State
Board of Agricultural Research and Education
Animal
Agriculture Granting Committee
Burleigh
County Extension Office
January
6, 2009
Meeting
Minutes
The
meeting was called to order at 9 a.m.
Voting members present were Stan Melroe, Lyle Warner, Allan Tellmann,
Steve Metzger and Raymond Erbele. Non-voting members present were Dr. Greg
Lardy and Dr. David Buchanan. Also
present was Lori Capouch
The
committee appointed Steve Metzer to chair the meeting by consensus.
The
committee briefly discussed the guidelines for the Agricultural Research Fund
and procedures for conducting the meeting.
The
following presentations were heard:
Global
gene regulation in Escherichia coli 0157:H7 on the surface of beef
Researcher:
Birgit Pruess
Amount
requested: $10,000
The
Escherichia coli isolate 0157:H7 is a highly virulent pathogen and one of the
predominant causes of E. coil associated food-borne disease in the United
States. With this project, researchers
will start the development of a new antimicrobial spray that constitutes a
nutrient or metabolic intermediate for the bacteria that they will find harder
to become resistant against. This nutrient or metabolite when sprayed on the
surface of the beef will affect cellular processes, such as cell division or acid
resistance. The new sprays could be used
alone or in combination with one of the current acid sprays.
Impact
of cattle health on beef quality
Researcher:
Robert Maddock
Amount
requested: $6,500
The
health of cattle in feedlots may be an important factor affecting the value,
tenderness, and taste of beef.
Researchers propose to examine the relationship between cattle health
and meat quality.
Effects
of an integrated crops/livestock system on beef cow growth performance, soil
quality and economic risk
Researcher:
Eric Scholljegerdes
Amount
requested: $10,229
The
objectives of this project are to determine whether cows can effectively be
grown on annual crops compared to perennial grass plus hay feeding or Altai
wild rye. In this trial, researchers will
use 42 Angus cows divided up into eight cows per pasture and two pastures per
treatment. Treatments will be 1) grass pasture plus hay feeding (control); 2)
Altai wild rye continuously grazed; or 3) swath grazing annual crops. This experiment will evaluate the effects of
these feeding systems on animal performance, soil quality, and economic
indicators.
Impacts
of fatty acid supplementation prior to breeding on circulating progesterone and
prostaglandin F2apha metabolite concentrations in beef heifers
Researcher:
Kimberly Vonnahme
Amount
requested: $6,720
Hormone
analysis will be performed to determine if diet modulates reproductive success.
Impacts
of maternal exercise on litter size, offspring growth, and muscle fiber
characteristics
Researcher: Kimberly Vonnahme
Amount
requested: $10,270
The
objective of this project is to determine if exercise during pregnancy may
influence meat quality in offspring
Ruminal
by-pass supplementation of L-Arginine in ruminants: impacts on reproduction
Researcher:
Joel Caton
Amount
requested: $8,860
This
project is designed to provide baseline data evaluating targeted by-pass amino
acids fo supplementation to ruminant livestock.
Development
of quantitative methods of evaluating analgesic drug efficacy in lame dairy cows
Researcher:
Sarah Wagner
Amount
requested: $5,337
This
project was withdrawn.
Odor
setback estimation tool from livestock and poultry facilities in North Dakota
Researcher:
Shafiqur Rahman
Amount
requested: $15,000
The
objective of this study is to develop a science based method to estimate odor
setback distance from livestock and poultry production facilities and the
surrounding area.
Nutrient
levels in stockpiled and composted livestock and poultry manure in North Dakota
livestock operations
Researcher:
Shafiqur Rahman
Amount
requested: $14,000
The
objective of this project is to measure nutrient contents of manure from
different livestock and poultry species (i.e. beef, dairy, swine, sheep, bison
and poultry) as stockpiled/stored, and composted in North Dakota livestock
operations.
Rabies
in North Dakota: rapid diagnosis and risk factors associated with infection
Researcher:
N.W. Dyer
Amount
requested: $13,740
The
project is based on two primary objectives: 1) the development of a polymerase chain
reaction (PCR) assay which can be added to the existing rabies diagnostic menu
at the NDSU-VDL. This would allow for
more accurate diagnosis, particularly in cases where decomposed tissue has been
submitted for testing. This process will
require a validation process which compares results from existing test methods
in the lab to the new assay. 2) Analysis of epidemiologic information which
will contribute to researchers’ knowledge of risk factors associated with
exposure to the rabies virus. This information
has recently become more important as medical providers no longer are able to
routinely dispense post exposure rabies treatment for people who feel they have
had exposure to the virus. The
epidemiologic survey will provide information which can reduce public exposure
to the virus.
Does
post-fasting hyperphagia in finishing swine improve feed utilization, rate of
gain,a nd reduce feed production costs?
Researcher:
Eric Berg
Amount
requested: $10,290
This
study will examine if cyclical fasting improves rate of gain, feed efficiency,
and shortens days to market of finishing swine.
Influence
of level of distillers grains plus soluble on animal performance, carcass
characteristics, sulfur balance and ruminal hydrogen sulfide gas concentration
in ruminants
Researchers:
Christopher Schauer & Bryan Neville
Amount
requested: $17,040
This
project will look at the effects increasing dried distillers grains plus
soluble have on animal performance, carcass characteristics, sulfur balance,
and hydrogen sulfide gas concentrations in ruminants. Sulfur balance will be evaluated in lambs fed
a finishing ration containing 0, 20, 40 or 60 percent DDGs. Lambs as well as beef steers will also be
used to evaluate the ruminal hydrogen sulfide gas concentrations when feeding
these diets. Steers will be fed to a
slaughter weight at which time animal performance and carcass data will be
collected and analyzed.
Genome
sequence analysis of Campylobacter fetus associated with human infection and
bison abortion
Researcher:
Catherine Logue
Amount
requested: $25,000
(A
formal presentation was not given for this project.)
This
project is seeking funds to complete whole genome analysis of a sequenced
Campylobacter fetus strain recovered from a human aneurysm case in North Dakota
– there have been only thirteen such cases in the world and this isolate may be
potentially linked to animal production exposure. Researchers
completion of the genome will allow them to exploit its potential for vaccine
development and methods for treatment of animal and human disease.
Effect
of initial creep-fed DFM on e. coli 0157:H7
proliferation and shedding when fed from pasture to final harvest
Researcher:
Doug Landblom
Amount
requested: $12,331
The
research team hypothesizes that the continuous feeding of the direct fed
microbials Lactobacillus acidophilus (LA-51) and propionibacterium
freudenreichii (PF-24) on pasture and continuing through the final harvest will
compete for rectal mucosal binding sites competitively excluding colonization
capabilities of pathogenic e. coli 0157:H7 and other
pathogenic serotypes.
Evaluation
of low-input growing and finishing options for cattle producers
Researcher:
Vern Anderson
Amount
requested: $9,105
North
Dakota cattlemen can capture more value from the exceptional genetics for
growth and carcass merit in their calves.
New markets are developing in the state for finished beef and demand is
good for locally produced meat. However, cow/calf producers with minimum facilities
or smaller herds cannot easily or economically feed their calves after
weaning. Self-feeding minimizes
equipment, labor and facilities costs and can be very safe with higher levels
of co-products. There is no comparative
data available for self-feeding with modern cattle, feed products and
nutritional knowledge. This study
proposes to compare performance and economics of feeder cattle with exceptional
genetic potential fed in self-feeders or fed totally mixed rations delivered to
fence line bunks daily.
Effect
of feeding regimes on net profit for diverse entry weight feeder cattle
Researcher:
Vern Anderson
Amount
requested: $20,360
There
is a wide variation in the weight of weaned calves with some herds calving
later, and some maximizing genetics for growth.
Feedlots in North Dakota have a smorgasbord of feeds available including
home grown forages and silages, a variety of co-products, protein sources and
grains. Calves enter the feedlot from 350 lbs. to over 800 lbs. at weaning.
Feeding regimes designed for maxim profit are probably not the same for this
diversity of type and maturity. This
project proposes to compare modest gain and high gain treatments for both
groups of calves in a scientifically valid design that will yield growth
performance data, carcass quality traits and economic comparisons. Calves from several North Dakota cow herds
will be used for this study with a sampling of the largest calves and the
smallest calves from the same herds constituting the populations sample. Data
from this study will reveal the optimum feeding strategy for farmer feeders who want to background their calves and maybe retain
ownership in the finishing yard, as well as feed yards that would buy weaned
calves of diverse entry weights or heavier preconditioned feeder cattle.
Funding decisions
Steve
Metzger declared a potential conflict of interest for the following
projects. Mr. Metzger will not be
benefitting financially from either project:
Evaluation of low-input growing and
finishing options for cattle producers
Effect of feeding regimes on net
profit for diverse entry weight feeder cattle
Dr.
Greg Lardy declared a potential conflict of interest for the following
projects. Dr. Lardy will not be
benefitting financially from either project, he is
serving as a mentor:
Nutrient levels in stockpiled and
composted livestock and poultry manure in North
Dakota livestock operations
Influence of level of distillers
grains plus soluble on animal performance, carcass
characteristics,
sulfur balance and ruminal hydrogen sulfide gas concentrations in
ruminants
It
was the consensus of the committee that both committee members’ conflicts were
not substantial enough to dismiss them from the meeting while the projects were
being discussed.
The committee members discussed each project as a whole
and then individually ranked the projects 1-3-5 with “1” representing the
highest ranked proposals. The individual
rankings were used to determine the overall ranking of each project.
It
was moved by Warner and seconded by Tellmann to grant negotiated funding as
follows:
It
was moved by Metzger and seconded by Tellmann to grant negotiated funding as
follows:
The
motion carried unanimously.
There
being no further business, the meeting was adjourned.