Brief Summary of Minutes of Annual Meeting

8am Committee takes vans to research farm for tour of facilities 12pm Meeting commenced by Chair Caton Welcome from Chair Bob Harmon of UK Animal Sciences Review committee status, deadline for rewrite 1 Dec 08. Comments by Dan Schaefer-compliments to committee on submitting NRI proposal. Mention of inactive members was made a mid-term review meeting by NC advisors. Suggests we should not bloat our Appendix E with members who will not contribute/attend. State vs. individual representation was discussed. Project must go into NIMSS system by 1 Dec 08. Giving up admin advisor role effective 1 Dec 08. Mike Schmitt (new advisor) attending to make for a seamless transition. 1.30pm Begin state reports  Dirk Philipp (Arkansas), Ken Coffey (Arkansas), Randy Jackson (Wisconsin), Eric Vanzant (Kentucky), Rebecca McCulley (Kentucky), Joel Caton (North Dakota), Gerald Horn (Oklahoma), Rhonda Miller (Utah). 5pm Adjourn 12 Sep 2008 8am Business meeting Ken Coffey nominated and elected as Secretary for 2009. Location date for 2009: Logan, UT suggested. September still seems like best time. Will be the last meeting of the existing project. Will leave date flexible until schedules shake out. Suggest Wisconsin as 2010 meeting site (Marshfield/Madison). Committee discussed and revised 4 objectives for NC-1021 rewrite. Re: Future meetings: Schaefer asked committee to consider asking some members to provide an overview presentation. A conceptual model of how the various components of the ecosystems (i.e. plant, animal, whole ecosystem) are nested. Suggested that this could provide focus for future discussion of extramural grant proposals and also generate a review paper.Vanzant suggested using software (e.g. Compendium) for development of the concept as a group.Jackson suggested dispensing with state reports to allow more time for exercises like the one Schaefer suggested. Caton envisioned mini-review papers that would represent subcomponents of our agroecosystem conceptual model but be linked together somehow. 12pm Adjourn

Obj 1. Quantify N efficiency of forage-based ecosystems and determine the fate of excreta N. Wisconsin and Nebraska have completed a second round of greenhouse gas sampling at the Mead research farm. Preliminary analyses indicate significant nitrous oxide losses to the atmosphere only in wet periods and mainly in fertilized plots. At Utah, researchers examined nitrogen and phosphorus cycling in both a traditional management intensive grazing system, and in a deferred grazing system. Data collection began in June 2007. Composite soil samples, to a depth of 150 cm, have been collected at the beginning and end of each grazing season to monitor any nutrient (N, P, and K) movement and buildup for each treatment. Leachate has been collected bi-weekly and analyzed for nitrate-nitrogen and inorganic dissolved phosphorus. Beginning in 2008, ammonia emission measurements were also collected after each grazing event using dynamic chambers. Obj 2. Quantify the effect of dietary and animal factors on utilization and excretion of forage N by beef and dairy cattle. Data were collected in Nebraska for 2007 to measure treatment effects on yearling steer performance, N use efficiency, subsequent feedlot performance, and impact on forage production and forage quality throughout the duration of the experiment. Daily gain was similar among treatments indicating that no compensatory response from the grazing phase was carried over into the finishing phase. Therefore, the weight advantage of SUPP from the grazing phase was maintained through the feedlot. In North Dakota, four ruminally and duodenally cannulated beef steers (388 ± 12 kg) were used to evaluate effects of advancing season on forage quality, intake, site of digestion, and microbial efficiency while grazing mixed grass prairie in western North Dakota. Results imply that mixed-grass range forage consumed by cattle after late-September is deficient in N, particularly DIP, and that forage intake may decrease and may be too low to support adequate cow performance. Producers grazing cattle after September in western North Dakota should be concerned with both forage intake as well as forage quality issues. Degradable intake protein supplementation may be necessary during late fall depending on desired performance level and nutrient requirements. Oklahoma researchers are determining the effect of corn distillers dried grains and solubles (DDGS) on growth performance of wheat pasture stocker cattle as compared with soybean hulls and whole corn. Supplement conversions for corn dried distillers grains with solubles and soybean hulls (pounds of as-fed supplement per lb. of increased weight gain) were very poor in this study on wheat pasture. Obj 3. Determine the influence of plant/soil manipulations on efficiency of N utilization by forages. Arkansas researchers compared the performance of spring (S) and fall-calving (F) cows grazing tall fescue infected with either the toxic wild-type endophyte (E+) or with a non-toxic novel endophyte (NE+) at different percentages of the total pasture areas to determine to what extent having limited access to NE+ will enhance cow/calf performance. Results indicate a fall calving season may be desirable for overall cow/calf performance while grazing E+ pasture, and limited use of NE+ may improve overall cow BW and spring-calving rates. In previous Arkansas research, glycerol was fermented very rapidly in the rumen, but sometimes caused a reduction in overall dry matter intake by cattle. Results from this work show that glycerol did not reduce intake. Another project examined high blood urea N levels in cattle grazing lush cool-season forages, which can lead to reproductive problems. Timing of supplementation in this study did not affect conception to artificial insemination or overall pregnancy rates. Other work at Arkansas is seeking legume species that will persist under grazing and mechanical harvest. In pastures oversown with perennial legumes, red clover had higher occupancy (75%) in August in comparison with alfalfa (48%), but no differences among species were encountered during previous months. Kura clover and subterranean clover did not establish well.

Akins, M. S., E. B. Kegley, J. L. Gunsaulis, W. K. Coblentz, K. S. Lusby, R. K. Ogden, J. D. Caldwell, R. K. Bacon, and K. P. Coffey. 2007. Nutritive value of fall-grown cereal-grain forages over time. Arkansas Agri. Exper. Sta. Research Series 553:73-77. Bailey, C. R., M. L. Looper, K. P. Coffey, and C. F. Rosenkrans, Jr. 2008. Evaluation of endophyte-infected and novel endophyte-infected tall fescue on growth and grazing behavior of beef heifers. J. Anim. Sci. 86(Suppl. 2): (Proc. Southern Section ASAS) Caldwell, J. D., K. P. Coffey, W. K. Coblentz, R. K. Ogden, J. A. Jennings, D. S. Hubbell, III, D. L. Kreider, and C. F. Rosenkrans, Jr. 2007. Growth performance and immune function of fall-born beef calves weaned from endophyte infected tall fescue pastures on different dates in the spring. Arkansas Agri. Exper. Sta. Research Series 553:70-72. Caldwell, J., K. Coffey, D. Philipp, J. Jennings, D. Hubbell, III, T. Hess, D. Kreider, M. Looper, M. Popp, M. Savin, and C. Rosenkrans, Jr. 2008. Performance by spring and fall-calving cows grazing with full access, limited access, or no access to endophyte -infected tall fescue J. Anim. Sci. 86(E-Suppl. 2):536. Caldwell, J.D., K.P. Coffey, W. K. Coblentz, J.A. Jennings, D.S. Hubbell, III, D.L. Kreider, and C.F. Rosenkrans, Jr. 2008. Post-weaning performance of fall-born beef steers weaned from endophyte-infected tall fescue pastures on different dates in the spring J. Anim. Sci. 86(Suppl. 2): (Proc. Midwestern Section ASAS) Cline, H. B., B. W. Neville, G. P. Lardy, and J. S. Caton. 2008. Influence of advancing season on dietary composition, intake, site of digestion, and microbial efficiency in beef steers grazing a native range in western North Dakota. J. Anim. Sci. 86:(Accepted). Coffey, K. P., W. K. Coblentz, D. H. Hellwig, M. P. Popp, T. F. Smith, D. S. Hubbell, III, D. A. Scarbrough, J. B. Humphry, J. E. Turner, Z. B. Johnson, and C. F. Rosenkrans, Jr. 2008. Weaning and post-weaning performance by fall-born calves weaned on different dates from endophyte-infected tall fescue pastures managed with two different rotation frequencies. Livestock Sci. (In press). Coffey, K. P., W. K. Coblentz, J. D. Caldwell, C. P. West, R. K. Ogden, T. Hess, D. S. Hubbell, III, M. S. Akins, and C. F. Rosenkrans, Jr. 2007. Cow and calf performance while grazing tall fescue pastures with either the wild-type toxic endophyte or a non-toxic novel endophyte. Arkansas Agri. Exper. Sta. Research Series 553:67-69. Coffey, K., W. Coblentz, J. Caldwell, D. Hubbell, III, T. Hess, C. West, M. Looper, C. Krehbiel, and C. Rosenkrans, Jr. 2008. Post-weaning performance of spring-born calves weaned from tall fescue pastures with a wild-type toxic endophyte or a non-toxic novel endophyte. J. Anim. Sci. 86(Suppl. 2) (Proc. Southern Section ASAS). Flores, R., W. K. Coblentz, R. K. Ogden, K. P. Coffey, M. L. Looper, C. P. West, and C. F. Rosenkrans, Jr. 2008. Effects of fescue type and sampling date on the N disappearance kinetics of autumn-stockpiled tall fescue. J. Dairy Sci. (In press) Flores, R., W. K. Coblentz, R. K. Ogden, K. P. Coffey, M. L. Looper, C. P. West, and C. F. Rosenkrans, Jr. 2007. Effects of fescue type and sampling date on the ruminal disappearance kinetics of autumn-stockpiled tall fescue. J. Dairy Sci. 90:2883-2896. Gunsaulis, J. L., W. K. Coblentz, R. K. Ogden, R. K. Bacon, K. P. Coffey, D. S. Hubbell, III, J. V. Skinner, Jr., M. S. Akins, J. D. Caldwell, K. S. Lusby, and S. A. Gunter. 2008. Fall growth potential of cereal grain forages in northern Arkansas. Agron. J. (Agron. J. 100:1112-1123). Hampy, K. R., D. W. Kellogg, K. P. Coffey, and K. Anschutz. 2007. In vitro DM digestibility of crabgrass, bermudagrass, and wheat forages supplemented with four levels of glycerol. Arkansas Agri. Exper. Sta. Research Series 553:65-66. Hampy, K. R., D. W. Kellogg, K. P. Coffey, E. B. Kegley, J. D. Caldwell, M. S. Lee, M. S. Akins, J. L. Reynolds, J. C. Moore, and K. D. Southern. 2007. Glycerol as a supplemental energy source for meat goats. Arkansas Agri. Exper. Sta. Research Series 553:63-64. Haubensak K, Jackson RD, Gratton C, Lubetikin SC, Donaldson J. 2008. Effects of large-mammal grazing and arthropod abundance on ecosystem processes. Ecological Society of America annual meeting, Milwaukee, WI 7 Aug 2008. Horn, Gerald W, Jeff Edwards, Jim Kountz, Jeff Jaronek and Sam Donica. August 29, 2008. Effect of Type of Energy Supplement on Growth and Intramuscular Fat Development by Wheat Pasture Stocker Cattle. Proc. Wheatland Stocker Conference. Oklahoma Cooperative Extension Service. Jensen, J. 2008. Effects of traditional grazing and deferred grazing on nutrient cycling. MS Thesis. Logan, UT: Utah State University. Kreider, D. L., K. P. Coffey, J. D. Caldwell, W. A. Whitworth, T. G. Montgomery, R. Rorie, R. W. McNew, W. Coblentz, and R. K. Ogden. 2007. Reproductive performance, blood urea nitrogen, and blood glucose concentrations in beef heifers grazing annual ryegrass in the spring and supplemented at different intervals prior to timed AI. Arkansas Agri. Exper. Sta. Research Series 553:41-44. L. Hardin, A. Killion, J. Caldwell, K. Coffey, D. Philipp, and W. Coblentz. 2008. Effect of a lactic acid-lactobacillus product and bale moisture on forage quality, and voluntary intake and digestibility of crabgrass hay by lambs. J. Anim. Sci. 86(E-Suppl. 2): 28. Lyon AH, Bell MM, Gratton C, Jackson RD. 2008. Maculate Conceptions: Power, Process, and Creativity in Participatory Research." Rural Sociological Society annual meeting, Manchester, NH, July 30, 2008. Lyon AH, Bell MM, JACKSON RD, Gratton C. 2008. Directions for Grazing research: Agronomic Recipes or Ecological Principles? Organics conference. LaCrosse, WI. McGinley, B. C., K. P. Coffey, W. K. Coblentz, N. W. Galdámez-Cabrera, and J. E. Turner. 2007. Case Study: In situ ruminal nitrogen and neutral-detergent insoluble nitrogen disappearance from bermudagrass fertilized with different nitrogen rates and harvested on two dates. Professional Anim. Sci. 23:556-564. Miller, R. L, and D. N. Mortensen. 2007. Nutrient leaching and soil compaction in irrigated pastures under management intensive grazing. In 2007 Agronomy Abstracts. Madison, WI: American Society of Agronomy. Miller, R. L. 2008. A Surprising Cause of Air Pollution. Utah Debate Conference. January 26, 2008. Norman, R. C., W. K. Coblentz, D. S. Hubbell, III, R. K. Ogden, K. P. Coffey, J. D. Caldwell, R. T. Rhein, C. P. West, and C. F. Rosenkrans, Jr. 2007. Effects of storage conditions on the forage quality characteristics and ergovaline content endophyte infected tall fescue hays. Crop Sci. 47:1635-1646. Oates LG, Bouressa EL, Duncan DS, Hamingson EE, Kummel H, Woodis JE, Chamberlain SK, Jakubowski AR, Jackson RD. 2008. Ecosystem services as a framework for agroecological research. Ecological Society of America annual meeting, Milwaukee, WI 7 Aug 2008. Popp, M. P., K. P. Coffey, W. K. Coblentz, Z. B. Johnson, D. A. Scarbrough, J. B. Humphry, T. F. Smith, D. S. Hubbell, III, and J. E. Turner. 2007. An empirical analysis of weaning and pasture rotation frequency with implications for retained ownership. Agron. J. 99:747-754. Sweeney, M. B., P. Tomlinson, M. C. Savin, and K. Coffey. 2008. Response of soil microbial biomass and enzyme activities to an experimental cow-calf management system incorporating rotation onto novel endophyte-infected tall fescue. ASA CSSA SSSA International Annual Meeting.