Welcome to BCI Cattle Chat! Please click on any links below to be taken to sources mentioned in the podcast. Keep an eye out for news regarding the podcast on Facebook and Twitter.
2:46 Listener question: thin cows- is it genetics?
8:23 Listener question: cull cow sales
17:06 Listener question: feeding cows during pregnancy
23:40 Year end analysis
For more on BCI Cattle Chat, follow us on Twitter at @The_BCI, Facebook, and Instagram at @ksubci. Check out our website, ksubci.org. If you have any comments/questions/topic ideas, please send them to bci@ksu.edu. You can also email us to sign up for our weekly news blast! Don’t forget if you enjoy the show, please go give us a rating!
Welcome to BCI Cattle Chat! Please click on any links below to be taken to sources mentioned in the podcast. Keep an eye out for news regarding the podcast on Facebook and Twitter.
This week’s guest is Dr. Matt Miesner of the K-State College of Veterinary Medicine.
4:55 Dealing with feet problems
11:27 Fall calf health issues: scours & BRD
16:14 Listener question- screw claws
23:40 Shelter and cows in pasture
For more on BCI Cattle Chat, follow us on Twitter at @The_BCI, Facebook, and Instagram at @ksubci. Check out our website, ksubci.org. If you have any comments/questions/topic ideas, please send them to bci@ksu.edu. You can also email us to sign up for our weekly news blast! Don’t forget if you enjoy the show, please go give us a rating!
Phillip Lancaster, MS, PhD Ruminant nutritionist Beef Cattle Institute Kansas State University palancaster@vet.k-state.edu
Beef production is a significant contributor to global climate change. The source of greenhouse gas emissions is primarily due to inputs into the system such as fertilizer and feed. Estimates of greenhouse gas emissions from beef production are highly variable. Globally, livestock contribute 14% to 18% of total greenhouse gas emissions. Beef production alone accounts for a smaller percentage (6%). In the U.S., beef is an even smaller proportion – only 2%.
So why the discrepancy? Greenhouse gas emissions are highly dependent upon the production system. More intensive systems utilizing highly nutritious feeds, high quality animal genetics, and high levels of management such as the U.S. system produce more beef for each unit of input, which drives down the greenhouse gas intensity. The greenhouse gas intensity is the amount of greenhouse gas emissions per unit of output, in this case carcass weight.
Because of the investment in nutritional quality of feed, animal genetics and management practices, the U.S. system has the lowest greenhouse gas intensity of any major beef producing country (Figure 1). The U.S. produces 18% of the world’s beef and only 8% of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions from beef production. In comparison, Brazil produces 14% of the world’s beef and 19% of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions from beef production. The U.S. system has a ratio of 2.2:1 compared with Brazil’s ratio of 0.75:1 of contribution to beef production relative to contribution to beef greenhouse gas emissions. The U.S. production system has the highest ratio of any of the top 10 beef producing countries with Germany having the next closest at 2.0:1.
Comparisons among greenhouse gas emission intensities of countries (i.e., production systems) indicates that intensifying the system through improving efficiency should be the goal. A global effort to improve nutritional value of feed, increase cattle genetics for growth and yield, and increase producer education of optimum management practices will have the greatest benefit to sustainable beef production. If the other 9 of the top 10 beef producing countries developed beef production systems similar to the U.S., global greenhouse gas emissions from beef production would be reduced by 22%.
Welcome to BCI Cattle Chat! Please click on any links below to be taken to sources mentioned in the podcast. Keep an eye out for news regarding the podcast on Facebook and Twitter.
2:24 Vaccine handling
6:15 Listener question- livestock financing
13:57 Listener question- pregnancy concerns
19:54 Listener question- evaluating the value of land
For more on BCI Cattle Chat, follow us on Twitter @The_BCI, and check out our website, ksubci.org. If you have any comments/questions/topic ideas, please send them to bci@ksu.edu. Don’t forget if you enjoy the show, please go give us a rating!
Welcome to BCI Cattle Chat! Please click on any links below to be taken to sources mentioned in the podcast. Keep an eye out for news regarding the podcast on Facebook and Twitter.
3:40 Pregnancy checking
10:05 Winter feeding equipment
14:10 Thin cow management
24:02 Listener question
For more on BCI Cattle Chat, follow us on Twitter @The_BCI, and check out our website, ksubci.org. If you have any comments/questions/topic ideas, please send them to bci@ksu.edu. Don’t forget if you enjoy the show, please go give us a rating!
