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[AgriLife Today] Forage and Ruminant Lab helps researchers, producers improve animal diets

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By: Adam Russell

STEPHENVILLE –  The Forage and Ruminant Nutrition Lab at the Texas A&M AgriLife Research and Extension Center in Stephenville explores ways to improve ruminant diets and mitigate negative environmental impacts for researchers around the state, nation and globe, according to a Texas A&M AgriLife Research expert.

The lab is used by researchers throughout Texas, the southeastern U.S. and as far away as South Africa, Brazil and Argentina, said Dr. Jim Muir, AgriLife Research grassland ecologist, Stephenville.

The lab analyzes soils and manure to determine mineral content and forages to measure digestibility and nutritional quality of what livestock are consuming or might consume, Muir said.

Nichole Cherry, an AgriLife Research associate, is the person who makes the lab run, Muir said.

Cherry has performed more than 100,000 assays in her 13 years in the lab on samples to determine various aspects of forage and soil composition, from digestibility of forages to condensed tannin levels to identifying elements and compounds within samples.

For example, Cherry uses a machine that emulates an animal’s digestive system, Muir said. In hours it can predict digestibility that would take up to six weeks by testing animals in pastures or feedlots. The machine can analyze 50 samples in 48 hours.

“We can predict the effects and digestibility of anything the animal might ingest,” he said.

The majority of the lab’s work is on small ruminants, such as sheep and goats, which are more popular globally, and some white-tailed deer, Muir said. About 60-70 percent of samples sent in by researchers serving producers are small ruminants.

Cherry’s work with condensed tannins has put the lab on the global map because it focuses on vegetation, such as forbs and dicots, that naturally address internal parasites that can be deadly to ruminants, Muir said.

Parasites are especially rampant in tropical regions where rainfall and warm temperatures are prevalent, he said. In Texas, springtime and over-grazed pastures present parasite challenges for producers.

Muir said condensed tannins are a natural tool for producers who hope to mitigate losses to parasites.

“Condensed tannins evolved in plants as a way to protect themselves,” he said. “It usually makes them bitter and less palatable or poisonous to animals or insects, but some animals have harnessed their protective features in a co-evolutionary relationship.”

Tannins can be good and bad for animals, so the lab tries to identify ratios to help producers decide whether to increase or reduce certain browse, such as woody plants and shrubs, in diets, especially for browsers such as goats and white-tailed deer, Muir said.

Tests can determine the level of condensed tannins, where they are in the plant cell, how it is delivered and breaks down in the animal’s digestive tract, or how biologically aggressive it is in fighting gastro-intestinal parasites.

Condensed tannin assays take about two weeks, Muir said.

Cherry has trained nearly 40 graduate students, many of who came to the lab from other countries like Colombia and Kenya, to assay condensed tannins and return home with the knowledge.

She was recently awarded the Texas A&M Soil and Crop Sciences Departmental Research Support – Lab Award for her work.

“Without Nichole and her lab, our research program on small ruminant gastro-intestinal parasites, such as barberpole worm, would not exist,” Muir said. “Producers in Texas, the southeastern U.S. and many corners of the world depend on her assays to keep their animals healthy and increase their profits.”

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Farm & Ranch

Acorn Toxicity

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By Barry Whitworth, DVM, MPH

With the prolonged drought, most pastures in Oklahoma end up in poor condition. With the lack of available forage, animals may go in search of alternative foods.

If oak trees are in the pastures, acorns may be a favorite meal for some livestock in the fall. This may result in oak poisoning.

Oak leaves, twigs, buds, and acorns may be toxic to some animals when consumed.

To read more, pick up a copy of the November edition of North Texas Farm & Ranch magazine, available digitally and in print. To subscribe by mail, call 940-872-5922.

brown acorns on autumn leaves, close up
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Farm & Ranch

Silver Bluestems

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By: Tony Dean

There are a handful of grasses on North Texas grazing lands ranchers need to know, not because they are highly desirable, but rather because they are not of much value. I call them “decom” plants, which is am acronym for “Don’t Ever Count On Me.” Silver bluestem is a “decom” grass.

Silver bluestem is a perennial which grows in all areas of Texas. It can survive in almost all soil types, and in full sun conditions or in semi shade. It grows up to three feet tall and is easily recognized with the presence of the white fuzzy seed head. Also, one of the identifying characteristics of Silver bluestem is a bend in the stems at each node, causing the plants to take on a rounded shape as they mature.

To read more, pick up a copy of the November edition of North Texas Farm & Ranch magazine, available digitally and in print. To subscribe by mail, call 940-872-5922.

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Farm & Ranch

Meanwhile Back At The Ranch

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By: Rayford Pullen

Fall is here which means winter is closing in on us and before we officially get into winter, we need to make sure our factories are either producing or will be producing in a few months.

We have been pregnancy testing our cows this fall and if they are not bred or nursing a calf, we are bidding them adios. With annual costs somewhere between $900.00 and $1,000.00 per cow, those cows not producing a live weaned calf are costing us quite a bit.

To read more, pick up a copy of the November edition of North Texas Farm & Ranch magazine, available digitally and in print. To subscribe by mail, call 940-872-5922.

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