Brief Summary of Minutes of Annual Meeting

• Group voted to continue as a "W" group and made assignments for the rewrite of our project
• DelCurto and Wyfels will lead the effort to rewrite our project
• The group voted to host the 6^th Grazing Livestock Nutrition Conference in 2025 in conjunction with the joint Western and Southern Section meeting.  At this time, it has not been established when and where this meeting will be held. Options that are being discussed by the ASAS national board along with Western and Southern section boards are Ft. Worth, TX or Oklahoma City, OK in the spring of 2025.  

  • General ideas put forth are as follows:

    1. Virtual fence
       1. Strategic land management (potential speaker - Dave Bohnert)
          1. What can it do for land mangers and what are the challenges moving forward
       2. Technology innovation – thinking ahead of the times (potential speaker - Dean Anderson)
          1. Idea behind this is that Dr. Anderson was one of the first to work with virtual fencing many years ago and it is just now really taking off, so the group was looking for his perspective on what he saw was its potential back in the day and where it is today, what took it so long to really take off and where will it go from here.
       3. Industry presenters
          1. Vence
          2. Halter
       4. Panel discussion
          1. Producers using the virtual fencing products
          2. Agency application to federal lands – Dwayne Rice – CO USFS Region 2 as a potential speaker
       5. Policy – public lands
          1. Attorney and public lands policy expert – Tiffany at TAMU
          2. Data ownership
       6. Cattle behavior
          1. How has technology revealed new insights into how animals think
          2. Waterer visitation – environmental drivers
       7. Supplementation
          1. Eating behavior – supplement intake and environment
          2. Topography and canopy cover influences on supplement intake
          3. Strategic supplement – targeted nutrients
             1. Glucogenic precursors
             2. Rumen protected amino acids
    • Methyl-donors
    1. Others
    5. Precision livestock management – decision support tools
       1. Available technologies and application
          1. Monitoring water and challenges /costs associated
       2. Water – surface water and water quality
          1. Coping with poor water availability and quality
          2. Waterer types (dirt tanks, drinkers, live water)
    • Mineral content – sulfur
    6. Old topics from previous planning meetings
       1. Challenges of Grazing western rangelands, this is broad, but have talks that are relevant to grazing public and private lands and incorporate researchers and industry folks that are working to understand these challenges.
          1. Wildlife and other considerations on rangeland
             1. Deseret Ranch wildlife management
             2. Cumberland grazing Co-op
          2. Wildfire
             1. Large and small
    • Fire restoration
    1. Data analysis (big data sets)
       1. Have someone explain some of the variables in the coding
          1. What can you “change” in the code to meet a specific objective or experimental design
       2. Data management – noise reduction
          1. Potential speaker – Mark Trotter CQ University

     

    Other ideas brought to the group was to improve our sponsorship efforts for the meeting.  Continue to incorporate graduate students and poster presentations. It was also mentioned that publication of the proceedings was important and that we will need to work with ASAS to develop a suitable outlet for the papers.  One potential idea was as a special supplement for TAS

Objective 1. Conduct research and gather information on cattle that fit Western rangelands with respect to grazing behavior, forage intake, biological efficiency, and livestock production.

South Dakota State - Jameson Brennan

The study consists of 6 experimental pastures (32-68 ha) assigned to 3 levels of grazing intensity (low, moderate, and high). Pastures are being grazed by yearling steers with stocking rates set at 0.72, 0.40, and 0.33 AUM/acre for the heavy, moderate, and lightly grazed pastures, respectively. Animals were divided into two treatments, rotational grazing using virtual fencing (VF), and continuous grazing across each stocking rate. Within each pasture, SmartScale (C-Lock Inc, Rapid City, SD) technology will be used to measure daily weight data for steers. SmartScale cattle weighing technology is an automated scale unit placed in front of existing water sources to provide real-time individual body weight and calculated ADG. Daily weight data was collected for the duration of the grazing season. There was a tendency steer weights (P = 0.06) and average daily gain (ADG) to be lower on virtual fence rotation treatments versus continuous treatment. ADG was 1.20 lbs/head/day for the VF treatments and 1.59 for the continuous graze treatments.

To measure the impact of management scenarios on livestock behavior, cattle were fitted with VF GPS-enabled collars. Animals were virtually fenced in 2021 and 2022 to compare continuous vs rotational grazing differences across three stocking rates. Average daily grazing time, daily resting time, and daily distance traveled (DDT) was calculated and analyzed to understand the impact of stocking rate and plant community changes on livestock behavior. There was a significant interaction in DDT between treatment and stocking rate (P < 0.05). Animals within the light and heavy stocking pastures under rotational grazing traveled approximately 1 km more per day. Additional work was conducted to estimate net energy for activity (NEact) based by incorporating GPS data into livestock nutrition models. Results show a significant difference in NEact between the base nutritional model and the precision informed model. Energetic costs for NEact was estimated at 2.15 Mcals per day. result of this analysis provides levels of precision for different management regimes when quantifying energy expenditure on pasture. Ongoing analysis is looking at the influence of temperature at time in rotation on energy expenditure.

University of Nebraska - Travis Mulliniks

Concluded a 3-yr USDA CARE project determining the impact of increasing milk production on grazing behavior, calf microbial population, and cow-calf performance of mature range cows.  In a 3-yr study, data were collected on 178 crossbred cow-calf pairs from March- and May-calving herds. On approximately 30, 60, 90, 120, and 210 d postpartum, individual cow 24-h milk yield was estimated through weigh-suckle-weigh techniques. Rumen fluid was collected at 3 different time points in a subset of calves to determine the impact of increasing milk on rumen microbial differences. Both cows and calves were fitted with GPS collars to determine differences in grazing and suckling behavior. Steer calves were followed through to the finishing phrase for feedlot performance and carcass characteristics. Four publications from this research are currently in progress. 

University of California, Davis - James W. Oltjen

With increasing concerns over the environmental impacts of conventional beef, grass-fed beef is now viewed by many con¬sumers as a more sustainable alternative. This evolving con¬sumer ideology has resulted in a steady increase in demand for grass-fed beef. However, un¬like conventional beef production that produces a consistent product, grass-fed beef performance and carcass quality varies signifi¬cantly depending on region, resource availability, and forage quality. In order to address consumer, producer, and other scientific concerns, this project seeks to 1) determine the per-formance, carcass qualities, and economic returns of four grass-fed and conventional beef systems currently being util¬ized by Western ranchers and 2) combine the live animal performance (from weaning to harvest) along with carcass data to build the first-ever empirically derived, multi-impact factor LCA for grass-fed beef production systems in the Western United States.

Oregon State University - David Bohnert

We continue working on precision livestock technologies to better manage grazing distribution and land management.  

University of Idaho - James E. Sprinkle

• Published research on efficient (EFF) vs inefficient (INE) lactating 2-yr-old cows (classified by residual feed intake) grazing rangelands during both spring (mid-lactation) and summer (late lactation). EFF cows appeared to be more heat tolerant and used more rugged terrain when temperatures were hot.
• Published WSASAS proceedings paper in Translational Animal Science on above research which identified 4 gene markers related to grazing behavior. The 2 markers related to time spent on slopes greater than 15% and maximum slope used explained 51% of the variation in phenotypic grazing behavior.
• A paper detailing how to use accelerometers for determining grazing behavior of range cows has been published in Rangeland Ecology and Management.

Objective 2. Continue to refine and revise methods for determining forage intake and/or dietary selection.

South Dakota State - Jameson Brennan

A major limitation in livestock grassland production systems is the ability to efficiently monitor and measure forage resources. Effective monitoring plans will inform appropriate stocking rates, minimize the effects of overgrazing, enable greater resilience to climate variability, and promote healthy grasslands. Grassland monitoring often requires data collection by hand, which is time and labor prohibitive for livestock producers who operate on extensive landscapes. 

The goal of this project is to develop data processing pipelines that automate data integration, analysis, and interpretation of remotely sensed satellite imagery data and climate data with ground-truthed forage quality and quantity samples.Training datasets created from this effort will be used to train and test AI models to accurately predict forage conditions in real-time. 

Random forest regression trees were used to predict forage quality and quantity across the two sites based on metrics derived from GEE and planet imagery. Coefficient of determination values for predicted versus measured data in 2020 were 0.87 for biomass production, 0.67 for CP, 0.91 for NDF, and 0.90 for ADF. Analysis for 2021 and 2022 is ongoing.Preliminary data from this project was submitted as part of a USDA-AFRI grant in July 2021 to develop artificial intellingence models and a web application to monitor forage resources in real time. This grant was selected for funding to continue support of this objective.

University of Idaho - James E. Sprinkle

With a former graduate student (Carmen Willmore), published an abstract and presented research on Forage Intake & Digesta Kinetics of Beef Cattle Differing in Feed Efficiency While Grazing Idaho Rangelands at the 2023 Society for Range Management Annual Meeting. This was a cooperative effort with Dr. Ron Lewis of University of Nebraska-Lincoln (formerly of this committee) to examine the utility of using a pulse dose alkane marker for predicting forage intake in a rangeland application. Actual intake as determined by the alkane marker was 97% of predicted intake for these cattle.

New Mexico State University - Eric Scholljegerdes

Continued work on the development of a sustained release bolus device using Titanium Dioxide as the inert marker. Although in the development stages, current Titanium mixtures persist in the device for greater than 40 days, which suggests the release rate would be too low to detect in the feces.  Continued work to refine mixture so that release of entire bolus would be complete at 21 days.

Objective 3. Begin collection of DNA samples from females evaluated phenotypically in different production environments for future use in developing genomic tools for beef cow selection.

University of Nebraska - Travis Mulliniks

In part of an USDA-CARE grant on the impacts of increasing milk production in cow-calf production system, data were analyzed to characterize milk production parameters and heritability of milk production in the March and May-calving herds at GSL. This part of the study was done with the help and collaboration with Drs. Melanie Hess and Matt Spangler.  Heritability estimates of parameters of the Wood’s curve and milk yield at each time of collection (days postpartum). In addition, a repeatability model allowed us to separate effects that are genetic from those that are permanent environmental effects of the cow and estimate how repeatable a cow’s performance is likely to be (additive genetics + her permanent environmental effect).

University of Idaho - James E. Sprinkle

All experimental cattle being used for grazing behavior research have been and continue to be DNA typed using the Neogen 50K Geneseek Genomic Profiler chip. Ongoing analyses by Dr. Brenda Murdoch’s lab at the University of Idaho are being conducted to determine if genetic markers can be located on the bovine genome which establish a correlation between grazing activity and feed efficiency.

Objective 4.  Evaluate methods of nutritional intervention that optimizes ruminant livestock production on rangelands.

South Dakota State - Jameson Brennan

Developing a heifer to replace a cull cow is an expensive management decision, and finding ways to reduce those costs is critical to increase producer efficiency and profit margins. Producers developing heifers typically manage animals to reach 60-65% of mature body weight at time of breeding as yearlings, and 85-90% at time of calving as two-year-olds. Research has demonstrated that heifers developed on low-input forage based systems (e.g. native winter range) may be more profitable and have greater marketing flexibility than dry lot heifer development systems. Heifers raised on range forage systems generally require supplementation with protein and/or energy to achieve adequate gain to meet target body weights at strategic times during development, breeding, and calving. Challenges to developing grazing animals to target body weight include differences in initial animal body weight and large variability in individual supplement consumption, which compounds variability in body weight gain and ability to have each heifer achieve her desired target. The goal of this project is to develop a data analytics tool to help producers make informed and effective decisions regarding heifer development programs by incorporating machine learning models with precision feeding and weighing technology. All technology for the project (precision feeders and scales) were obtained in the summer of 2021. First year of research was conducted in the winter of 2021-2022 to compare precision vs traditional bunk fed methods. There was a significant difference (P < 0.05) in ADG and difference from target weight (P < 0.05) between the two treatments. ADG was 1.76 lb/head/day for the precision treatment and 1.93 lb/head/day for the control. The control group was 69 lbs over target weight and the precion group was 30 lbs over target weight. In addition, animals within the precision group consumed 85 kg/head less feed than the bunk fed group and resulted in a feed savings of $28 per head. Results from this study were used for the development of a precision systems model, the Range Cattle Supplement Allotment model (RCSAmodel), which dynamically adjusts supplement intake for individual animals based on several factors, including body weight (BW, kg), current average daily gain (ADG, kg/d) and a target BW (381 kg). We completed this by developing RCSAmodel, using real-time animal performance data, nutrient and growth equations, and by developing a supplement optimization model. All of these components made up the RCSAmodel, which was used to compare observed findings from the first study with predicted gains and intake modeled by the RCSAmodel. Results of this comparison indicated three main trends for heifers: over-, under-, or adequately supplemented; additional analysis identified that heifers were over and under supplemented 69% and 31% of the time when supplemented.

University of Nebraska - Travis Mulliniks

 Performance of young March-calving range cows receiving a protein supplement with the addition of either monensin or propionate salt were compared to evaluate the effect of feed additive on overall production in the postpartum stage. Cow body weight and body condition were not impacted by postpartum supplementation throughout the study. Calf body weights were not impacted by type of feed additive at birth, weaning, or 205-d.  Twenty-four-hour milk production was not impacted by the type of feed additive.  Conception rates for cows receiving postpartum supplementation containing propionate salt were greater than cows receiving monensin.  This implies that the addition of propionate salt when supplementing young range cows in the postpartum period can increase pregnancy rate resulting in an increase in marginal revenue compared to cows fed monensin.

Implementation of supplemental protein strategies during late gestation has been shown to positively affect postweaning progeny performance. A 3-yr study (2-yr of data shown) study was conducted to evaluate the effects of late gestation supplementation strategies on reproduction, cow body weight, and calf performance in March-calving mature range cows grazing dormant upland range. Supplementation was individually fed and provided daily with treatments being: 1) no supplementation, 2) 2 lb per day of a 30% CP distillers-based supplement, 3) 2 lb per day of a 30% CP distillers-based supplement with the inclusion of 160 mg/cow daily of monensin, 4) 2 lb per day of a 30% CP distillers-based supplement with the inclusion of 40 g/cow daily of propionate salt. Cows that received any of the 3 supplemental protein treatments gained similar BW; whereas cows that received no supplement gained the least BW during late gestation. Supplementation strategy did influence subsequent reproductive performance with CaProp and Supp cows having the greater pregnancy rates. Late gestation supplementation did not influence subsequent calf BW at birth, weaning, and entry into the feedlot. However, late gestation strategy tended to influence steer BW at finishing with offspring from NoSupp dams had the lightest finishing BW.  Average daily gain, DMI, and F:G were not influenced by dam’s late gestation supplementation strategy. Overall, protein supplementation in general had a positive impact on overall cow-calf performance compared to no protein supplementation. However, cows that were fed protein supplement or protein supplement with the inclusion of propionate salts had increased subsequent pregnancy rates.

Implementation of minimal supplemental protein strategies during late gestation may have the potential to minimize any negative postweaning progeny performance while decreasing feed costs. A 3-yr study was conducted to evaluate the effects of mid- to late-gestation supplementation strategies on reproduction, cow body weight, and calf performance in May-calving mature range cows grazing upland native range. Supplementation was provided 2x weekly with treatments being: 1) 0.5 lb per day of a 30% CP distillers-based supplement, 2) 1 lb per day of a 30% CP distillers-based supplement, 3) a negative control as a flexible supplementation strategy. The Flex strategy was developed to allow for brief and intermittent supplementation at 1 lb/d based on periods of acute environmental stress, such as snow cover, and is best described as flexible supplementation. Mid- to late-gestation supplementation strategy in May-calving cows had no effect on pregnancy rates or pre- and postnatal calf growth. Considering the cost for prepartum supplementation, feeding a protein supplement just during environmentally stressful periods during gestation appears to be a viable alternative to more conventional methods and reduces winter feed costs.

A 3-yr study was conducted to evaluate the effects of postpartum supplementation strategy on reproduction, cow body weight, and calf performance in lactating young 2- and 3-yr-old May-calving range cows. Supplementation was initiated 30 d prior to the start of the breeding season (45-d postpartum) and continued throughout the 45-d breeding season (125-d postpartum). Supplementation was provided daily with treatments being: 1) mineral supplement alone, 2) mineral with an additional 0.5 lb/d of a high rumen undegradable protein source (porcine blood meal and hydrolyzed feather meal), or 3) dried distiller grains. Supplementation strategy did not influence changes in cow body weight or body condition score. However, reproductive performance in cows receiving either the mineral with RUP and the dried distiller grains cows were increased over the mineral alone, which demonstrates the need to increase metabolizable protein supply during the breeding season to positively impact reproduction in young, May calving cows. 

Oregon State University - David Bohnert

We continue to work on various aspects of nutritional and management strategies that influence calf health, and performance of beef cows grazing PNW rangelands.

New Mexico State University - Eric Scholljegerdes

Conducted experiment using rumen protected arginine fed to 2-year-old cows 30 days prior to artificial insemination.  We collected uterine flushings to determine the impact of the supplementation of arginine on the histotroph. This work will provide knowledge on how supplementation can prepare the uterine environment for improved conception.

University of Idaho - James E. Sprinkle

A journal article was published examining how protein supplementation altered grazing behavior when used in both rotationally and continuously grazed dormant pastures. Cattle altered their grazing behavior in response to climate, supplementation status, and the grazing system. Cattle that were deprived of the protein supplement and stayed in the same continuously grazed pasture showed more restlessness in their behavior, spending more time walking from midnight to 8 a.m. Additionally, the harvest rate of dormant forage increased for the supplemented cattle.

Objective 5. Provide Extension and outreach education in extensive livestock production systems.

South Dakota State - Jameson Brennan

In the era of big data analytics, it can be a challenge for livestock producers to leverage a multitude of data streams and information to help inform management decisions on their operation. For example, from a grazing management standpoint, many livestock producers consistently turn animals out to pasture on the same date every year; however, grazing readiness can be dictated by species composition and the number of growing degree days that have accumulated. Open source climate datasets like PRISM can be used to estimate historic dates for optimal spring turnout based on accumulated growing degree days, but accessing and analyzing these datasets can be challenging. Previously mentioned in my research statement, the development of web based tools to inform livestock management is a key component to my extension program. My goal is to develop tools that are both intuitive to use and incorporate methods to help visualize data for decision making. Using my background in data science, to date I have developed and deployed five tools in program R in support of this effort. Combined, these tools have had over 3,000 users from around the world. Specific web apps that have been developed include: 1) a grazing calculator app (https://agland.sdstate.edu/Graze_Calculator/) that enables producers to calculate either the amount of acres needed or the amount of time an area can be grazed based on user provided input, 2) a spring grazing readiness map (https://agland.sdstate.edu/Grazing_Readiness/) that utilized open source data to demonstrate spring turnout dates over a 40 year period based on accumulated growing degree days, 3)  a mineral consumption calculator to track herd level mineral consumption in support of a field specialists signature program (https://agland.sdstate.edu/Mineral_Calculator/), 4) a bull EPD (https://agland.sdstate.edu/Bull_Epd/) web app that aggregates data from 4 semen providers with sliders for users to narrow down selection, and 5) a bison economics tool to visualize bison price and carcass data from the USDA AMS (https://agland.sdstate.edu/Bison_Price/).  Future efforts for this program include developing a web app to visualize climate data compared to historical norms, create a tool to predict forage quality and quantity in real time for grazing management decisions, and develop tools to help plan for drought.

University of Nebraska - Travis Mulliniks

• Published two newsletters (fall and spring) for the Gudmundsen Sandhills Laboratory had 5,169 downloads.
• Wrote or co-wrote 8 extension articles and did 5 podcasts.
• Chaired, organized, and spoke at the 2022 Gudmundsen Sandhills Laboratory Open House in Whitman, NE.  The Open House had over 200 stakeholders and exhibitors from 7 different states and 3 countries (US, New Zealand, and Canada). 
• Co-lead teacher and organizer of the NE Ranch Practicum located at the Gudmundsen Sandhills Laboratory, which had 33 participants.
• Invited speaker at the 2022 Academy of Veterinary Consultants Summer Conference in Kansas City, MO on “Managing the cowherd through drought” (500 + participates). 
• Invited speaker at 14 different UNL extension programs in 2022 (250 attendees representing 639,270 acres and 181,690 cows).
• In addition to the programming, 315 rations were formulated for range beef cows, heifers, and backgrounding steers for stakeholders in Nebraska and other states (~160,000 cows, heifers, and steers). Along with rations, I made 22 different ranch visits to meet with producers on a one-on-one basis.

Oregon State University - David Bohnert

• Presented 15 talks (9 at professional meetings; 5 invited) on management considerations for rangeland-based cow/calf operations to approximately 800 people.
• Assisted in the organization and conduction of experiential learning opportunities. These opportunities included the Annual Harney County Second Grade Field Trip which hosted over 70 students from schools located in Harney County, Oregon, the annual Oregon Range Field Day with approximately 120 participants, EOARC/OSU Calving Schools with over 100 participants, and the EOARC AI Schools with over 25 participants.

New Mexico State University - Eric Scholljegerdes

• Invited Speaker, Applied Reproductive Strategies in Beef Cows. Managing for fertility in nutrient limited environments. September, 2023.
• Invited Speaker, American Society of Animal Science, Beef Cow Symposium Nutritional challenges of beef cows and heifers in arid rangelands. July 2023
• Invited Speaker, California Cattlemen’s Association. Cow nutritional management: Making the cows work for you.  December 2022.
• Invited Speaker, NMSU Dept. Anim. Sci. and Extension Animal Sciences. Corona Producer day - Nutritional management of small ruminants – focus on fertility. November 2022.
• Invited Speaker, Beef Improvement Federation. Impact of cow nutrition on final body composition end points in their calves. June 2022
• Invited Speaker, Beef Improvement Federation. Impact of arid environments on beef cow resiliency. June 2022

University of Idaho - James E. Sprinkle

• Presented 19 in person and 8 virtual talks on range livestock nutrition, range livestock research, and outcome-based management at 7 different locations in Idaho and 1 location in Oregon plus several remote Idaho locations to approximately 582 people. One of these talks was an invited presentation on Finding the Ideal Cow to Fit Idaho Rangelands to the Idaho Legislature House Ag Affairs Committee.
• Assisted in presenting 2 invited talks on research findings related to coli and grazing to 65 people at 2 different locations in Idaho. A co-investigator presented the same topic at 2 other locations in Idaho.
• A targeted grazing project received the USDA Forest Service 2023 Rangeland Ingenuity Award.

Objective 6. Provide professional development and mentoring opportunities for committee participants, young scientists, stakeholders, and graduate students.

South Dakota State - Jameson Brennan

Three M.S. students completed their thesis related to this project. Currently 2 M.S. students and 2 PhD students are working towards their graduate degree related to this project. In addition we held a precision livestock management field school this past year to train students on precision technology deployment and processing big datasets. This was attended by 14 graduate students in animal, range, and engineering.

University of Nebraska - Travis Mulliniks

• Major professor MS student, Selby Boerman, investigating the impact of increasing milk production on grazing behavior, cow-calf performance, and rumen kinetics in range beef cows.
• Co-Major professor MS student, Josie Crouch, investing the impact of heifer development system on heifer performance, longevity, and production system efficiency.

Oregon State University - David Bohnert

• Member of Graduate Committee, Kala Ruth, D. Candidate Animal and Rangeland Sciences/Wildlife Sciences, College of Agricultural Sciences, Oregon State University, 2020-2023.
• Member of Graduate Committee,Vinicius Alves Cruz, Ph.D. Candidate Animal and Rangeland Sciences, Montana State University, 2023-2026
• Mentoring of graduate student, Tyler Harris, M.S. Candidate Animal and Rangeland Sciences/Wildlife Sciences, College of Agricultural Sciences, Oregon State University, 2020-2023

New Mexico State University - Eric Scholljegerdes

Ccurrent advisees and recent graduates:

Current students:

Katy Jo Richardson, PhD, NMSU, Dept. Anim. Range Sci. 2023-Present (Advisor)

Clayton Bedke, PhD, NMSU, Dept. Anim. Range Sci. 2022- Present (Advisor)

Joyce Ann Cooper, M.S., NMSU, Dept. Anim. Range Sci. 2022-Present (Co-Advisor).

Imelda Martinez, MAG., NMSU, Dept. Anim. Range Sci. 2022-Present (Advisor).

Taylor Andrews, PhD, NMSU, Dept. Anim. Range Sci., 2021-Present. (Co-Advisor)

Lyndi Bryant, PhD, NMSU, Dept. Anim. Range Sci., 2020-Present (Co-Advisor)

Alexis Selman, M.S., NMSU, Dept. Anim. Range Sci. 2018-Present (Advisor).

Kathryn Smith, PhD., NMSU Dept. Anim. Range Sci., 2017-Present. (Co-Advisor)

Completed this past year:

Kristie Gallacher, M.S., NMSU, Dept. Anim. Range Sci. 2023 (Co-Advisor).

Emily Melchior, PhD, NMSU, Dept. Anim. Range Sci., 2022 (Advisor).

University of Idaho - James E. Sprinkle

• Member of Graduate Committee, Hope De Avila, M.S., College of Natural Resources, 2022-present.
• Member of Graduate Committee, Dan Lauritzen, Ph. D., College of Natural Resources, 2020-present.
• Major Advisor, Landon Sullivan, Ph. D., Animal & Veterinary Science, 2020-present.
• Supervised 2 undergraduate interns in conducting range livestock nutrition and grazing behavior research in 2021 (Harleigh Johnson) and 2022 (Gabriella Ponce).

Grants – Funded  

Climate Resilient Beef: Using precision data to measure performance traits on weaning to finishing stocker cattle. Parsons, I., Brennan, J.R., Menendez, H., Cammack, K., and Blair, A. 2023. C-Lock Inc. Equipment Grant. $150,000.

The grass is greener on the other side: Developing climate-smart beef and bison commodities. 2022. K. Cammack, A. Blair, H. Menendez, J.R. Brennan (Co-PI), K. Ehlert, C. Graham, R. Short, and J.M. Martin. USDA-NRCS. $80,000,000.

Programming beef marbling through precision feeding. A.D. Blair, K.C. Olson, J. Brennan, H. Menendez, K.R. Underwood, J.K. Grubbs, C.E. Bakker, Z.K. Smith, M.G. Gonda, J. Gonzalez. South Dakota Beef Industry Council. $120,543.

Benchmarking the pounds of beef produced per unit of methane during the stocker phase across different pasture systems. A.D. Blair, K.C. Olson, J. Brennan, H. Menendez, K. Ehlert, J.R. Jaeger, K.R. Underwood, J.K. Grubbs, C.E. Bakker. South Dakota Beef Industry Council. $41,760.

Standardizing data management and terminology for increased adoption of virtual fence systems. 2022. J.R. Brennan (PD), L. Vandermark, H. Menendez, R. Reuter, M. Stephenson, D. Hoag, P. Meiman, J. Beard, and R. O’Connor. USDA-NIFA. $73,274.

DSFS-AI: Leveraging data science, remote sensing, and open source tools to inform grassland management decisions for livestock producers. J.R. Brennan (PD), K. Ehlert, A.J. Leffler, H. Moradi, and A. Smart. 2021. USDA-DSFAS-AI. $649,948.

Precision Prairies: An Integrated Approach to Range Management, Climate Mitigation, and Improved Cattle Performance. Menendez H, K. Ehlert, A. Blair, J.R. Brennan (Co-PI), A.J. Leffler, S. Hadrick, K. Olson and T. Wong. 2021. USDA-NIFA IDEAS. $1,000,000.

Integrating technology and analytics to inform heifer development programs. J.R. Brennan (PI), K.C. Olson, R. Salverson, A. Harty, A.D. Blair, and K. Ehlert. 2020-2023. C-Lock Inc Equipment Grant. $77,650.

Precision Livestock Management Systems for Western Rangelands. D. Bohnert (PI), J. Ranches, and B. Endress. 2022-2025. USDA-ARS. $450,000

Implementing sustainable Meadow Creek cattle grazing practices through active herd management.  D. Bohnert (PI). 2021-2024.  USDA Forest Service. $30,000.

Effects of electrolyte solution supplementation on health parameters and performance of beef calves post-weaning. J. Ranches (PI) and D. Bohnert (co-PI). 2022-2023. Oregon Beef Council. $23,000 per year.

Sprinkle, J., L. Sullivan, S. Jensen, J. Hall, B. Glaze, M. Stegemiller, and B. Murdoch. Finding the Ideal Cow for Rangeland Sustainability: Nature or Nurture? Mary A. Turner Livestock Research Endowment. $5,000. 2023-2023.

Sprinkle, J., L. Sullivan, S. Jensen, J. Hall, B. Glaze, M. Stegemiller, and B. Murdoch. Finding the Ideal Cow for Rangeland Sustainability: Nature or Nurture? Rinker Rock Creek Ranch Research Endowment. $5,000. 2023-2023.

Launchbaugh, K., T. D. Hudson, J. W. Karl, K. D. Lee, G. K. Murdoch, D. W. Shrestha, and J. E. Sprinkle. Technology to manage livestock location within range and reality. USDA-NIFA AFRI Foundational and Applied Science Program, $981,000. 2022-2025.

Sprinkle, J., J. Hall, L. Sullivan, S. Jensen, B. Glaze, M. Stegemiller, and B. Murdoch. Maternal influences upon calf adaptability to rangeland. David Little Livestock Range Management Endowment. $7,000. 2022-2022.

Sprinkle, J., S. Jensen J. Hall, B. Glaze, B. Murdoch, J. England, L. Sullivan, and M. Stegemiller. Finding the ideal cow for rangeland sustainability: Nature or nurture? UI Extension Innovative Project Award Grant. $10,000. 2022-2023.

Karl, J., C. Packer, E. Winford, and J. Sprinkle. Measuring recreation use and its potential impacts on grazing cattle at Rinker Rock Creek Ranch. David Little Livestock Range Management Endowment. $5,000. 2022-2022.

Sprinkle, J. E. 2022. University of Idaho internship. University of Idaho Cooperative Extension, $5,000. 2021-2022.

Sprinkle, J. and R. Collier. Evaluation of injectable trace mineral on grazing behavior and heat stress of range cattle. Idaho Ag Experiment Station, $11,632 for laboratory analyses for 2021 samples. 2021-2022.

Sprinkle, J. E. 2021. University of Idaho internship. University of Idaho Cooperative Extension, $5,000. 2021-2021.

Hall, J. B., B. Glaze, S. Williams, J. Sprinkle, J. Packham, B. Eborn, H. Tejeda, M. Ellison, and P. Bass. Advanced Ranch Management School. Innovative Project Award. $7,962. 2021-2022.

Sprinkle, J., J. Hall, L. Sullivan, and S. Jensen. Maternal influences upon calf adaptability to rangeland. David Little Livestock Range Management Endowment. $2,000. 2020-2021.

Sprinkle, J., J. Hall, L. Sullivan, and S. Jensen. Maternal influences upon calf adaptability to rangeland. Rangeland Center, University of Idaho. $2,000. 2020-2021.