak and Ellen Chaffee from Cornell University. Dr. Jim Gibb of Merial is providing DNA services. The calves from this years Commercial Ranch Project will be DNA tested for tenderness markers and these markers will be evaluated for correlation with the infrared technology for scoring tenderness. Read an overview of the Cornell University/Bell Ranch project.

Cornell University: Cow Efficiency Study

Cow efficiency (CE) is usually defined as pounds of output per unit of input. Most often this is a ratio of pounds of feed (forage) consumed by the cow to the weaning weight of her calf. This is an extremely difficult number to calculate due to lack of certain knowledge of what a cow eats, and the difficulty of discovering these data. However, recent developments in modeling procedures have allowed for useful research using easily collected data such as pasture stocking rate, cow weight, frame score, weather conditions, and forage availability. CE can be seen as the pastoral equivalent of feed efficiency (FE), and obviously more efficient cows would be more profitable ones. Often, however, FE and CE are antagonistic traits. Cattle that perform well with the unlimited feed resources available in the feedlot are often not the same ones that perform well on arid western range. Because of the ongoing Cornell research at Bell Ranch, the opportunity exists to add CE projects. The CE research is done with no more data than is currently collected at the Mule Camp division. In fact, historic ranch records are utilized in order to provide more accuracy to the predictions. As we move forward in time, then, and since all the Mule Camp calves will be genotyped, perhaps some gene discovery for CE will occur from these data sets. The principal investigators are Dr. Danny Fox and Mike Baker both of Cornell University. The data collected and used in the projects are calf birth weight, weaning weight and frame score, cow weight, frame score and body condition score (at weaning and calving), calving date, forage quality throughout the year, amount of supplemental feed consumed and monthly average environmental conditions. These data are used to estimate the amount of energy that a cow consumes. It is then partitioned into energy for maintenance and energy for lactation. Because we will know the output of each cow, that is the weaning weight of her calf, we can calculate her energy efficiency by using a ratio of energy consumed / weight produced. The link to the research paper is:A MECHANISTIC NUTRITION MODEL TO EVALUATE BEEF COW EFFICIENCY

Montana State University: Grazing Research

During the winters of 2001 through 2003, low-moisture molasses blocks were evaluated as a tool to improve uniformity of grazing. In extensive and rugged rangeland, cattle often graze more heavily on gentler slopes and areas near water. Research in Montana, has shown that strategic placement of supplement can be used to lure cattle to areas that typically receive little use. Bell Ranch's ongoing research evaluates the effectiveness of strategic supplement in New Mexico. Low-moisture molasses blocks were placed in underutilized areas of the Bell Ranch. Forage utilization measurements were collected throughout the pastures to determine if cattle graze more forage near supplement placements. Forage standing crop (lbs. of forage / acre), forage quality measurements, supplement disappearance and other measurements were collected to help in the interpretation of the forage utilization data. Dr. Derek Bailey hopes to expand the project to include GPS location collars on the cattle after his move to New Mexico State University.