Dad's Day & Memories Made

Hey guys! I just thought I would share more info about my research project. So here you go!

Dixon Springs Fescue Grazing Study

Graduate Student: Bain Wilson

Advisor: Frank Ireland

Mentor: Dr. Daniel Shike

Project Overview

Tall fescue is a very hardy forage found across the United States. Fescue’s drought and pest-resistance  result from its endophytic fungus, Acremonium coenophialium. However, this ergot alkaloid producing endophyte also causes negative effects on animals, known as fescue toxicosis. The main ergopeptide found in tall fescue is ergovaline. Fescue toxicosis inhibits the animal’s thermoregulation and decreases growth.

During the grazing trial, there will be three testing groups of cattle receiving two different treatments of forages & two control groups receiving only endophyte-infected fescue or novel endophyte-infected fescue.

Other forages to be used include a sudangrass with the brown mid rib gene and crabgrass mix.

To evaluate the different grazing systems, differences will be measured in forage availability, forage nutrient content, calf ADG, symptoms of thermal stress, and calf activity level.

My Hypothesis

I hypothesize the cattle grazing on endophyte-infected fescue will display more symptoms of thermal stress and poorer overall performance during Period 2 than those grazing on the other forages.

Objectives

Determine which forage type yields the cattle with best performance, specifically, by measuring differences in:

• Forage Availability
• Forage Nutrient Content
• Calf Average Daily Gain (ADG)
• Symptoms of Thermal Stress
• Calf Activity Level

Determine if novel endophyte-infected fescue or warm season annuals are suitable alternative to endophyte-infected fescue in a rotational grazing system.

4 grazing treatments with two replicates of each treatment per year will be utilized:

    Period 1 = May 1 – July 15

    Period 2 = July 15 – October 2

Four different forages will be used, including the negative control of endophyte infected fescue (KY-31) (E+), the positive control of novel endophyte infected fescue (Max Q Jesup) (NE), and a sudangrass with the brown mid rib gene and crabgrass  mix (Red River and Quick N Big) (SC).

Six steer calves will be used as tester animals for each treatment. Six calves will be added to each treatment group to be used as “put and take” animals in order to maintain grazing pressure across all treatments. Each pasture is divided into six 1.5 acre paddocks which the calves are rotated into every 5 days.

The proposed treatments are as follows:

Treatment #	Period 1	Period 2
1	E+	E+
2	NE	NE
3	E+	NE
4	E+	SC

Differences in the following areas will be measured as follows:

    1.  Forage availability

• Use rising plate at beginning of grazing in each pasture and again at the end of each rotation
• Measure forage mass in four randomly chosen sites within each pasture at beginning of trial and again every 30 days

    2. Forage Nutrient Content

• Clip samples while measuring forage mass
• Dry samples and send to forage analysis lab to determine nutrient content

    3. Calf Average Daily Gain:

• Double-weigh calves at beginning of Period 1
• Reweigh calves between Periods 1 & 2 and also at the end of the trial in August

4. Symptoms of Thermal Stress

• Measure respiration rate for tester cattle in each treatment
• Take blood on the 1st & 2nd of May, June, July, and August and again on August 31st to measure serum prolactin levels
• Assess hair coat and assign body conditioning scores at each weighing and bleed point

5. Calf Grazing Behavior

• Measure amount of steps taken by attaching pedometers to the legs of the tester animals in each treatment

                                                        

Lastly, all data will be assessed to determine the effects of each grazing treatment. Based  on these results, we will determine which forage or combination of forages yields the most positive overall effects on the tester cattle.

Period 2 Update

• Due to the drought,  Period 1 has been extended at least 15 days to allow the warm season treatment to grown in.
• The sudangrass was also replanted June 7th and 8th at 25 lbs/acre. This regrowth must reach a height of 18-20 inches before grazing to reduce the prussic acid toxicity.
• If Period 2 begins July 15th, the end date of the trial will be pushed back to October 2nd or 3rd.
• If an adequate forage amount for this treatment is not achieved, the project will be thrown out for this summer.

Deliverables & Outcomes

• Bain Wilson will present the research at the Midwest Conference
• More information on the effects and alternatives to endophyte-infected fescue will be available
• Producers will have more evidence to support switching their pastures to an alternative forage and avoid the profit losses caused by fescue toxicosis

Please pray for rain. As you can see, I really need it!

 

Eileen and I are also trying to create a companion animals program here. So, each week we take a day to visit a local shelter, vet clinic, or pound to assess the needs down here. By the end of the summer, based on the feedback we have received from these places, we will hold an event or create educational pamphlets for the local pet owners. Some ideas that we’re throwing around is a spay/neuter weekend, free microchipping, or creating pamphlets on the importance of flea and tick prevention, heartworm prevention, spay/neuter, and other responsibilities that pet owners have. 

So far, we have visited an animal shelter in Metropolis, a vet clinic in Vienna, and the City of Harrisburg Animal Control. We actually volunteered at Project Hope, the shelter in Metropolis, after church today. It was great to see that a few of the dogs that we met during our last visit had been adopted, including Jax (the husky)  and 2 of 3 other puppies that I had played with.

Anyways, my dad came down to visit me last weekend for Father’s Day. I don’t think I have ever been so excited to see someone. I had so much fun showing him my steer calves and all the other bulls and heifers, demonstrating my cattle callin’ abilities, and exploring the area. Him and I had a deja vu when I saw that one of my calves had made it through the fence and was catchin up with his buddies across the lane. It took me back to when we were "camping" but were actually just sleeping in a tent outside the house. Dad woke me up and got me outside the tent. Pointing towards the farm shop, he asked, "Are you seeing what I'm seeing?" Yes I was. It was our miniature donkey, Eeyore. He had gotten out of his pen, made his way up the driveway, and was wishing us good morning.

All the ladies at the fence after I sent out my cow call

 I’m so glad he got to come down to see all that I have been working on and everything I have been telling him about in person. I really do love it down here. It reminds me of my years on the farm, except now I'm old enough to have more responsibilities and I don't get to eat the "dud" apple cider donuts. Even on my days off work, I usually end up stopping in at the lab to say hi to the guys and see if I can do anything. I can’t believe how fast this summer has gone. To be honest, it makes me sad to think I’ll be heading back at the beginning of August. But I know the memories will outlast the summer.

Cow Callin'