Brief Summary of Minutes of Annual Meeting

Brief Summary: The NCR-206 committee met at the Colorado State Beef Unit beginning at 8:00 a.m. on May 27. Bill Wailes, Animal Sciences Department Head at Colorado State welcomed the group. Dr. Gray Cromwell, CSREES representative review the organizational structure of the USDA and who was leading the Animal Systems groups in the CSREES. Funding of the NRIs and competitive grants program were discussed. The potential impact of the Supreme Courts Hearing on the Beef Checkoff was briefly reviewed. Dr. Jack Riley announced that this was his last meeting in his current capacity, as he will be stepping down from the Department Head position as of January 1, 2005. He discussed what he saw as the challenges and opportunities facing the beef industry and the potential role of the NCR-206 committee in influencing the cattle feeding industry. A discussion of the changing demographics of animal science departments and clientele expectations in relation to funding sources followed. Issues such as animal identification, food safety and environmental sustainability will increasingly influence how beef cattle are managed and fed in the future. In the business meeting, the potential of inviting representatives from, Oklahoma State, Texas Tech, Texas A & M, and New Mexico was discussed. It was decided that next year representatives from these institutions will be invited to participate. Larry Berger offered to host the NCR-206 meeting next year. Efforts will be made to hold it in conjunction with the NCR-287 committee. Next year there will be an effort made to summarize the literature on early weaning and its effects on the cow-calf and feedlot industries. This review will be discussed jointly by both committees. Station reports were given from 10:00 to 2:00 with a 30 minute lunch break. At 3:00 p.m. the group met with the management of the Swift Feedyard near Greeley. They felt that water availability and environmental regulations were major hurdles facing them in the future. We also discussed how they viewed feedlot consultants, University researchers and product suppliers as potential sources of information in making management decisions. They also shared what they considered to be the key nutritional and management challenges in a 100,000 head feedyard. On Friday May 28, station reports were given from 8:00 a.m. to noon. The meeting adjourned at noon. The members express their appreciation to Tim Stanton for organizing and hosting the meeting. Accomplishments:

Accomplishments: Several stations have demonstrated that ethanol byproduct feeds can replace typical energy and protein sources in feedlot diets while maintaining or enhancing animal performance. Several stations have shown that the phosphorus requirements as described in the most recent beef NRC are inflated. As a result the environmental sustainability of feedlots production systems can be enhanced by eliminating phosphorus supplementation of corn based diets. Several stations have discovered methods of improving beef quality and safety that will benefit consumers.