Beef Management 3/24/15- Beef production is very different in Tennessee from other states.o TN is a cow/calf state o Feeder calf: young male calf (typically) that is going to go to the next segment of the industry in the Midwest (primarily Iowa). Will eventually go to a feed lot (which are not in Tennessee) o Most producers have employment outside of farming o Less labor and make smaller investments in equipment and facilities - Beef industry is consumer driveno Must meet consumer demands, it the consumer is not pleased, they will not spend their money on you again. Price also plays a big role. As well as how it was raised, was it given antibiotics, was it treated humanely, etc. - More challenges for beef producerso Reduced reproductive performance (hot summers)o Tall fescueo Genetic uniformity- all are a little bit different o Health management struggle with a beef herd: you don’t get to see them up close and personal every single day to monitor them. o Environmental constraints- not in place in tenessee yet, but they probably will be- Know the different sectors of the beef industry:o Purebred/Seedstocko Commercial Cow/Calf-typically what is in Tennessee, raise feeder calves o Backgrounder/Stocker-put weight on mismanaged cows and get them healthy again if they were mismanaged. Compensatory gain: if they were not given significant amounts of food, if they are then fed a lot they will gain weight quickly.o Feedero Packero Retailo Consumer - Nutrition in Beef Management *Know this o Complex combination of microbiology, physiology, anatomy, and biochemistry go into making cows function. Cows are ruminant. They have 4 digestive chambers o Ruminants are able to digest cellulose (unlike we are) o Rumen Fluid has hundreds of micriobiota in it. Help cattle digest cellulose o There are three compartments prior to the stomach, but only one stomach.o Use volatile fatty acids as a main source of energy (we use glucose, or sugars)- Volatile Fatty Acids *Know theseo Acetico Propionico Butyric - VFA’s are used like glucose - Know the parts of the cow digestive system - Rumeno Capacity of 35-50 gallons o Millions of papillae (finger like projections) increase surface area for mixing - Reticulumo The honey-comb, puncture here can result in hardware disease (leakage into the body cavity of digestive fluid)o Handles non-food items such as wire, metal pieces, etc. that the cow may eat - Omasumo Also known as many-plieso Many fold responsible for absorption of water. Eventually forms feces - Abomasumo True stomach, secretions that come from ito Contains acids responsible for breaking down proteins even furthero Digesta (not feces yet) moves into the small intestine- We don’t synthesize our vitamins like cows do. Fish also can’t synthesize their vitamins. You don’t need to feed ruminants vitamins. But they do need minerals for reproductive performance and breeding soundness. MINERALS ARE VERY