News Update
August 13, 2010

Strong Mid-year Results for U.S. Pork, Beef Exports

A very solid June performance allowed U.S. pork and beef exports to finish the first half of 2010 with strong momentum. According to statistics released by USDA and compiled by the U.S. Meat Export Federation (USMEF), pork exports of 164,000 metric tons (361.6 million pounds) were 24% higher than June 2009. Pork export value was $316.4 million, up 34%. June beef exports were 25% above year-ago volumes, totaling 96,578 metric tons (212.9 million pounds), while the value in June was up 37% to $377.6 million.
 

Beef export volume reached 495,443 metric tons (1.09 billion pounds) — up 14% over the first half of 2009. Export value has fared even better, rising 22% to $1.83 billion. Export value per steer and heifer slaughtered was $139, compared to less than $115 last year. The percentage of total production exported increased from 10% to 11%.

Full 2010 export results through June will be posted soon at www.usmef.org/news/statistics.

—Adapted from a USMEF release.

Nature or Nurture? Desert-born Brangus Cattle Choose Better Diet, Grazing Patterns, NMSU Study Shows

Recent research conducted at New Mexico State University’s (NMSU) Chihuahuan Desert Rangeland Research Center (CDRRC) is helping scientists tease apart the nature vs. nurture puzzle by showing that a cow’s geographic experience affects its grazing behavior and diet choices in the harsh desert rangeland pastures of southern New Mexico.

The study will also help livestock producers make management decisions that are both profitable and sustainable in desert rangelands.

Using GPS technology to track and monitor the animals, Derek Bailey and Milt Thomas, professors in the College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences’ Animal and Range Sciences department, compared the grazing distribution patterns and quality of forage selected by three groups of Brangus cows at the CDRRC:

• “native” — those living their entire lives in the Chihuahuan Desert;
  
• “tourist” — cows born and raised in the desert, moved to the subtropical environment of Leona, Texas, for the previous three years and then returned to the CDRRC; and
  
• “naive” — cows born and raised in Leona, Texas, with no desert experience before coming to the CDRRC.

“In the extensive rangeland pastures of New Mexico and the West, there are many areas far from water, up steep slopes or at higher elevations that are grazed lightly or not at all, while other areas near water or on gentle slopes are often overgrazed,” said Bailey, who is also director of the CDRRC, which is operated by NMSU’s Agricultural Experiment Station.

“If we can find animals that are more willing to walk farther from water and use pastures on steeper slopes and at higher elevations, we can make grazing in those areas more sustainable, and ranchers will be able to graze more livestock in them. This approach is cheaper than adding water or building fences to extend grazing areas,” Bailey said.

“CDRRC pastures are very large, some over 9,000 acres. The GPS collars allow us to watch where the cattle go and see how well they forage, how far they can walk for water and how well they can cover the landscape. We can determine their adaptability and how sustainable the grazing from these particular animals is,” he said.

“We know from the CDRRC’s multigenerational Brangus breeding program that, in general, Brangus cattle, which are three-eighths Brahman and five-eighths Angus, are well adapted to harsh desert rangelands,” Bailey said.

“But this study documented that native Brangus cows, those living their entire lives in the desert, had advantages over the other two groups.

“Native cows spent more time away from water, periods ranging from 24 to 48 hours, while naive and tourist cows spent 24 hours or less away from water. Also, native cows grazed and used areas farther away from water than either naive cows or tourist cows.

“On the other hand, naive cows, with no prior desert experience, used less area and stayed closer to water than tourist and native cows,” Bailey said.

The researchers found that cows with extensive desert experience — both native and tourist — chose a more nutritious diet during drought conditions than naive cows, which had no previous desert experience.

These results show that a cow’s experience does affect its ability to adapt to and thrive in the extensive rangeland pastures of the desert Southwest and that spending time away from the desert can affect an animal’s behavior and adaptability when it is returned to the desert rangeland.

And that information can be important for livestock producers making herd-stocking choices and decisions about sustainable rangeland management.

“We can recommend that ranchers using desert rangelands stock at levels allowing them to keep a core herd of cows adapted to this environment in drought conditions so those cows can produce their own replacements. If ranchers purchase new animals, we suggest they choose animals developed with forages and environments similar to a rancher’s location,” Bailey said.

Thomas, who is professor of animal science and the ACES’ 2010-2011 Gerald R. Thomas chair, focuses on molecular genetics and breeding. Since 1997, he has headed the CDRRC’s multigenerational Brangus breeding program, which began in the 1960s.

“Today, because we can analyze DNA, we can tell if an allele (one part of a gene pair) comes from the Brahman parent or from the Angus parent; therefore we can know that the phenotype (a trait or characteristic) of an individual Brangus is a certain way because of what it inherited from either the Angus or the Brahman,” Thomas said.

“Teasing apart the nature versus nurture puzzle is a challenging part of science and one of the areas that Derek and I work at almost every day,” Thomas said. “When we look at traits like grazing distribution and diet selection, we really want to know how much of each trait is due to genetics and how much is due to learning. When we know the difference between the two, we can make better recommendations to producers.”

“It’s very important in rangeland management to understand how the animals can adapt or produce in certain environments,” Thomas said.

“The cattle’s ability to understand the range itself is a part of the long-term selection process. Since we’ve been selecting the multigenerational Brangus cattle for many years over many generations now, the cows have figured out what’s good to eat in the desert in different seasons.

“It’s really amazing. In some seasons when the grass is dead, you would think there’s nothing good to eat, but the Brangus cows just seem to know how to go out and find what’s good to eat, and they eat a lot of stuff other than grass: forbs, like clover, sunflowers and milkweed; leaves off of shrubs; beans off of mesquite plants. They really have honed their foraging skills way beyond just eating grass,” he said.

“Our studies moving cattle from one environment to another are documenting that animals from an environment, that have been there for a long time, are going to have a knowledge advantage over animals that aren’t from there. It’s kind of like home-court advantage,” Thomas said.

“And that’s key information for livestock producers in the Chihuahuan Desert who are raising cattle here: Now we know there is great value in animals that are from this environment.”

— Release by NMSU.

ICA Regional Meeting To Be Held Around Iowa

Iowa Cattlemen’s Association (ICA) Regional Meetings will take place around the state of Iowa at the end of August.

Regional meetings give Iowa cattle producers the opportunity to have direct input with ICA leaders and to share their views on issues impacting their businesses.

All cattle producers and agri-business entities are invited and encouraged to attend.

Click the links below for more information:
Northeast Regional Meeting: Aug. 24 • Postville
Northwest Regional Meeting: Aug. 25 • Hartley
Southwest Regional Meeting: Aug. 26 • Lewis
Southeast Regional Meeting: Aug. 27 • Mount Pleasant

— Release by ICA.

— Compiled by Mathew Elliott, assistant editor, Angus Productions Inc.