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<OL> <LI> To enhance the utilization of alternative feedstuffs available as a result of increased biofuel production. <LI> To enhance quality and safety of beef through emerging pre-harvest technologies and management strategies. <LI> To enhance the environmental sustainability of the feedlot industry through nutritional and management applications. <LI> To enhance the health and well being of feedlot cattle and improve efficiency of beef production. </OL> Outputs: <OL> <LI> Yearly collaborative summarization and interpretation of reports of progress by NCCC206 members. <LI> Standardization of research protocols to evaluate alternative feeds, feedlot nutrient balance, pre-harvest food safety management interventions and disease preventative measures in the pre-feedlot and receiving periods. <LI> Studies resulting from these collaborations will be pooled across participating experiment stations and years to generate robust datasets for meta-analyses designed to provide conclusive implications and further research direction. <LI> Development of feeding standards for current and new generation alternative feeds derived from processing of oilseeds and grains into biofuels as components of growing and finishing cattle diets. <LI> Development of nutrient management standards that consider environmental protection and U.S. beef feedlot sector sustainability. <LI> Evaluation of salient technologies and interventions designed: to manage nutrient output by feedlots, to reduce pre-shipment and receiving disease, and to improve pre-harvest food safety practices. <LI> Development of symposiums at relevant scientific meetings (e.g. Midwest American Society of Animal Science) which detail the findings of the studies conducted by the members of the committee and disseminate the knowledge developed by the collective work being conducted by the committee. <LI> Strategic utilization by the U.S. beef feedlot sector of alternative feedstuffs derived from biofuel processing of oilseeds and grains. <LI> Reduced reliance on grain feeding (and more reliant on grain and oilseed coproducts) by the U.S. beef feedlot sector. <LI> Enhanced visibility of participating Experiment Stations. <LI> A U.S. beef feedlot sector that can offer environmental assurance and be economically sustainable. <LI> Healthier feedlot cattle. <LI> Feedlot cattle that contribute small to negligible pathogen loads pre-harvest.
NON-TECHNICAL SUMMARY: Because of price pressure generated by the use of corn for ethanol production, a trend for relocating feedlots to areas where corn is grown (and prices are typically lower) has already begun. This may create an opportunity to site and manage feedlots in a manner more consistent with environmental protection than previously accomplished. Thus, the need exists to understand the impact of feedlot design on the environment and animal production. Also, as environmental protection regulations adapt to include phosphorus loading limits, managing phosphorus in a manner consistent with a new regulatory climate will become an issue, particularly because many ethanol co-products are high in phosphorus. These co-products are also high in sulfur. Dietary sulfur can be converted to hydrogen sulfide by ruminal bacteria and is released in the environment, and may contribute to atmospheric sulfur and greenhouse gases. Little is known about managing hydrogen sulfide production in the rumen. This has led to situations where feeding high-sulfur-containing co-products have caused a condition similar to thiamine-deficiency-caused polioencephalomalacia. Therefore, increased knowledge of reactions in the rumen leading to production of hydrogen sulfide, and methodology by which to abate it must be developed if the feedlot industry will continue to rely on co-products of corn milling for ethanol production. As the areas of influence of the NCCC-206 committee encompass much of the ethanol processing regions of the country, this committee is poised to generate informational resources, grounded in the scientific method, for a smooth transition as the feedlot industry restructures to transition into an era which will likely be less dependent on corn and more dependent on corn coproducts. Areas for this effort will focus on environmental impact assessment research.
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APPROACH: The NCCC206 committee is poised to address research issues arising from increased availability of alternative feedstuffs, concentrated nutrient output and application of pre-harvest nutrition and management strategies on the health of feedlot cattle and food safety of beef consumers. Committee members represent Agricultural Experiment Stations known across the nation for studying utilization of alternative feedstuffs long before grains and oilseeds were used for biofuel production (NCR, 1984). Agricultural Experiment Stations represented by NCCC206 membership have the infrastructure and resources available to represent the continuum between cattle procurement, pre-feedlot entry feeding and management, feedlot nutrition and management, and access to Experiment Station-based or commercial cattle harvest facilities. The committee will address its objectives on a three-way collaborative approach: members focused on pre-feedlot nutrition by management interactions (pre-feedlot use of alternative feedstuffs and impacts of pre-harvest nutrition and management on cattle health and beef quality and safety), members focused on feedlot nutrition and management (use of alternative feeds, impacts of nutrition and management strategies on cattle health, nutrient output or food safety), and members focused on post-harvest evaluation of nutrition and management interventions. Studies designed to evaluate alternative feedstuffs, pre-harvest beef quality and safety interventions, environmental impact of nutrient management strategies, and health and well-being of feedlot cattle will be standardized according to basic protocols that may, depending on study objectives, include the following: steers or heifers will be purchased according to specifications of the protocol (sex, frame size, maturity, etc.). Cattle will be vaccinated against respiratory and stress-related diseases, dewormed and ear-tagged. Implant or additive feeding programs will be included according to protocols for specific studies. Cattle will be assigned randomly to dietary and, where appropriate, interactive treatments. Weights will be collected every 28 d before feeding in the morning, unless a specific requirement for shrunk weights is needed because of the nature of diets. Dry matter intakes will be measured from feed offered and refused by pens. Standard measurements of carcass characteristics such as dressing percentage, fat depth, ribeye area, marbling score, proportion of kidney, pelvic and heart fat, and USDA quality and yield grade will be routinely collected. In some cases additional carcass and beef quality and sensory characteristics may also be collected, depending on the specific protocol of each study.