Progress 09/01/05 to 08/31/07

Outputs
OUTPUTS: The objective of the Arkansas Beef Improvement Program (ABIP) is to gain and transfer knowledge concerning beef cattle and forage management systems to enhance the efficiency and profitability of Arkansas cattle producers. Integrating beef cattle and forage management practices into a complete management system will aid the decision-making process. Educational methods used to demonstrate cost-effective beef cattle and forage management practices and transfer knowledge included whole-farm programs, specials projects, workshops, Extension agent training, field days, newsletters, and popular press articles. The whole-farm programs demonstrated the importance of managing resources in an integrated management philosophy. Special projects allowed ABIP to concentrate on specific beef cattle and forage management areas and allowed more counties to be involved. The special projects included shortening breeding and calving seasons, cow herd performance, hay quality and management, pasture improvement, replacement heifer management, estrous synchronization and artificial insemination, and stockpiled forage. Budget information was collected from all of the ABIP Whole Farms and Special Project Farms. A total of 106 budgets are in the ABIP database dating from 1993 to 2006. County Extension agents, faculty, bankers, and Farm Credit Services and NRCS representatives are constantly requesting this information. The most significant output from ABIP was to demonstrate that cost effective management practices can be implemented regardless how large or small the cattle operation may be. PARTICIPANTS: An ABIP Executive Committee determines the direction and guidelines of the overall program. The committee consists of county Extension faculty who have ABIP activities in their county and Extension faculty. The committee meets two times per year. At the recommendation of the ABIP Executive Committee, an ABIP team was established for each farm. This "team" approach addresses cost-effective beef cattle and forage management practices to achieve the rancher's goals. Team members include beef specialist-breeding and genetics, beef specialist-nutrition, forage specialist, extension associate- forages, veterinarian, extension associate-beef cattle, reproductive physiologist, the county Extension faculty and the cattle producer and family. The ABIP specialists continued to partner with Farm Credit Services of Western Arkansas and AgHeritage Farm Credit Services to offer ABIP workshops. Knowledge gained by ABIP was provided as professional training for county faculty in the areas of stockpiled forages, cow herd performance, forage testing, supplemental feeding, hay quality, etc. In addition abstracts were presented at regional and national meetings to transfer ABIP knowledge to a regional and national audience. The ABIP is reaching cattle producers across Arkansas; 65% of the Arkansas Counties have conducted ABIP activities. TARGET AUDIENCES: The primary target audience was beef cattle/forage producers. Arkansas has approximately 940,000 beef cows on 26,000 farms which mean the average beef cow-calf operation has 36 cows. Eighty percent of the beef cow-calf farms have less than 50 cows, which is typical of the southeastern United States. A secondary audience was county Extension faculty and Extension professionals from surrounding states. As part of its ongoing outreach program, the Arkansas Beef Improvement publishes a monthly article in the Arkansas Cattle Business, the official publication of the Arkansas Cattlemen's Association; the Arkansas Beef Improvement Newsletter is published four times a year.

Impacts
The major accomplishments during the past year were increasing program diversification and getting more producers involved with ABIP. There were 17, 9 and 3 countries involved in ABIP special projects, workshops and whole farms, respectively, which represent 31% of the counties in Arkansas. Seven farms were in the breeding and calving season, three farms in the estrous synchronization/artificial insemination, two farms in the hay quality and management and pasture improvement, and one farm each in the cow herd performance testing, replacement heifer and wheat pasture projects. The farms were in various stages of completion with some just getting started and others completing their final year. These efforts yielded production and economic data to support management practices. Five ABIP workshops were conducted for seven counties. Whole Farms: The Yell County farm belonged to a young family trying to generate enough income from the farm to support them. Over 67% of the ranch contained warm season grasses, and only 11% of the forage crop was cool season grasses. The ABIP team decided to increase the percentage of cool season forage to enhance the number of grazing days per year. Cool season grasses increased to 25% in year three while the warm season grasses declined to 57% and 38%, respectively. The 205-day adjusted weaning weights improved 55 and 12 pounds for the Angus and crossbred herds, respectively. The White County farm's goals are to increase forage quantity and quality, increase weaning weights, improve cattle handling facilities and implement an herbicide program. White clover was planted in four pastures to improve nutritional quality for the cattle and provide nitrogen for the soil. Hay quality has increased in three years. The 205-day adjusted weaning weight and pre-weaning average daily gain improved 54 pounds (10%) and 0.34 pounds per head per day (16%) in three years. The ABIP whole farm from Madison County was in the fifth year. Madison County producer was able to increase the adjusted gross margin by 13% and the adjusted gross margin per AU by 25%. Breeding and Calving Season: The Lawrence County farm 85 days off the year 2 calving season. The Montgomery County farm reduced their breeding and calving season by 95 days. Four farms were added to the breeding and calving season special project. They are located in Lincoln, Van Buren, Sevier and Yell Counties. Cow Herd Performance: The 205-day adjusted weaning weight increased to 516 pounds, cow efficiency increased from 45.1% (year 1) to 46.1% and average muscle score improved from 1.9 (year 1) to 1.6. Estrous Synchronization and Artificial Insemination: Eighty-three percent of the cows calved in the first 21-day period, 13% calved during the second 21-day period, and 3% (1 cow) calved in the third 21-day period. This compares to 68% of these cows calved in the first 21-day period in 2005. The improvement from 68% to 83% calving in the first 21-day period tended to be significant. Thirty of the 31 cows calved (97%). The ABIP was a tremendous learning experience for the cooperators and Extension faculty.

Publications

• Troxel, T. R. and B. L. Barham. 2007. Comparing the 2000 and 2005 factors affecting the selling price of feeder cattle sold at Arkansas livestock auction. J. Anim. Sci. (accepted).
• B. L. Barham and T. R. Troxel. 2007. Factors affecting the selling price of feeder cattle sold at Arkansas livestock auctions in 2005. J. Anim. Sci. (accepted).
• Barham, B. L. and T. R. Troxel. 2007. Management factors affecting selling prices of Arkansas beef calves: 2000 vs. 2005. J. Anim. Sci. (Suppl. 1) 85.
• Barham, B. L. and T. R. Troxel. 2007. Impact of the phenotypic expression of calf genetics on the selling price of calves sold in Arkansas livestock markets: 2000 vs. 2005. J. Anim. Sci. (Suppl. 1) 85.

Progress 09/01/05 to 08/31/06

Outputs
ABIP Whole Farm: In the final year of the Madison County program, the producer made improvements in weaning weight and overall genetics. Because of location, fescue and orchardgrass have been readily available. However, over the past four years, the presence of warm-season bermudagrass has increased in several fields providing a better balance of seasonal forages. The ABIP team completed the program in 2006. The Nevada County producer made the decision to liquidate his cow herd due to severe drought and record high cattle prices. Ironically, involvement in ABIP made his cattle very appealing to the buyer because of the detailed records and overall improvement. In the White County project (year 3), improvement is expected in calf performance. His Beefmaster based cows were bred to Gelbvieh bulls. The new bulls replaced a Beefmaster bull to increase heterosis in the calf crop. Results from cow herd performance testing this fall should be very interesting. The Yell County farm is working on improving every phase of the farm. Stockpiled bermudagrass reduced the amount of hay required. Realizing the value of postweaning performance, the producer sent 20 head this past year, 10 head from each of two herds to the Feedout Program. ABIP Special Projects: Breeding and Calving Season Project- The Dallas County project was completed in 2006. Over the past four years, the calving season was reduced from 346 to 90 days, hay crude protein and TDN increased, cost per animal unit decreased 28%, gross margin per animal unit increased 26% and mature cow calf crop percentage was not changed. The Lawrence County project is in the second year. They started with a 280 day calving season. Cows will calve (year 2) in the fall of 2006. The Montgomery County project started with a 320 day calving season. The 2006 calving season is projected to be reduced by 132 days. Cows will calve in fall 2006. The Yell County project is in their first year. Benchmark data was collected. Cows should begin calving during fall 2006, and the calving season is projected to be 217 days. Cow Herd Performance Testing Project- The cow herd performance project in Izard County began in 2004. Calves will be weighed fall 2006 to determine 205 day adjusted weaning weights. Estrous Synchronization/Artificial Insemination Project- Four cow herds were synchronized and artificially insemenated. The fall calving herd in Izard County is scheduled to begin calving September 15. All cow herds will be monitored and calving dates recorded. The other cow herds are spring calving herds (2007). Hay Quality and Management Project- The Calhoun County projrct harvested 98 rolls of cool season hay from winter annuals. Because of the drought, warm season hay was not harvested. Hay quality was increased 6% for crude protein and 9% TDN on the native hay field in Franklin County. Replacement Heifer Project- The Faulkner County project began in 2006. Heifers were selected, developed, synchronized and artificially insemenated. They are scheduled to calve in 2007. Wheat Pasture Project- The Pulaski County projected recoreded wheat yield of 37 bushels per acre for the grazed wheat and 40 bushels per acre for non-grazed.

Impacts
The objective of the Arkansas Beef Improvement Program (ABIP) is to gain and transfer knowledge concerning beef cattle and forage management systems to enhance the efficiency and profitability of producers. Integrating beef cattle and forage management practices into a complete management system will aid the decision-making process. Production and economic data will continue to be collected to demonstration cost effectiveness of practices. The impact of the decision-making process will assist the producer in making the right decisions for maintaining profitibility and enviromental sound. ABIP workshops were conducted for seven different counties. One hundred and twelve producers completed the ABIP workshop evaluation. One hundred percent of the participants liked the way the workshops were taught using a team approach. The ABIP continues to be a tremendous learning experience for the cooperators, Extension specialists and Extension agents. The ABIP team gained a greater appreciation of the management complexities of a beef cattle operation.

Publications

• The Arkansas Beef Improvement Newsletter is published four times a year (July, April, October and December 2005-06).
• The Arkansas Beef Improvement publishes a monthly article in Arkansas Cattle Business the official publication of the Arkansas Cattlmen's Association (2005-06).
• Richeson, J. R., M. S. Gadberry, and T. R. Troxel. 2005. Effects of herd size on production cost and return for farms enrolled in the Arkansas Beef Improvement, Integrated Resources Management Program. J. Animal. Sci. Southern Section. J. Anim. Sci. (Suppl. 2) 83:21.