A successful beef enterprise is contingent upon the integrated management of genetics, nutrition, health, marketing, and finances. From a genetic perspective, the industry has worked hard to identify and develop prediction tools (EPDs) for a large number of economically important traits. These EPD tools have been very effective in changing the genetic merit of beef breeds, and as a result, many...

Managerial and economic efficiencies of cattle reproduction systems that are seasonal in nature are most likely to benefit from having a compact calving season. Effective replacement heifer development is a critical segment of the integrated management program in an efficient beef cow production system. The replacement heifer represents the future profitability and genetic improvement of the co...

Understanding and using EPDs continues to be a popular topic among cattle producers because of their effectiveness when properly used in genetic selection. Use of EPDs, as with many other standard management tools, is not required to survive in the beef cattle business, but those who do will excel in terms of genetic improvement. With so many traits to monitor in a cow herd, producers should no...

Existing process assessment methods, such as SCAMPI-Standard CMMI Appraisal Method for Process Improvement, do not use contemporary data collection and analysis techniques like processes mining, text mining or data mining. On the contrary, they use traditional ones: questionnaires, document review, interviews and demonstrations. Process mining is a technique that can be used to aid process asse...

The economics of farming continues to be one of the major agricultural problems in the U.S. One important component of the solution is to increase profitability by crop improvement through plant breeding. Improved forage cultivars provide economic opportunities for livestock and crop farming operations and promote a more stable, sustainable agriculture. Farmers benefit by greater animal product...

The member organizations of the CETC feel strongly that there are significant flaws associated with the proposed proficiency test and its implementation. The most immediate modifications include lengthening the required testing interval, utilizing stringently validated and continuously monitored slides, changing the grading scheme and changing the focus of the test from individuals to laborator...

The technique of isolated microspore culture for the production of haploid plants is well standardized for many species of Brassica, some of which are important oilseed or vegetable crops. It offers an excellent experimental system for improvement of Brassica crops and study of cell differentiation during shift from gametophytic to sporophytic development. The haploids raised from microspores a...

Electrical conductivity (EC) of milk is an indicator of mastitis, and could, if it shows genetic variation and is genetically correlated to mastitis, be used in a breeding program where selection for reduced mastitis resistance is included. In this study, daily measurements of EC and mastitis were analyzed with a bivariate model. For EC, the estimated heritability was high (0.22 to 0.39), while...

Introduction Domestication of food producing animals has led to the desire by humans to control reproduction so as to enhance production of the products (e.g., meat) from these animals. Domestication of cattle is estimated to have started about 10,000 years ago (Bradley et al., 1998). Controlled reproduction by regulating mating patterns, through use of natural breeding, has long been practiced...