Annual/Termination Reports:

[06/22/2001] [02/03/2003]

Report Information

Participants

Oltijen,Jim-UC,Davis;Johnson,Don-Colorado State Univ.Ft. Collins;Sainz,Roberto-UC,Davis;Johnson,Kris(johnsoka@wsu.edu)-Washington State Univ;Tess,Michael-Montana State Univ.;Tyrell,Henry-CSRS,WashingtonDC;Graduate Student-UC,Davis.

Brief Summary of Minutes

The meeting was called to order by Chairman, Oltjen at noon. Discussions and deliberations are summarized as follows:



Tyrrell Report;

Procedural changes for regional projects are available via website.

Meeting report must be in by 60 d following meeting (by R. Wright, Adm. Adv.)

Report covers prior year, no longer calendar yr

USDA budget for coming yr will be ~ flat

Emerging issues are ammonia, bioterrorism, disease threats, UVB



Joint Symposium with Western Section Meetings (2002) in Ft. Collins, CO

Symposium Program Chrm. Sprinkle welcomes proposals for a joint WCC92, WSASAS, however, the topic should be of general interest. The following topics are suggested for consideration; however, all WCC92 participants are requested to submit additional suggestions and to rank all topics in order of their preference:

a. Limits to energetic efficiency of beef cattle

b. Genetic variation in efficiency

c. Residual feed intake, what will it tell you and what will it confound

d. Physiological basis of energy use variations

e. Multi-species system efficiency for grazing

f. Wild/domestic coordination of grazing

g. Ecophysiology

h. Factors altering feedlot cattle efficiency

i. Pasture management system efficiency

j. NUTBALL (NRCS) use and misuse for maintaining system efficiency

k. Value of ‘precision nutrition‘ to system efficiency

l. _______________________________________________________ (others??)



Election of officers: D. Johnson was promoted to Chrm., R. Sainz was elected Sec. For the 2002 year.



Meeting for 2002: To be held in Ft. Collins, in conjunction with Western Section meeting, date TBA, perhaps Tu, not to conflict with the grazing symposium. The meeting agenda is to include station reports of ongoing research by all participants.

Accomplishments

Potential mission foci discussed at Bozeman (additional ideas and priority rankings from WCC participants are requested):<br /> <br>a. Examine the strengths and weaknesses of 96NRC beef<br /> <br>b. Identify common research goals<br /> <br>c. Develop join research grant with nutrition and education component (e.g. IFASS, Section 406, or NRI). Possible topic of research:<br /> <br>i. Metabolomics<br /> <br>ii. Proteomics<br /> <br>iii. Microarrays targeting efficiency<br /> <br>iv. SNP mapping <br /> <br>v. Precision nutrition<br /> <br>vi. ___________________________ (others???)<br /> <br>d. ____________________________________ (other general foci??)<br /> <br>

Publications

Impact Statements

1. 1. To facilitate a timely exchange of research data, information and ideas among scientists drawn from multiple disciplines, extension personnel, industry representatives and other parties interested in the measurement and interpretation of energy metabolism in beef cattle and the development of this knowledge for improved production programs
2. 2. To foster cooperative research relationships within the group and add interested new members with diverse backgrounds to enhance the group' discussions
3. 3. T plan and hold a symposium in conjunction with a major scientific meeting (either Wes Sec or National mee5ting) reviewing the state of knowledge of energy metabolism in beef cattle, identifying hypotheses for consideration and new areas of research.

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Report Information

Participants

Carstens,G, Enns,M, Ferrell,C, Freetley,H, Garrick,D, Goetsch,A, Hill,R, Johnson, D, Johnson,K, McPhee,M, Neilsen,M, Oltjon,J, Sainz,R, Tyrrell,H.

Brief Summary of Minutes

Items of Business



1. CSREES National Program Leader Report - Henry Tyrrell

* IFAFS funds likely to move to Integrated Programs

* Appropriation Bill not passed

* Appropriation may be carried forward to 2003



2. Technical Reports

All participating scientists presented technical reports 15-30 min plus 20 - 30 min discussion each report. Achievements provided in attached summary.



3. Next meeting - November 10 & 11, 2003 at MARC, contingent upon set up of Individual Feed Intake apparatus at MARC - otherwise - meet in Reno, Nevada.



4. Incoming Secretary for 2003 - C Ferrell



5. Review / Planning Collaborative Research



Meeting participants agreed to develop an additional objective for future focus - Action Plan for Collaborative Research.



7 Identify a specific descriptor of efficient performance - Initially Residual Feed Intake (subject to review)



7 Develop an outline describing objectives - iterative revision of preliminary objectives by January 1, 2003 - Primary responsibility - Hill, Sainz, D Johnson, Carstens, Nielsen.



Summary of meeting achievements



Contribution to Project Objective 1 - The forum provided active discussion of a range of issues following presentations of recent data and ideas:

* Residual Feed Intake (RFI)

* Is this the best measure of feed efficiency?

* Should additional parameters be included? Although RFI is theoretically independent of mature size and growth rate - are there any long-term disadvantages to RFI as a target trait?

* Ruminant contribution to greenhouse gas emissions

* Improved feed efficiency will decrease contribution of ruminants to greenhouse gasses



Contribution to Project Objective 2. - The group resolved to develop a collaborative research program:



* The group will target CSREES "Integrated Programs" in developing a research program.

* RFI will be the focus trait of the program.

* Units will contribute sub-projects under a common umbrella.

* Themes within the program to be investigated will include - underlying biology, mechanisms, predictor traits of RFI including

* Metabolites

* Hormone profiles

* Specific challenge eg response to glucose clamp

* Technologies to be utilized

* Proteomics

* Genomics

* Microarray

* Biochemistry

* Hormone / metabolite assay

* Selection

* Cattle resource - MARC herd - assessed for RFI

* Preliminary Program Outline and Objectives to be documented by January 1, 2003



Contribution to Project Objective 3 - This meeting has built upon the symposium held during the ASAS Western Section meeting:

* WCC-92 was the impetus and shared in the development of the symposium

* Ideas / hypothesis development

* Consolidation of collaborative arrangements

Accomplishments

A major accomplishment of the Committee in 2002 was the presentation of a symposium associated with the 74th Annual Meeting of the Western Section of the American Society of Animal Science, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO. The symposium entitled Efficiency of Beef Production on Western Pastures and Rangelands, included the following presentations:<br /> <br><br /> <br>Rangeland Overview: Challenges to Forage-Based Beef Production Systems in the West, by Dr Tim DelCurto, Oregon State University.<br /> <br><br /> <br>Technology to Complement Forage-Based Beef Production Systems in the West, by Dr Jan Bowman, Montana State University.<br /> <br><br /> <br>History of Energetic Efficiency Research: Where Have We Been and Where Are We Going? By Dr Don Johnson, Colorado State University.<br /> <br><br /> <br>Genetic Variation in Energy Efficiency: Limits and Opportunities, by Dr Merlyn Nielsen, University of Nebraska - Lincoln.<br /> <br><br /> <br>Residual Feed Intake: Predictive Value and Application Challenges, by Dr Robert Herd, New South Wales Agriculture Beef Center, Australia.<br /> <br><br /> <br>Behavioral Adaptations by Grazing Cattle to Enhance Energetic Efficiency, by Dr Ed Fredrickson, USDA Jomanda Experimental Range, NM.<br /> <br><br /> <br>Cattle Finishing Programs on Grassland: Costs Benefits, Efficiency and Final Product Acceptability, by Dr Randy Wedmeier, Utah State University.<br /> <br><br /> <br>Opportunities for Production of Natural or Organic Beef, by Dr John Scanga, Colorado State University.<br /> <br><br /> <br>These presentations were followed by a panel discussion moderated by Dr Keith Belk, Robbie Baird LaValley, and CJ Mucklow, Colorado State University and included all of the symposium speakers. <br /> <br><br /> <br>The symposium stimulated considerable debate and discussion.

Publications

Carstens GE, Theis CM, White MB, Welsh TH, Jr., Warrington BG, Randel RD, Forbes TDA, Lippke H, Greene LW, Lunt DK. Residual feed intake in beef steers: I. Correlations with performance traits and ultrasound measures of body composition. Proceedings of the Western Section Meeting, American Society of Animal Science 2002; 53: 552-555.<br /> <br><br /> <br>Herd RM, Archer JA, Arthur PF. Reducing the cost of beef production through genetic improvement in residual feed intake: Opportunity and challenges to application. J Anim Sci 2003; 81(E Suppl. 1): E9-E17.<br /> <br><br /> <br>Hill RA, Herd RM in: Feed Efficiency in Beef Cattle (Proceedings of the Feed Efficiency Workshop) pp 46-50 (Archer JA, Herd RM, Arthur PF, Eds.) 2001 Cooperative Research Centre for Cattle and Beef Quality., Armidale.<br /> <br><br /> <br>Johnson, D.E., C.L. Ferrell, and T.G. Jenkins. 2003. History of<br /> <br>energetic efficiency research: Where have we been and where are we<br /> <br>going?. J Anim Sci 2003; 81(E Suppl. 1, in press). 43 pp.<br /> <br><br /> <br>Julien DJ, Tess MW. Effects of breeding date, weaning date, and grazing season length on profitability of cow-calf production systems in southeastern Montana. J Anim Sci 2002; 80: 1462-1469.<br /> <br><br /> <br>Tess MW. Using genetic tools to meet market targets without sacrificing maternal performance. J Anim Sci 2002; 80(E. Suppl. 1): E94-E103.<br /> <br><br /> <br>Tomsen, U.J., D.K. Darnell and M.K. Nielsen. 2002. A comparison of beef<br /> <br>cattle crossbreeding systems assuming value-based marketing. Proceedings of<br /> <br>the 7th World Congress on Genetics Applied to Livestock Production. CD-ROM<br /> <br>communication no. 23-22.

Impact Statements

1. Efficiency of production was the major theme of the national meeting of the Beef Improvement Association in 2002.
2. Residual Feed Intake (RFI) is the tool identified most often as the one which should have priority in development of quantitative assessment of efficiency of animal performance.
3. The Committee now seeks to determine which approaches to demonstrating RFI will generate the greatest impact on the Western Beef Industry.

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