Livestock Production Flashcards
What are cows fed at feedlots?
mostly corn, ethanol byproducts
What are cow-calf operations?
produce the input for the feedlot
long term asset is the mother cow and the land for grazing
the longer the cows life, the higher the ROI
calves are produced on small farms
still broadly spread across country
What is the stocker industry?
weaned calf goes for backgrounding
grazed for a single season
not investing in cows (time, $)
value-added to pasture system
What is the feeder industry?
final stage
heavy grain feeding to fatten cow to desired weight for slaughter
What is the purebred industry?
incorporates genetic improvements
looking for: birth weight, average daily gains, calving ease
feedlot industry is heavily industrialized and concentrated
What is the beef supply chain?
cow-calf operations to stocker/backgrounding to feeder with some output of cow-calf operations staying as replacement herd
What are public issues with beef industry?
antibiotics and hormone use animal welfare food safety change in product due to change in dietary intake of animal concentration of processors
What are the industry trends with dairy production?
distinct regional differences in development
movement to the arid west and south
significant government involvement in markets
NE grows most of its own non-grain feed
decreasing number of cows in NE, but greatly expanded output per cow
What are the regional differences in dairy production?
average herd size and # of farms with more than 1000 cows increases as you go west
everywhere has a similar productivity per animal
What are the common metrics for dairy?
milk per lactation per cow
milk per full-time worker
cost of production per cwt milk
How does size impact profitability in dairy?
value of product drops a bit with larger size farm
operating cost drop drastically with larger size
total costs drop as size increases
net returns are negative until herd size reaches 500+
What is the New England Dairy Compact?
producers were paid more to account for not breaking even
What are public issues with dairy?
environmental concerns - N, P, emissions
hormone use - BST (not as big a deal anymore)
loss of local processing
loss of ag infrastructure if dairy goes away
What are the challenges of organic dairy?
can't use antibiotics, even to treat a sick animal no hormones 100% organic feed (not enough) outside access when possible (365) pasture requirement no milk replacer
What are trends in pork and poultry industries?
vertical integration contracted production consolidation product uniformity and branding concentrated geographically
Where is most pork production concentrated?
North Carolina, Iowa, Southern Minnesota
Where is most poultry production concentrated?
Southeast, Delaware, Maryland, Arkansas
What is the farrowing to weaning stage for swine?
provides pigs to industry
How is swine finishing done?
all indoors
concrete slated floors to drain manure
What is contracted production?
animal owned by corporation
barn owned by farmer
farmer assumes risk
What are public issues with swine and poultry production?
animal welfare - crowding, drug input
transgenic production
environmental contamination - manure lagoons, nutrient concentration
What is the types of operations for the swine industry?
farrow to finish operations - birth to slaughter
feeder pig producer - birth to 10-60 pounds
feeder pig finisher - grow to slaughter weight
What is the historical place of livestock in agriculture?
animal domestication happened with crop domestication
usually have happened together
What is an economic view of livestock?
inputs and outputs
What is an ecological view of livestock?
interrelated flows (often cyclical) energy flows, nutrient cycling, carrying capacity
What are economic roles of livestock?
farm power, transport, fiber, waste recycling, land management
What are ecological roles of livestock?
diversifying farm system, increased system productivity, cycle nutrients, maintain grass ecosystems
What are the types of poultry farms in the system?
multiplier farm - produces chicks, doesn’t breed
broiler farm - raise to meat
breeder farm - produce eggs (broken into elite, great-grandparent and grandparent farms)
What is a breeding stock?
support animals
livestock classes have different lengths of breeding cycle, reproduction rate, and number of offspring that go to market or breeding stock
How is productive output over the lifecycle measured?
kg per breeding female per cycle
Why are feed needs important?
they are a huge fraction of the operating (66%) and total cost (50%)
needed to calculate ecological or environmental impacts
What are feed needs a function of?
basal metabolism, growth rate, activity, gestation, lactation, exposure
What basis can feed conversion ratios be calculated?
farm weight - amount of feed/head
energy content
protein content
What are the 6 major feeds in a ration composition?
corn grain, soybean meal, corn silage, alfalfa silage, grass hay, grazed forage
How can land requirements of livestock products be measured?
per unit energy
per unit protein
Which livestock class has the highest total land requirements?
beef by far, but much of that is perennial grass hay and grassed forages
Why is it important to consider grazing land separate from cultivated land?
ecosystem benefits often unsuitable for cropping its a seasonal resource has multiple competing uses productivity varies widely hard to estimate yields dwarfs cropland in acres
What are other important considerations of livestock systems?
biodiversity
GHG emissions
nutrient flows
water
