Brief Summary of Minutes of Annual Meeting

The NCCC-206 (formerly NCR-206) committee met at the University of Wisconsin Department of Animal Science beginning at 8:00 a.m. on June 6, 2006. Dan Schaeffer, UW Animal Sciences Department Chair welcomed the group. Chris Reinhardt (KS) was elected secretary for the 2006 meeting and will therefore host the 2007 meeting in Manhattan, KS. Dr. Schaeffer indicated that there are relatively few Animal Science graduates enrolling in UW vet school (4 in the latest class). The lack of packing capacity in the state continues to hinder growth of both the swine and cattle feeding industries. Within the university, professors will soon be required to cover tuition costs of ~$8,000 annually for graduate students. This may lead to a reduction of graduate students employed by the department, potentially displaced by post-docs. Don Reynolds, DVM, new Administrative Advisor for the committee, suggested that the future of federal funding for USDA-production research programs is somewhat flat and his primary emphasis has been on maintaining current levels of support. Gary Cromwell indicated that the Midterm NIMSS review ratings of Good, Good, Excellent, and Good for the areas of Progress Report, Coordination linkages, Information exchange, and Attendance/Participation was well above average in comparison to other projects and committees. Dr Randy Shaver, UW Extension Dairy Nutritionist discussed various difficulties with nutritional analysis of corn silage. Starch content is important to total energy value of corn silage, but starch digestibility is affected by kernel processing and endosperm properties. There is also ongoing debate within the analytical lab industry as to the appropriate length of time to incubate for in vitro NDF digestibilities. The labs would prefer 24h, much of the research values were calculated at 30h (which more closely approximates rumen retention time), and 48h is preferred to calculate maintenance intake. He confirmed that distillers grains are being used at roughly 10% of DM to avoid milk fat suppression due to excessive free fat. If the industry moves to more degermed distillers grains, the levels could rise to 25-30% of DM. New Business: Dan Loy offered to consolidate the 2 websites he is currently maintaining onto that housed within the Iowa Beef Center and allow the second website to expire. Dan will revise the website to include links to all participating station beef reports. To do this he needs accurate website links from each member of the group. Larry Berger volunteered to write a letter, representing the committee, to Austin Lewis within the next couple weeks for the committee to review and approve, recommending a new Beef NRC publication be created. He also recommended suggesting that the Cow-calf committee do likewise. Gary Cromwell agreed to carry that suggestion to the Cow-calf committee meeting. Robbi Pritchard suggested some type of sub-committee be formed to, on an on-going basis, track research needs and make research recommendations in order to continually build the database needed to improve the future NRC recommendations. It was suggested that Dan Fox may still have on file suggestions for future research forwarded following release of the 1996 Beef NRC. It was also suggested that if the totality of FASS spoke with a unified voice re: issues like up-to-date nutrient requirements and feedstuff nutrient values, USDA may see fit to provide special funding status for such projects. Larry Berger volunteered to contact Mike Galyean, Cal Ferrell, and Terry Klopfenstein about research needs for future NRC guidelines. NCCC-206 co-sponsored the recent 2005 Holstein Beef Management Conference in Rochester, MN. Jeff Lemkuhler estimated that 300 - 400 people attended the conference from 22 states and Canadian provinces and 1,000 - 1,500 proceedings from the conference were sold. The publication has recouped its cost and it was discussed that the proceedings could be housed electronically on the NCCC-206 website for public access. There was also discussion about a possible 3-year rotation of the conference, held in conjunction with the 4-State Dairy committee. Other pertinent issues suggested to be discussed at future Holstein Beef Symposia should include the following: economic, environmental, and housing and facility issues of small/mid-sized production units for edification of lenders and economic development personnel; and natural, organic, and niche marketing of Holstein beef. It was suggested that some of the most pertinent information from the Rochester conference could be presented by members of the group at local meetings throughout the region. Jeff Lemkuhler suggested that a smaller committee be formed to plan and administer subsequent symposia. It was suggested that a planning meeting be held at the OSU Grain Processing Symposium in November in Tulsa. Clint Krehbiehl announced the OSU Grain Processing Symposium and handed out the proposed agenda and requested comments and suggestions from the committee. The conference will be held in Tulsa November 15-17. With the goal of broadening the personnel background of the NCCC-206 to provide a national perspective, it was decided that the following persons would be invited to the next committee meeting: Nathan Elam (NM), Carl Hunt (ID), Jon Beckett (CA), and Glenn Duff (AZ). Don Reynolds asked for the group to consider whether to continue as a committee or to become a project. Jeff Lemkuhler requested a $10 registration fee to cover incidental costs of hosting the meeting. Station reports were given from 2:00 p.m. until 6:00 p.m. on Tuesday and again from 8:00 a.m. until 12:00 noon on Wednesday. Discussion arose on the topic of the impact of various weaning strategies (conventional weaning and shipment vs. pre-weaning nose attachments vs. preconditioning vs. fenceline weaning) on subsequent feedlot health and behavior, such as walking and vocalization. Also pertaining to feedlot health, Clint Krehbiel discussed work at OSU with a device which measures NO and CO2 in calves at arrival and when pulled for treatment to improve disease diagnosis. There was some debate as to whether body fat or body condition contributes to immunity, as postulated by Spurlock of ISU. The question of whether there is sound evidence to support the NCBA recommendation of banding vs. knife castration was couched. The question centered on the stress incurred in the short term by knife castration vs. the stress simply being delayed with banding, compounded by the potential for systemic clostridial infection from the necrotic scrotum. Notes from the planning meeting held at Midwest ASAS meetings in Des Moines will be requested from Jeff Lemkuhler. Meeting was adjourned at 12:20 p.m. on Wednesday, June 7, 2006. The members expressed their appreciation to Jeff Lemkuhler for hosting and organizing the meeting. Respectfully submitted, Christopher D. Reinhardt

NCCC-206 co-sponsored the recent 2005 Holstein Beef Management Conference in Rochester, MN. Jeff Lemkuhler estimated that 300 - 400 people attended the conference from 22 states and Canadian provinces and 1,000 - 1,500 proceedings from the conference were sold. The publication has recouped its cost and it was discussed that the proceedings could be housed electronically on the NCCC-206 website for public access.

None reported by group. There was a misunderstanding that NCCC groups were required to report this as part of their annual report. Don Reynolds (Admin. Advisor).