Improvement in the Cattle Industry Stephanie Stimpson

Background  Stimpson Brothers Ranch Inc.  Cow-Calf Operation  Operate 500 head of cattle  Charolais/Black Angus, Pure Breed Charolais  Own 20,000 acres

Cattle Numbers  Oklahoma: 5,450,000 Ranked 4 th nationally.  United States: 93,701,000 (2010) 94,491,000 (2009) Ranked 4 th in the Country RankState Texas13,300,00013,600,000 2Nebraska6,250,0006,350,000 3Kansas6,000,0006,300,000 4Oklahoma5,450,0005,400,000 5California5,150,0005,250,000 Source:

Cattle Numbers Increasing Over The Years Source:

Overall Size and Number of Producers Declining Source: /AGEC-245web.pdf

Past and Today 1950’sToday

Improvements in the Cattle Industry  Artificial Insemination  Vaccinations  NAIS  Growth Implants

Artificial Insemination  AI is the process of collecting sperm cells from a male animal and manually depositing them into the reproductive tract of a female.  First biotechnology applied to improve reproduction and genetics of farm animals.  Scientists in Russian accomplished the first successful AI in cattle in Advantages:  By this technique a 1000 cattle can be sired by one bull  Increases the potential for genetic selection  Decreases the cost such as feed  Reduced disease transmission Source:

Artificial Insemination Disadvantages:  Requires well trained operators and equipment  Requires more time  Operator needs to have knowledge of the structure and function of the reproduction part of the animal  Improper cleaning of the instruments and insanity condition may lead to lower fertility. Source:

Vaccinations Vaccinations help to protect animals from certain diseases Types of disease for which vaccines are used:  Blackleg  Brucellosis  Infectious Bovine Rhinotracheitis (IBR)  Bovine Virus Diarrhea (BVD) Other Advancements:  Ivomec  Castration  Dehorning

National Animal Identification System  Government ran program in the U.S. that surveillances animals by identifying and tracking. NAIS will help control disease.  NAIS is a control mechanism that will quickly identify, isolate, and monitor infected animals.  Government started this system in 2002 after a BSE outbreak in overseas

National Animal Identification System  Cattle have radio frequency ear tags (RFID)  The tag will be read every time the animal changes the premises  Animal ID number, premise number the animal is leaving, premise number the animal is entering, date and time of transfer to a Federal central database.  This year the government ended the NAIS to develop a more flexible animal disease traceable system.

Growth Implants  Used in beef production for over 30 years.  Feed efficiency increased 5-10%, daily grains 5-15%  Available for all cattle except for calves less than 45 days old.  More than 27 brand of growth implants today.  Improves weaning weight of calves 3-5% and steers gain 1.5 lbs/day  Most cost effective method of enhancing cattle gain and efficiency of gain.  Research indicates that growth implants will give at least a 10:1 return on their cost. Source:

Conclusion  Since the early 1900’s there have been many improvements in the cattle industry.  The number of cattle in the U.S has been declining over the years, but with the improvements of the industry cattle it has came a long ways.

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