Farm-Scale Greenhouse Gas Emissions’ Decision Support Systems

In this paper, 15 farm-scale Green House Gas-based (GHG-based) decision support (DS) tools were evaluated based on a number of criteria (descriptive evaluation), as well as the parameters requested as inputs and the outputs, all of which are considered important for the estimation procedure and the decision support approach. The tools were grouped as emission calculators and tools providing indicators in terms of more than one pillar of sustainability. The results suggest an absence of automatic consultation in decision support in most of the tools. Furthermore, dairy and beef cattle production systems are the most represented in the tools examined. This research confirms a number of important functionalities of modern GHG-based DS tools.

Effects of Temperament on the Reproduction of Beef Cattle

Temperament is often defined as the behavioral expression of animals in response to human interaction. Cattle temperament can be evaluated using an association of chute score and exit velocity, with cattle then classified as adequate or excitable temperament. To assess the impacts of temperament on various beef systems, these evaluation criteria were associated with productive and reproductive parameters of Bos taurus and B. indicus-influenced cattle. Consistently across studies, excitable cattle had greater plasma cortisol compared to animals with adequate temperament. Studies also reported that excitable beef females have poorer reproductive performance compared to calmer cohorts, including reduced annual pregnancy rates, decreased calving rate, weaning rate, and kg of calf weaned/cow exposed to breeding. Acclimating B. indicus × B. taurus or B. taurus heifers to human handling improved behavioral expression of temperament and hastened puberty attainment. However, similar benefits were not observed when mature cows were acclimated to human handling. Collectively, temperament of beef females measured via behavioral responses upon human handling impacts their reproductive and productive responses independent of breed type, and should be considered for optimal beef cattle production.

Undergraduate Certificate in Beef Cattle Production Management

owa State University (ISU) offers undergraduate certificates to demonstrate completion of a focused study in a specialized area across a variety of disciplines. The certificate has the significant benefit of allowing students to customize their curriculum and document completion of an approved course of study. A Beef Cattle Production Management Certificate is offered within the Animal Science Department at ISU. The certificate requirements are organized to correspond with faculty and employer-defined needs for a successful transition from ISU student to beef cattle industry professional.  The Beef Cattle Production Management certificate will integrate technical topics in animal science with practical considerations in enterprise management. Two critical components to the certificate are the capstone Beef Cattle Enterprise Management course and a required internship that focuses on beef cattle management. Students that complete the certificate will have the background to identify and address challenges in modern beef cattle production enterprises. Further, the certificate assists employers in identifying students that have shown the interest, discipline, and ability to complete this specialized study program. 

183 Designing Research for Beef Cattle Production in Extensive Environments

Designing research for beef cattle production in rangeland environments is an ongoing challenge for researchers worldwide. Specifically, creating study designs that mirror actual production environments yet have enough observations for statistical inference is a challenge that often hinders researchers in efforts to publish their observations. Numerous journals will accept “case study” or observational results that lack valid statistical inference. However, these journals are limited in number and often lack impact. Approaches are available to gain statistical inference by creating multiple observations within a common group of animals. Approaches to increasing statistical observations will be discussed in this presentation. Modeling animal behavior and performance on extensive rangeland landscapes is commonly practiced in wildlife ecology and, more recently, has been published in Animal Science journals. Additionally, new technology has made it possible to apply treatments (e.g., supplementation studies) to individual animals on extensive environments where large, diverse herds/flocks of cattle/sheep are managed as a single group. Use of individual animal identification (EID) and feed intake technology has opened a wide range of research possibilities for beef cattle production systems research in rangeland environments. Likewise, global positioning system (GPS) collars and activity monitors have created the opportunity to evaluate animal grazing behavior in remote and extensive landscapes. The use of multiple regression models to evaluate resource use in extensive environments will, in turn, help managers optimize beef cattle production and the sustainable use of forage/rangeland resources. Embracing new technologies such as GPS, activity monitors, EID tags, and feed intake monitors combined with multiple regression modeling tools will aid in designing and publishing beef cattle production research in extensive rangeland environments.

PSVIII-19 Greenhouse gas emissions from beef cattle production in Brazil: how we can mitigate from animal operations?

In Brazil beef cattle production is one of the most important activities in the agricultural sector and has an important impact on environmental and resources consumption. In this study assessed greenhouses gases (GHG) impacts from on farms representative productive system and the possible improvements of the production chain. Primary data from animal production index and feeding were collected from 17 farms, which covers 300.000 animals and 220.000 hectares. Emissions of methane, nitrous oxide and carbon dioxide were made using intergovernmental panel on climate change (IPCC) guidelines for national inventories. The GHG inventory included emissions from animals, feeds and operations for animal operation from “cradle to farm gate”. Emissions of each farm were converted to carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2eq) and divided by carcass production. Regression analysis between carbon dioxide equivalent and productive index was run to identify possible hotspot of GHG emissions. A large variation between farms were observed. The GHG yield ranged from 8.63 kg to 50.88 CO2eq kg carcass-1. The productive index age of slaughtering (P < 0.0001), average daily gain (P < 0.0001) and productivity (P = 0.058) per area were positive correlated to GHG yield. While no correlation was found with stocking rate (P = 0.21). Improvements of the production chain could be realized by accurate animal management strategies that reduce the age of slaughtering (feeding and genetic improvements) and gain individual or per area using strategic animal supplementation and pasture management, in order to obtains reduction of GHG emissions of beef cattle.

518 Late-Breaking: Effect of Feedlot Diets on Environmental Emissions from Four Representative U.S. Feedlots and the Beef Production System

Our objective was to evaluate effects of feedlot dietary management strategies on environmental impacts and net returns of feedlot operations in the United States. Representative feedlots were simulated with the Integrated Farm System Model (IFSM 4.6; USDA-ARS, University Park, PA) to quantify baseline environmental impacts of feedlot production and full US beef cattle production systems. The simulated dietary strategies included: 10% increase in feed efficiency, use of less water intensive forages, 10% increase in byproduct inclusion, 10% improvement in water use efficiency of corn, and steam-flaking of corn. Days on feed and head finished per year were held constant for all strategies to have equal comparisons to baseline results. Dietary management strategies were individually modeled and simulated in IFSM for each feedlot operation to obtain intensities (expressed per kg gain) for greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, fossil energy use, blue water consumption, and reactive nitrogen loss. Feedlot operations were then linked with cow-calf, stocker, and backgrounding operations to estimate environmental intensities (expressed per kg CW) for full cattle production systems. Improving feed efficiency had the greatest effect on reducing carbon emission intensities (6%), energy use intensity (8%), blue water use intensity (9%), and reactive N loss intensity (4%) for feedlot operations. Increasing corn byproduct inclusion resulted in 9% reduction in blue water use intensity. However, byproduct inclusion increased reactive N loss intensity by 11% as a result of greater protein concentrations in the diet. Switching from rolled corn to steam flaked corn increased energy use intensity by 9%, but little to no changes (1% increase to 3% reduction) were observed for other environmental intensities. Improved feed efficiency was the most effective strategy to reduce environmental footprints of beef cattle production (1 to 2% reductions). Overall, feedlot dietary strategies were less pronounced for the full beef production system compared with feedlot results.

520 Late-Breaking: Effect of Technology on Environmental Emissions from Four Representative U.S. Feedlots and the Beef Production System

Our objective was to evaluate effects of technological management strategies on environmental impacts and net returns of feedlot operations in the United States. Feedlot operations were simulated with the Integrated Farm System Model (IFSM 4.6; USDA-ARS, University Park, PA) to quantify baseline environmental impacts of feedlot production and full US beef cattle production systems. Strategies simulated included: ionophore, implant, ractopamine hydrochloride, combined management (ionophore, implant, and ractopamine hydrochloride; I+I+R), lubabegron, reduced mortality rate, and improved fiber digestion. Days on feed were adjusted whenever necessary and according to production practices typical of commercial feedlots. Subsequently, annual number of cattle finished by the operation was adjusted according to days on feed to maintain consistent one-time capacities. Mitigation strategies were individually modeled and simulated in IFSM for each feedlot operation to calculate intensities (expressed per kg gain) for greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, fossil energy use, blue water consumption, and reactive nitrogen loss. Additionally, net returns to management were estimated for each feedlot operation. Feedlots were then integrated with simulations of cow-calf, stocker, and backgrounding operations to estimate environmental intensities (expressed per kg carcass weight) for the full beef cattle production system. Carbon emission intensity was reduced most using the I+I+R strategy (10%), followed by implant (6%) and ionophore (5%) strategies alone. Similarly, energy use intensity was reduced the greatest by I+I+R (9%), ionophore (5%), and implants (4%). Reductions in water use intensity were also greatest using I+I+R (9%). Net returns increased for all strategies compared to baseline net return with the greatest improvements observed for I+I+R ($114/finished animal) and implants ($66/animal). Consistent results were observed for all strategies simulated across all four environmental intensities when quantified for the full cattle production system. Implementing I+I+R (7%), ractopamine hydrochloride (4%), and lubabegron (4%) in feedlots resulted in the greatest reductions in environmental emissions.