News Update
June 19, 2009

Secretary Tom Vilsack Announces $176M in Recovery Act Funding for Research Labs

Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack announced today that the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is distributing $176 million in Recovery Act funding to upgrade laboratory buildings and support facilities at research locations across the country. Not only will these projects further important research being conducted at USDA laboratories in 29 states, these funds will help revitalize local economies by creating jobs and supporting local businesses that supply needed construction products and services.

For the rest of the release and a list of facilities slated to receive funds, visit http://www.prweb.com/releases/2009/06/prweb2549034.htm.

— Adapted from a release provided by PR Web.

Beef Production Expert Joins MSU Animal Science Faculty

Jason Rowntree joined the Michigan State University (MSU) Department of Animal Science as assistant professor in beef production June 1.

The tenure stream faculty position is 65% Extension, 35% research. Rowntree’s research focuses on using forage-based management systems to achieve sustainable beef production. In addition, he studies how weaned calves deficient in selenium cope with bovine respiratory disease.

Before coming to MSU, Rowntree was an assistant professor of animal science at Louisiana State University (LSU) in Baton Rouge. He also served as the LSU Ag Center beef Extension coordinator, and he is a former chairperson of the Louisiana Beef Advisory Council.

— Adapted from a release provided by the MSU Department of Animal Science.

Southwestern KS Veterinary Center Expands

Travis McCarty has joined the staff of large and small animal specialists at Ashland Veterinary Center Inc., Ashland, Kan. McCarty, a 2008 graduate of Kansas State University College of Veterinary Medicine, was raised on a beef cow-calf operation in Southwest Kansas. After a one-year internship at the Oklahoma Equine Hospital, McCarty has applied his background and education to specialize in bovine medicine in the areas of cow-calf herd health and feedlot medicine.

— From a release provided by Ashland Veterinary Center Inc.

Texas Mayors Petition Federal Highway Administration to Reject Trans-Texas Corridor

Five Texas mayors and their school districts have filed a formal request with the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) to reject the environmental study for the Trans-Texas Corridor (TTC).

The TTC is a quarter-mile-wide transportation system championed by Governor Rick Perry as the first leg of an internationally funded toll road designed to connect Canada to Mexico for international trade. The Texas Legislature authorized the TTC in 2003, and Texans have been fighting the project ever since.

In August 2007, a group of five mayors and their city school districts, representing a total of 6,000 citizens, banded together to slow down the project. They formed the Eastern Central Texas Sub-Regional Planning Commission (ECTSRPC) under Chapter 391 of the Local Government Code, which gave them the ability to require the Texas Department of Transportation (TXDOT) to coordinate the project with the Commission. In effect, they created a 30-mile gap in the middle of the TTC/I-35 corridor route.

During the first meeting with TXDOT in October 2007, the agency stated that the DEIS, the environmental study necessary to move the project forward, would be sent to the FHWA for final approval by January 2008. Commission members raised objections and cited critical concerns stemming from TXDOT’s refusal to study the direct impact on the local communities and their economies.

Last year, they called on the FHWA to require the agency to conduct a supplemental study. It has been 20 months since the first meeting, and TXDOT has yet to file for final approval.

The corridor will take 146 acres per mile. The total length of the Texas I-35 corridor spans approximately 550 miles, directly affecting more than 81,000 acres of private property and hundreds of small, rural communities. This direct impact, such as the division of award-winning school districts and cutting citizens off from emergency services, was never considered in the DEIS.

Barely mentioned in the DEIS is the Blacklands Prairie. TXDOT’s preferred route will destroy thousands of acres of the Blacklands, which is the heart of the local economies represented by the ECTSRPC. The Blacklands are considered to be some of the most productive and unique farmlands in the nation. They produce bountiful crops annually without irrigation, making them a prized resource in modern America where water conservation is a key concern.

Now, they are calling on the FHWA to reject the study in its entirety and begin anew, this time taking the local concerns into account. According to the Texas Administrative Code, the three-year window to complete the study expired as of April 4, 2009, giving rise to the petition to reject the current study. Stewards of the Range helped the Commission organize.

For a copy of the petition and more information go to http://www.stewards.us/.

— Adapted from a release provided by PR Web.

Irrigated Pasture Procedures Pump Profits for Washington Cattle Producers

A little water and an annual planting of the right grass seed can go a long way toward increasing the bottom line for cattle producers, especially if they are part of an irrigated pasture practice incorporating the latest technology and methods.

Frank Hendrix, Washington State University (WSU) Extension educator and this year’s Yakima County Cattleman of the Year, is testing new grasses and pasturing techniques at plots in the Yakima Valley. So far, the results have translated into substantial savings for producers, especially in winter feed costs.

At work and at home, he supplements the perennial grasses in his irrigated pastures with an annual planting of primarily cool-season grasses — orchard grass, fall fescue and rye — mixed with legumes, red clover, white clover or alfalfa. The latter are natural nitrogen fixers that “greatly reduce the amount of fertilizer we need,” Hendrix said.

With that planting in August, a pasture can be grazed in late fall, over winter and early spring in addition to the traditional season. It increases the grazing season by about 80 days, according to Hendrix.

“Each day of added grazing means a day less winter feeding expense,” he said. “Each day of grazing means the cattle are not in confinement, and the manure is out on the field where there is no negative effect.”

It makes sense financially, too. “For every dollar it costs to put in that annual mix, we’ve been able to graze $11,” Hendrix said. “That’s not too bad.”

Hendrix also uses some new grazing techniques to maximize profits and lower costs.

In addition to the portable, high-voltage electric fence developed in the 1970s to split large pastures into smaller paddocks, he now uses “tumble wheels,” rolling dividers that allow cattle to graze in 6-foot-per-day increments. “They give a rest stage for the grass, which is a lot better for the grass and makes the pasture a lot more productive,” he said.

He noted that irrigated pasture has been found to fix approximately 8 tons of carbon per acre. His next project? Exploring how to tie solar panels into the irrigation electrical grid to reduce producer costs even more.

— Release written by Kathy Barnard for WSU Cooperative Extension.

Carrington Research Extension Center to Host Beef Production Tours July 14

Beef ranch money management, natural and Korean beef markets, manure as fertilizer and cattle carcass disposal will be among the topics at the beef production portion of the North Dakota State University Carrington Research Extension Center’s annual field tours July 14.

The beef production program will begin at 9 a.m. with registration and coffee. The tours will start at 9:30 and run until noon. Agronomy tours will be held in the afternoon.

Topics include the business of beef ranch money management; using ultrasounds for carcass quality and breeding; North Dakota natural beef and Korean markets as an outlet for locally processed and fed cattle; energy use comparisons between composted manure and fresh manure; composting cattle; cattle disposition and carcass quality; water quality — flood, drought and livestock drinking; cattle feedout lessons; and a cow-calf and feedlot research review.

Also, the NDSU Extension Service once again will offer free water quality screening during the field day. Anyone wanting their water tested for nitrates, total dissolved solids, pH (acidity or alkalinity) and hardness should collect samples in any clean plastic bottle capable of holding 15 to 20 ounces and bring them to the field tour event.

Minnesota Valley Testing Laboratories also is offering to test water for a coliform group of microorganisms that includes E. coli. Johnson will have sterile bottles for people to take home to collect the sample and then send to the Minnesota Valley Testing’s laboratory in Bismarck. The cost for this test is $8 and will be collected when people pick up the sterile bottle from her at the field tour event.

For more information about the beef production program, contact Hoppe at 701-652-2951 or karl.hoppe@ndsu.edu. For more details on the water quality testing, contact Johnson at 701-231-8926 or roxanne.m.johnson@ndsu.edu.

— Release by Ellen Crawford, NDSU Cooperative Extension.

Fertilizer and Cattle Do Not Mix

Veterinarians have received reports of cattle fertilizer poisoning this spring.

“With the number of cattle out in pasture and the poor condition of many fences, plus everyone rushing to try to get the crop planted in a very late planting season, these accidental poisonings can and do occur,” says Charles Stoltenow, North Dakota State University (NDSU) Extension Service veterinarian.

One reason for the poisoning is that cattle are curious animals, Stoltenow explains. Their curiosity is exhibited by licking, tasting and consuming. Cattle will consume just about anything, including fertilizer (ammonium nitrate or potassium nitrate).

Fertilizer poisoning is the same as nitrate poisoning. The nitrate ion itself is not generally toxic to cattle. However, cattle convert nitrates to nitrite through the digestion process. The nitrite is converted to ammonia and then converted to protein by bacteria in the rumen. If cattle ingest fertilizer, the nitrate is converted to nitrite very quickly and the nitrite will accumulate in the rumen. Nitrite is 10 times as toxic to cattle as nitrate.

Nitrite is absorbed into the red blood cells and combines with hemoglobin to form methemoglobin. Methemoglobin cannot transport oxygen as effectively as hemoglobin, so the animal’s heart rate and respiration increase. The blood and tissues of the animal take on a blue to chocolate-brown tinge. Muscle tremors can develop, staggering occurs and the animal eventually suffocates.

“Fertilizer is good for plants, but not good for cattle,” Stoltenow says.

The best way of preventing fertilizer-related nitrate poisoning in cattle is by controlling access to fertilizer. Avoid letting cattle graze immediately after spreading fertilizer, and clean up fertilizer spills. Areas where the fertilizer spreader turns or areas where filling (and consequently spilling) take place may have excessive quantities of nitrate available to the cattle. Also, do not allow cattle to have access to areas where fertilizers are stored.

“The diagnosis of nitrate poisoning is based on clinical signs and the history of access to fertilizer,” Stoltenow says. “A veterinarian should be consulted for a definitive diagnosis. The prognosis is very guarded with nitrate poisoning. Animals can be treated with intravenous medication, but a veterinarian must be consulted because some of the medications used are not approved by the Food and Drug Administration for use in food-producing animals.”

— From a release by Richard Maltern, NDSU Cooperative Extension.

— Compiled by Linda Robbins, assistant editor, Angus Productions Inc.